Washington — While some youth in China admit to spending an excessive amount of time on the internet, many are skeptical about new government proposals aimed at regulating the time young Chinese spend online and on social media sites.
In conversations at China’s annual political meetings that wrapped up in Beijing this week, retired international basketball star Yao Ming, called for some limits on internet access for young people in China. Yao was advocating for a plan that would mandate children turn off all electronics for one full day every academic semester and get outside and exercise.
Officials also called for tighter controls of online gaming and cited concerns about harmful online content, warning that excessive internet use is hurting the physical health and academic performance of Chinese minors under the age of 18.
China already has some of the world’s tightest internet controls, with tens of thousands of websites, foreign social media sites and content blocked. It also has a massive online population.
On social media in China some commenters praised the efforts, but many expressed frustrations with what they viewed to be an inherent contradiction within the policies. Some noted that children are already in school most of the day and rely on internet resources to complete assignments.
“Schools should assign less homework that requires phone check-ins and online research,” wrote one user from northern Hebei Province.
“Minors get home around 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. at night, so when do they even have time to use social media?” wrote another user from Beijing.
A college student in Beijing, who spoke with VOA on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, said she agreed with officials’ concerns, but added that policies like the one suggested by Yao are likely to have a limited impact.
“Chinese teenagers and young people are absolutely addicted to the internet. You can find people walking on the streets looking at their phones everywhere and all the time. We use the internet to do almost everything,” the student told VOA.
“I don’t really think proposals to limit internet accessibility for young people would be effective. The addiction is always hard to get rid of, so how can a ‘limit day’ alleviate the excessive internet use?” the student said, using the word “addiction” to describe the excessive use of the internet.
According to the “2024 China Game Industry Minor Protection Report” released by the Game Working Committee of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association, as of December 2023, the number of internet users in China under the age of 18 reached 196 million, with the percentage of minors who are on the internet and can access it reaching 97.3%.
Will Wang, a Chinese student attending college in the United States, said when he returns home in Beijing during school break his impression is that the internet is used heavily in everyday life, and that teenagers are very active on social media platforms.
“There’s definitely a significant increase in screen and internet usage across all ages in China…many Chinese teenagers are deeply engaged with TikTok, RedNote, Bilibili, and many internet platforms,” Wang said in a written response to VOA.
Amid the busy academic and personal lives of young Chinese, the internet provides them with a rare space for privacy, which Wang said is fueling high levels of internet use.
“Most Chinese teenagers don’t have a lot of private space for themselves at home or at school so [the] internet is the only option, especially with their busy schedules––nearly every kid has to attend some sort of classes or studying-related activities outside of school,” Wang said. “For teenagers, if anything, [the] internet makes them more connected with their friends and the world.”
Xu Quan, a media commentator based in Hong Kong, said online spaces can have a positive effect on children, who are often overwhelmed with parental and educational expectations.
“Contrary to what some might think, the internet helps them deal with stress to a certain extent. If you were to remove the internet from their lives, that would actually be harmful to their physical and mental well-being,” Xu told VOA.
The recent proposals to limit internet use build on previous regulations regarding youth internet use. In October 2020, China revised the “Law on the Protection of Minors,” adding an “internet protection” chapter requiring that social media, gaming and live streaming platforms implement tools to limit their excessive use. The law targeted gaming addictions in particular.
A 2021 notice required strict limits on gaming time allotments for children under 18. The regulation banned gaming between the hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., and limited minors to no more than one hour of gaming per day on weekdays or two hours per day on weekends.
During Chinese New Year this year, Tencent Games issued a “limited play order” for minors. During the 32-day break from academics, teenagers were only permitted to play the company’s games for a total of 15 hours.
However, all of these regulations can be circumvented through using or creating accounts belonging to adults, who are not subject to the restrictions.
Despite previous momentum, A Qiang, who used to work in the Chinese media industry, thinks proposals from the recently concluded political meetings in Beijing are just talk and won’t lead to any concrete policy change.
The real way forward, he argues, is by lessening burdens impacting the quality of minors’ lives offline such as intense academic pressure.
The problem is not that they have too much freedom online but have too little freedom offline, he said.
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Category: East
East news. East is the direction toward which the Earth rotates about its axis, and therefore the general direction from which the Sun appears to rise. The practice of praying towards the East is older than Christianity, but has been adopted by this religion as the Orient was thought of as containing mankind’s original home
Exclusive: Second Iranian ship suspected of carrying missile ingredient leaves China
WASHINGTON — A second Iranian ship that Western news reports have named as part of a scheme to import a missile propellant ingredient from China is heading to Iran with a major cargo load, an exclusive VOA analysis has found. Ship-tracking websites show the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Jairan departed China on Monday, a month later than the expected departure cited by one of the news reports.
The Jairan was named in January and February articles by The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and CNN as one of two Iranian cargo ships Tehran is using to import 1,000 metric tons of sodium perchlorate from China. The three news outlets cited unnamed Western intelligence sources as saying the purported shipment could be transformed into enough ammonium perchlorate — a key solid fuel propellant component — to produce 260 midrange Iranian missiles.
The other Iranian cargo ship named in the news reports, the Golbon, completed a 19-day journey from eastern China to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on Feb. 13. During the trip, it made a two-day stop at southern China’s Zhuhai Gaolan port and delivered an unknown cargo to Iran, according to ship-tracking website MarineTraffic.
Both the Golbon and the Jairan are sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department as vessels operated by the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, which itself is sanctioned for being what the State Department has called “the preferred shipping line for Iranian proliferators and procurement agents.”
As the Golbon sailed from China to Iran in late January and early February, the Jairan’s automatic identification system transponder — a device that transmits positional and other data as part of an internationally mandated tracking system — reported the vessel as being docked at eastern China’s Liuheng Island.
In a joint review of the Jairan’s AIS data on MarineTraffic and fellow ship-tracking website Seasearcher, VOA and Dubai-based intelligence analyst Martin Kelly of EOS Risk Group determined that the Jairan reported no significant draught change while docked at Liuheng Island through February and into early March. That meant the Iranian vessel was sitting at the almost same depth in the water as when it arrived in eastern China late last year, indicating it had not been loaded with any major cargo since then.
The Jairan remained at Liuheng Island until March 3, when it headed south toward Zhuhai Gaolan and docked at the port on March 8. Two days later, the Jairan departed, reporting its destination as Bandar Abbas with an expected arrival of March 26. The Iranian ship also reported a significant draught change upon leaving Zhuhai Gaolan, transmitting data showing it was sitting more than 2 meters deeper in the water and indicating it had taken on a major cargo at the port, Kelly told VOA.
As of Friday, local time, the Jairan was in the waters of Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago, heading southwest toward the Singapore Strait.
The U.S. State Department had no comment on the Jairan’s departure from China when contacted by VOA. Iran’s U.N. mission in New York did not respond to a similar VOA request for comment, emailed on Tuesday.
Last month, the State Department told VOA it was aware of the January news reports by The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal regarding Iran’s purported use of the Golbon and Jairan to import sodium perchlorate from China.
A spokesperson said the State Department does not comment on intelligence matters but “remains focused on preventing the proliferation of items, equipment, and technology that could benefit Iran’s missile or other weapons programs and continues to hold Iran accountable through sanctions.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded to the news reports in a Jan. 23 press briefing, asserting that China abides by its own export controls and international obligations and rejects other countries’ imposition of what Beijing considers illegal unilateral sanctions.
