Asian countries who feel pinched by China over competing maritime claims expect the U.S. government to step up aid following Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s words of support this week, but only in severe cases and without risking conflict, scholars in the region believe.In a statement issued Monday, Pompeo promised to protect the maritime rights of the smaller Asian countries in keeping with international law. China vies for maritime sovereignty with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, all of which have weaker militaries. At stake is the shared 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea, which is flush with fish and energy reserves.Claimant governments tentatively welcome Pompeo’s offer but want to know what, specifically, Washington will do before feeling more confident, analysts say. “It will really make Southeast Asia sit up and take notice if there are real concrete actions that follow soon after the recent Pompeo statement, because otherwise it will still remain a statement and people will continue guessing what is going to come after the statement,” said Collin Koh, a maritime security research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.Pompeo told reporters in Washington on Wednesday he would consider protecting third countries against China through legal means and multilateral bodies including the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc. Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines are among the bloc members.U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell hinted at a conference Tuesday there is “room to sanction Chinese officials and state-owned enterprises that engage in illegal activities,” Olli Pekka Suorsa, research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, wrote in a commentary e-mailed to reporters on Thursday.Pompeo said Washington’s superpower rival Beijing lacks rights to claim 90% of the waterway, where it has angered neighboring countries over the past decade by landfilling tiny islets for military, economic and scientific use.In this photo provided by the Department of National Defense, ships carrying construction materials are docked at the new beach ramp at the Philippine-claimed island of Pag-asa in the South China Sea on June 9, 2020.Stephen Nagy, a senior associate professor of politics and international studies at International Christian University in Tokyo, said U.S. officials will probably respond just to major upsets involving China but do that without sparking a conflict. The U.S. government would ignore localized fishing disputes and altercations over placement of oil rigs, he said. American officials might consider responding instead to Chinese ship movement in waters claimed by other countries. Chinese survey vessels have this year tested waters claimed by Malaysia and Vietnam.“It’s a very difficult line to walk between putting significant pressure back on the Chinese without it spiraling into a kinetic conflict,” Nagy said.China cites historical records to explain its maritime claims. On Thursday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman defended China’s compliance with international law and questioned whether the U.S. side had been as diligent.Washington is expected to enlist other powers in any action against China on behalf of a third country. A Japan-Australia-U.S. statement on July 7 condemned Chinese actions in Asia after Australia, Japan and India made their own similar comments. India’s external affairs ministry said Thursday the sea should stay open to international navigation and overflight. “I see that (it’s) stepping up and concentrating all levers of pressure against China and it’s going to include a multilateral pushback against China’s claims,” Nagy said.South China Sea Territorial ClaimsOfficials from Southeast Asian states were quiet after the Pompeo comments.Vietnam, normally the most outspoken claimant, probably welcomes Pompeo’s plan but hopes not to be singled out as a protected country, said Nguyen Thanh Trung, director of the Center for International Studies director at University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam needs China as a trading partner and the two Communist neighbors still try to get along despite decades of flare-ups in the South China Sea.“I think that they hope the U.S. can confront China unilaterally or with some other allies,” Nguyen said. “Vietnam should not be deeply involved in any initiatives.”
