Britain will be the first country to roll out the Pfizer – BioNTech coronavirus vaccine – the first Western nation to do so, the government announced Sunday.The first doses will be distributed to health care workers and Britons over the age of 80 starting Tuesday, the National Health Service said.Roughly 800,000 doses are expected to be administered during the first week.Pfizer and BioNTech could receive U.S. approval later this month.China is also gearing up to introduce a huge coronavirus vaccine initiative. The Associated Press reports provincial governments across the country are placing orders for experimental, domestically made coronavirus vaccines, although health officials have yet to say how well they work or how they may reach the country’s 1.4 billion people.The AP says more than a million Chinese health care workers have already received experimental vaccines under emergency use permission, but there have been no indications about possible side effects.People wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk by a mural depicting China’s skyscrapers along a street in Beijing, Dec. 6, 2020.Russia launched its coronavirus vaccine initiative Saturday to contain the outbreak there. The most vulnerable will receive the first doses of the vaccine named Sputnik V, including medical workers and teachers. The vaccine was approved in August, despite criticism from Western experts about the country’s dearth of clinical trial information. On Friday, Bahrain became the second country to approve emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, after Britain. The challenge in distributing the vaccine will be keeping it cold enough. It must be stored at temperatures of around minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit). Bahrain routinely registers summer temperatures of 40 Celsius (104 F). Bahrain has already inoculated 6,000 people with a Chinese vaccine that uses a dead version of the virus. The Middle Eastern nation has had nearly 88,000 cases of the coronavirus and almost 350 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University. The virus causes the COVID-19 disease.In the United States, millions of people in southern California and the San Joaquin Valley will be under new restrictive stay-at-home orders, starting Sunday night.People wait in line to be tested at an outdoor COVID-19 testing site in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California, Dec. 5, 2020.California Governor Gavin Newsom said last week that the orders would go into effect when the intensive care capacity of a region’s hospitals fell below 15%. Starting Sunday night, the California orders will close all outdoor dining, public outdoor playgrounds, outdoor museums, zoos and aquariums, drive-in theaters, and open-air tour buses and boats. Pet grooming and electronics or shoe repair, considered low-contact retail, will be allowed on a curbside-drop-off basis. All other retail, including grocery stores, will be allowed to operate at 20% capacity.Nursing home deaths are once again climbing in Europe. AP reports that at least 5,000 “institutionalized elderly” have died in France in the past month, while Portugal has sent military units to nursing homes to instruct staff on how to properly perform disinfections. A surge in cases has prompted South Korean officials to impose new restrictions in the capital city of Seoul and surrounding locations. Starting Tuesday, gyms and karaoke bars will be closed, no gatherings larger than 49 people will be permitted and religious services can only be held online or broadcast.
There are more than 66.7 million global cases of the coronavirus, according to the Johns Hopkins University, and 1.5 million deaths.
With 14.5 million infections, the United States has more cases than any other nation. India follows the U.S. with 9.6 million infections and Brazil comes third with 6.5 million.
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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
Malaysia’s Coronavirus Outbreak Puts ‘Terrible’ Migrant Worker Housing in Spotlight
Malaysia is pressing companies to quickly upgrade staff housing after a major outbreak of COVID-19 in the teeming dormitories for migrant workers providing the world with personal protective equipment, something labor rights groups had been warning of for months.The country counted a record 2,188 COVID-19 cases on November 24, most linked to company dorms for migrant workers at Top Glove, the world’s leading latex glove maker.The next day, Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that authorities would start enforcing new worker housing rules right away, and imposing fines of some $12,300 for every employee in substandard accommodation.Human Resource Minister Saravanan Murugan followed up by calling some of the country’s dorm conditions “terrible” after personally visiting a few sites. Days later, on December 1, his ministry announced 19 investigations into six Top Glove subsidiaries, mostly for failing to furnish migrant workers with proper housing.Exterior of workers’ hostel for Top Glove, the world’s largest glove maker, is seen through barricade amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Meru, Selangor state, Malaysia, Nov. 24, 2020.Joseph Maliamauv, a director at local rights group Tenaganita, said employers have had well over a year to get ready for those rules. He also said he doubts the government would be enforcing them now if it weren’t for the outbreak. As recently as September, the human resource minister said his plans were not to fine errant employers so much as to “educate and encourage” them to comply.”They had more than enough time, but nobody took it seriously until now,” said Maliamauv.”And what really got anybody acting on it is the coronavirus. If it were not for the coronavirus, people would just have been doing what they have always been doing,” he said.Labor rights groups said a major COVID-19 outbreak among migrant workers in neighboring Singapore in April should also have been a call to action for authorities here.Lessons not learnedMalaysia’s government said at the time that it was learning from Singapore and ordered employers to start testing all their migrant workers, but it soon settled for construction workers and security guards, and only in some regions, Maliamauv said.FILE – A worker inspects disposable gloves at the Top Glove factory in Shah Alam on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Aug. 26, 2020.Top Glove itself put out a glossy video on May 1, Labor Day, telling workers it was doing all it could “to ensure you are always safe and well protected.”However, employees say the company did little more than pass out gloves and masks, take their temperatures at the start of each shift and remind them to keep their distance.Now, 28 of Top Glove’s 41 factories in Malaysia are shuttered while the company copes with the largest COVID-19 cluster the country has seen since the pandemic began.A Top Glove production line supervisor from Bangladesh told VOA that he and his 29 roommates were never tested before the entire bloc was put on lockdown on November 17.Videos he shared show a bare room packed tightly with bunk beds, their flimsy frames draped thick with laundry.A photo supplied by labor rights advocate Andy Hall shows a migrant worker dorm room in Malaysia.The 30 men share two bathrooms among them, although water often runs short during peak hours. There’s no air conditioning, and the fans do a poor job of keeping them cool on sweltering nights.”We were very worried since the pandemic started about getting infected, but this is where we have to live,” the young man said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.”We’ve been very worried about living in one room with 30 people because if one person gets it they can bring it back. We’re worried, but we have no choice,” he said.Eleven of his roommates have since tested positive for COVID-19 and been sent to the hospital or put into quarantine.”If they [Top Glove] had taken the right steps, maybe this situation would not have happened,” he said. “The company did not take care of us and protect us from COVID-19 the way it needed to.”Suing for timeIn a recent statement, Top Glove said its efforts to upgrade the dorms were continuing and would be complete by the end of the year.Maliamauv said the same conditions, and worse, still exist far and wide, and that the Human Resource Ministry’s enforcement efforts could not afford to end with Top Glove.”There are hundreds of employers who are not in the news that are still providing sub-standard housing, so it has to be continued,” he said. “Whether the minister lasts in the position and whether he has the stamina to do it, whether the employers lobby strong enough [for delays], that all depends. But as of now I am a little bit optimistic that some changes will occur.”Employers are indeed asking for more time.”Many of them are actually depending on the government’s assistance to remain in business, and if at the same time they also have to actually face penalties that are imposed by authorities, then of course it’s going to be very hard for them to survive,” said Shamsuddin Bardan, executive director of the Malaysian Employers Federation.The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers and the Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Malaysia have also urged the government not to impose stiff fines while the pandemic continues to batter the economy.While soaring global demand for protective gear has blessed Top Glove and other local rubber glove makers with record profits this year, many companies are suffering.If authorities do press ahead with fines now, Shamsuddin said, “then I would say it’s just like trying to kill them faster.”