In the past month, Chinese state media have made no reference to the Jairan, while China’s social media platforms also have had no observable discussion about the Iranian ship, according to a review by VOA’s Mandarin Service.
In its Jan. 22 report, The Financial Times cited “security officials in two Western countries” as saying the Jairan would depart China in early February, but it did not leave until March 10.
Gregory Brew, a senior Iran analyst at the Eurasia Group, a New York-based political risk consultancy, said Iran may have wanted to see if the Golbon could complete its voyage from China without being interdicted before sending the Jairan to follow it.
“Ships carrying highly sensitive materials related to Iran’s missile industry, which is under U.S. sanctions, are at risk of interception, and the Iranians likely are conscious of that,” Brew said.
Eight Republican U.S. senators led by Jim Risch and Pete Ricketts sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the purported Iran-China chemical scheme dated Feb. 4, urging him to work with global partners of the U.S. “to intercept and stop the shipments currently underway” if the press reports proved accurate.
There was no sign of the Golbon being intercepted on its recent China to Iran voyage.
Responding to VOA’s query about the letter, a U.S. State Department press officer said: “We do not comment on Congressional correspondence.” Ricketts’ office also did not respond to a VOA inquiry about whether Rubio has responded to the senators’ letter.
VOA’s Mandarin Service contributed to this report.
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VOA Mandarin: China revises PLA regulations prioritizing war readiness
Three revised regulations that dictate everything from the Chinese military’s broad mandate to soldiers’ day-to-day life are slated to take effect on April 1. The revisions have placed an emphasis on the PLA’s combat readiness and wartime conduct, the latter of which appears 49 times. Analysts say the revised regulations show the priority of the PLA’s future reform and its challenges.
Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
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Ukraine peace, global security top G7 agenda as diplomats convene in Canada
CHARLEVOIX, QUEBEC — Top diplomats from the Group of Seven leading industrial nations gathered Thursday in Charlevoix, Quebec, as host country Canada outlined its top agenda, focusing on achieving a “just and lasting peace in Ukraine” and strengthening security and defense partnerships as the G7 marks 50 years.
During the opening remarks, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said, “Peace and stability is on the top of our agenda, and I look forward to discussing how we can continue to support Ukraine in the face of Russia’s illegal aggression.”
Joly also emphasized the importance of addressing maritime security challenges, citing threats such as “growing the use of growing shadow fleets, dark vessels” and “sabotage of critical undersea infrastructure.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he hopes a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine could take place within days if the Kremlin agrees. He also plans to urge G7 foreign ministers to focus on ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
The G7 talks in Quebec follow U.S.-Ukraine talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine said it is ready to accept a U.S. proposal for “an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire.”
“Ukraine is committed to moving quickly toward peace, and we are prepared to do our part in creating all of the conditions for a reliable, durable, and decent peace,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote Wednesday in a post on social media platform X.
He added that “Ukraine was ready for an air and sea ceasefire,” and “welcomed” the U.S. proposal to extend it to land.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia supports the U.S. ceasefire proposal in principle, but key details still need to be worked out.
“Ceasefire, they can’t be coming with conditions, because all these conditions just blur the picture. Either you want to end this war, or you don’t want to end this war, so we need to be very firm,” said European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas during an interview with CNN International.
“What we need to keep in mind is that Russia has invested, like over 9% of its GDP on the military, so they would want to use it,” Kallas said, adding the European nations “are massively increasing” their “defense investments.”
The G7 talks bring together ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
Rubio has underscored the need for monitors if a ceasefire is implemented. He told reporters on Wednesday that “one of the things we’ll have to determine is who do both sides trust to be on the ground to sort of monitor some of the small arms fire and exchanges that could happen.”
Beyond Ukraine, G7 foreign ministers also discussed China’s role in global security, Indo-Pacific stability, and maritime security behind closed doors.
Rubio is expected to have a pull-aside meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya on Thursday.
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The story of Chinese Americans who call Texas home
The state of Texas has the third-largest Asian American population in the U.S. Chinese Americans in the Lone Star State have roots that trace back for generations, just like those of their counterparts on the nation’s East and West coasts. While the history of these Texans might not be as well known, their stories are just as intertwined with America’s. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has more on this story.
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Taiwan president warns of China’s ‘infiltration’ effort
TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Thursday that China has deepened its influence campaigns and infiltration against the democratic island, pledging measures to tackle Beijing’s efforts to “absorb” Taiwan.
Taiwan has accused China of stepping up military drills, trade sanctions and influence campaigns against the island in recent years to force the island to accept Chinese sovereignty claims.
Speaking to reporters after holding a meeting with senior security officials, Lai said Beijing had used Taiwan’s democracy to “absorb” various members of society, including organized crime groups, media personalities, and current and former military and police officers.
“They (China) are carrying out activities such as division, destruction, and subversion from within us,” Lai told a news briefing broadcast live from the presidential office.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Citing government data, Lai said 64 people were charged for Chinese espionage last year, three times more than in 2021. He said the majority of them were current or former military officials.
“Many are worried that our country, hard-earned freedom and democracy and prosperity will be lost, bit by bit, due to these influence campaigns and manipulation,” Lai said.
By making these efforts, Lai said China constituted what Taiwan’s Anti-Infiltration Act defined as “foreign hostile forces.”
The president proposed 17 legal and economic countermeasures, including the strict review of Taiwan visits or residency applications by Chinese citizens, and proposals to resume the work of the military court.
Lai also said his government would make “necessary adjustments” to the flows of money, people and technology across the strait. He did not elaborate.
In addition, he said the government would issue “reminders” to Taiwanese actors and singers performing in China on their “statements and actions,” a response to what Taipei sees as an ongoing Chinese campaign to pressure pop stars to make pro-Beijing comments.
“We have no choice but to take more active actions.”
China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future.
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Japan eyes boosting rice exports eightfold by 2030
TOKYO — Japan wants to boost its rice exports almost eightfold by 2030, a ministry official said Thursday, despite currently suffering a domestic shortage of the grain.
The country’s rice consumption has more than halved over the past 60 years as diets have expanded to include more bread, noodles and other energy sources.
The new target is part of a long-term national policy to boost overseas shipments of the staple, and make farming it more efficient, especially as the ageing population shrinks.
“We plan to set a goal of 350,000 tons in 2030,” an objective likely to be approved by the cabinet this month, Masakazu Kawaguchi, an agriculture ministry official in charge of the rice trade, told AFP.
The target is 7.8 times the 2024 volume — around 45,000 tons — which was sold for 12 billion yen, or $81 million.
However, rice is in short supply at the moment.
This week the government began a rare auction of its emergency rice stockpiles in a bid to help drive down prices, which have nearly doubled over the past year.
The shortages have been driven by various factors, including poor harvests caused by hot weather and panic-buying prompted by a “megaquake” warning last summer.
Exacerbating the problem, some businesses are also thought to be keeping their inventories and waiting for the most opportune time to sell.
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Advocates for jailed publisher Lai turn to Trump administration
WASHINGTON — The son of imprisoned pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai this week brought the campaign to secure his father’s release to the Trump administration in Washington.
