The need for a stronger U.S.-Japanese alliance and a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region will be top issues at Friday’s Washington summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, according to Japan’s ambassador to the United States.Japan is “honored” that Suga will be the first foreign leader to hold a face-to-face meeting with Biden since the latter took office, Ambassador Koji Tomita said in written replies to questions from VOA. He predicted a warm personal rapport between the two leaders, both of whom hail from humble childhoods.Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga speaks during a press conference at the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo, March 18, 2021.Tomita said Japan is “very encouraged” by Biden’s active engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, citing last month’s virtual Quad Summit in which Biden hosted the leaders of Japan, Australia and India.“The international order is being challenged in various ways, so we hope to continue having specific discussions on the ways that Japan and the U.S. can take initiative in realizing our shared vision,” he added.The Japanese envoy said he sees similarities between the two leaders. Suga, like Biden, is “a leader who did not inherit a political support network and had to build up his career through politics by themselves,” he said.The Japanese prime minister is known to have grown up on a strawberry farm in rural Japan, whereas Biden hails from Scranton, Pennsylvania, known historically as a coal mining center.“Suga’s strength is that he understands the life of ordinary citizens and feels their joy and pain,” Tomita said. “These shared personal traits will lead to a solid rapport, which will allow them to tackle the tough questions that they must face together.”FILE – In this Aug. 23, 2011, Vice President Joe Biden, center left in a dark suit, has a light moment with survivors of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami during his visit to Natori.Tomita said many Japanese remember the warmth Biden showed when he visited their country after a devastating earthquake in 2011. “I was actually there for that visit, and I greatly appreciated the way that he consoled victims and gave them a sense of hope,” the ambassador said.On the policy front, Tomita said Japan fully supports the multilateral approach the Biden administration has touted, as well as the U.S. president’s efforts “associating climate policy with economic growth realized through new investment, job expansion and innovation.”But topping the agenda for the White House meeting will be discussions about a coordinated strategy to strengthen the formal alliance between the two countries, he said, noting that “the security environment in the (Pacific) region has become increasingly severe.”It has been widely reported that Japan has taken a more proactive approach to regional security and on issues concerning human rights in China than in past years.In explaining the new posture, Tomita said, “As the strategic environment around Japan has become increasingly complex and uncertain, we need to utilize an increasingly complex set of policy responses, using everything in our diplomatic and security toolkits.”A Chinese military plane H-6 bomber flies through airspace between Okinawa prefecture’s main island and the smaller Miyako island in southern Japan, photo taken Oct. 27, 2013.China’s growing economic and military influence “is an important part of this changing landscape,” Tomita said, while quickly adding that “our approach, including our growing partnership with the Quad, is not directed toward any specific country.”Japan’s “strategic goal has always been to maintain the peace and prosperity of the entire region. In this regard, the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance has never been greater,” Tomita said.“Japan places importance on multilateralism and aims to realize a ‘united world’ that collectively tackles challenges facing the international community,” he added.While subsequent U.S. administrations have described China under Communist Party rule as by turns an “adversary” and a “competitor,” Japan prefers to not label Beijing, at least for now.“While China is a growing topic in Washington, D.C., these days, I can assure you that as a country situated nearby, China is always a big presence for Japan,” Tomita said.“With the world’s second largest economy, and a population of 1.4 billion, I think that China actually has the capacity and the responsibility to make positive contributions to efforts to solve global issues.”
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Author: SeeEA
US Renews Call for All Nations to Raise Climate Ambitions
The United States is renewing a call that all nations including the U.S. and China “must raise their ambitions” on carbon neutrality, as officials from the world’s two largest emitters held talks in Shanghai on Thursday.U.S. officials and analysts say Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry’s consultations with his Chinese counterparts this week are paving the way for next week’s virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, but caution against a quick breakthrough.“We must insist Beijing do more to reduce emissions and help tackle the worldwide climate crisis,” said a State Department spokesperson who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.The spokesperson added China “is not yet on a path that will allow the world to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.”“Of course, it’s not going to be easy,” said Jane Nakano, a senior fellow in the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).Nakano said Thursday that many countries, not just the U.S., “are hoping to see much more clear articulation [on] how China plans on reducing its emissions level.”In Beijing, officials gave few details on Kerry’s talks with China’s special envoy on climate change, Xie Zhenhua.”I don’t have any information to offer,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Thursday.Chinese President Xi Jinping is among the 40 world leaders invited to attend the climate summit on April 22-23.The invitation comes as relations between Beijing and Washington are at their most strained for decades because of clashes over Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the South China Sea, regional security and China’s economic coercion of U.S. allies.In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Kerry said the U.S. is not wrapping the climate issue into talks on other topics that the U.S. and China disagree on.”We’re not trading something to do with the planet and health and security for something else that’s more of a political or ideological difference or a practical difference in the marketplace,” said Kerry.Some analysts say the Biden administration is so far separating its concerns about climate change from the region’s key issues such as China’s reported human rights violations and increasing territorial aggression.“I see no evidence of” the U.S. compromising its geopolitical competition with China while seeking a cooperation on climate change, said Mike Green, senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair at CSIS and a former White House National Security Council staffer.Green said he is not ruling out a possible pull-aside virtual meeting between Biden and Xi.“We have a big agenda with China,” Green said Thursday. “My guess is probably that there will be a pull-aside” virtual meeting in a businesslike fashion.
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Cambodia Launches Lockdown in Capital as COVID-19 Outbreak Spreads
Cambodia began a coronavirus lockdown Thursday in Phnom Penh and a satellite district of the capital in a bid to contain a spike in coronavirus cases in a country that up until recently had largely managed to contain infections.
Under the lockdown, which Prime Minister Hun Sen announced late Wednesday, most people are banned from leaving home except for going to work, to buy food or for medical treatment.
Police manning checkpoints Thursday in Phnom Penh asked motorists to show work documents and identity cards in order to pass, television footage on local media showed.
In a voice message posted on his official Facebook page, Hun Sen warned that Cambodia was on the brink of “death valley” and urged people to work together to avoid calamity.
“The purpose of the lockdown is to combat the spread of COVID-19 and this closure is not a way to make people die or suffer,” he said.
The Southeast Asian country still has one of the world’s smallest coronavirus caseloads, but an outbreak that started in late February saw cases spike almost 10-fold to 4,874 within two months and the first deaths recorded with 36 fatalities.