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China Gearing Up for COVID Vaccine Program
China is gearing up to roll out a huge coronavirus vaccine initiative.The Associated Press reports provincial governments across the country are placing orders for experimental, domestically made coronavirus vaccines, though health officials have yet to say how well they work or how they may reach the country’s 1.4 billion people.The AP says more than a million Chinese health care workers have already received experimental vaccines under emergency use permission, but there have been no indications about possible side effects.In the United States, millions of people in Southern California and San Joaquin Valley will be under new restrictive stay-at-home orders, starting Sunday night.Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that the orders would go into effect when the intensive care capacity of a region’s hospitals fell below 15%.On Friday, several counties in the San Francisco Bay Area voluntarily decided to observe the new restrictions before their areas hit the new hospital threshold. The Bay Area lockdown also begins Sunday.Starting Sunday night, the California order will close all outdoor dining, public outdoor playgrounds, outdoor museums, zoos and aquariums, drive-in theaters, and open-air tour buses and boats. Pet grooming and electronics or shoe repair, considered low-contact retail, will be allowed to operate on a curbside-drop-off basis. All other retail, including grocery stores, will be allowed to operate at 20% capacity.A surge in COVID-19 cases has prompted South Korean officials to impose new restrictive measures in the capital city of Seoul and surrounding locations.Beginning Tuesday, gyms and karaoke bars will be closed, no gatherings larger than 49 people will be permitted and religious services can only be held online or broadcast.On Saturday, South Korea had 631 new infections, its largest daily tally in months. Public health officials say if the trend continues, hospitals could run out of beds.Seoul’s new lockdown measure will last for three weeks which means they will be in effect during Christmas.Russia launched its coronavirus vaccine initiative Saturday to contain the disease that is spreading at a record pace.The most vulnerable will receive the first doses of the vaccine named Sputnik V, including medical workers and teachers. The vaccine was approved in August, despite criticism from Western experts about the country’s dearth of clinical trial information.Russia rolls out the vaccine as Pfizer and BioNTech are set to introduce a vaccine next week following its approval recently by Britain. The drugmakers could receive U.S. approval later this month.On Friday, Bahrain became the second country to approve emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, after Britain.The challenge in distributing the vaccine will be keeping it cold enough. It must be stored at temperatures around minus 70 degrees Celsius. Bahrain routinely registers summer temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius.Bahrain has already inoculated 6,000 people with a Chinese vaccine that uses a dead version of the virus. The Mideast nation has had nearly 88,000 cases of the coronavirus and almost 350 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.There are more than 66.6 million global cases of the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins, and 1.5 million deaths.The U.S. with 14.5 million infections has more COVID cases than any other nation. India follows the U.S. with 9.6 million infections and Brazil comes in third with 6.5 million.
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Observers Say Beijing’s Planned Blacklist of Taiwan Secessionists Could Backfire
Beijing has confirmed that it is drafting a list of pro-independence advocates in Taiwan, a move that some observers say reveals the Chinese government’s intention to criminalize what it calls “Taiwan secessionists” after an anti-secession example had been set recently in Hong Kong.Some observers argue such a blacklist, however, will be toothless unless China finds ways to exercise long-distance influence over the self-ruled island.And it could backfire and fuel the island’s anti-China sentiment, which is already at an all-time high, they add.A laughingstock?“The list will be a laughingstock [to Taiwan] unless harsh economic sanctions, be it travel bans, asset freezes or even [authorized] assassinations, would be imposed to show [China’s] claws,” Chang Ching, a researcher at the Society for Strategic Studies in Taipei, told VOA this week.Hong Kong’s pro-China Ka Kung Bao newspaper, in mid-November, first uncovered Beijing’s plan to draft the list of names, saying those who blatantly support the separation of Taiwan from China will be punished under Chinese laws.State media, including the Global Times, also picked up and suggested the inclusion of what it called “diehard secessionists,” including Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and her Premier Su Tseng-chang.At that time, the Global Times noted in an editorial that “listees will be held criminally liable in their lifetime, which means that neither will they be allowed to visit China, Hong Kong and Macau, nor will their trips overseas be risk-free.”In accordance with China’s constitution, and its criminal and national security laws, the penalty for offenses of secession is set at a minimum of three years to life in prison.The punishment is now extended to the people of Hong Kong after China’s top legislature unilaterally enacted a new national security law for the city in July.Price to payLast month, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, confirmed for the first time that China is examining the list.“Efforts by a few diehard Taiwan secessionists to incite antagonism and undermine peace across the Strait … will not be tolerated,” Zhu told a press conference.“We will take precise measures to punish these separatists and their backers …There’s definitely a price for them to pay,” she added, without giving any other details or timeframe.The office’s counterpart, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, however, responded by denouncing China’s move to “intimidate Taiwan and disrupt its democracy.”“China’s malign behavior not only fails to strike the slightest bit of fear in Taiwan’s citizens, it adds to the hatred of the authoritarian Communist Party’s ignorant bullying,” the council said in a press statement in response to Zhu’s remarks.But Li Zhenguang, deputy director of Beijing Union University’s Institute of Taiwan Studies, disagreed. He said the list will send an effective warning even if there aren’t punishments until Taiwan is reunited with China.Non-peaceful means“This list will conceptualize China’s Anti-Secession Law, whose Article 8 authorizes non-peaceful means to prevent Taiwan independence. These pro-independence supporters and backers will be alarmed now that we try to single them out,” Li told VOA this week.China passed the Anti-Secession Law in 2005, which comprises 10 brief articles.The law formalizes China’s long-standing policy of resorting to the use of force against the Taiwan independence movement in the event of a unilateral declaration of independence by Taiwan, or when China feels the hope for peaceful unification is lost, as stated by its Article 8.The law doesn’t spell out any specific sanctions, however, for individual Taiwanese who are considered secessionists.The law is widely condemned in Taiwan, where the majority was displeased with China’s unilateral passage of the law to infringe upon Taiwan’s sovereignty.And its legality also has been called into question since Taiwan has never been under China’s jurisdiction, despite the Communist government’s claims that Taiwan is a part of China.China will be taking a step further to enforce the anti-secession law on Taiwan once a list of pro-independence supporters is next attached, according to Chang Jung-kung, a former vice secretary-general of Taiwan’s Chinese Nationalist Party, KMT.Vote gainsThe move will come with consequences, though, fueling the island’s anti-China sentiment to reap electoral gains for the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, Chang noted.“This list will belong to the [anti-secession] law’s enforcement provisions. No doubt, I think, China will draft such a list. But I don’t think it will be made public,” he said.Earlier polls in Taiwan showed the highest-ever support, at 54%, for Taiwan’s de jure independence –- signs of a sharp rebuke to Beijing and its repeated attempts to intimidate and cajole Taiwan into China’s fold.Publishing the blacklist will further hurt the pro-China KMT’s prospects in Taiwan, said Arthur Ding, an adjunct research fellow at National Chengchi University’s Institute of International Relations in Taipei.He said, as a whole, China will have little success in using the blacklist to divide Taiwan or weaken the DPP’s supporter base.But he cautioned if it is determined, China will find ways to exercise its long-arm jurisdiction, which may put some of the island’s pro-independence activists at risks.“For example, China may seek Thailand’s help to make arrests once they transit through Thai airports … I don’t think Thailand will resist the pressure from Beijing,” Ding told VOA.
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Japan’s Capsule With Asteroid Samples Retrieved in Australia
Japan’s space agency said its helicopter search team on Sunday retrieved a capsule carrying asteroid samples after it successfully landed in a remote area in southern Australia as planned.The spacecraft Hayabusa2 released the small capsule on Saturday and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from a distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on our planet, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said.”The capsule collection work at the landing site was completed,” the agency said in a tweet about four hours after the capsule landed. “We practiced a lot for today … it ended safe.”The return of the capsule with the world’s first asteroid subsurface samples came weeks after NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft made a successful touch-and-go grab of surface samples from asteroid Bennu. China, meanwhile, announced this week that its lunar lander had collected underground samples and sealed them within the spacecraft for return to Earth.Early Sunday, the capsule briefly turned into a fireball as it reentered the atmosphere 120 kilometers (75 miles) above Earth. About 10 kilometers (6 miles) above ground, a parachute was opened to slow its fall, and beacon signals were transmitted to indicate its location.’So impressed'”It was great. … It was a beautiful fireball, and I was so impressed,” said JAXA’s Hayabusa2 project manager Yuichi Tsuda as he celebrated the successful capsule return and safe landing from a command center in Sagamihara, near Tokyo. “I’ve waited for this day for six years.”About two hours after the capsule’s reentry, JAXA said its helicopter search team found the capsule in the planned landing area. The retrieval of the pan-shaped capsule, about 40 centimeters (15 inches) in diameter, was completed about two hours later.The fireball could be seen from the International Space Station. Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, who is now on a six-month mission there, tweeted: “Just spotted #hayabusa2 from #ISS! Unfortunately not bright enough for handheld camera, but enjoyed watching capsule!”FILE – This computer graphics image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the Hayabusa2 spacecraft above the asteroid Ryugu.Hayabusa2 left the asteroid Ryugu, about 300 million kilometers (180 million miles) away, a year ago. After it released the capsule, it moved away from Earth to capture images of the capsule descending toward the planet as it set off on a new expedition to another distant asteroid.Australian National University space rock expert Trevor Ireland, who was in Woomera for the arrival of the capsule, said he expected the Ryugu samples to be similar to the meteorite that fell in Australia near Murchison in Victoria state more than 50 years ago.”The Murchison meteorite opened a window on the origin of organics on Earth because these rocks were found to contain simple amino acids as well as abundant water,” Ireland said. “We will examine whether Ryugu is a potential source of organic matter and water on Earth when the solar system was forming, and whether these still remain intact on the asteroid.”Scientists say they believe the samples, especially ones taken from under the asteroid’s surface, contain valuable data unaffected by space radiation and other environmental factors. They are particularly interested in analyzing organic materials in the samples.Clues about distributionJAXA hopes to find clues to how the materials are distributed in the solar system and are related to life on Earth. Yoshikawa, the mission manager, said 0.1 gram of the dust would be enough to carry out all planned research.For Hayabusa2, it’s not the end of the mission it started in 2014. It is now heading to a small asteroid called 1998KY26 on a journey slated to take 10 years one way, for possible research including finding ways to prevent meteorites from hitting Earth.So far, its mission has been fully successful. It touched down twice on Ryugu despite the asteroid’s extremely rocky surface, and successfully collected data and samples during the 1½ years it spent near Ryugu after arriving there in June 2018.In its first touchdown in February 2019, it collected surface dust samples. In a more challenging mission in July that year, it collected underground samples from the asteroid for the first time in space history after landing in a crater that it created earlier by blasting the asteroid’s surface.Asteroids, which orbit the sun but are much smaller than planets, are among the oldest objects in the solar system and therefore may help explain how Earth evolved.Ryugu in Japanese means “Dragon Palace,” the name of a sea-bottom castle in a Japanese folk tale.