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More than 300,000 Hong Kongers are believed to hold Canadian passports, and while Canada has yet to join Britain, Australia and Taiwan in making it easier for Hong Kong residents to immigrate or seek asylum because of a harsh new security law for the partly autonomous Chinese territory, Ottawa is waiting to see how many will show up.The Canadian government has so far not proposed any changes to its immigration policies for Hong Kong residents, but it has joined other countries in their criticisms of the new security law. Ostensibly meant to combat terrorism, separatism and sedition, the new law could be used to criminalize almost all dissent in Hong Kong, its critics say.The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also suspended an extradition treaty between Canada and Hong Kong, The skyline of the business district is silhouetted at sunset in Hong Kong, July 13, 2020.Although it has been just weeks since the new security law took effect on June 30, Richard Kurland, a Vancouver-based immigration lawyer and policy analyst, said some of those who acquired the right to live in Canada in the 1990s or earlier are beginning to look into selling property in Hong Kong to finance the immigration of their children to Canada.“People are making plans to dispose of some property assets that were acquired 30, 40 years years ago, which today are worth a lot more, as capital to bring the child or children to Canada,” he said. “The feeling now is with the introduction of Beijing’s new security law, that the future is brighter in Canada in terms of lifestyle, and long-term goals for the Hong Kongers who do not want to live in an all-China Hong Kong.”But Kurland said he does not expect to see a massive influx from Hong Kong unless the current situation there deteriorates. However, in the short term, he sees more students coming to Canada to study, unless the coronavirus pandemic makes that impossible.Wenran Jiang is an adviser for the Asian Program at the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy in Toronto. Speaking from his Alberta Province home in Edmonton, he said that if the purpose of the new security law is simply to reduce foreign influence in Hong Kong, the flow of immigration across the Pacific may not change much.Jiang said that immigration from Hong Kong, and more recently from mainland China, has given Canada an economic boost, particularly in the Vancouver and Toronto real estate markets.“The immigration from Hong Kong and (in more) recent years from the Chinese mainland have contributed significantly … to both the growth of Vancouver and Toronto real estate markets, among other cities, and the economic contributions are significant,” Jiang said. “But at the same time, we also know after 1997, many of the immigrants from Hong Kong, although they are having the Canadian passports, they do not really invest here or even live here. They go back to Hong Kong.”But now, he said, many of those may come back to Canada to stay if the new security law results in a significant shake-up in Hong Kong, which reverted to Chinese control in 1997 after 156 years of British rule.One of the early immigrants from Hong Kong was Vancouver talk show host Ken Tung, who came to Canada with his wife in 1980. Since then, Tung said he has seen Hong Kong residents follow him across the Pacific for a host of reasons, most importantly the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 and the handover to China in 1997.A frequent critic of the Chinese government and its new security law for Hong Kong, Tung says Canada should speed up the process of granting asylum to those claiming to be hurt by the law.The “government of Canada should open the heart, open the arms to have the background check,” Tung said. “And (it) should accept them as a resident of Canada rather than waiting one and a half years to go through the board, go through our process. I think if this (is for) young people, (there’s) a good chance that they will become a contributing Canadian, too.”  
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As the monsoon gets underway across Indochina, farmers and fishermen are praying for rain after a lengthy drought — aggravated by climate change and dam construction. This year the Mekong River has seen its lowest levels since record keeping began 60 years ago. According to the The situation worsened in June, when rainfall was about 73 percent lower than the same month in 2019, when the drought was already underway. In its latest annual report, the MRC said improved monitoring of increasing droughts, extensive floods and extreme weather were key issues that needed to be addressed by the Lower Mekong countries. “Flood and drought have hit our region hard lately and require stronger regional collaboration,” MRC secretariat chief executive An Pich Hatda said, adding this included ensuring transparency, quality and timeliness in water data sharing. FILE – A local villager drive a boat where the future site of the Luang Prabang dam will be on the Mekong River, outskirt of Luang Prabang province, Laos, Feb. 5, 2020.Food security has emerged as a major issue with about 70 million people depending on the Mekong for their livelihoods and nutrition. Among them is Man Ly He who has plied the waters where the Mekong River meets the Tonle Sap tributary for four decades. He is upset with the construction of dams in northern Cambodia, Laos and China. 