Nearly two months into President Donald Trump’s second term, Lai’s son Sebastien and their international legal team were in Washington this week to meet with Trump administration officials and lawmakers in hopes that the United States can help push for Lai’s release.
Lai, a businessman and founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong, stands accused of collusion with foreign forces and sedition under a Beijing-imposed national security law. He rejects the charges, but if convicted in an ongoing trial, he could face life in prison.
“We were incredibly grateful that President Trump said that he will help release my father. It’s given us as a family a lot of hope,” the younger Lai said at a Wednesday event at the Cato Institute think tank in Washington.
In October 2024, Trump said he would “100%” be able to secure Lai’s release if he were reelected.
“I’ll get him out. He’ll be easy to get out. But we don’t have people that even talk about it,” Trump said in an interview with conservative podcast host Hugh Hewitt.
The White House did not reply to VOA’s email requesting comment on whether the Trump administration had any specific plans to help secure Lai’s release.
But a State Department spokesperson reaffirmed that the United States calls for Lai’s immediate release.
“Lai’s lengthy trial and unjust detention are an example of how China uses vague national security laws to suppress fundamental freedoms and political discourse,” the spokesperson added in a statement emailed to VOA on Wednesday.
Lai, a 77-year-old British national, has been held in solitary confinement in Hong Kong since late 2020. His trial, which was originally estimated to last about 80 days, has been ongoing since December 2023 and is widely viewed as politically motivated.
Hong Kong authorities have rejected accusations that Lai’s trial is unfair and maintain that press freedom and the rule of law are intact.
Speaking at the Cato Institute event, Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, suggested that the U.S. government should use sanctions against Hong Kong officials as a way to push for Lai’s release.
Clifford, who previously served on the board of Apple Daily’s parent company, also suggested the United States could shutter the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in Washington, New York and San Francisco.
“There’s a pretty good tool kit that the administration has,” Clifford said.
Even though the government-appointed judges are likely to find Lai guilty, Mark Simon, who worked with Lai for decades in Hong Kong, argued that releasing Lai may be in Beijing’s interest.
“Your influence as a dissident is at the height when you’re in prison. The world is campaigning for you. If you’re China and you release him, his influence goes down,” Simon said at the Cato Institute. “If he dies in prison, then you don’t control anything.”
Jimmy Lai’s international legal team has expressed concern about the conditions in which the publisher is being held, including prolonged solitary confinement and no access to specialized medical care for diabetes. Hong Kong authorities have rejected those claims.
“Everybody realizes that the clock is ticking, and time is running out for my father,” Sebastien Lai said.
But even though his father’s physical health has become fragile, Sebastien Lai said his mind has stayed strong.
“He’s still strong mentally, and he’s still fighting,” the younger Lai said. “That’s something that should inspire all of us.”
Before concluding his cross-examination in Lai’s national security trial last week, Hong Kong prosecutor Anthony Chau read out the charges, alleged conspiracies and co-conspirators, and asked the elder Lai if he agreed with them.
“Of course I disagree. Totally rubbish,” Lai said.
After 52 days in the witness box, Lai completed his testimony in the trial last week. Lawyers from both sides aren’t expected to return to court to deliver their closing statements until August, marking the trial’s latest months-long delay.
Lai’s plight has received bipartisan support in Washington, according to Caoilfhionn Gallagher, the attorney leading Lai’s international legal team.
She told VOA she hopes the United States and the United Kingdom can coordinate their efforts and work together to secure Lai’s release.
“We’re extremely worried for his health and well-being, and indeed, his life,” Gallagher said. “It’s in no one’s interest for this brilliant man to die in prison.”
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VOA Mandarin: About 12 million graduates to join China’s shrinking job market
TAIPEI, TAIWAN — About 12.2 million college graduates are expected to enter China’s shrinking labor market this summer, Wang Xiaoping, minister of the Human Resources and Social Security Ministry told the country’s National People’s Congress Sunday. It is believed that the Chinese government will encourage young people to accept gig work or vocational trainings so as not to hike up the youth unemployment rate.
Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
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ICC takes custody of Philippine ex-president Duterte in crimes against humanity case
THE HAGUE — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was turned over Wednesday to the custody of the International Criminal Court, following his arrest on a warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity over deadly anti-drugs crackdowns he oversaw while in office.
The court said in a statement that “as a precautionary measure” medical assistance was made available at the airport for Duterte, in line with standard procedures when a suspect arrives.
The 79-year-old former president arrived at Rotterdam The Hague Airport earlier Wednesday on a flight from Manila following his arrest there on an ICC warrant on Tuesday, as announced by current Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. Rights groups and families of victims hailed Duterte’s arrest.
Within days, he will face an initial appearance where the court will confirm his identity, check that he understands the charges against him, and set a date for a hearing to assess if prosecutors have sufficient evidence to send him to a full trial.
If his case goes to trial and he is convicted, Duterte could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The small jet carrying Duterte could be seen as it taxied into a hangar where two buses were waiting. An ambulance also drove close to the hangar, and medics wheeled a gurney inside.
A police helicopter hovered close to the airport as the plane remained in the hangar, largely obscured from view by the buses and two fuel tanker trucks.
“This is a monumental and long-overdue step for justice for thousands of victims and their families,” said Jerrie Abella of Amnesty International. “It is therefore a hopeful sign for them, as well, in the Philippines and beyond, as it shows that suspected perpetrators of the worst crimes, including government leaders, will face justice wherever they are in the world,” Abella added.
Emily Soriano, the mother of a victim of the crackdowns, said she wanted more officials to face justice. “Duterte is lucky he has due process, but our children who were killed did not have due process,” she said.
While Duterte’s plane was in the air, grieving relatives gathered in the Philippines to mourn his alleged victims, carrying the urns of their loved ones. “We are happy and we feel relieved,” said 55-year-old Melinda Abion Lafuente, mother of 22-year-old Angelo Lafuente, who she says was tortured and killed in 2016.
Duterte’s supporters, however, criticized his arrest as illegal and sought to have him returned home. Small groups of Duterte supporters and people who backed his arrest demonstrated on Wednesday outside the court before his arrival.
The ICC opened an inquiry in 2021 into mass killings linked to the so-called war on drugs overseen by Duterte when he served as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later as president. Estimates of the death toll during Duterte’s presidential term vary, from the more than 6,000 that the national police have reported and up to 30,000 claimed by human rights groups.
ICC judges who looked at prosecution evidence supporting their request for his arrest found “reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Duterte is individually responsible for the crime against humanity of murder” as an “indirect co-perpetrator for having allegedly overseen the killings when he was mayor of Davao and later president of the Philippines,” according to his warrant.
Duterte could challenge the court’s jurisdiction and the admissibility of the case. While the Philippines is no longer a member of the ICC, the alleged crimes happened before Manila withdrew from the court. That process will likely take months and if the case progresses to trial it could take years.
Duterte will be able to apply for provisional release from the court’s detention center while he waits, though it’s up to judges to decide whether to grant such a request. Duterte’s legal counsel, Salvador Panelo, told reporters in Manila that the Philippine Supreme Court “can compel the government to bring back the person arrested and detained without probable cause and compel the government bring him before the court and to explain to them why they (government) did what they did.”