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Japan Capsule Carrying Asteroid Samples Lands in Australia
Japan’s space agency said its helicopter search team has spotted a capsule carrying asteroid samples that could explain the origin of life. It landed on a remote area in southern Australia as planned Sunday.Hayabusa2 successfully released the small capsule Saturday and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from the distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on our planet, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said.Early Sunday, the capsule briefly turned into a fireball as it reentered the atmosphere 120 kilometers (75 miles) above Earth. About 10 kilometers (6 miles) above ground, a parachute opened to slow its fall, and beacon signals were transmitted to indicate its location.”It was great. … It was a beautiful fireball, and I was so impressed,” said JAXA’s Hayabusa2 project manager, Yuichi Tsuda, as he celebrated the successful capsule return and safe landing from a command center in Sagamihara, near Tokyo. “I’ve waited for this day for six years.”The capsule landed safely in a remote, sparsely populated area of Woomera, Australia, said JAXA official Akitaka Kishi.Searchers spot capsuleAbout two hours after the capsule’s reentry, JAXA said its helicopter search team found the capsule in the planned landing area. A retrieval of the pan-shaped capsule, about 40 centimeters (15 inches) in diameter, will start after the sunrise, Kishi said.The fireball could be seen from the International Space Station. Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, who is now on a six-month mission there, tweeted: “Just spotted #hayabusa2 from #ISS! Unfortunately not bright enough for handheld camera, but enjoyed watching capsule!”Hayabusa2 left the asteroid Ryugu, about 300 million kilometers (180 million miles) away, a year ago. After it released the capsule, it moved away from Earth to capture images of the capsule descending toward the planet as it set off on a new expedition to another distant asteroid.Australian National University space rock expert Trevor Ireland, who was in Woomera for the arrival of the capsule, said he expected the Ryugu samples to be similar to the meteorite that fell in Australia near Murchison in Victoria state more than 50 years ago.”The Murchison meteorite opened a window on the origin of organics on Earth because these rocks were found to contain simple amino acids as well as abundant water,” Ireland said. “We will examine whether Ryugu is a potential source of organic matter and water on Earth when the solar system was forming, and whether these still remain intact on the asteroid.”Scientists say they believe the samples, especially ones taken from under the asteroid’s surface, contain valuable data unaffected by space radiation and other environmental factors. They are particularly interested in analyzing organic materials in the samples.Clues about distributionJAXA hopes to find clues to how the materials are distributed in the solar system and are related to life on Earth. Yoshikawa, the mission manager, said 0.1 gram of the dust would be enough to carry out all planned research.For Hayabusa2, it’s not the end of the mission it started in 2014. It is now heading to a small asteroid called 1998KY26 on a journey slated to take 10 years one way, for possible research including finding ways to prevent meteorites from hitting Earth.So far, its mission has been fully successful. It touched down twice on Ryugu despite the asteroid’s extremely rocky surface, and successfully collected data and samples during the 1½ years it spent near Ryugu after arriving there in June 2018.In its first touchdown in February 2019, it collected surface dust samples. In a more challenging mission in July that year, it collected underground samples from the asteroid for the first time in space history after landing in a crater that it created earlier by blasting the asteroid’s surface.Asteroids, which orbit the sun but are much smaller than planets, are among the oldest objects in the solar system and therefore may help explain how Earth evolved.Ryugu in Japanese means “Dragon Palace,” the name of a sea-bottom castle in a Japanese folk tale.
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Thai King Leads Thousands to Remember Late Father’s Birthday
Thousands of yellow-clad supporters greeted Thailand’s king Saturday as he led a birthday commemoration for his revered late father, the latest in a series of public appearances at a time of unprecedented challenge to the monarchy from student-led protesters.King Maha Vajiralongkorn, accompanied by Queen Suthida, waved as he arrived at Bangkok’s Sanam Luang ceremonial ground. Supporters of the monarchy held Thai and yellow royal flags to welcome them, with some cheering “Long live the king.” The crowd wore yellow shirts, the color associated with the royal institution.The king led the crowd in a candlelit tribute to his late father, whose giant image was at the center of the stage set up outside the ornate Grand Palace.Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn and members of the royal family sit in front of a portrait of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej during a ceremony to mark the late king’s birthday, at Sanam Luang ceremonial ground in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 5, 2020.Although King Bhumibhol Adulyadej died four years ago, his birthday remains on the national calendar as Fathers Day.He reigned for 70 years, acquiring a reputation for selfless work in the service of his country, an image endlessly propagated by newspapers and state media. He was widely respected, a status reinforced by strict lese majeste laws that can bring jail terms of up to 15 years for any comment or action deemed defamatory toward the monarchy.But since his death in 2016, and the accession of Vajiralongkorn, the monarchy’s standing has been under threat, with dissent on the rise.In August, pro-democracy students smashed the taboo on public criticism by unveiling a 10-point demand for sweeping reform to make the powerful and wealthy institution more transparent and accountable.Support for the move has swelled, with thousands embracing the call at a series of mass rallies, alongside demands for a new constitution and the resignation of the prime minister.Supporters of the monarchy participate in a candle-lighting ceremony to mark the anniversary of the birth of late King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Sanam Luang ceremonial ground in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 5, 2020.In apparent response, Vajiralongkorn has undertaken a wave of public appearances that have served as rallying points for thousands of conservative Thais outraged at the challenge to traditional norms and determined to defend them.In contrast to his usual stern demeanor, the king has been more relaxed at the events, presenting a softer persona, while also thanking and encouraging those who have stood up for him.At one royal walkabout in November, he appeared to hint that there could be compromises with those demanding reform, but protest leaders have dismissed that as meaningless.In recent days, at least 12 protest leaders have been charged with royal defamation under the lese majeste laws. The laws had been suspended for the past three years after Vajiralongkorn told the government he did not want to see them used.