Hours before the lockdown, Hun Sen’s message was leaked on social media, prompted panic buying of food and other goods in shops by residents in Phnom Penh and the nearby Takhmau area, where a lockdown also has been imposed.
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Japanese PM Faces Tough Balancing Act Between US, China
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday will become the first foreign leader to visit the White House since U.S. President Joe Biden took office.The meeting underscores the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance, especially as the countries’ shared rival, China, grows in strength and aggressiveness.Since taking office last year, Suga’s government has at times taken a slightly more critical stance toward China, calling out Beijing’s human rights abuses and incursions into disputed areas of the East and South China seas.It represents a slight recalibration of Japan’s relationship with China, its longtime rival and largest trading partner. However, many analysts expect Suga to refrain from overly antagonizing Beijing during his meeting with Biden.“There is unease in some Japanese policy circles about being too forward-leaning in countering China and sacrificing the carefully orchestrated rapprochement initiated a few years ago,” said Mireya Solis, who focuses on East Asia at the Brookings Institution, a Washington D.C.-based research and analysis organization.Ahead of Suga’s visit, China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry warned Japan against “being misled by some countries holding biased views against China.” Earlier this month, China also sent a naval strike group near Okinawa, where the U.S. has troops — a signal Beijing is prepared to counter the U.S.-Japan alliance.Japan hosts approximately 55,000 U.S. troops. The two sides routinely describe their alliance as the “cornerstone” of peace and stability in Asia.Biden, who took office in January, has focused on revitalizing the U.S.-Japan alliance, as well as U.S. involvement in multilateral institutions, which were often criticized or shunned by former U.S. President Donald Trump.Koji Tomita, Japan’s ambassador to the United States, said Tokyo “fully supports President Biden‘s resolve to revert to multinationalism and to restore leadership in the international community.”In an interview with VOA, Tomita also said it is critical to take a multilateral approach toward China.“We are seeking a stable relationship with China, but at the same time, will continue to be very clear about our concerns,” he said.Specifically, Tomita mentioned Beijing’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims, its abuses against pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, and its unfair trade practices.“From Japan’s perspective, it is particularly troubling to see their maritime practices which attempt to unilaterally change the status quo in the region,” he added.Japan’s new approachTaiwan — the self-ruled island that China views as its own — has emerged as another flashpoint. Some Japanese leaders have suggested cooperating more closely with the United States to discourage China’s intimidation of Taiwan.James D.J. Brown, an associate professor at Temple University in Tokyo, said Suga likely feels pressure from the parts of Japanese society and political circles that sympathize with Taiwan.“I think that if [Suga] is seen as avoiding taking a tough stance on China, he might have to worry not only about getting criticism from the United States but also potentially from within his own party,” Brown said.There’s a limit to how far Suga will go in criticizing China, though, Brown said.“So I think overall Japan is … deeply uncomfortable with being urged to take a stronger stance” against China, he said.“They’re very happy in Tokyo for the United States to do that, but they’re reluctant to do so themselves because they recognize that China both economically, militarily, has a lot of ways and a lot of leverage that they can use to make things very uncomfortable for Japan.”However, Japan’s new approach is encouraging to many U.S. lawmakers, who have become increasingly hawkish on China. Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty, who until 2019 was ambassador to Japan, said he believes U.S. allies are beginning to see the threat posed by China.“I think what’s happening is the rest of Asia is seeing this. I think the rest of Asia is going to be drawn toward our model. That’s my hope,” Hagerty told VOA.“I want to see us bring them all into the fold and demonstrate that our democratic values, and that our free-market principles are the best possible posture to undertake,” he added.Natalie Liu contributed to this report
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Colorful Coffins Lighten Mood at New Zealand Funerals
When the pallbearers brought Phil McLean’s coffin into the chapel, there were gasps before a wave of laughter rippled through the hundreds of mourners.The coffin was a giant cream doughnut.”It overshadowed the sadness and the hard times in the last few weeks,” said his widow, Debra. “The final memory in everyone’s mind was of that doughnut, and Phil’s sense of humor.”The doughnut was the latest creation by Phil’s cousin Ross Hall, who runs a business in Auckland, New Zealand, called Dying Art, which custom builds colorful coffins.Other creations by Hall include a sailboat, a firetruck, a chocolate bar and Lego blocks. There have been glittering coffins covered in fake jewels, a casket inspired by the movie The Matrix, and plenty of coffins depicting people’s favorite beaches and holiday spots.”There are people who are happy with a brown mahogany box and that’s great,” said Hall. “But if they want to shout it out, I’m here to do it for them.”The idea first came to Hall about 15 years ago when he was writing a will and contemplating his own death.”How do I want to go out?” he thought to himself, deciding it wouldn’t be like everyone else. “So I put in my will that I want a red box with flames on it.”Six months later, Hall, whose other business is a signage and graphics company, decided to get serious. He approached a few funeral directors who looked at him with interest and skepticism. But over time, the idea took hold.Hall begins with special-made blank coffins and uses fiberboard and plywood to add details. A latex digital printer is used for the designs. Some orders are particularly complex, like the sailboat, which included a keel and rudder, cabin, sails, even metal railings and pulleys.This photo provided by Ross Hall, shows caskets shaped as Lego and a space ship in Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb 25, 2021. (Ross Hall via AP)Depending on the design, the coffins retail for between about 3,000 and 7,500 New Zealand dollars ($2,100 and $5,400).Hall said the tone of funerals has changed markedly over recent years.”People now think it’s a celebration of life rather than a mourning of death,” he said. And they’ve been willing to throw out stuffy conventions in favor of getting something unique.But a doughnut?Debra McLean said she and her late husband, who was 68 when he died in February, used to tour the country in their motorhome, and Phil loved comparing cream doughnuts in every small town, considering himself something of a connoisseur.He considered a good doughnut one that was crunchy on the outside, airy in the middle, and definitely made with fresh cream.This photo provided by Ross Hall shows a cream doughnut-shaped coffin for the funeral of Phil McLean outside a church in Tauranga, New Zealand, on Feb 17, 2021. (Ross Hall via AP)After Phil was diagnosed with bowel cancer, he had time to think about his funeral and, along with his wife and cousin, came up with the idea for the doughnut coffin. Debra said they even had 150 doughnuts delivered to the funeral in Tauranga from Phil’s favorite bakery in Whitianga, more than 160 kilometers away.Hall said his coffins are biodegradable and are usually buried or cremated along with the deceased. The only one he’s ever gotten back is his cousin’s, he said, because he used polystyrene and shaping foam, which is not environmentally friendly.Phil was switched to a plain coffin for his cremation, and Hall said he’ll keep the doughnut coffin forever. For now, it remains in the back of his white 1991 Cadillac hearse.As for his own funeral? Hall said he’s changed his mind about those red flames. He’s emailed his kids saying he wants to be buried in a clear coffin wearing nothing but a leopard-pattern G-string.”The kids say they’re not going,” he said with a laugh.