Marcos said Tuesday that Duterte’s arrest was “proper and correct” and not an act of political persecution. Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, criticized the Marcos administration for surrendering her father to a foreign court, which she said currently has no jurisdiction in the Philippines.
She left the Philippines on Wednesday to arrange a meeting in The Hague with her detained father and talk to his lawyers, her office told reporters in Manila. Philippines no longer an ICC member state. Duterte withdrew the Philippines in 2019 from the ICC, in a move human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability.
The Duterte administration moved to suspend the global court’s investigation in late 2021 by arguing that Philippine authorities were already looking into the same allegations, arguing that the ICC — a court of last resort — therefore didn’t have jurisdiction. Appeals judges at the ICC rejected those arguments and ruled in 2023 that the investigation could resume.
The ICC judges who issued the warrant also said that the alleged crimes fall within the court’s jurisdiction. They said Duterte’s arrest was necessary because of what they called the “risk of interference with the investigations and the security of witnesses and victims.”
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Vietnam, Singapore agree to boost ties, cooperation on subsea cables
HANOI, VIETNAM — Singapore and Vietnam on Wednesday agreed to enhance cooperation in subsea cables, finance, and energy, marking an upgrade in their relations to Vietnam’s highest level, during a visit by its Communist Party Chief To Lam to the city-state.
Singapore is the third Southeast Asian nation, after Malaysia and Indonesia, with which Vietnam has established a “comprehensive strategic relationship.”
In a joint statement released following the upgrade, Lam and Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong witnessed the exchange of six agreements and discussed cooperation in undersea cable development, digital connectivity, and cross-border data flows.
Southeast Asian countries, a major junction for cables connecting Asia to Europe, aim to expand their networks to meet the surging demand for AI services and data centers. Vietnam alone plans to launch 10 new submarine cables by 2030.
In December, Reuters reported that Singaporean asset manager Keppel and Vietnamese conglomerate Sovico Group were discussing plans for new undersea fiber-optic cables to boost the region’s data center industry, according to sources familiar with the matter.
In April last year, Vietnam’s state-owned telecom company Viettel and Singapore’s Singtel announced a preliminary agreement to develop an undersea cable linking Vietnam directly to Singapore, although no construction contract has been announced yet.
The two leaders also discussed green development, industrial parks expansion, and peace and stability in the region. Singapore pledged to support Vietnam in developing international financial centers, the joint statement said.
Singapore ranks among Vietnam’s top foreign investors, having invested $10.21 billion last year, which accounted for 27% of Vietnam’s total foreign investment, official data showed.
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VOA Mandarin: US House passes bill to restrict use of Chinese-made batteries
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed two bills involving China. One will restrict the Department of Homeland Security from purchasing batteries made by Chinese companies. The other will set up a working group in the Department of Homeland Security to monitor and respond to threats from China. The bills will now await consideration by the Senate.
Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
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Fate of 8 Uyghurs in Thailand in limbo after 40 deported to China
BANGKOK — Human rights advocates say at least some of the eight ethnic minority Uyghurs who remain in Thailand’s custody since authorities deported 40 others to China last month are at risk of the same fate.
After weeks of denying it was planning to repatriate any of the 48 Chinese Uyghurs it had held since arresting them for illegal entry in 2014, Thailand abruptly turned 40 of them over to China on Feb. 27.
The United States, United Nations and international rights groups strongly condemned Thailand for sending Uyghurs back to China. They say it violates Thailand’s international treaty obligations and, as of 2023, its own domestic law against deporting people to countries where they face a good chance of being abused or tortured.
The United States and others have accused Beijing of genocide over its treatment of the Turkic-speaking Muslim minority Uyghurs in China’s western Xinjiang province. The United Nations says their treatment may amount to crimes against humanity. Beijing denies the allegations.
The Thai and Chinese governments have said nothing about the eight Uyghurs who were not sent back to China last month. The two governments have ignored VOA requests for comment.
But rights groups tell VOA they have confirmed that all eight remain in Thai custody — three in immigration detention without charge, with the other five serving prison sentences since 2020 for robbery and attempted escape from a detention center.
They say the five in prison face the greatest risk of being deported once their prison terms end.
“After they complete their sentence, they have to come back to the immigration detention centers. That is … worrisome, because if there [is] the push from the Chinese again, these five people might be the most vulnerable group of people that will be deported again,” Kannavee Suebsang, an opposition lawmaker and deputy chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice and Human Rights, told VOA.
He said their sentences are due to end in 2029.
Rights groups, though, say the five could face a forced return to China much earlier than that if they are added to the lists of prisoners pardoned by Thailand’s king on royal holidays each year.
‘We are very concerned’
In a statement addressing the Feb. 27 deportations posted online the day after, the Thai government said China had in fact asked for the return of 45 “Chinese nationals,” referring to the Uyghurs. Krittaporn Semsantad, program director for the Peace Rights Foundation, a Thai rights group, says that number appears to include the five Uyghurs still in prison in Thailand — a sign, she believes, that China wants them returned as well.
“So, yes, we are very … concerned,” she told VOA. “It could be very high risk and very high chance that these five will be sent back after they finish their sentence.”
For the eight Uyghurs still in Thai custody, “the danger is not passed yet,” agreed Polat Sayim, an ethnic Uyghur living in Australia and the executive committee vice chair of the World Uyghur Congress.
Chalida Tajaroensuk, who heads Thailand’s People’s Empowerment Foundation, another local rights group, echoed their concerns.
She told VOA she visited the five Uyghurs in prison the day after the 40 were deported and said they were terrified of being forced back to China as well.
“They are afraid, and they also cried. They don’t want to go back,” she said.
‘We need to closely monitor’
The rights groups told VOA that their sources in the Thai government and inside its detained centers have told them the other three Uyghurs also remain in Thailand, in the custody of the Bureau of Immigration.
Neither China nor Thailand has explained why they were not deported along with the 40 last month. Unlike the five Uyghurs in prison, Kannavee and the rights groups say these three, who also hail from China, claimed to have come from other countries when they were first caught in Thailand, which may have helped to spare them from being sent back.
“But still we need to also closely monitor about the situation of the three, because they [have] already been disclosed, I mean their information has been disclosed that they are [from] the same group of the Uyghurs,” said Kannavee, who previously worked for the U.N.’s refugee agency in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.
He was referring to the more than 300 Uyghurs Thailand caught entering the country illegally in 2014 as they sought to make their way to Turkey, where some had relatives, and other countries.
Of that group, Thailand deported 173 mostly women and children to Turkey in 2015 but sent 109, most of them men, back to China days later. Those sent back to China have not been heard from since.
Following the rebukes over last month’s deportations, the Thai government said Beijing had assured it that the Uyghurs would be treated well and that Bangkok could send envoys to check up on them regularly.
Rights groups and opposition lawmakers such as Kannavee, though, say they take little comfort in Beijing’s promises and still hope to persuade the Thai government to let the eight Uyghurs who remain in its custody settle elsewhere.
‘We don’t have a country’
Thai officials initially claimed that no other country had offered to take in the Uyghurs but later acknowledged that some had, without naming them, and that Thailand turned them down for fear that China might retaliate.
The Reuters news agency has reported that Australia, Canada and the United States all offered to resettle the Uyghurs.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told VOA on Sunday it had been working with Thailand for years to avoid their return to China, “including by consistently and repeatedly offering to resettle the Uyghurs in other countries, including, at times, the United States.”