“The reason why there is no fish is because of the new dams, including Stung Treng, which blocked the river flow and the water levels are going up and down three or four times a month depending on whether the dams are open or closed. “This rainy season there has been no rain,” he added. Scientists have also tied the drought to the climate phenomenon known as the Indian Ocean Dipole, like El Nino in the Pacific Ocean, impacting the Indian monsoon and the wet season in mainland Southeast Asia. Unusually cooler than average sea surface temperatures in the eastern half of the Indian Ocean cause less rainfall in Southeast Asia, while warmer waters in its west cause floods in East Africa. The Dipole is aggravated by global warming. Temperatures peaked at record highs earlier this year but have since begun a return to normal with long range weather forecasters predicting improved rainfall patterns over the coming months. The shifting weather patterns are also creating hardship and forcing people to change the way they live.   “My family wakes up at 2:00 a.m. to buy fish at Chhaing Chamras fish market and then we sell in the Kandal Market. We make small margins and now I buy fish because there are no fish in the river,” said Yan, a former fisherman. “My wife works for many hours in the market while I try to do other jobs like fixing the boat. We sell from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., then I pick up my wife. “My family prays after lunch and we relax for a few hours then we go back to market and sell fish again. At 8:00 p.m. come back home. Life in the Mekong is difficult.” The drought has also taken a toll on the 850 fish species in the Lower Mekong. Many, like the Irrawaddy Dolphin and the giant catfish, are endangered. Some fish have had to be transported to deeper pools after becoming trapped in mud-puddles. But record low water levels and plummeting fish catches have failed to move officials in Vientiane to curtail their hydro-electric dam construction, designed to turn land-locked Laos into the “battery of Asia.” FILE – Fishermen lay their nets on the Mekong River near Luang Prabang close to the site of an approved Laos dam site, Feb. 8, 2020.Vientiane recently announced it would proceed with its third dam across the mainstream of the Mekong at Pak Beng at a cost of $1.88 billion, following construction of Don Sahong dam at Siphandone, part of the famed 4,000 Islands, just north of the Cambodian border. The massive $3.8 billion dam in Xayaburi went into commercial operation in October. Sat Smey Ror from Chroy Chang Va village has lived on a boat since she was born. She has never seen water levels this low and she blames dams for poor fish catches while noting the collapse of a dam in Laos two years ago. “The water levels can rise quickly and when it turns dark in color, we can catch fish, maybe two or three kilograms a day. I heard that a dam collapsed when the water was too high,” she said. Dams and climate change are a dangerous combination. Extremes in the Indian Ocean Dipole in the past occurred about once every 17.3 years, but scientists are forecasting their frequency will increase to once every 6.3 years over this century. There are about 140 dams planned for the mainstream of the Mekong and its tributaries. Most are in China, but Beijing denies the dams are impacting down-stream water levels. FILE – The Dachaoshan dam on the upper Mekong River is pictured in Dachaoshan, Yunnan province, China.A report by research company Eyes on Earth Inc. in April found China has been restricting the Mekong’s natural water flow by hoarding water through a cascade of dams. “When drought sets in, China effectively controls the flow of the river,” Brian Eyler, the regional director of the Stimson Centre think tank said. Beijing dismissed the findings. Despite Beijing’s denials, water levels during last year’s monsoon season reached just 2.5 meters, a third of the usual rate of 7.5 meters. And scientists have documented the river turning blue, indicating a severe lack of the sediment needed to replenish the banks, and say soil erosion is now looming as the next threat to thousands of homes and buildings. Ny Chann contributed to this report.
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President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed legislation that slaps sanctions on Chinese officials who undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy, and an executive order that ends preferential treatment to the Chinese special autonomous region. In his remarks, Trump sought to portray himself as tougher on China than his political opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this story.