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US Intelligence Sees ‘Significant Risk’ in Afghanistan Withdrawal
The plan to pull troops from Afghanistan could give terrorist groups like al-Qaida and Islamic State a chance to regenerate the capabilities they would need to carry out an attack against the United States, according to top U.S. intelligence officials.Their warning, coming the same day U.S. President Joe Biden formally announced his decision to end America’s longest-running war, touches on the deep-rooted concerns many current and former U.S. officials have voiced about pulling 2,500 to 3,500 troops from Afghanistan, along with thousands of trainers and contractors.It also may serve to fuel further criticism of the withdrawal, with critics seizing on fears that the conditions that allowed Afghanistan to become a haven for terrorists could soon return, despite nearly two decades of fighting.”There is a significant risk once the U.S. military and the coalition militaries withdraw,” Bill Burns, recently confirmed director of the CIA, told lawmakers Wednesday.“The U.S. government’s ability to collect and act on threats will diminish. That’s simply a fact,” he said, cautioning that al-Qaida and IS in Afghanistan “remain intent on recovering the ability to attack U.S. targets, whether it’s in the region, in the West or ultimately in the homeland.”But the stark warning was accompanied by a plea for lawmakers to be “clear-eyed.”No matter how much al-Qaida and IS may want to strike the U.S., Burns said, “the reality is that neither of them have that capacity today.”Other top intelligence officials also made the case that the terror threat that caused the U.S. to go to war in Afghanistan in the first place is no longer the preeminent danger it was.“There are terrorist groups, whether it’s al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), in other parts of the world, who represent much more serious threats,” Burns said. #Afghanistan: “I was at the table for a number of discussions leading up to the decision” per @ODNIgov Dir Haines “I’m not sure that the decision was made in a specific meeting”
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) April 14, 2021Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told lawmakers the danger posed by Afghanistan has also been eclipsed by threats from countries such as China — which she called an “unparalleled priority” — as well as Russia, Iran and North Korea.”We have now over 2,000 investigations that tie back to the Chinese gvt” per @FBI’s Wray “On the economic espionage investigation side alone, it’s about a 1300% increase over the last several years.”
“We’re opening a new investigation into China every 10 hours”
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) April 14, 2021Even domestic extremists from a “broad range of ideological motivations pose a greater immediate threat,” Haines said.Lawmakers, however, like Marco Rubio, lead Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, voiced concern.“There’s a very real possibility in the very near future, sadly, tragically and in a heartbreaking way, the Taliban will regain control of all or substantial portions of Afghanistan,” he said.”If they do, I think it’s almost certain that al-Qaida will return,” Rubio added. “No one can deny it’s going to have serious security implications for our country for years to come.”Recent assessments, both from the U.S. and other countries, indicate decades of counterterrorism pressure has significantly degraded al-Qaida’s leadership and its overall numbers in Afghanistan.While officials believe al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri remains in hiding in Afghanistan, they say he is not in good health, and other high-ranking deputies have been killed, including Zawahiri’s likely successor, Abu Muhammad al-Masri, who was gunned down last August in Iran.Earlier this year, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency said al-Qaida and its affiliate, al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), had fewer than 200 members in Afghanistan and that the groups barely seemed to be active over the last few months of 2020.The DIA assessment, though, warned that al-Qaida officials would likely welcome the U.S. departure, seeing it as a chance to regenerate. And it cautioned that what al-Qaida operatives remained in Afghanistan appeared to be well-integrated into the Taliban’s command-and-control structure.Military and intelligence assessments of IS in Afghanistan, known as IS-Khorasan, indicate the group is no longer able to hold territory as it once did. But officials said earlier this year that new leadership has allowed the group, which may have as many as 2,500 fighters, to stabilize.“We are concerned about the group’s demonstrated interest in conducting external operations,” a U.S. official told VOA on the condition of anonymity, because of the sensitive nature of the intelligence.Burns, the CIA chief, told lawmakers that much of what happens next will likely depend on how closely the Afghan Taliban adhere to their deal with the U.S., in which they promised to sever ties with al-Qaida and to prevent any terror group from using Afghanistan to launch attacks against the United States.But even if the Taliban fall short, Burns told lawmakers, U.S. intelligence will be keeping a close watch on al-Qaida and IS.“The CIA and all of our partners in the U.S. government will retain a suite of capabilities, some of them remaining in place, some of them that we’ll generate, that can help us to anticipate and contest any rebuilding effort,” he said.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 8 MB480p | 11 MB540p | 14 MB720p | 26 MB1080p | 58 MBOriginal | 69 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioChina, Russia Viewed as Top Threats to US in Intel AssessmentRussiaU.S. intelligence chiefs Wednesday also voiced growing concerns about Russia’s military buildup in Crimea and along the borders of Ukraine, warning the force could form the basis for a limited military incursion.”The Russians have positioned themselves to give themselves options,” Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, DIA director, said. “They could actually be going into a series of exercises starting anytime, or they could, if they chose to, perhaps do a limited objective attack.”CyberLawmakers also heard concerns about so-called blind spots that are allowing adversaries, including China and Russia, to carry out cyber operations against the U.S.“They are utilizing U.S. infrastructure,” said General Paul Nakasone, National Security Agency director. “They realize that if they can come into the United States and use an internet service provider in a period of time … we cannot surveil that.”“They understand the timeline for a warrant to be done,” he added.”What our adversaries are doing right now, it’s not spear-phishing. It’s not guessing passwords” per @CYBERCOM_DIRNSA “It’s utilizing supply chain operations. It’s using zero day vulnerabilities…We call that, ‘above best practices'”
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) April 14, 2021
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South Korea Considers Actions Against Japan Over Plan to Release Radioactive Water from Fukushima Plant
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has ordered his Cabinet to consider filing a complaint with an international court against Japan’s decision to release radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.Presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok told reporters Wednesday in Seoul that President Moon wants officials to examine whether to bring the matter to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced Tuesday that his government had approved a plan to empty 1.3 million tons of contaminated water from Fukushima into the ocean beginning next year, when the plant’s storage tanks will be full. Suga said the plan to release the water in the sea is an “unavoidable” part of decommissioning the Fukushima facility.Moon also personally expressed his concerns about the plan Wednesday to Koichi Aiboshi, Japan’s envoy to South Korea, when Aiboshi formally presented his credentials. He told the ambassador the two countries are geographically close to each other and share the same sea.An aerial view shows the storage tanks for treated water at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, Feb. 13, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo.Aiboshi was formally summoned to South Korea’s foreign ministry Tuesday to hear a formal protest about the plan.The Fukushima Daiichi plant became inoperable after a 9.0-magnitude quake triggered a tsunami that swept across northeastern Japan before reaching Fukushima prefecture.The high waves knocked out the plant’s power supply and cooling systems and led to a meltdown of its three reactors, sending massive amounts of radiation into the air and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents, making it the world’s worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl accident.China has also criticized Tokyo’s plan for Fukushima, calling it “irresponsible.”