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Calls Grow for Police Accountability in Hong Kong
A Hong Kong court ruling has strengthened calls to establish an independent mechanism for complaints against the police amid intense outcry at home and abroad over alleged arbitrary arrests and excessive police use of force.Once regarded as Asia’s finest, the city’s 30,000-strong police force has come under fire for actions during widespread anti-government protests that gripped Hong Kong last year. Tear gas, water cannons, pepper spray and batons were widely used by police to disperse unrelenting protesters.On Nov. 29, the Court of First Instance ruled in favor of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, saying the existing system is inadequate for investigating complaints against the police violations of the city’s Bill of Rights on torture and cruel treatment. Also, the failure by the police to require anti-riot officers to display their numbered badges in the protests violated the Bill of Rights, the court said.“If the government still respects the court, it should take the responsibility to rectify the problems,” Eric Cheung Tat-ming, principal lecturer and director of clinical legal education at the University of Hong Kong said.“If the government loses its appeal case [in the Court of Appeal], it will have to take some time to come up with a new mechanism. If the officials ignore the judge’s suggestions, it will be considered overturning the ruling,” he said.Cheung reiterated calls for an independent body to process complaints and redress misconduct as well as any false accusations against police officers. Backers of the calls include pro-government legislators.“By doing so, the government can restore public confidence in the police,” Cheung said. “By the same token, if the complaints against the police are invalid, it won’t be fair to them that the system is inadequate.”He added that the government will have to come up with ways to address the two main issues the judge has raised in the verdict — the absence of independent oversight in the existing police complaint mechanism and police officers’ failure to display their badges.FILE – A police officer displays a warning banner on Oct. 1, 2020, China’s National Day, in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.C.M. Chan, a lawyer and head of Centre for the Rule of Law of Hong Kong Policy Research Institute, an independent think tank, suggested that the Hong Kong government set up something similar to the Independent Police Complaints Commission in Britain, which he describes as a “tiger with teeth” as it has the authority to initiate investigations.“From a good governance point of view, the government should listen to the court’s recommendations,” he said, adding that, “At present, you make a complaint against the police and the complaint goes to the police and the IPCC only monitors their investigations,” he said, referring to Hong Kong’s Independent Police Complaints Council.Under the current two-tier mechanism, the Complaints Against Police Office, a unit within the police force, refers reportable complaints to the IPCC, which is responsible for monitoring and reviewing reportable cases. However, it cannot overturn Complaints Against Police Office conclusions or initiate investigations.Veteran Hong Kong-based China-watcher Johnny Lau Yui-siu has painted a less optimistic picture. He said, “The government may just indicate they respect the court’s ruling but brush aside any need to introduce reforms to the existing police complaint system.”Nevertheless, he sees the court judgement as a step toward a long process in cracking the Chinese Communist Party’s grip on Hong Kong. “It will have a snowballing effect in pushing for changes,” he said, adding that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s purported “law-based governance” is a sign that Beijing cannot ignore the fact that authorities must act according to the law, even though they try to sugarcoat arbitrary policies.Chan also said he has reservations about how willing Hong Kong authorities are to heed the court’s recommendations.“We have to accept that the Hong Kong government operates within the parameters of the one-country-two-systems, we can’t draw complete parallels with most Western societies,” he said, referring to the arrangement under which Hong Kong retains its legal system and wider civil liberties than those in mainland China.FILE – Police arrest a man and lead him to a nearby bus during a protest against China’s planned national security law in Hong Kong on June 28, 2020.As of August, the police complaints office had received 1,895 complaints, including 199 from the media that have been referred to the IPCC.Last year, a panel of international experts appointed by the IPCC to probe allegations of excessive police force during the protests resigned collectively. The panel said in a statement that the IPCC lacked the powers necessary “to meet the standards citizens of Hong Kong would likely require” in a society that “values freedom and rights.”In a report, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, published last month, Clifford Stott, a British panel member who stepped down, said, “Hong Kong police played a pivotal role in radicalizing protests.”Police Commissioner Chris Tang said the force will appeal the High Court’s decision that officers’ failure to show their identification numbers constituted a breach of the Bill of Rights.Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed Chief Executive Carrie Lam has repeatedly said that the existing mechanism is sufficient to deal with complaints and there is no need to set up an independent system.
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Japan Awaits Spacecraft Return with Asteroid Soil Samples
Japan’s space agency said the Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully separated a capsule and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from a distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on our planet.The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the capsule successfully detached Saturday afternoon from 220,000 kilometers away in a challenging operation that required precision control. The capsule is now descending to land in a remote, sparsely populated area of Woomera, Australia, on Sunday.Hayabusa2 left the asteroid Ryugu a year ago. After releasing the capsule, it is now moving away from Earth to capture images of the capsule descending to the planet.Yuichi Tsuda, project manager at the space agency JAXA, stood up and raised his fists as everyone applauded the moment command center officials confirmed the successful separation of the capsule.Hayabusa2’s return with the world’s first asteroid subsurface samples comes weeks after NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft made a successful touch-and-go grab of surface samples from asteroid Bennu. China, meanwhile, announced this week its lunar lander collected underground samples and sealed them within the spacecraft for return to Earth, as nations compete in space missions.Many Hayabusa2 fans gathered to observe the moment of the capsule separation at public viewing events across the country, including one at the Tokyo Dome stadium.In the early hours of Sunday, the capsule, protected by a heat shield, will briefly turn into a fireball as it reenters the atmosphere 120 kilometers above Earth. At about 10 kilometers above ground, a parachute will open to slow its fall and beacon signals will be transmitted to indicate its location.JAXA staff have set up satellite dishes at several locations in the target area to receive the signals, while also preparing a marine radar, drones and helicopters to assist in the search and retrieval of the pan-shaped capsule, 40 centimeters in diameter.Australian National University space rock expert Trevor Ireland, who is in Woomera for the arrival of the capsule, said he expected the Ryugu samples to be similar to the meteorite that fell in Australia near Murchison in Victoria state more than 50 years ago.“The Murchison meteorite opened a window on the origin of organics on Earth because these rocks were found to contain simple amino acids as well as abundant water,” Ireland said, “We will examine whether Ryugu is a potential source of organic matter and water on Earth when the solar system was forming, and whether these still remain intact on the asteroid.”Scientists say they believe the samples, especially ones taken from under the asteroid’s surface, contain valuable data unaffected by space radiation and other environmental factors. They are particularly interested in analyzing organic materials in the samples.JAXA hopes to find clues as to how the materials are distributed in the solar system and are related to life on Earth.For Hayabusa2, it’s not the end of the mission it started in 2014. After dropping the capsule, it will return to space and head to another distant small asteroid called 1998KY26 on a journey slated to take 10 years one way, for a possible research including finding ways to prevent meteorites from hitting Earth.So far, its mission has been fully successful. It touched down twice on Ryugu despite its extremely rocky surface, and successfully collected data and samples during the 1½ years it spent near Ryugu after arriving there in June 2018.In its first touchdown in February 2019, it collected surface dust samples. In a more challenging mission in July that year, it collected underground samples from the asteroid for the first time in space history after landing in a crater that it created earlier by blasting the asteroid’s surface.Asteroids, which orbit the sun but are much smaller than planets, are among the oldest objects in the solar system and therefore may help explain how Earth evolved.Ryugu in Japanese means “Dragon Palace,” the name of a sea-bottom castle in a Japanese folk tale.
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Family of Detained Chinese Rights Lawyer Silenced by Threats, Sources Say
The family of a rights lawyer detained in northwestern China has been warned to keep quiet after they publicly expressed concern about his deteriorating condition, according to sources close to the family.The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of political retaliation, also said that lawyer Chang Weiping, who is accused of inciting subversion of state power, was denied his right to legal representation after a defense team hired by the family was pressured into dropping his case.On Monday, Chang Shuanming, father of the 36-year-old lawyer, said he was recently granted a 10-minute meeting with his son at a police station in Baoji, Shaanxi province — the first since his arrest in late October.In a post on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like microblogging site, the elder Chang described his son as “fragile and tired with red eyes, speaking intermittently … as if he was reciting something.”In tears, the lawyer discouraged his father, wife and other family members from raising awareness about his case, saying it would be “futile,” according to the post.At the end of their meeting, the lawyer shouted, “You and Mom have to stay sound and alive,” as his 70-year-old father walked out the door.“Was he bidding farewell to me?” his father later wrote online. “His voice was so shrill and filled with horror that it instantly broke my heart into pieces. My son, please stay in faith. I will never give up fighting for you.”Baoji police responded to the Weibo post by threatening the family members, telling them to stay silent and refrain from speaking to media, sources close to the family told VOA.Sources also said the wife’s employers — top-level managers at a Shenzhen hospital — were also pressuring her into silence.Legal representation deniedSince founding his law practice in 2013, Chang Weiping represented victims of workplace discrimination over HIV/AIDS and litigated cases involving defective coronavirus vaccines. He also defended rights activists before his license was revoked.His first arrest, in January, followed his attendance at a gathering of lawyers and activists in the southeastern Fujian province port city of Xiamen. Sources told VOA he was placed under “residential surveillance” at a designated hotel for 10 days before he was released on bail.He was detained again in late October, six days after posting a YouTube video openly accusing Baoji police of torture during his January hotel detention. At that time, Chang said in the YouTube video, his hands were tightly cuffed to a so-called “tiger chair” — a device used immobilize suspects during interrogations, and sometimes to keep a detainee’s knees bent slightly in the wrong direction — for 24 hours.He concluded the video by insisting on his innocence, saying he had the right to attend the Xiamen meeting.The legal defense team hired by Chang’s family in November was granted access to its client before, sources tell VOA, the local justice department office forced the team to drop the case.Neither Guangzhou-based justice officials nor Baoji police have responded to multiple VOA phone and email requests for comment.Police tortureChang’s father believes his son is still being tortured — a suspicion shared by U.S.-based Chinese rights lawyer Chen Jiangang, who fled China in 2019 after being warned he would “disappear” if he continued to represent the daughter-in-law of jailed former Chinese leader Zhou Yongkang.Rights lawyers are largely deprived of sleep while in detention, given unknown medicine or put under isolation, Chen told VOA by phone, describing Chang’s decision to yell out to his father during their brief meeting as a sign of profound mental distress.The Chinese government will never allow a lawyer of the family’s free choice to represent Chang, Chen said. Instead, he said, a government-appointed lawyer will take up the job to later put on a show trial.That, Chen said, illustrates the collapse of China’s criminal defense system.Since the massive crackdown on rights lawyers in 2015, “it’s been the Xi Jinping administration’s blueprint to persecute all rights lawyers … whom the Chinese communist regime views as its enemy,” said Chen.Six international legal groups, including the Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales and the Hong Kong-based China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, issued an open letter in November denouncing Chang’s arbitrary arrest.In their five demands, the groups urged China to unconditionally release Chang and allow him free access to lawyers of choice. They also called on authorities to investigate and punish all perpetrators involved in the lawyer’s earlier torture, based China’s obligations under national and international laws.Six China-based HIV-positive activists last week signed a petition demanding better physical and legal treatment by Baoji police.In their letter, they heralded Chang’s contributions to the HIV/AIDS community, saying he helped “eased stigma and discrimination against people with HIV.”“Every lawsuit he defended has changed the fate of those people,” they wrote.