Sayim, of the World Uyghur Congress, said those countries should keep their offers open for the eight Uyghurs Thailand still holds, and continue putting pressure on the Thai government to accept.
“We don’t have [a] country. That’s why we have to ask European countries if they can help. … Always we asking [the] U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, Australia if they could make a decision and take them,” he said. “The Thai government shouldn’t give these people back to China. They know it’s not good when they go back.”
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‘Nervous and rushed’: Massive Fukushima plant cleanup exposes workers to high radiation and stress
OKUMA, Japan — The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant’s radiation levels have significantly dropped since the cataclysmic meltdown 14 years ago Tuesday.
Workers walk around in many areas wearing only surgical masks and regular clothes.
It’s a different story for those who enter the reactor buildings, including the three damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. They must use maximum protection — full facemasks with filters, multi-layered gloves and socks, shoe covers, hooded hazmat coveralls and a waterproof jacket, and a helmet.
As workers remove melted fuel debris from the reactors in a monumental nuclear cleanup effort that could take more than a century, they are facing both huge amounts of psychological stress and dangerous levels of radiation.
The Associated Press, which recently visited the plant for a tour and interviews, takes a closer look.
Cleaning 880 tons of melted fuel debris
A remote-controlled extendable robot with a tong had several mishaps including equipment failures before returning in November with a tiny piece of melted fuel from inside the damaged No. 2 reactor.
That first successful test run is a crucial step in what will be a daunting, decades-long decommissioning that must deal with at least 880 tons of melted nuclear fuel that has mixed with broken parts of internal structures and other debris inside the three ruined reactors.
Akira Ono, chief decommissioning officer at the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which manages the plant, says even the tiny sample gives officials a lot of information about the melted fuel. More samples are needed, however, to make the work smoother when bigger efforts to remove the debris begin in the 2030s.
A second sample-retrieval mission at the No. 2 reactor is expected in coming weeks.
Operators hope to send the extendable robot farther into the reactor to take samples closer to the center, where overheated nuclear fuel fell from the core, utility spokesperson Masakatsu Takata said. He pointed out the target area as he stood inside the inner structure of the No. 5 reactor, which is one of two reactors that survived the tsunami. It has an identical design as No. 2.
Hard to see, breathe or move
Radiation levels are still dangerously high inside the No. 2 reactor building, where the melted fuel debris is behind a thick concrete containment wall. Earlier decontamination work reduced those radiation levels to a fraction of what they used to be.
In late August, small groups took turns doing their work helping the robot in 15- to 30-minute shifts to minimize radiation exposure. They have a remotely controlled robot, but it has to be manually pushed in and out.
“Working under high levels of radiation [during a short] time limit made us feel nervous and rushed,” said Yasunobu Yokokawa, a team leader for the mission. “It was a difficult assignment.”
Full-face masks reduced visibility and made breathing difficult, an extra waterproof jacket made it sweaty and hard to move, and triple-layered gloves made their fingers clumsy, Yokokawa said.
To eliminate unnecessary exposure, they taped around gloves and socks and carried a personal dosimeter to measure radiation. Workers also rehearsed the tasks they’d perform to minimize exposure.
The mission stalled early on when workers noticed that a set of five 1.5-meter pipes meant to push the robot into the reactor’s primary containment vessel had been arranged in the wrong order.
A camera on the robot also failed because of high radioactivity and had to be replaced. The workers’ highest individual radiation dose was more than the overall average but still far below anything approaching a 100-millisievert five-year dose limit.
Even so, a growing number of workers are concerned about safety and radiation at the plant, said Ono, the decommissioning chief, citing an annual survey of about 5,5,00 workers.
In 2023, two workers splashed with contaminated sludge at a water treatment facility suffered burns and were hospitalized, though they had no other health problems.
Making sure it’s safe
Yokokawa and a plant colleague, Hiroshi Ide, helped in the 2011 emergency and work as team leaders today. They say they want to make the job safer as workers face high radiation in parts of the plant.
On the top floor of the No. 2 reactor, workers are setting up equipment to remove spent fuel units from the cooling pool. That’s set to begin within two to three years.
At the No. 1 reactor, workers are putting up a giant roof to contain radioactive dust from decontamination work on the top floor ahead of the removal of spent fuel.
To minimize exposure and increase efficiency, workers use a remote-controlled crane to attach pre-assembled parts, according to TEPCO. The No. 1 reactor and its surroundings are among the most contaminated parts of the plant.
What’s next?
Workers are also removing treated radioactive wastewater. They recently started dismantling the emptied water tanks to make room to build facilities needed for the research and storage of melted fuel debris.
After a series of small missions by robots to gather samples, experts will determine a larger-scale method for removing melted fuel, first at the No. 3 reactor.
Experts say the hard work and huge challenges of decommissioning the plant are just beginning. There are estimations that the work could take more than a century. The government and TEPCO have an initial completion target of 2051, but the retrieval of melted fuel debris is already three years behind, and many big issues remain undecided.
Ide, whose home in Namie town, northwest of the plant, is in a no-go zone because of nuclear contamination, still has to put on a hazmat suit, even for brief visits home.
“As a Fukushima citizen, I would like to make sure the decommissioning work is done properly so that people can return home without worries,” he said.
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Dalai Lama says his successor to be born outside China
NEW DELHI — The Dalai Lama’s successor will be born outside China, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism says in a new book, raising the stakes in a dispute with Beijing over control of the Himalayan region he fled more than six decades ago.
Tibetans worldwide want the institution of the Dalai Lama to continue after the 89-year-old’s death, he writes in “Voice for the Voiceless,” which was reviewed by Reuters and is being released on Tuesday.
He had previously said the line of spiritual leaders might end with him.
His book marks the first time the Dalai Lama has specified that his successor would be born in the “free world,” which he describes as outside China. He has previously said only that he could reincarnate outside Tibet, possibly in India where he lives in exile.
“Since the purpose of a reincarnation is to carry on the work of the predecessor, the new Dalai Lama will be born in the free world so that the traditional mission of the Dalai Lama – that is, to be the voice for universal compassion, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, and the symbol of Tibet embodying the aspirations of the Tibetan people – will continue,” the Dalai Lama writes.
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, fled at the age of 23 to India with thousands of other Tibetans in 1959 after a failed uprising against the rule of Mao Zedong’s Communists.
Beijing insists it will choose his successor, but the Dalai Lama has said any successor named by China would not be respected.
China brands the Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for keeping alive the Tibetan cause, as a “separatist.”
When asked about the book at a press briefing on Monday, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said the Dalai Lama “is a political exile who is engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion.
“On the Tibet issue, China’s position is consistent and clear. What the Dalai Lama says and does, cannot change the objective fact of Tibet’s prosperity and development.”
Beijing said last month it hoped the Dalai Lama would “return to the right path” and that it was open to discussing his future if he met such conditions as recognizing that Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable parts of China, whose sole legal government is that of the People’s Republic of China. That proposal has been rejected by the Tibetan parliament-in-exile in India.
Supporters of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause include Richard Gere, a follower of Tibetan Buddhism, and Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
His followers have been worried about his health, especially after knee surgery last year. He told Reuters in December that he might live to be 110.