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Aid Group Steps in Amid Ongoing Violence in Myanmar
The Free Burma Rangers — a multi-ethnic humanitarian group that has aided oppressed ethnic groups, mainly in Myanmar — and reported on the conflicts for more than 25 years has increased aid in the border regions of Karen state, site of the recent air strikes by the Myanmar army. The group has worked in other countries including Sudan, Syria, Iraq and Kurdistan. From Thailand, Steve Sandford has more. Camera: Steve Sandford
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Hong Kong’s Delayed Legislative Elections Set for December
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Tuesday that the semiautonomous Chinese territory’s legislative elections will take place in December, more than a year after they were postponed by authorities citing public health risks from the coronavirus pandemic.Lam also said that laws will be amended so that inciting voters not to vote or to cast blank or invalid votes will be made illegal, although voters themselves are free to boycott voting or cast votes as they wish.”When a person willfully obstructs or prevents any person from voting at an election, we will consider it corrupt conduct,” said Lam.Lam said that the elections will take place on Dec. 19. The elections were initially slated to be held last September.Lam was speaking a day ahead of the first reading of draft amendments to various laws in the city’s legislature, to accommodate Beijing’s planned changes to the city’s electoral system.Beijing in March announced changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system, expanding the number of seats in the legislature while reducing the number of directly elected seats from 35 to 20.The move is part of a two-phase effort to rein in political protest and opposition in Hong Kong, which is part of China but has had a more liberal political system as a former British colony. China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong last year and is following up this year with a revamp of the electoral process.The crackdown comes in the wake of months of pro-democracy protests in 2019 that brought hundreds of thousands to the streets and turned violent as the government resisted the movement’s demands.In the current 70-member legislature, voters elect half the members and the other half are chosen by constituencies representing various professions and interest groups. Many of the constituencies lean pro-Beijing, ensuring that wing a majority in the legislature.The new body will have 20 elected members, 30 chosen by the constituencies and 40 by an Election Committee which also chooses the city’s leader.The committee, which will be expanded from 1,200 to 1,500 members, is dominated by supporters of the central government in Beijing.A new, separate body will also be set up to review the qualifications of candidates for office in Hong Kong to ensure that the city is governed by “patriots,” in the language of the central government.Elections for the Election Committee, which will choose the city’s leader and 40 lawmakers, will be held on Sept. 19. Elections for the chief executive will take place on March 27, 2022, Lam said Tuesday.
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Biden’s Climate Envoy Kerry to Hold Talks with China, South Korea
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry will travel to China this week to discuss international efforts to tackle global warming, seeking to press his counterparts to make ambitious emissions reduction targets despite tension in the U.S.-China relationship.The U.S. State Department said Kerry would travel to Shanghai and Seoul, South Korea, for talks Wednesday through Saturday, ahead of President Joe Biden’s virtual summit with world leaders on climate change next week.Kerry will “discuss raising global climate ambition,” during his visits, the State Department said.A source familiar with the plans said Kerry was due to arrive in Shanghai late on Wednesday and hold meetings on Thursday and Friday.Kerry’s trip comes after an earlier summit in Alaska between U.S. and Chinese officials led to fiery interactions that illustrated the depth of tension between the world’s two largest economies at the beginning of Biden’s tenure in office.”He’ll be focused on discussing climate and how we can work with leaders around the region to get control of … the climate crisis,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Monday about Kerry.The former secretary of state, whom Biden selected to represent the United States in international climate talks, will seek to find common ground on climate change with China’s Xie Zhenhua.Kerry has been urging countries around the world to set ambitious targets for cutting their greenhouse gas emissions. The United States is set to announce its own new target for emissions cuts by 2030 in the coming week.Biden’s Earth Day summit, scheduled for April 22-23, will be a chance for the White House to reassert U.S. leadership on climate change. Biden, a Democrat, brought the United States back into the Paris climate accord after his predecessor, Republican President Donald Trump, withdrew in 2017.
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UN Rights Chief Warns Myanmar Heading Toward Syria-like Civil War
The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Michele Bachelet, warns Myanmar could be headed toward a bloody civil war like Syria unless the violence is brought under control. Bachelet is calling on all states with influence, especially Myanmar’s neighbors, to apply concerted pressure on the ruling military junta to end its campaign of repression and slaughter of its people. FILE – U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet attends a news conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 9, 2020.She said many of the grave human rights violations being committed by Myanmar’s military might amount to crimes against humanity and must be stopped. Bachelet’s spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani, said the high commissioner fears a continuation of these crimes could tear the country apart and lead to a civil war. “The high commissioner states that there are clear echoes of Syria in 2011,” Shamdasani said. “There too, we saw peaceful protests met with unnecessary and clearly disproportionate force. The state’s brutal, persistent repression of its own people led to some individuals taking up arms, followed by a downward and rapidly expanding spiral of violence all across the country.” Syria’s decadelong civil war has had disastrous consequences. The United Nations estimates 400,000 people have died, 11.7 million are displaced both within Syria and as refugees, and more than 11 million people need international aid to survive. Shamdasani said credible reports indicate the past weekend in Myanmar was particularly deadly. She said the country’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, attacked civilians with rocket-propelled grenades and mortar fire, killing at least 82 people. Some people are using makeshift or primitive weapons in self-defense, she said, and clashes between the military and ethnic armed groups in Kachin, Shan and Kayn states are intensifying. FILE – This screengrab provided via AFPTV and taken from a broadcast by Myitkyina News Journal on March 27, 2021, shows security forces cracking down on protesters during a demonstration against the military coup in Myanmar’s Kachin state.”As arrests continue, with at least 3,080 people currently detained, there are reports that 23 people have been sentenced to death following secret trials — including four protesters and 19 others who were accused of political and criminal offenses. The mass arrests have forced hundreds of people to go into hiding,” Shamdasani said. She added that the country’s economic, education and health infrastructure are at the point of collapse. Millions of people have lost their livelihoods and COVID-19 measures have been brought to a standstill, she said. Bachelet has called the situation untenable. She said nations must cut off the supply of arms and finances to the military leadership that allow it to kill and seriously violate its people’s human rights.