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Philippines Parents Pimp Out their Children as COVID Job Losses Mount
Child prostitution is surging this year in the Philippines, where parents have lost jobs during strict anti-pandemic shutdowns and allowed their children to work the sex trade, often through online connections, activists and officials say.Officials in the Southeast Asian country believe COVID-19 is fueling an increase in online sexual exploitation of children, the government’s Commission on Human Rights said in September. UNICEF had already described the Philippines four years ago as “the global epicenter of the live-stream sexual abuse trade.” International advocacy group End Child Prostitution and Trafficking estimates a 264% increase in online sexual abuse and exploitation of children during the pandemic, the domestic news website Manila Bulletin reports.“The increasing cases of children in prostitution is alarming,” said Maria Teresa Dela Rosa, president of the National Association of Social Work Education advocacy group in the southern city Davao.“Parents, out of poverty, are pimping their children, even using the online platforms,” she said.
Stay-home orders enforced at the neighborhood level since April have made it tough for adults to keep or find jobs. The Philippine jobless rate was 10% in July, up from 5.4% a year earlier.
FILE – A woman wearing protective mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus walk past a mural showing frontliners in Manila, Philippines on Oct. 21, 2020.Child prostitution is happening largely at home, often involving fathers, stepfathers, uncles or older brothers, Dela Rosa said. Now adults in the family are helping their children use the internet to set up paid sex with people from outside the home, a source of family income, she said. The internet’s prevalence facilitates advertising, finding customers and getting paid, she added.
The Philippines is the largest known source of online sexual exploitation of children, the ASEAN Post, a news and data website covering Southeast Asia, said in an October report.
Dela Rosa cited one reported case where a father found a customer for his 7-year-old boy for the equivalent of a few U.S. dollars and described a 9-year-old girl who was selling sex to taxi drivers.
Quarantined online sex offenders are spending more time online, since it’s more difficult to go out, the commission’s statement says. “Vulnerable” women and children are “confined at home” at the same time with their traffickers, it says.
About 1 in 5 Filipinos lives in poverty. In urban slums without lockdowns, children can normally go outside to sell sundries from street corners or panhandle for change. Some of the poor live in mountain villages that rely on subsistence farming.Residents bathe, wash, and pump water in their destroyed village following the damage caused by Typhoon Vamco, in Rodriguez, Rizal province, Philippines.The country’s regular typhoons, earthquakes and volcanic explosions along with COVID-19 have made poverty more acute, pushing children toward prostitution, experts believe.
“This normally happens when we have disasters and now with the pandemic with many people losing jobs,” said Maria Ela Atienza, political science professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman. “Even the children are sacrificed in the process,” she said.
Lory Pabunag remembers the struggle to leave prostitution, her work of eight years. She did it to give “respect” to her three children, now ages 13, 23 and 26. A lot of people leave only when local nonprofit groups arrange other work for them, but those jobs are temporary, she said.
Mothers and children in prostitution are answering pressure to provide for family, she said.
“Being poor and being vulnerable is very risky and very hard, especially for women and especially for children who want to finish studies and wanted to go to school and wanted to help the family,” said Pabunag, 45, who now works for an anti-prostitution, anti-trafficking aid group in the southern Philippines.
Philippine officials must step up enforcement against child prostitution, said Dela Rosa, also a social worker and on the faculty of Ateneo de Davao University. They do too little now to stop online pornography, a vehicle for child prostitution, she said.
Government stimulus spending to ease economic shocks from the pandemic doesn’t go far enough for families, especially those who suddenly need to buy laptops for online schooling, Dela Rosa added. The country approved about $4 billion in stimulus earlier in the year.
To help further, the Philippine Senate is reviewing a bill that would require internet service providers and tourism establishments to report child prostitution crimes.
The human rights commission acknowledges that the crime is now hard to police. “The challenge remains for us to protect the most vulnerable individuals while swiftly prosecuting their abusers,” its September statement says.
“The lack of [child prostitution] data, the inconsistency in data collection, sharing and analysis across agencies, and the complexity of internet-facilitated crimes has made it almost impossible to accurately capture the extent of the crime locally and globally,” the commission says.
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Japan’s Prime Minister Pledges $19 Billion Investment in Green Economy
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged $19.2 billion toward achieving zero carbon emissions by 2050.
He made the remarks Friday during wide-ranging news conference that came a day before the Japanese parliament – the Diet – ends its legislative session, as is customary. Suga told reporters his proposal marks a big step forward in environmental investment for the country.
He also announced a nearly $10 billion investment in digitalization including research and development for wireless communications technologies supporting cellular data networks.
Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Japanese leader said he would be introducing an economic package next week to help individuals and businesses recover and repair the economy from the coronavirus’s devastating effects.
As for a vaccine, the prime minister referenced “a few ongoing clinical trials in Japan and overseas,” some of which are in their final stages.
“Safety and efficacy will be the biggest priorities. We are making the utmost effort in preparation, to deliver the vaccinations that will be approved for those in need,” he said Friday.
Suga also said he would like to work closely with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden.
“(The) Japan-U.S. alliance is the cornerstone of Japan’s diplomatic security and is the very foundation of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and the international community,” he said, noting he would like to arrange a U.S. visit as soon as possible.
Suga took office on Sept. 16, pledging to carry on policies of his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, who resigned due to health problems.
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Buddhist Prayer Ceremony Held in Cambodia for Missing Thai Activist
The sister of a Thai pro-democracy activist who rights groups say was abducted by unknown gunmen in Cambodia called on Friday for authorities to solve the case after holding a Buddhist prayer ceremony to mark six months since his disappearance.Wanchalearm Satsaksit, 37, was bundled into a vehicle in front of his Phnom Penh apartment in June, New York-based Human Rights Watch said. Cambodian police have previously said they were unaware a kidnapping had taken place.During the brief ceremony outside Wanchalearm’s apartment, Buddhist monks chanted and scattered sacred water.”We do not know the perpetrator; however, it is the duty and responsibility of authorities both in Cambodia and Thailand to find the truth,” Wanchalearm’s sister, Sitanun Satsaksit, told reporters after the ceremony.Wanchalearm was speaking on his mobile phone to Sitanun when he was abducted, the elder sister has said previously.Sitanun said the family still hoped to be reunited with their brother but said the response of authorities in both countries had not been sufficient.Sitanun is due to appear at a hearing about the case in a Phnom Penh court on Tuesday, where she plans to submit photographs and videos to show that her brother was in the city at the time of his alleged abduction.Cambodian national police spokesperson Chhay Kim Khoeun, who had previously said police were unaware of the incident, declined to comment on Friday.In a statement, Thailand’s embassy in Phnom Penh said it was following the case but could not provide specific comment at this time since “the case is currently under legal process.”The embassy said it was closely cooperating with Cambodian authorities and would continue to provide assistance to Wanchalearm’s family.At least eight other Thai activists who fled the country after a 2014 military coup have disappeared from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, with some later found dead.Thai authorities have said they had nothing to do with the disappearances.