In his book, the Dalai Lama says he has received numerous petitions for more than a decade from a wide spectrum of Tibetan people, including senior monks and Tibetans living in Tibet and outside, “uniformly asking me to ensure that the Dalai Lama lineage be continued.”
Tibetan tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death. The current Dalai Lama was identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor when he was two.
The book, which the Dalai Lama calls an account of his dealings with Chinese leaders over seven decades, is being published on Tuesday in the U.S. by William Morrow and in Britain by HarperNonFiction, with HarperCollins publications to follow in India and other countries.
The Dalai Lama, who has said he will release details about his succession around his 90th birthday in July, writes that his homeland remains “in the grip of repressive Communist Chinese rule” and that the campaign for the freedom of the Tibetan people will continue “no matter what,” even after his death.
He expressed faith in the Tibetan government and parliament-in-exile, based with him in India’s Himalayan city of Dharamshala, to carry on the political work for the Tibetan cause.
“The right of the Tibetan people to be the custodians of their own homeland cannot be indefinitely denied, nor can their aspiration for freedom be crushed forever through oppression,” he writes. “One clear lesson we know from history is this: if you keep people permanently unhappy, you cannot have a stable society.”
Given his advanced age, he writes, his hopes of going back to Tibet look “increasingly unlikely.”
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VOA Mandarin: China escalates pressure against Taiwan during two Sessions
During China’s Two Sessions, Beijing has ramped up pressure on Taiwan. On Sunday, a People’s Liberation Army delegate warned that “Taiwan independence is a dead end,” and Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s claim that “Taiwan’s only designation at the UN is China’s Taiwan Province” was echoed by several Taiwanese celebrities on Weibo. In response, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council took an unusually tough stance, condemning these celebrities and vowing to investigate them under relevant regulations.
Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
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Tibetans scuffle with police outside the Chinese Embassy in India as they mark uprising anniversary
NEW DELHI — Dozens of Tibetan protesters clashed with police outside the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi on Monday as Tibetans living in exile marked the 66th anniversary of their uprising against China that was crushed by Chinese forces.
As in past years, police blocked the protesters from entering the embassy and briefly detained some of them after wrestling them to the ground. Hundreds also marched in the north Indian town of Dharamshala, the seat of the exiled Tibetan government and home of Dalai Lama, their 89-year-old spiritual leader.
Separately, about a hundred Tibetan women gathered at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, an area designated for protests close to Parliament. The protesters shouted anti-China slogans, carried Tibetan flags and played the national anthems of Tibet and India.
India considers Tibet to be part of China, although it hosts the Tibetan exiles. The 1959 independence uprising was quelled by the Chinese army, forcing Dalai Lama and his followers into exile in India.
Many had their faces painted in colors of the Tibetan national flag. The demonstrators observed a minute of silence to remember Tibetans who lost their lives in the struggle against China. Monks, activists, nuns and schoolchildren marched across the town with banners reading, “Free Tibet” and “Remember, Resist, Return.”
Penpa Tsering — the president of the Central Tibetan Administration, as the exiled Tibetan government calls itself — accused China’s leadership of carrying out a “deliberate and dangerous strategy to eliminate the very identity of the Tibetan people.”
“This marks the darkest and most critical period in the history of Tibet,” Tsering told the gathering. “As we commemorate the Tibetan National Uprising Day, we honor our brave martyrs, and express solidarity with our brothers and sisters inside Tibet who continue to languish under the oppressive Chinese government.”
The Tibetan government-in-exile in India accuses China of denying the most fundamental human rights to people in Tibet and trying to expunge the Tibetan identity.
China claims Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries, but the Tibetans say the Himalayan region was virtually independent until China occupied it in 1950.
The Dalai Lama denies China’s claim that he is a separatist and says he only advocates substantial autonomy and protection of Tibet’s native Buddhist culture.
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Philippines’ Duterte says he will accept arrest if ICC issues warrant
HONG KONG/MANILA — Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said in Hong Kong that he was ready for possible arrest amid reports the International Criminal Court (ICC) was poised to issue a warrant over his years-long “war on drugs” that killed thousands.
The “war on drugs” was the signature campaign policy that swept Duterte to power in 2016 as a maverick, crime-busting mayor, who delivered on promises he made during vitriolic speeches, to kill thousands of narcotics dealers.
The office of the current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Monday no official communication had been received from Interpol yet, but indicated Duterte could be handed over.
“Our law enforcers are ready to follow what law dictates, if the warrant of arrest needs to be served because of a request from Interpol,” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro told reporters.
It was not immediately clear how long Duterte would stay in China-ruled Hong Kong – which is not a party to the ICC. Duterte was in the city to speak at a campaign rally attended by thousands of Filipino workers, hoping to boost support for his senatorial candidates in upcoming Philippine midterm elections.
“Assuming it’s (warrant) true, why did I do it? For myself? For my family? For you and your children, and for our nation,” Duterte told the rally, justifying his brutal anti-narcotics campaign.
“If this is truly my fate in life, it’s OK, I will accept it. They can arrest me, imprison me.
“What is my sin? I did everything in my time for peace and a peaceful life for the Filipino people,” he told the cheering crowds in Hong Kong’s downtown Southorn Stadium, appearing with his daughter, the Philippines Vice President Sara Duterte.
An elite Hong Kong police unit for protecting VIPs was stationed in the vicinity of the hotel where Duterte is staying, according to a Reuters witness.
The Hong Kong government’s security bureau and police gave no immediate response to a request for comment.
The Philippines presidential office dismissed speculation that Duterte might evade the law by visiting Hong Kong, while appealing to Duterte’s supporters to allow the legal process to take its course.
During a congressional hearing last year into his bloody crackdown on drugs, Duterte said he was not scared of the ICC and told it to “hurry up” on its investigation.
The firebrand Duterte unilaterally withdrew the Philippines from the ICC’s founding treaty in 2019 when it started looking into allegations of systematic extrajudicial killings.
More recently, the Philippines has signaled it is ready to cooperate with the investigation in certain areas.
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Opium farming takes root in Myanmar’s war-wracked landscape
Pekon, Myanmar — Scraping opium resin off a seedpod in Myanmar’s remote poppy fields, displaced farmer Aung Hla describes the narcotic crop as his only prospect in a country made barren by conflict.
The 35-year-old was a rice farmer when the junta seized power in a 2021 coup, adding pro-democracy guerillas to the long-running civil conflict between the military and ethnic armed groups.
Four years on, the United Nations has said Myanmar is mired in a “polycrisis” of mutually compounding conflict, poverty and environmental damage.
Aung Hla was forced off his land in Moe Bye village by fighting after the coup. When he resettled, his usual crops were no longer profitable, but the hardy poppy promised “just enough for a livelihood”.
“Everyone thinks people grow poppy flowers to be rich, but we are just trying hard to get by,” he told AFP in rural Pekon township of eastern Shan state.
He says he regrets growing the substance — the core ingredient in heroin — but said the income is the only thing separating him from starvation.
“If anyone were in my shoes, they would likely do the same.”
Displaced and desperate
Myanmar’s opium production was previously second only to Afghanistan, where poppy farming flourished following the U.S.-led invasion in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
But after the Taliban government launched a crackdown, Myanmar overtook Afghanistan as the world’s biggest producer of opium in 2023, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Myanmar’s opiate economy — including the value of domestic consumption as well as exports abroad — is estimated between $589 million and $1.57 billion, according to the UNODC.