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Myanmar Army Cracks Down on Journalists
The Myanmar army is attacking journalists and increasing censorship in its deadly crackdown against opponents of the February coup. Five major media groups have been banned and the internet has been shut down, but Burmese journalists are not giving up. For VOA, Steve Sanford reports from Mae Sot, Thailand.Video editor: Henry Hernandez
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Inspired by US Free Libraries, Indonesian Villagers Build Mini-Learning Hubs
Inspired by a growing trend in the U.S., some villagers in Indonesia have set up free libraries to foster the love of reading and learning among local children. As VOA’s Vina Mubtadi reports, there were some unique challenges to overcome in Indonesia to make the project work.Camera: Vina Mubtadi
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UN Warns Situation in Myanmar Could Become ‘Full-blown Conflict’
Anti-coup demonstrators across Myanmar turned the country’s traditional New Year’s celebration into a quiet protest against the military junta Tuesday, as the United Nations warned the situation could deteriorate into “full-blown conflict.”
The February 1 coup that removed de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her civilian government from power has prompted people in Myanmar to forgo the usual rituals of the five-day Thingyan festival, including raucous water fights in the streets. Protesters instead painted pro-democracy symbols and slogans on the traditional flower pots displayed during Thingyan, including the three-fingered salute that has come to symbolize Myanmar’s resistance movement.
The coup has sparked daily mass demonstrations across Myanmar demanding the return of Suu Kyi and her elected government to power.
The junta has responded with an increasingly violent and deadly crackdown against the protesters. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a nongovernmental monitoring organization, estimates that more than 700 people have been killed since the coup, including more than 80 protesters killed Friday in the southern city of Bago, located more than 70 kilometers northeast of the country’s largest city, Yangon.
The violence prompted U.N. human rights commissioner Michelle Bachelet to issue a statement Monday warning that the situation in Myanmar is “heading towards a full-blown conflict” similar to the current bloody civil war in Syria.
“Statements of condemnation, and limited targeted sanctions, are clearly not enough,” Bachelet continued. “States with influence need to urgently apply concerted pressure on the military in Myanmar to halt the commission of grave human rights violations and possible crimes against humanity against the people.”
Suu Kyi has been detained since the coup, and is facing six criminal charges, the most serious of them a charge of breaking the country’s colonial-era secrets law that could put her in prison for 14 years if convicted.
The military cited widespread fraud in last November’s general election — which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won in a landslide — as its reasons for overthrowing Suu Kyi’s government.
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Taiwan Unveils New Naval Warship as China Encroaches on Island’s Air Defense Zone
Taiwan formally introduced a new naval warship Tuesday as China’s military increases its presence near the self-ruled island.
President Tsai Ing-wen was on hand in the southern port city of Kaohsiung for the launching of the new 10,000-ton amphibious transport ship, the first from Taiwan’s new domestic naval shipbuilding program.
President Tsai said the new vessel represented a “milestone” for the program, and that it will bolster Taiwan’s national defense.
Earlier Monday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said 25 Chinese warplanes entered the island’s air defense zone along its southern border, including 15 fighter jets, four bombers, two anti-submarine warfare planes and an airborne early warning plane.
Beijing considers the island as part of its territory even though it has been self-governing since the end of China’s civil war in 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces were driven off the mainland by Mao Zedong’s Communists. China has vowed to bring the island under its control by any means necessary, including a military takeover.
Washington officially switched formal diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but the Trump administration angered China as it increasingly embraced Taiwan both diplomatically and militarily after taking office in 2017 and throughout its four-year tenure.
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Japan to Start Releasing Fukushima Water into Sea in 2 Years
Japan’s government decided Tuesday to start releasing massive amounts of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean in two years — an option fiercely opposed by local fishermen and residents.The decision, long speculated but delayed for years due to safety concerns and protests, came at a meeting of Cabinet ministers who endorsed the ocean release as the best option.The accumulating water has been stored in tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi plant since 2011, when a massive earthquake and tsunami damaged its reactors and their cooling water became contaminated and began leaking.The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., says its storage capacity will be full late next year.Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the ocean release was the “most realistic” option and that disposing the water is “unavoidable” for the decommissioning of the Fukushima plant, which is expected to take decades.TEPCO and government officials say tritium, which is not harmful in small amounts, cannot be removed from the water, but all other selected radionuclides can be reduced to levels allowed for release. Some scientists say the long-term impact on marine life from low-dose exposure to such large volumes of water is unknown.Under the basic plan adopted by the ministers, TEPCO will start releasing the water in about two years after building a facility under the regulatory authority’s safety requirements. It said the disposal of the water cannot be postponed further and is necessary to improve the environment surrounding the plant so residents can live there safely.TEPCO says its water storage capacity of 1.37 million tons will be full around the fall of 2022. Also, the area now filled with storage tanks will have to be freed up for building new facilities that will be needed for removing melted fuel debris from inside the reactors, a process expected to start in coming years.In the decade since the tsunami disaster, water meant to cool the nuclear material has constantly escaped from the damaged primary containment vessels into the basements of the reactor buildings. To make up for the loss, more water has been pumped into the reactors to continue to cool the melted fuel. Water is also pumped out and treated, part of which is recycled as cooling water, and the remainder stored in 1,020 tanks now holding 1.25 million tons of radioactive water.Those tanks that occupy a large space at the plant complex interfere with the safe and steady progress of the decommissioning, Economy and Industry Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama said. The tanks also could be damaged and leak in case of another powerful earthquake or tsunami, the report said.Releasing the water to the ocean was described as the most realistic method by a government panel that for nearly seven years had discussed how to dispose of the water without further harming Fukushima’s image, fisheries and other businesses. The report it prepared last year mentioned evaporation as a less desirable option.About 70% of the water in the tanks exceeds allowable discharge limits for contamination but will be filtered again and diluted with seawater before it is released, the report says. According to a preliminary estimate, gradual releases of water will take about 30 years but will be completed before the plant is fully decommissioned.Japan will abide by international rules for a release, obtain support from the International Atomic Energy Agency and others, and ensure disclosure of data and transparency to gain understanding of the international community, the report said. China and South Korea have raised serious concern about the discharge of the water and its potential impact.The government has said it will do the utmost to support local fisheries, and the report said TEPCO would compensate for damages if they occur despite those efforts.Kajiyama is set to visit Fukushima on Tuesday afternoon to meet with local town and fisheries officials to explain the decision. He said he will continue to make efforts to gain their understanding over the next two years.