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Australian Telescope Finds 1 Million New Galaxies
A powerful new telescope in Australia has mapped vast areas of the universe in record time. The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder was able to chart about 3 million galaxies in just 300 hours – 1 million of which have never been seen before.Galaxies are the building blocks of the universe. From a remote corner in the Western Australian outback, a new telescope, which has turned radio signals in space into images, has examined the entire southern sky in sharper detail than has ever been done before.The Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, 800 kilometers north of Perth, is run by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, or CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency.The telescope is not just one dish or antenna, but 36. They are three stories high and connected by fiber-optic cable, so they combine to work as one supertelescope.The array is helping scientists study black holes, the nature of gravity and the origins of the first stars.By cataloging millions of galaxies, scientists hope to unlock the secrets of how the universe has evolved.“If we can look at the statistics of them, where they are on the sky, and how they interact with each other, then we learn about how galaxies like our own can form and how we came to be here on this Earth,” said Douglas Bock, he CSIRO’s director of astronomy and space science. “And if we look at a galaxy that is far away, perhaps 12 billion light years away, we are looking back in time. So, we are looking at the light from that galaxy that was emitted when it was only a few billion years after the beginning of our universe.”Researchers say the array’s isolated location in Western Australia is ideal for this type of astronomy because it’s quiet and far away from Earth-based radio transmissions. Much work lies ahead. The CSIRO estimates the universe could contain as many as 1 trillion galaxies.
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US Lawmakers Denounce Sentencing of Hong Kong Activists
The Hong Kong government’s decision to sentence three prominent activists to prison for organizing an unauthorized assembly drew fire from several key member of the U.S. Congress.On Wednesday, Hong Kong pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam received jail terms for organizing a protest that took place outside the Hong Kong Police Headquarters in the district of Wan Chai in June 2019.In this Sept. 28, 2019, photo, Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow stands next to a poster of activist Joshua Wong, in Hong Kong.Wong received a sentence of 13-and-a-half months in jail after pleading guilty to both inciting and organizing an unauthorized assembly. Chow received a 10-month sentence for inciting and taking part in the protest, while Lam received a seven-month sentence for inciting the protest.Wong is one of the most widely recognized activists engaged in the city’s resistance to Beijing’s crackdown. He, Chow and Lam were members of a now disbanded political group, called Demosisto.Bipartisan criticismBoth Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Washington responded angrily to the sentences. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, called the ruling “appalling” in Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., pauses as she meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 12, 2020.“This injustice is clear proof that Beijing will stop at nothing to stamp out dissent and to destroy the freedoms and real autonomy guaranteed to the people of Hong Kong,” she said, adding that Congress will “speak with one voice in defense of those oppressed by Beijing and in support of freedom, justice and real autonomy for the people of Hong Kong.” Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said the ruling sends a clear signal to the world.“Beijing completely controls Hong Kong,” said Rubio, chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. “American and other companies should get out while they can.”He added that the sentences show that the Hong Kong government has failed to keep its promise of a One Country, Two Systems framework, which was meant to give Hong Kong greater autonomy than other Chinese cities.Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., asks a question to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing on the State Department’s 2021 budget, July 30, 2020, in Washington.“If this is how Hong Kong treats prominent pro-democracy activists, then the international community must watch closely for how Hong Kong treats the thousands awaiting their day in court and those charged under the National Security Law,” Rubio said in a statement. “I stand in solidarity with all Hong Kongers who are watching as their long-cherished freedoms are robbed by a corrupt and cruel regime in Beijing.”Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri, told VOA the ruling shows that China has no intention of living up to its obligations stated in the Ron Johnson, R-Wisc. speaks to a witness during a migration hearing in Washington, April 4, 2019.Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, called the court ruling “appalling” in an interview with VOA.“What Communist China is doing to Hong Kong is appalling. We should do everything we can to show support for the courageous people of Hong Kong who just want freedom,” he said.Senator Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the incoming Biden administration would be tougher on China’s human rights issues.“[President-elect Joe Biden] intends to be an advocate for human rights and democracy and it will be one of the pillars of American foreign policy again,” he told VOA. “I think Hong Kong is a prime candidate for the voice of the Biden-elect administration to be raised as it relates to human rights and democracy.”Human rightsSamuel Chu, managing director of the Washington D.C.-based Hong Kong Democracy Council, told VOA that he is heartbroken over what happened to young activists in Hong Kong.“I’m really sad and I’m angered by the fact that the Hong Kong and Chinese government is essentially saying that they are willing to wipe out the brightest [minds] of the next generation just to buy some time to keep control of Hong Kong,” Chu said.Manpreet Anand, regional director for Asia-Pacific programs at the National Democratic Institute, was sanctioned by the Beijing government on Monday for his work on human rights issues in China. He told VOA that Beijing is clearly trying to silence, intimidate and deter people who are attempting to advocate for the rights promised to them by the territory’s Basic Law, or constitution.“It’s really unfortunate. I think you are seeing an outpouring of support from across the democratic world for those individuals, but broadly for all of those who want what was promised to them in terms of democracy in Hong Kong,” Anand said.Jimmy Lai of Next Digital, which publishes the Apple Daily newspaper, is escorted by Correctional Services officers to prison, in Hong Kong, Dec. 3, 2020.Meanwhile, Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been denied bail following his arrest for alleged fraud on Thursday. He was deemed an “absconding risk” by the court and is set to remain behind bars until the next court date in April 2021.Chung Kim-wah, deputy chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, told VOA the court decision is unusual in its nature.“The accusation was illegal use of his company’s premises. In fact, he lent office space to a foundation, that’s a common practice in Hong Kong,” Chung said. “I think the decision to deny bail is to target Jimmy Lai, and the fact that he needs to remain behind bars for more than five months equals political persecution.”This story originated in VOA’s Mandarin Service.
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US Bans Cotton Imports from Chinese Company Over Allegations of Human Rights Violations
The Trump administration has imposed a ban on imports of cotton products manufactured by a Chinese state-controlled firm because of its reliance on the forced labor of detained ethnic minorities.The Customs and Border Protection agency issued an order Wednesday ending shipments from the quasi-military Xinjiang Protection and Construction Corps. The order also requires any U.S. company seeking to import cotton products from China to prove they did not come from the XPCC or were included in the supply chain.Xinjiang is a major source of cotton and textiles used by many of the world’s largest and best-known clothing brands. The XPCC produced as much as 30% of China’s cotton in 2015.Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy secretary of the Homeland Security Department, which includes the CBP, said in a statement that any apparel attached with a “Made in China” label should be considered “a warning label” as it was made by “slave labor.”Acting CBP head Mark Morgan said “China’s systemic abuse of forced labor in the Xinjiang region should disturb every American business and consumer. Forced labor is a human rights violation that hurts vulnerable workers and introduces unfair competition into global supply chains.”The ban is in reaction to recent studies and news reports documenting how groups of people in Xinjiang, especially the largely Uighur Muslim and Kazakh minorities, have been recruited into programs that assign them to work in factories, cotton farms, textile mills and menial jobs in cities.
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Hong Kong Publishing Tycoon, Pro-Democracy Activist Arrested
Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai has been arrested and charged with fraud.The 73-year-old Lai appeared in a Hong Kong courtroom Thursday along with two other executives of his Next Digital company and was accused of violating terms of the company’s lease of its office space. He was denied bail, and his case has been adjourned until next April.Lai was arrested at his home back in August and charged with suspicion of colluding with a foreign country under the city’s new national security law imposed by China. Hours after his arrest, more than 100 police officers raided the headquarters of Lai’s Next Digital company, which publishes the newspaper Apple Day. The newspaper livestreamed the raid on its website, showing officers roaming the newsroom as they rummaged through reporters’ files, while Lai was led through the newsroom in handcuffs.He was one of at least 10 people were arrested that day, including at least one of Lai’s sons.Lai is already in legal jeopardy for his pro-democracy activism. He was one of 15 activists arrested earlier this year and hit with seven charges, including organizing and participating in unauthorized assemblies and inciting others to take part in an unauthorized assembly.