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After China threatened to sue them for their research on the Uighur crackdown, a think tank and a scholar say they stand by their work on the human rights violations against the Muslim minority in China’s northwest region of Xinjiang. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and U.S.-based researcher Adrian Zenz have gained international attention in recent years for their investigative papers focusing on China’s policies toward the Turkic-speaking minorities in Xinjiang.  Beijing’s Chinese Communist Party (CCP) now wants to take legal action against them for allegedly publishing “disinformation about China for libel.” “Overall, I think our research has the CCP rattled,” said ASPI executive director Peter Jennings.   Accusing Beijing of efforts to undermine free speech, Jennings said that ASPI reports on the region were based on verified sources coming from China.   “In their own offensive way, they are doing their best to pressure ASPI and smear researchers around the world in an effort to stop shining a light into the behaviors of the Communist Party,” Jennings told VOA. On Wednesday, China’s Global Times reported about the Chinese government’s intention to sue ASPI and Zenz. A day later, Chinese government spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters that he was not surprised about the possible lawsuit, claiming “Chinese and foreign media have exposed multiple times those behind Zenz and the ASPI.”   Zhao said he “advises” Zenz and ASPI to “come back to the right course as soon as possible, because too many vile deeds will inevitably lead to one’s self-destruction.” In recent years, both ASPI and Zenz have published several research papers on China’s campaign, most notably on Uighurs who have been subjected to state surveillance, arbitrary detention, forced labor and birth control in Xinjiang where, according to United Nation estimates, more than 1 million Uighurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities have been detained in internment camps.    Forced labor In a report published in February titled “Uyghurs for Sale,” ASPI said it found the Chinese government facilitating the mass transfer of over 80,000 Uighurs from Xinjiang to work in factories across the country under conditions that strongly suggested forced labor. The Uighurs, ASPI claimed, included those previously held in detention camps and taken to factories that were in the supply chains of at least 83 well-known global brands. The ASPI report was referenced in March by a group of U.S. lawmakers who introduced the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. Last week, the U.S. departments of State, Treasury, Commerce and Homeland Security issued a joint business advisory to caution businesses about the risks of supply-chain links to forced labor in Xinjiang and elsewhere in China. Zenz, a senior fellow of China studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, told VOA that his latest article about mandatory sterilization of Uighur women in Xinjiang has triggered alarm bells and prompted a Washington Post editorial that called the policies of China in Xinjiang “a demographic genocide” aimed at reducing the Uighur population.A Chinese police officer takes his position by the road near what is officially called a vocational education center in Yining in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China September 4, 2018. Picture taken September 4, 2018.“My research is based on analyzing China’s own documents,” said Zenz, adding that his last findings about human rights in Xinjiang has shifted the debate to another level. “People are starting to refer to China’s policies in Xinjiang as genocide. Beijing is really feeling the pressure. I think this is a sign that they’re getting more desperate,” Zenz said. Silencing critics abroadAccording to some experts, the threat by China against ASPI and Zenz are the latest attempt by the communist regime to force Uighur experts abroad into silence.  Michael Clarke, an expert on history and politics of Xinjiang at Australian National University, told VOA that Chinese authorities have long attempted to label both as biased.      China “in the recent past sought to cast doubt on Zenz’s objectivity by attacking his own religious faith and linking it to a perceived alignment with certain political actors/persuasions on the right of American politics,” Clarke said. Meanwhile, the Chinese government called ASPI a mouthpiece of the Australian defense department, said Clarke. “While this is true, (ASPI does receive significant funding from Australian Department of Defense), it, of course, does not invalidate its findings,” he said.   Donald C. Clarke, a professor of law at The George Washington University Law School, warned that by pursuing the “harassing” litigation, China is trying to “bankrupt the defendant.” “This weapon of intimidation is effective only to the degree that Western countries allow it to be effective, since it uses those countries’ legal institutions,” Clarke told VOA. Michael Clarke and Donald C. Clarke are unrelated. This tactic is not risk-free for China. “Any litigation will attract attention. …. It is going to result in an official court verdict that claims about Uyghur detention are not false. Does China really want that?” said Clarke. 