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Mekong Dams Bring Hardship to Thai Villagers
The Mekong is one of the world’s great rivers — a 5,000-kilometer waterway threading from China through Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. However, dams have subverted the ecosystem, bringing drought during the monsoon season and high waters when it should be dry. That has forever changed the lives of those who depend on the river for food and work in northeastern Thailand, a poor region bordering Laos and Cambodia. Vijitra Duangdee reports for VOA news, from Nong Khai, Thailand.Camera: Black Squirrel Productions
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Myanmar’s Junta Levies New Charge Against Aung San Suu Kyi
Myanmar’s ruling military junta filed a sixth charge against deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday as demonstrations continued against the February 1 coup.
Min Min Soe, Suu Kyi’s lawyer, told reporters that his client was charged a second time for violating the country’s COVID-19 protocols during a court appearance via videoconference. Min Min Soe says Suu Kyi asked the court to allow her to meet with her lawyers in person during Monday’s session.
The 75-year-old Suu Kyi is already facing charges including having six handheld radios in her possession, the most serious of them a charge of breaking the country’s colonial-era secrets law that could put her in prison for 14 years if convicted.
Suu Kyi and several members of her civilian government have been detained since the military took control more than two months ago, saying there was widespread fraud in last November’s general election which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won in a landslide.
The coup has sparked daily mass demonstrations across Myanmar demanding the return of Suu Kyi and her elected government to power.
The junta has responded with ever-increasing violent and deadly crackdown against the demonstrators. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a nongovernmental monitoring organization, estimates that more than 700 people have been killed by the junta since the peaceful protests began, including more than 80 protesters killed Friday in the southern city of Bago, located more than 70 kilometers northeast of the country’s largest city, Yangon.
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Japan Begins COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts for Citizens 65 and Older
Japan has begun vaccinating its elderly residents against COVID-19 as Tokyo imposes a set of tougher restrictions to blunt a fourth wave of the pandemic. Only about 120 sites across Japan opened Monday to distribute the first dose of the two-shot Pfizer vaccine to people 65 and older. Officials say they expect about 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to arrive by the end of June, enough to inoculate Japan’s 36 million elderly residents as the country races to vaccinate as many people as possible in time for the Tokyo Olympics, which begin on July 23. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has urged bars and restaurants in the prefecture to reduce their normal business hours, and is urging residents to avoid non-essential trips under an order that will remain in effect until May 11. Many areas of Japan are under various states of emergency due to growing rates of new coronavirus infections, which have complicated plans for the traditional relay of the Olympic torch across the country. Britain eases restrictionsMonday marked the beginning of Britain’s reopening after nearly three months under a strict lockdown in response to a new wave of infections sparked by more transmissible strain of the coronavirus discovered late last year in the southeastern county of Kent. Thousands of gyms, hair salons, retail shops and zoos reopened their doors across England, along with bars and restaurants, which are limited to just outdoor service. Chris, owner of Stag Co barbers, cuts hair as hairdresser shops reopen, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions ease, in Herford, Britain, Apr. 12, 2021.Similar restrictions remain in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which have their own timetables for reopening. Britain has the sixth highest number of COVID-19 infections in the world with 4.3 million confirmed cases, including 127,331 deaths, the fifth highest in that category, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The country has administered more than 39 million doses of vaccines, with almost 7 million people fully vaccinated. The United States continues to lead in both cases and deaths, with 31.1 million total infections and 562,066 deaths. China looking at other vaccinesMeanwhile, China said it is considering using vaccines developed in other countries in conjunction with vaccines developed in China to boost the efficacy of China’s vaccines. FILE – A community health worker disseminates information about vaccination against COVID-19 at a residential compound in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, China, Apr. 7, 2021. (China Daily via Reuters)Gao Fu, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told attendees at a conference in the southwest city of Chengdu Saturday that public health officials must “consider ways to solve the issue that efficacy rates of existing vaccines are not high.” Gao’s comments were a rare admission from China about its domestically produced COVID-19 vaccines. Health authorities in Brazil say late-stage clinical trials of the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Beijing-based private company Sinovac was just barely over 50% effective. In the United Arab Emirates, medical workers have recently begun offering a third dose of the vaccine developed by China’s Sinopharm company after reports surfaced of very low numbers of antibodies produced after the two dose regimen.
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Matsuyama Becomes First Japanese Golfer to Wear Masters Green
Hideki Matsuyama won the 85th Masters in dramatic fashion Sunday, holding off Xander Schauffele to become the first Japanese man to capture a major golf title.Carrying the hopes of a nation on his shoulders, Matsuyama calmly grinded out clutch pars and struck for crucial birdies in a pressure-packed march at Augusta National, hanging on over the final holes for a historic one-stroke victory.Matsuyama took the green jacket symbolic of Masters supremacy, a top prize of $2.07 million (1.74 million euros) and a place for the ages in Japanese sports history.”I’m really happy,” he said through a translator. “Hopefully I’ll be a pioneer in this and many other Japanese will follow. I’m happy to open the floodgate and many more will follow me.”After seeing his seven-stroke lead with seven holes remaining shaved to two shots with three to go, Matsuyama watched Schauffele’s ball end up in the water off the 16th tee on the way to a triple-bogey disaster.”I felt like I gave him a little bit of a run and made a little bit of excitement for the tournament until I met a watery grave there,” Schauffele said. “I’ll be able to sleep tonight. It might be hard but I’ll be OK.”Matsuyama settled for a bogey but closed with par at 17 and a bogey at 18 to fire a one-over-par 73 and finish 72 holes on 10-under 278.”My nerves really didn’t start on the second nine,” Matsuyama said. “It was from the start today to the very last putt.”American Will Zalatoris was second in his Masters debut on 279 after a closing 70 with U.S. three-time major winner Jordan Spieth and American Schauffele sharing third on 281.”It was a fun week,” Zalatoris said. “I know I can play with the best players in the world.”Matsuyama became only the second Asian man to win a major title after South Korea’s Yang Yong-eun at the 2009 PGA Championship.No prior Japanese player had finished better than fourth at the Masters.Japan’s two previous major golf titles belonged to women, Chako Higuchi from the 1977 LPGA Championship and Hinako Shibuno at the 2019 Women’s British Open.