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Bloggers, Activists Stage Hunger Strike Over Vietnam Prison Conditions
A blogger jailed after filming protests over a toxic spill has gone on a hunger strike over unjust treatment in Vietnam’s An Diem prison, alongside two other prisoners of conscience.Nguyen Van Hoa, 25, a blogger and contributor to Radio Free Asia (RFA) Vietnam Service, is protesting prison conditions with human rights defender Nguyen Bac Truyen and blogger and activist Pham Van Diep.In a call to his home, Truyen said he began his hunger strike in November and would continue until prison conditions and treatment improved, his wife, Bui Thi Kim Phuong, told VOA Vietnamese on November 28.“He told me the reasons for the hunger strike were unjust treatments by the prison officials. They have protested about lack of access to medical care and confiscation of letters from prisoners to their families without explanation,” Phuong said.Truyen tried to send two letters home in April, but prison authorities blocked them, Phuong said, without detailing the content of the letters.In 2019, Truyen filed a request to prison authorities in An Diem, which falls under the Ministry of Public Security’s supervision, for a health checkup and examination by medical specialists, but the request was ignored, Phuong said.“It has been more than three years since his arrest, and he has not been granted the health checkup,” she said.Several prisoners also requested transfers to prisons closer to their families. Prisoners of conscience are often imprisoned far from their homes, which makes it difficult for their families to visit.Truyen’s parents and his wife live in Ho Chi Minh City. His parents are unable to make the 900 km trip to the prison to see him, and Phuong says she falls sick after every visit because of the long travel, with the journey taking 14 to 16 hours if going by rail or car.Declining healthBlogger Hoa’s health is extremely poor, his sister Nguyen Thi Hue said. When she spoke with RFA’s Vietnamese Service on November 27, the day after she last saw her brother, he had been on the hunger strike for at least eight days.“I couldn’t believe it was him because he looked so ill and tired, and he had to be supported by someone who helped him walk to the visiting booth because he was too weak to walk by himself,” Hue said. “This was the first time in the past four years that I saw my brother’s health so badly broken down.”Hue said her brother told her that prison guards This photo from the Vietnam News Agency taken on Nov. 27, 2017, shows activist Nguyen Van Hoa standing trial at a local people’s court in the central province of Ha Tinh.Thomas added, “[We] urge the Vietnamese authorities to ensure that those who stand up for human rights in the country are free to do so without fear of harassment, violence or imprisonment.”In October, the Norwegian human rights organization Stefanus Alliance International awarded Truyen its Stefanus Prize for his work promoting human rights in Vietnam, including freedom of religion.The 52-year-old activist is a Hoa Hao Buddhist and he has long fought for the rights of religious minorities and other human rights in Vietnam. Two groups of Hoa Hao Buddhists exist in Vietnam: one backed by the government, and a group that is not registered, to which Truyen belongs.On July 30, 2017, Truyen was assaulted and arrested by plainclothes police while waiting for his wife outside his office in Ho Chi Minh City. On April 5, 2018, a court sentenced him to 11 years in prison and three years’ probation for “activities aimed at overthrowing the government.”Filmed protestsBlogger Hoa was jailed on November 27, 2017, after filming protests outside the Taiwan-owned Formosa Plastics Group steel plant. A toxic spill there in 2016 killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and left fishery and tourism workers jobless in four central provinces. Hoa, who had blogged and produced videos for RFA, was arrested January 11, 2017, for “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state.”The charges were later upgraded to “conducting propaganda against the state.” Hoa is serving a seven-year sentence, followed by three years’ probation.RFA and VOA are both independent networks funded by the U.S. Congress.The third person on the hunger strike, Diep, is a 54-year-old activist from the northern province of Thanh Hoa. In 2019 Diep was jailed for nine years for spreading “distorted information defaming the Communist Party and the Vietnamese government.” Diep is a human rights advocate and government critic who used his blog and later his Facebook account to discuss human rights abuses.Vietnam has been consistently rated “not free” in the areas of internet and press freedom by Freedom House, a U.S.-based watchdog group.Reporters Without Borders ranks Vietnam 175th out of 180, where 1 is the most free, in its 2020 World Press Freedom Index. About 25 journalists and bloggers are held in Vietnam’s jails, “where mistreatment is common,” the Paris-based watchdog group said.This story originated in VOA Vietnamese.
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Thai Prime Minister Not Guilty; Protesters Decry Justice System
Thailand’s highest court on Wednesday acquitted Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha of wrongdoing linked to his stay in an army house long after he retired from the military, a case that could have seen him removed from office and offered a way out from a political crisis engulfing the kingdom. Pro-democracy protesters, who demonstrated in the tens of thousands to press for Prayuth to resign, immediately gathered at a major Bangkok intersection after the constitutional court’s ruling in favor of the prime minister. The nine-judge bench unanimously decided Prayuth’s prolonged stay at a taxpayer-funded army residence after he retired as army chief in late 2014 was neither a conflict of interest nor violated “any laws” and therefore “he will remain prime minister.” A portrait of Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha is pictured during a protest after the constitutional court’s ruling on the prime minister’s conflict of interest case, in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 2, 2020.Prayuth, a former army chief who is the focus of the protesters’ anger, took power in a 2014 coup vowing to defend the monarchy and bring peace and unity to a divided nation. Six years later, Thailand is split like never before, with the once untouchable monarchy now at the center of calls for reform. The court ruling was met with anger by the thousands who rallied in a Bangkok suburb into Wednesday night, chanting “Down with dictatorship, long live democracy,” and listening to speeches from a stage framed by a big screen showing an animated version of the court bench with ducks in judges’ wigs. “The court doesn’t care about anyone but their own camp,” Piraya, 25, told VOA, giving only one name. “They only care that their people stay in power. Where is the justice?” The constitutional court has played the referee in Thai politics throughout the last 14 years of turmoil, which has seen two coups and endless rounds of rival street protests. Critics say its rulings are one-sided, taking out three pro-democracy prime ministers in that time — as well as the progressive party of the hero of the democracy movement, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, while, they say, going soft on establishment figures brought before their bench. Pro-democracy activists sit on inflatable ducks as they protest after the constitutional court’s ruling on Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha’s conflict of interest case, in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 2, 2020.“Over the past 10 years the court has subverted democracy too many times,” protest leader Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak told the rally, which included giant inflatable rubber ducks — the emblem of the movement used to fend off police water cannons — passed over the heads of the crowd as the royal anthem was played over speakers. Escalation In addition to the resignation of the embattled Prayuth, the protesters want a new constitution to be written, removing power from the army and King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Anger is building with no signs of serious government compromise. The protesters accuse the king, who ascended the throne in 2016, of creeping towards absolutism by using the crown’s wealth as a private piggy bank, while shifting elite army units under his direct command and moving political pieces around from behind the scenes. After six years of faltering leadership, Prayuth is deeply unpopular, increasingly even among his erstwhile backers in the conservative establishment. But he has repeatedly dismissed calls for his resignation. Prayuth’s legal reprieve “means we can be sure to see an escalation on the streets,” said Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang, constitutional law scholar at Chulalongkorn University. But the prime minister appears unable to defang the youth-led protest movement, which has so far kept coming out, despite waves of legal charges, police water cannon and skirmishes with royalists. “So the conservatives … the establishment may need a new face to represent them and manage their interests as well as to suppress the pro-democracy movement,” Khemthong added. Pro-democracy activists show the three-finger salute during a protest after the constitutional court’s ruling on Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha’s conflict of interest case, in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 2, 2020.But in a deeply polarized nation, there are few prominent figures with credibility across the pro-army and pro-democracy camps. The king has yet to directly address the protesters, instead answering a question on their demands by insisting the monarchy loves “them all the same.” Since then, at least five core leaders of the movement have been charged under Thailand’s strict lese majeste laws, which carry up to 15 years in jail per conviction for insulting, defaming or threatening the monarchy. Several others have been summoned by police, as the law is used to squash the graffiti, placards and chants directed at the king by a boisterous — yet so far peaceful — street movement. Prayuth recast himself as a civilian leader after 2019 elections held under rules critics say favored the military-aligned parties at the expense of the pro-democracy camp. On taking office, he appointed 250 senators — a key clause of a new constitution drafted by the junta — giving him a parliamentary majority and a house stuffed with ex-generals and army loyalists as lawmakers. But critics say he has bungled the economy, hooking it onto expensive 20-year investment plans with little public scrutiny, while the country now battles the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. In a country that has seen 13 coups since 1932, there are fears another military intervention may be near to end the protests.
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Hundreds Flee as Indonesian Volcano Spews Lava, Ash
Hundreds of Indonesians have fled their villages after a rumbling volcano spewed hot ash thousands of meters into the air and belched lava down its crater.Mount Semeru on Java island spouted the towering column Tuesday, prompting a call for about 500 people to temporarily evacuate their homes.Footage from the scene showed dead livestock covered by pyroclastic flows — a fast-moving mixture of hot gas and volcanic material — as steaming debris flowed into a nearby river.Local disaster agency chief Agus Triono warned on Wednesday that residents could still be at risk as heavy rains threatened to trigger more volcanic flows from the still-spewing crater.The eruption came days after Mount Ili Lewotolok roared back to life on the far eastern end of the archipelago nation.Some 6,000 residents fled to shelters there after the crater ejected a thick tower of debris 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) into the sky Sunday, triggering a flight warning and the closure of a local airport.There were no reports of injuries or deaths.Indonesia is home to about 130 active volcanoes due to its position on the “Ring of Fire,” a belt of tectonic plate boundaries circling the Pacific Ocean where frequent seismic activity occurs.In late 2018, a volcano in the strait between Java and Sumatra islands erupted, causing an underwater landslide that unleashed a tsunami that killed more than 400 people.