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China reacted strongly Tuesday to the Trump administration’s rejection of China’s broad territorial claims in the South China Sea, calling Washington “a troublemaker and a disruptor of regional stability.”Years after China started building military bases on remote reefs and islands deep in international waters, the Trump administration Monday hardened Washington’s official stance on the matter, rejecting China’s claims as “completely unlawful.”The United States itself has no territorial claims in the South China Sea and has long maintained it is mainly interested in keeping the waters safe for international shipping. U.S. officials have said countries with competing claims should peacefully resolve any territorial disputes. In 2016, an international arbitration court ruled China’s maritime claims had no basis in law.After Monday’s U.S. statement, Indonesia and the Philippines joined in, calling on China to abide by the international arbitration court ruling. Malaysia’s foreign ministry declined to comment.In Beijing, officials rejected the Trump administration’s statement, claiming it had no say in the matter.“The United States is not a country involved in the regional territorial disputes, but it continues to interfere and keeps flexing military muscles in the region,” read a Separate naval drillsChina uses a “nine-dash line,” sourcing it to maritime records from dynastic times, to claim about 90% of the waterway that others in the region value for its fisheries and undersea fossil fuel reserves. The nine dashes also cut into some nations’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).Last week, two U.S. aircraft carriers — the Ronald Reagan and the Nimitz — drilled together in the South China Sea in a show of force.The two carriers were deployed to the South China Sea to conduct tactical exercises designed to maximize air defense capabilities “in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific”, according to a statement by the U.S. Navy.Rodger Baker, senior vice president of Strategic Analysis at geopolitical intelligence company Stratfor, told VOA the U.S. wanted to assure its allies the U.S. remains committed to the region.“The U.S. is trying to reiterate its position that this is open water that everyone can use, and the U.S. will provide security for it,” Baker said. “Based on this idea, regional countries can make their own decisions about China. The United States will be there, and these countries can claim their own sovereignty.”Baker added that the two-carrier exercise in the South China Sea foreshadows that U.S. military operations in the Western Pacific will increase down the road.China announced it would also conduct military exercises at the same time U.S. carriers drilled in the region. The Chinese military said it held military drills in the contested Paracel Islands, known as the Xisha Islands in Chinese, from July 1 to July 5.Observers are concerned the muscle flexing from both sides is threatening to tilt the volatile maritime region ever closer to military conflict.“Both are really, really cautious to avoid slide into a hot war, but accidents can happen,” Baker said.At a recent hearing at the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Committee, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy told lawmakers she’s concerned that China would be more risk-prone as its Navy continues to grow.“I think China views the United States in a period of inevitable decline and withdrawal from the world,” Flournoy said. “I think they risk underestimating the resolve, which can be provoked by the crisis.”U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell said Tuesday the U.S. could respond with sanctions against Chinese officials and state-owned enterprises for their involvement of coercive actions in the South China Sea.”Nothing is off the table,” said Stilwell when asked if sanctions were a possible U.S. response to Chinese actions during a webinar hosted by Center for Strategic and International Studies. “There is room for that. This is a language the Chinese understand — demonstrative and tangible action.”Earlier this month, China said it would resume negotiations with Southeast Asian leaders on a code of conduct that has been pending since 2002 to avoid mishaps and resolve any accidents in South China Sea.Stilwell urges “greater transparency” in the process, citing “clear red flags about Beijing’s intentions” behind closed doors, as China is said to push claimants in the Southeast Asian region “to accept limits on core matters of national interest.”VOA’s Nike Ching,  Si Yang, Adrianna Zhang contributed to this story. 