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South Korean Vehicle Battery Makers Settle Trade Dispute
Two South Korean electric vehicle battery manufacturers said Sunday they have settled an extended trade dispute that will allow one of them to make batteries in the southern U.S. state of Georgia.
U.S. President Joe Biden, who has pushed for more electric vehicles in the United States as part of his clean-energy agenda, called the trade settlement “a win for American workers and the American auto industry.”
The agreement between LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation ended the need for Biden to intervene in the dispute by a Sunday night deadline.
In a joint statement, the companies said SK will provide LG Energy with a total of $1.8 billion and an undisclosed royalty. SK has contracted to make batteries for an electric Ford F-150 truck and an electric Volkswagen SUV.
“We have decided to settle and to compete in an amicable way, all for the future of the U.S. and South Korean electric vehicle battery industries,” the leaders of the two companies, Jun Kim of SK, and Jong Hyun Kim of LG Energy, said in the statement.
Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia, who at Biden’s request had initiated negotiations between the two companies, said the settlement “has saved the battery plant in Commerce, Georgia, ensuring thousands of jobs, billions in future investment, and that Georgia will be a leader in electric vehicle battery production for years to come.”
The dispute had threatened a $2.6 billion factory SK Innovation is building in Georgia.
Brian Kemp, Georgia’s Republican governor, called the settlement “fantastic news for northeast Georgia and our state’s growing electric vehicle industry.”
The U.S. has more than 279 million gas-powered vehicles, and the demand for switching to electric vehicles is expected to increase sharply in the next 15 years.
The Biden administration had until Sunday to decide whether to veto a ruling by the International Trade Commission in favor of LG in an intellectual property case. The ruling had threatened SK with a ban on supplying batteries in the U.S.
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Blinken Faults China for Slow Response on Virus
The U.S. secretary of state assailed China Sunday for its early, slow response to the threat of the coronavirus more than a year ago, saying it led to “more egregious results” throughout the world than “might otherwise” have been the case. “I think China knows that in the early stages of COVID, it didn’t do what it needed to do, which was to, in real time, give access to international experts, in real time to share information, in real time to provide real transparency,” Antony Blinken told NBC News’s “Meet the Press” show. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus. There was no immediate comment from China on Blinken’s remarks. Former U.S. President Donald Trump had also been critical of China’s response, frequently using terms like the “China flu” or “Kung flu” to describe the infection. FILE – Cemetery workers wearing protective gear lower the coffin of a person who died from complications related to COVID-19 into a gravesite at the Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Apr. 7, 2021.Blinken said the worldwide death toll, which currently stands at more than 2.9 million people, “speaks to what China and other countries have to do now. As we’re dealing with COVID-19, we also have to put in place a stronger global health security system to make sure that this doesn’t happen again, or, if it does happen again, we’re able to, to mitigate it, to get ahead of it.” He said the world must make “a real commitment to transparency, to information sharing, to access for experts. It means strengthening the World Health Organization and reforming it so it can do that. And China has to play a part in that.” FILE – Peter Ben Embarek of the World Health Organization holds up a chart showing pathways of transmission of the virus during a press conference in Wuhan, China, Feb. 9, 2021.Blinken said further investigation needs to be done on the origins of the virus in Wuhan, China “so we fully understand what happened, in order to have the best shot possible preventing it from happening again. That’s why we need to get to the bottom of this.” The WHO said in March the virus probably started in bats, and that it’s “extremely unlikely” the infection came from a laboratory leak. The United States is now vaccinating millions of Americans against the virus every week, vastly more than in many other countries, with President Joe Biden saying that in a week all adults who want to get inoculated, regardless of their age, will be eligible to get their shot. Blinken said the U.S. government’s first responsibility for vaccinations is in the United States. But he said, “I think we have a significant responsibility and we’re going to be the world leader on helping to make sure that the entire world gets vaccinated.” “And here’s why: unless and until the vast majority of people in the world are vaccinated, it’s still going to be a problem for us,” Blinken said. “Because as long as the virus is replicating somewhere, it could be mutating, and then it could be coming back to hit us.” FILE – A woman walks past newspaper billboards during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Johannesburg, South Africa, Feb. 8, 2021.The top U.S. diplomat said the United States, aside from rejoining the WHO that Trump withdrew from, is intent on making vaccines “more available, especially to low- and middle-income countries. We’ve worked a very important arrangement with India, with Japan, and Australia, the so-called ‘Quad Countries,’ to increase vaccine production around the world.” “And we’ve made some loans to our nearest neighbors, Mexico and Canada,” he said. “As we get more comfortable with where we are in vaccinating every American, we are then looking at what we can do, what more we can do around the world.” TaiwanAside from the virus, Blinken said the U.S. is concerned about the “increasingly aggressive actions the government in Beijing has directed at Taiwan, raising tensions” in the Taiwan Strait between the island and mainland China. The U.S. for years has maintained its “one China” policy, with China considering Taiwan as part of its domain. At the same time, Blinken said the U.S. has “a commitment to Taiwan…a bipartisan commitment that’s existed for many, many years, to make sure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself, and to make sure that we’re sustaining peace and security in the western Pacific.” “We stand behind those commitments,” the State Department chief said. “And all I can tell you is it would be a serious mistake for anyone to try to change the existing status quo by force.” Taiwan Reports New Incursion by Chinese Jets into Defense Zone Late last month Taiwan reported 20 Chinese aircraft were involved in one such incursionHe declined to speculate on whether the U.S. would militarily defend Taiwan if China were to take control of the territory. China has expressed opposition in recent days to a series of computerized war games that Taiwan is conducting to simulate how the island might respond to a potential Chinese invasion. China said Friday that Taiwan’s military “won’t stand a chance” if Beijing chose to invade. China has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.