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Singapore OKs Lab-grown Chicken
It might look like chicken. It might taste like chicken. But it doesn’t come from a chicken, it comes from a lab. For chicken lovers in Singapore, this lab-grown chicken will soon be available in nugget form as the country has given the OK for San Francisco-based startup Eat Just to sell the meat. It is the first regulatory approval for so-called clean meat, according to Reuters. “I would imagine what will happen is the U.S., Western Europe and others will see what Singapore has been able to do, the rigors of the framework that they put together. And I would imagine that they will try to use it as a template to put their own framework together,” said CEO Josh Tetrick in an interview with Reuters. FILE – CEO and founder of Eat Just Josh Tetrick sits on bags of plant protein at the Eat Just facility in Appleton, Minnesota, December 2019. (Eat Just, Inc./Handout via REUTERS)Cultured meat uses fat or muscle cells from an animal which are placed into a culture that nourishes the cells, causing them to grow, according to NBC News. The next step involves putting the cells into a bioreactor that further supports growth. The industry is still in its early stages, and the products come with a big price tag. For example, in 2013, a cultured hamburger made by a Dutch startup cost $280,000 per patty, according to NBC News. Eat Just’s chicken is not nearly as expensive, with a price comparable to premium chicken, Tetrick told NBC. But for Singapore, which only produces about 10% of its own food, the investment in lab-grown meat could pay off in the long term. According to Reuters, there are more than 20 firms around the world exploring the lab-grown meat market, which Barclays bank says could be worth $140 million by 2029. It is unclear if Eat Just’s meat could be approved for sale in the U.S. For now, Eat Just is aiming small. The company told NBC News that when its chicken does finally go to market in Singapore, it will be at just one restaurant.
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New Zealand Declares Climate Emergency
New Zealand’s parliament voted Wednesday to declare a climate emergency and committed the government to achieving carbon neutrality by 2025. The 76 – 43 vote fell along party lines. In passing the measure, New Zealand joins more than 30 countries in taking the largely symbolic step. The government also launched a new initiative requiring many public agencies to become carbon neutral by 2025, in part by eliminating coal boilers and buying electric cars. Introducing a motion to lawmakers, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was based on science. She cited the determination of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that nations act with urgency to avoid a 1.5 degree Celsius rise in global temperatures that could threaten “human health and livelihoods,” and cause “civil unrest, mass drought, mass disease, loss of lands and homes, increased fires, increased tropical storms, mass human displacement and globally exhausted resources.” She said the declaration was an acknowledgment of the burden the next generation faces. The declaration comes without any newly assigned statutory powers or money, making it purely symbolic. But Ardern and other lawmakers promised to back it up with ongoing action. Ardern previously announced plans for the nation to plant 1 billion trees, phase out offshore oil and gas exploration, and power the electricity grid with 100% renewable energy by 2030. FILE – Protesters demanding action on climate change gather at Te Ngakau Civic Square in Wellington, New Zealand, March 15, 2019.In 2019, the government passed a bill for New Zealand to become carbon neutral by 2050, although it carved out exemptions for farmers, who bring in much of the country’s foreign income.
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China Spacecraft Collects Moon Samples to Take Back to Earth
A Chinese spacecraft took samples of the moon’s surface Wednesday as part of a mission to bring lunar rocks back to Earth for the first time since the 1970s, the government said, adding to a string of successes for Beijing’s increasingly ambitious space program.
The Chang’e 5 probe touched down Tuesday on the Sea of Storms on the moon’s near side after descending from an orbiter, the China National Space Administration said. It released images of the barren landing site showing the lander’s shadow.
“Chang’e has collected moon samples,” the agency said in a statement.
The probe, launched Nov. 24 from the tropical island of Hainan, is the latest venture by a space program that sent China’s first astronaut into orbit in 2003. Beijing also has a spacecraft en route to Mars and aims eventually to land a human on the moon.
This week’s landing is “a historic step in China’s cooperation with the international community in the peaceful use of outer space,” said a foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying.
“China will continue to promote international cooperation and the exploration and use of outer space in the spirit of working for the benefit of all mankind,” Hua said.
Plans call for the lander to spend two days drilling into the lunar surface and collecting 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of rocks and debris. The top stage of the probe will be launched back into lunar orbit to transfer the samples to a capsule to take back to Earth, where it is to land in China’s northern grasslands in mid-December.
If it succeeds, it will be the first time scientists have obtained fresh samples of lunar rocks since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 probe in 1976.
The samples are expected to be made available to scientists from other nations, although it is unclear how much access NASA will have due to U.S. government restrictions on cooperation with China’s military-linked program.
From the rocks and debris, scientists hope to learn more about the moon, including its precise age, as well as increased knowledge about other bodies in our solar system. Collecting samples, including from asteroids, is an increasing focus of many space programs.
American and Russian space officials congratulated the Chinese program.
“Congratulations to China on the successful landing of Chang’e 5. This is no easy task,” NASA’s science mission chief, Thomas Zurbuchen, wrote on Twitter.
“When the samples collected on the Moon are returned to Earth, we hope everyone will benefit from being able to study this precious cargo that could advance the international science community.”
U.S. astronauts brought back 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of lunar samples from 1969 to 1972, some of which is still being analyzed and experimented on.
The Chang’e 5 flight is China’s third successful lunar landing. Its predecessor, Chang’e 4, was the first probe to land on the moon’s little-explored far side.
Chinese space program officials have said they envision future crewed missions along with robotic ones, including possibly a permanent research base. No timeline or other details have been announced.
The latest flight includes collaboration with the European Space Agency, which is helping to monitor the mission from Earth.
China’s space program has proceeded more cautiously than the U.S.-Soviet space race of the 1960s, which was marked by fatalities and launch failures.
In 2003, China became the third country to send an astronaut into orbit on its own after the Soviet Union and the United States. It launched a temporary crewed space station in 2011 and a second in 2016.
China, along with neighbors Japan and India, also has joined the growing race to explore Mars. The Tianwen 1 probe launched in July is on its way to the red planet carrying a lander and a rover to search for water.
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Three Young Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Activists to do Jail Time for 2019 Protests
Three prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activists received prison sentences Wednesday in connection to a protest outside the city’s police headquarters in June 2019. The harshest sentence was handed down to 24-year-old Joshua Wong, who was sentenced to 13-and-a-half months in prison for organizing and inciting an unlawful assembly. Twenty-three year-old Agnes Chow was given a 10-month sentence for participating and inciting others to participate, while 26-year-old Ivan Lam received 7 months on a charge of incitement. The trio pled guilty to the charges last month during a court appearance on the advice of their lawyers. Factbox: The Young Hong Kong Trio Jailed Over Protests Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam have spent years campaigning for democracy, becoming activists when they were just teenagers.Thousands of protesters surrounded the headquarters on June 21, 2019 to demand the government withdraw a controversial bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China. The bill sparked massive and sometimes violent anti-government demonstrations that engulfed the Asian financial hub for months. Yamini Mishra, the Asia-Pacific Regional Director for Amnesty International, denounced the sentences in a statement: “By targeting well-known activists from Hong Kong’s largely leaderless protest movement, authorities are sending a warning to anyone who dares openly criticize the government that they could be next.” The arrests and sentencing of the three pro-democracy activists comes as Beijing tightens its grip on the semi-autonomous city after passing a sweeping national security law in June of this year. Scores of activists have been arrested since the law took effect, while 15 pro-democracy lawmakers resigned en masse from the city’s legislature last month after four colleagues were disqualified and expelled. Under the new law, anyone in Hong Kong believed to be carrying out terrorism, separatism, subversion of state power or collusion with foreign forces could be tried and face life in prison if convicted. Chinese state media have repeatedly accused Wong and other prominent pro-democracy figures of “collusion with foreign powers” for their engagements with U.S. and other foreign governments. Wong was one of the leaders of the 2014 “Umbrella Movement” mass demonstrations in 2014 that shut down much of Hong Kong in an unsuccessful attempt to win full democracy for the self-autonomous city.
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