Between September and February each year, dozens of workers toil in Pekon’s fields, slicing immature poppy seedpods, which ooze a small amount of sticky brown resin.
Aung Naing, 48, gently transfers the collected resin from a small trough onto a leaf plate.
Before the coup, which ended a brief experiment with democracy, Aung Naing was a reformed opium farmer. But wartime hardship forced him back to the crop.
“There is more poppy cultivation because of difficulties in residents’ livelihoods,” he says.
“Most of the farmers who plant poppy are displaced,” he said. “Residents who can’t live in their villages and fled to the jungle are working in poppy fields.”
In Myanmar’s fringes, ethnic armed groups, border militias and the military all vie for control of local resources and the lucrative drug trade.
Aung Naing says poppy earns only a slightly higher profit than food crops like corn, bean curd and potatoes, which are also vulnerable to disease when it rains.
Fresh opium was generally sold by Myanmar farmers for just over $300 per kilo in 2024, according to the UNODC, a small fraction of what it fetches on the international black market.
And the crop is more costly to produce than rice — more labor intensive, requiring expensive fertilizers and with small yields.
Aung Naing says he makes just shy of a $30 profit for each kilo. “How can we get rich from that?” he asks.
‘Unsafe’
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates there are more than 3.5 million people displaced in Myanmar.
But fleeing conflict zones to farm opium does not guarantee safety.
“Military fighter jets are flying over us,” said Aung Naing. “We are working in poppy fields with anxiety and fear. We feel unsafe.”
Opium cultivation and production in Myanmar decreased slightly between 2023 and 2024, according to the UNODC — in part due to ongoing clashes between armed groups.
“If our country were at peace and there were industries offering many job opportunities in the region, we wouldn’t plant any poppy fields even if we were asked to,” says farmer Shwe Khine, 43.
Aung Hla agreed. With the war, he said, “we don’t have any choice”.
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North Korea warns of ‘accidental’ war risk from US-South Korea drills
Seoul, South Korea — North Korea on Monday condemned joint U.S.-South Korean military drills as a “provocative act,” warning of the danger of sparking war with “an accidental single shot,” days after Seoul’s air force mistakenly bombed a village on its own territory.
“This is a dangerous provocative act of leading the acute situation on the Korean peninsula, which may spark off a physical conflict between the two sides by means of an accidental single shot,” said Pyongyang’s foreign ministry, as quoted by state media.
The joint U.S.-South Korea “Freedom Shield 2025” exercise was set to kick off on Monday, and will involve “live, virtual, and field-based training,” according to a U.S. statement.
The exercise will run until March 21, the statement said.
Military cooperation between Seoul and Washington regularly invites condemnation from Pyongyang, where the government sees such moves as preparation for an invasion, and often carries out missile tests in response.
The latest exercise comes after two South Korean Air Force fighter jets accidentally dropped eight bombs on a village during a joint training exercise with U.S. forces on March 6.
Fifteen people, including civilians and military personnel, were wounded in that incident, South Korea’s National Fire Agency said.
Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have been at one of their lowest points in years, with the North launching a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions.
The two Koreas remain technically at war since their 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The United States stations tens of thousands of soldiers in the South, in part to protect Seoul against Pyongyang.
The large-scale Freedom Shield exercises are one of the allies’ biggest annual joint exercises.
In its statement on Monday, North Korea’s foreign ministry dubbed the exercises “an aggressive and confrontational war rehearsal.”
Last week, Pyongyang slammed the United States for “political and military provocations” over the visit of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier to the South Korean port of Busan.
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Korean moon jars shine in Colorado show
Traditional Korean moon jars and modern takes on the elegant white vases are the focus of a new art exhibit in the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story from Denver.
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Tropical low tracks west across Australian east coast leaving 1 dead and several injured
BRISBANE, Australia — Flooding rains lashed the Australian east coast even though it avoided the destructive winds of its first tropical cyclone in 51 years, officials said Saturday. One person was confirmed dead and several were injured.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred had been expected to become the first cyclone to cross the Australian coast near the Queensland state capital of Brisbane, Australia’s third-most populous city, since 1974.
But it weakened Saturday to a tropical low, which is defined as carrying sustained winds of less than 63 kph.
The cyclone’s remnants crossed the coast late Saturday 55 kilometers north of Brisbane and will continue to track west across the inland bringing heavy rain, the Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement.
“The real threat now is from that locally heavy-to-intense rainfall, which may lead to flash and riverine flooding,” bureau manager Matt Collopy said.
Cyclones are common in Queensland’s tropical north but are rare in the state’s temperate and densely populated southeast corner that borders New South Wales state.
A 61-year-old man who disappeared in a flooded river near the New South Wales town of Dorrigo was confirmed as the first casualty of the crisis when his body was recovered on Saturday, police said.
Two military trucks involved in the emergency response rolled over in the town of Tregeagle in New South Wales on Saturday, injuring 13 defense personnel, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Sunday.
One truck left the road and rolled several times into a paddock and the other truck tipped on its side while swerving to avoid a collision.
Of the 32 Brisbane-based military personnel in the trucks, six sustained serious injuries, he said. The injured were taken to hospitals and all were expected to recover, Defense Minister Richard Marles said.
A woman sustained minor injuries when an apartment building lost its roof in the Queensland border city of Gold Coast on Friday, police said. The woman was one of 21 people who were evacuated from the building.
A couple sustained minor injuries when a tree crashed through the ceiling of their Gold Coast bedroom during strong winds and rain on Thursday night, officials said.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said 330,000 homes and businesses had lost power due to the storm since Thursday. No other natural disaster had created a bigger blackout in the state’s history. New South Wales reported as many as 45,000 premises without electricity on Saturday. But tens of thousands had been reconnected by late in the day, officials said.
Rivers were flooding in Queensland and New South Wales after days of heavy rain, the meteorology bureau said. The dead man recovered on Saturday was the only fatality among 36 flood rescues carried out by emergency teams in northern New South Wales in recent days, most involving vehicles attempting to cross floodwaters, police said.
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China far outpacing US in military, commercial ship numbers
When President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he had created a new White House office to “resurrect” American military and commercial shipbuilding, he elevated long-standing calls to fix the struggling industry that he said is vital to national security. His clarion call to build more ships “very fast and very soon” comes at a time of rising strategic competition with China.
“Our shipbuilding industry is shrunk down to bare minimum right now,” Marine Corps Commandant General Eric Smith told VOA in an exclusive interview at the Pentagon late last year.
The anemic state of American shipbuilding and ship maintenance, and the risks they raise for the military, was shared with VOA through more than a dozen interviews with U.S. military and industry officials spanning several months and conducted ahead of Trump’s announcement.
The U.S. Navy is still considered the most powerful in the world when it comes to firepower and tonnage, but the number of Navy ships has fallen behind China’s. The United States has 296 ships in its fleet, while China’s is on pace to surpass 400 ships this year.
Shrinking fleet
Despite the U.S. Navy’s goal of increasing the size of its fleet, in recent years the number of ships has been shrinking. Last year’s budget funded just six new Navy ships, while decommissioning 15 from the fleet, for a net loss of nine. The fiscal 2025 budget plan funds six new ships while decommissioning 19, for a net loss of 13.