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India’s Concerns over Myanmar Drive Policy, Analysts Say
Analysts say India’s concern that isolating Myanmar’s military, which staged the country’s February 1 coup, will drive it closer to China, and fears of instability in a country with a long common border are driving a desire by New Delhi to engage the regime to resolve the crisis there.The United States and other Western democracies are imposing economic sanctions to put pressure on Myanmar’s military, which has mounted a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests, resulting in hundreds of deaths since it ousted de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.Critics have questioned why India, the world’s largest democracy, has not denounced the junta more strongly, but analysts say New Delhi believes sanctions may not be the way to defuse the crisis.“From India’s perspective, keeping a channel of communication open with Myanmar’s military is very important,” said Harsh Pant, head of the Strategic Studies Program at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.“We don’t want a situation where China is the only country talking to them and see another country in India’s neighborhood go into the Chinese orbit,” he said.India’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, K. Nagaraj Naidu, told a U.N. Security Council meeting on Myanmar Friday that “lack of engagement will only create a vacuum which will be counterproductive.”He said that “we therefore support all initiatives to engage with Myanmar and resolve issues peacefully without further bloodshed,” even as he condemned the use of violence.After its initial cautious response, India has taken a stronger stance in recent days as the crisis in Myanmar has mounted, calling for an end to the violence and urging the military to release the hundreds of political prisoners now being held in Myanmar.”We stand for the restoration of democracy in Myanmar,” Arindam Bagchi, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman, told reporters in New Delhi this month. “India is ready to play a balanced and constructive role to resolve the crisis,” he said.India’s more emphatic response came days after the presence of its military attaché at an Armed Forces Day parade in Myanmar raised questions about New Delhi’s attendance and drew condemnation from Myanmar’s pro-democracy Civil Disobedience Movement. The March 27 celebrations coincided with a savage crackdown that saw at least 100 protesters killed.Family members cry in front of a man after he was shot dead during a crackdown on an anti-coup protesters by security forces in Yangon, Myanmar, March 27, 2021.Calling India “one of the greatest democracies in the world,” the movement asked on Twitter “why do you shake hands with the generals whose hands are soaked with our blood.”India was the only major democracy among the eight countries that sent representatives to the celebration. The others were China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand and Russia.“I don’t think India’s presence was meant to send a message of support or validate the coup,” Gautam Mukhopadhaya, India’s former ambassador to Myanmar, said.“I find it difficult to believe that India would lean on the side of the military in the current context when it is very clearly against its own people,” he said.He said, though, that India and Southeast Asia countries have taken a more nuanced approach to the situation in Myanmar because of worries about large-scale instability in a neighboring country and would prefer to seek a negotiated solution.“We have security stakes different from powers in the West. My expectation is that India will use whatever equities it has with the military to try and talk the generals back,” he said.India has built ties with the Myanmar government during the past decade as it has sought to offset China’s influence in the country that provides it with an overland route to the Indian Ocean, a strategic waterway where Beijing has steadily increased its footprint.Myanmar’s army has cooperated with New Delhi in destroying hideouts of insurgents who operated in India’s northeastern states and sought sanctuary across the border in Myanmar. New Delhi has also increased defense and economic ties with the country in recent years.An Indian national flag flies next to an immigration check post on the India-Myanmar border in Zokhawthar village in Champhai district of India’s northeastern state of Mizoram, March 16, 2021.There have been missteps in India’s approach in the wake of the recent coup, say analysts. As refugees from Myanmar escaping the junta’s harsh crackdown fled into India, the federal government asked local authorities to stop their influx and deport those who had crossed over.However, northeastern states have called for a “humanitarian” response to the refugees, with whom they share ethnic ties, and are providing shelter to an estimated 700 who have crossed over.Myanmar nationals including those who said they are police and firemen and recently fled to India, flash the three-finger salute at an undisclosed location in India’s northeastern state of Mizoram, near the border, March 15, 2021.Mukhopadhaya, who was India’s ambassador between 2013 and 2016, said he believes Myanmar’s military has made a “serious miscalculation” and will find it difficult to suppress the growing civilian protests. He said he is optimistic that India will make “pro-people” choices as the situation evolves in the neighboring country in the coming weeks.However, most agree that isolating Myanmar is not a choice for New Delhi in a changing geopolitical situation where many now view China as a threat.“If the objective of the United States in particular and Western powers in general is to manage China’s rise, then you have to look at countries through a more complex prism,” Pant said. “Wherever the West has isolated countries, China has filled the void.”
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8 Dead, Dozens Hurt as Indonesia Quake Shakes East Java
A strong earthquake on Indonesia’s main island of Java killed eight people, including a woman whose motorcycle was hit by falling rocks, and damaged more than 1,300 buildings, officials said Sunday. It did not trigger a tsunami.The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.0 quake struck off the island’s southern coast at 2 p.m. Saturday. It was centered 45 kilometers south of Sumberpucung town of Malang District in East Java province, at a depth of 82 kilometers.Rahmat Triyono, the head of Indonesia’s earthquake and tsunami center, said the undersea tremblor did not have the potential to cause a tsunami. Still, he urged people to stay away from slopes of soil or rocks that have the potential for landslides.This was the second deadly disaster to hit Indonesia this week, after Tropical Cyclone Seroja caused a severe downpour Sunday that killed at least 174 people and left 48 still missing in East Nusa Tenggara province. Some victims were buried in either mudslides or solidified lava from a volcanic eruption in November, while others were swept away by flash floods. Thousands of homes with damaged.Saturday’s quake caused falling rocks to kill a woman on a motorcycle and badly injured her husband in East Java’s Lumajang district, said Raditya Jati, spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.He said about 1,189 homes and 150 public facilities, including schools, hospitals and government offices, were damaged. Rescuers retrieved four bodies from the rubble in Lumajang’s Kali Uling village. Three people were also confirmed killed by the quake in Malang district.Television reports showed people running in panic from malls and buildings in several cities in East Java province.Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 270 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.In January, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed at least 105 people and injured nearly 6,500, while more than 92,000 were displaced, after striking Mamuju and Majene districts in West Sulawesi province.
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