The lifeblood for maritime industry titans like British-based BAE, U.S.-based Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and Fairbanks Morse Defense runs almost exclusively through the U.S. military. Industry leaders say they have the space to build and repair more ships but that Navy contracts have been scarce.
“We’re operating at half-capacity,” said Brad Moyer, vice president of BAE Systems Ship Repair. Although the company is one of the largest for ship repair in the United States, when VOA toured BAE’s Norfolk yard in Virginia in November, most of the docking spaces for ships were empty.
Shipbuilding demand has fluctuated wildly based on Navy budgeting strategies, creating an industry atmosphere of feast or famine that is shrinking the supply chain.
“There’s thousands and thousands of suppliers that have gone out of business, and it’s a real risk,” George Whittier, the CEO of Fairbanks Morse Defense, told VOA. The company is the largest engine manufacturer in North and South America and the sole company supplying the biggest engines used in the military’s amphibious warfare ships. Each engine is about the size of a small school bus.
“We should have two engine suppliers. But the reality is, if the Navy is only going to build six ships a year, it’s a struggle to keep one engine supplier in business, let alone two. We’re going to have to grow our way out of this, and that’s the only way we’re going to do it,” Whittier said.
He is not alone. VOA found multiple examples of companies that were the only supplier of specific ship parts. The U.S. military and other industry leaders say they are worried there will not be a backup for parts should more industry businesses go under. And those suppliers who have survived say when business is not steady, it takes longer to provide the parts, and it costs more to procure the materials.
Acting Vice Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jim Kilby, while advocating for a bigger fleet, says he has not had the budget to replace all of his aging ships and submarines, much less grow the force.
“When we get a new ship, we’ll replace an old ship, because that old ship is more expensive and harder to maintain,” he said in a recent interview.
Maintenance delays, layoffs
Military contracting delays and project cancellations have led to layoffs. Even though BAE is one the largest companies in the industry, its West Coast shipyard laid off nearly 300 employees in 2023 due to a shortage of work.
In the city of Norfolk, on America’s East Coast, the number of Navy ships available for repair work dropped from 44 ships about a decade ago to fewer than 30 today. About 60% of the workforce was furloughed in that time, officials said.
The result, General Smith says, is a hollowed-out workforce that is not centered on shipbuilding.
“There’s no one who grew up as a shipbuilder. There’s welders and steam fitters and electricians, but if there’s not steady work for them, they’ll go to work for Harley-Davidson or Ford Motor Company or Chevy or whoever,” he said.
Whittier and Moyer blame the budgeting process in Congress, along with the way the Navy structures its ship maintenance.
“The system is broken,” Whittier says.
Congress has not passed a budget on time since 2019. When continuing resolutions (CRs) are used to fund the government, new projects cannot be started. In the case of the fiscal 2024 budget, Congress funded government with CRs for half a year, which Whittier says gave companies six months to do 12 months of work.
“It ends up being not just a big challenge in how to run a company, but it’s a big challenge for the Navy in trying to figure out how are they getting their maintenance done. … It’s frustrating all around for everybody,” the Fairbanks Morse Defense CEO told VOA.
Senator Mark Kelly, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, agrees that CRs are bad, adding that the only thing worse would be shutting down the government.
“People are always going to try to blame somebody else, but I’d just say collectively, we’ve taken our eye off the ball here,” he added.
Shipbuilding struggles
There is also a shortage of skilled workers needed to keep the shipbuilding industry afloat.
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, along the coast of the Gulf of America is the only yard in the United States that builds the Navy’s two types of amphibious warfare ships: Landing Helicopter Assault ships (LHAs) that look like mini-aircraft carriers, and smaller landing platform docks (LPDs).
HII also builds Navy destroyers and Coast Guard cutters.
Kari Wilkinson, executive vice president at HII, says that keeping staffing levels around the more than 11,000 workers needed to build cutters, destroyers and amphibious ships is getting more difficult, particularly in the post-pandemic economy.
Just a few years ago, the shipyard was able to offer wages much higher than other jobs in the area that do not require a college degree. Now, Wilkinson says they are competing with everyone from coffee providers to fast food restaurants.
“The wage circumstance has changed. There is not that big gap anymore,” she told VOA.
As a result, Wilkinson says, HII now loses workers at roughly double the rate of its pre-pandemic levels.
To save money on materials, Congress authorized the military to buy four amphibs from HII at once, a move known as a multi-ship block buy. Buying them in bulk saved the Pentagon $900 million.
“That was a huge win for us,” General Smith said.
Now, HII must figure out how to better retain its workforce. To make the worksite more attractive, HII has invested in air conditioning and giant shades to shield workers from the elements like the hot Mississippi sun. The Pascagoula shipyard hired 7,000 people in the last two years, Wilkinson says, but it will need about 1,000-2,000 more hires each year to complete the new ship orders.
“We’ve got to find ways to pay people competitive wages that are in accordance with the type of work they’re doing,” Kelly told VOA.
Commercial shipping
Congress is expected to increase the military’s budget to surge resources for its shipbuilding shortfalls.
But Kelly tells VOA the U.S. commercial shipping is also in need of saving.
“We went from 10,000 ships during World War II to 85 today. So, in case of an emergency, in case of a conflict with a near peer adversary, we’re quite limited to getting all those supplies and equipment and troops across the ocean,” he said.
The United States builds about five commercial ships each year. China builds more than 1,000.
“They have one shipyard, just one shipyard, that’s bigger than all of our shipyards put together,” the senator told VOA.
Kelly in December introduced bipartisan legislation called the Ships for America Act. The bill aims to increase the U.S. commercial fleet by 250 ships in 10 years, which will also increase the supply chain for military ships.
“You wouldn’t really think those two things are connected. But they are very closely connected,” he said. “A lot of the parts that go into a U.S. aircraft carrier, some of those same parts for those systems go in merchant ships.”
The bill calls for tax incentives, along with fees on cargo coming into the country, to help shipbuilders increase their capacity.
The provisions of the bill are “fully paid for,” Kelly said, without adding to the annual deficit.
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Myanmar junta chief announces election for December or January
Myanmar’s military government will hold a general election in December 2025 or January 2026, state media said Saturday, citing the junta chief, who provided the first specific time frame for the long-promised polls in the war-torn nation.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since early 2021, when the military ousted an elected civilian government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering a protest movement that morphed into an armed rebellion against the junta across the Southeast Asian country.
The junta leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, vowed to hold an election, but his administration repeatedly extended a state of emergency, even as the military was battered by a collection of anti-junta opposition groups.
Critics have widely derided the promised polls as a sham to keep the generals in power through proxies, given that dozens of political parties have been banned, and the junta has lost its grip over large parts of Myanmar.
“We plan to hold a free and fair election soon,” Min Aung Hlaing said during a visit to Belarus, where he announced the time frame, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.
“Fifty-three political parties have already submitted their lists to participate in the election,” he said.
The junta was able to conduct a full, on-the-ground census in only 145 of the country’s 330 townships to prepare voter lists for the elections, according to a census report published in December.
The election also brings the risk of more violence as the junta and its opponents push to increase their control of territory in Myanmar, where the widening conflict has left the economy in tatters and displaced over 3.5 million people.
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