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Former commanders of the U.S. forces in Korea mourned a legendary Korean War hero, General Paik Sun-yup, who died last Friday at 99. They hailed South Korea’s first four-star general as a hero and mentor.  “He was a hero, diplomat, patriot, and friend. He was a mentor to me when I served as the Commander in Chief of the Combined Forces Command and remained a friend and leader thereafter,” General (Ret.) John Tilelli told VOA Korean service on Friday. Tilelli, who commanded the U.S. Forces in Korea from 1996 to 1999, remembered Paik as a leader who “loved his soldiers,” who remembered their names and battle positions decades after the war.The Commander of USFK also serves as the Commander in Chief of the United Nations Command and the U.S.-Republic of Korea Combined Forces Command. Paik was always invited as an honored guest at the inauguration ceremonies of top U.S. military commanders.  General (Ret.) Burwell Bell, shared his memory of Paik with VOA Saturday. “When I served as the Combined Forces Commander between 2006 and 2008, General Paik met with me frequently to pass on lessons of the Korean War and twice took me on battlefield staff rides to teach and mentor me. He was brilliant,” said Bell.Bell hailed Paik as one of the world’s great military leaders compared to George Washington.  “General Paik Sun-yup was, in my view, the military father of his present-day country, the Republic of Korea. Not unlike America’s George Washington who led our Revolutionary War forces to battlefield victory and was the military father of the United States, General Paik led South Korean forces to many battlefield victories during often chaotic and extremely uncertain combat operations against the North Korean invaders and their Chinese partners,” Bell said.  A mourner takes photos of the late South Korean Army Gen Paik Sun-yup at a memorial altar for him at the Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul, South Korea, July 12, 2020.A loss to US-South Korea allianceAs Paik was one of the top Korean commanders who fought alongside U.S. forces during the Korean War, he has long symbolized the U.S.-South Korea military alliance. Paik was among those first recruited when the U.S. helped build a military for South Korea that started from the Constabulary.  In 2013, he was named an honorary commander of the Eighth Army, a U.S. field army, which is the commanding formation of all U.S. Army forces in Korea.  “I have admired him for many decades. So this is a deep loss for the [U.S.-South Korea] alliance and a true part of history that has just passed away,” General (Ret.) Vincent Brooks told VOA in an interview Friday. Brooks led USFK from 2016 to 2018.General (Ret.) James Thurman told VOA, Paik played a pivotal role in the alliance. “He was a true hero and patriot that helped keep the R.O.K-U.S. alliance strong and unbreakable for the last 70 years. … [He is] a very dedicated and trusted leader who was committed to enduring peace and security of the Korean peninsula,” noted Thurman, the commander of USFK from 2011 to 2013.    When North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25th, 1950, Paik commanded the South Korean military’s 1st Infantry Division. Attacked by North Korea, the U.S.-led United Nations force and the South Korean Army retreated to a small area behind a defensive line known as the Pusan Perimeter. Paik is famous for defending that perimeter in August 1950 at the battle of Tabu-dong, known as one of the fiercest fights in the Korean War. Paik and his division continued to push north and were the first to enter Pyongyang in October. Paik participated in all ten of the major campaigns of the Korean War.Controversy over early careerPaik will be interred in the National Cemetery in Daejeon, in central South Korea on Wednesday, not the National Cemetery in capital Seoul. There’s heated debate in South Korea over his funeral arrangements.  The United Future Party, a conservative opposition party charges, “it is a dishonor” that Paik is not interned at the Seoul National Cemetery. Simultaneously, some members of the ruling Democratic Party have opposed burying Paik in a national cemetery.The controversy stemmed from Paik’s earlier career when Japan colonized Korea. In the early 1940s, Paik had served in the Imperial Japanese Army in Manchukuo, Tokyo’s puppet state in Manchuria. Paik said that he never engaged in battles with Korean guerrillas in Manchuria while serving in the unit.In 2009, a South Korean presidential committee put him on a list of ‘pro-Japanese and anti-nation’ figures, who collaborated with Japanese colonizers.  Scott Snyder, U.S.-Korea policy director at the Council on Foreign Relations, told VOA Monday, the ongoing debate over Paik “may be the most consequential contemporary manifestation of his legacy and contributions.”He added, “But without General Paik’s sacrifices and leadership at a critical historical moment during the Korean War, the freedom to debate Paik’s role itself would possibly not exist.”The White House National Security Council on Sunday tweeted, “South Korea is a prosperous, democratic Republic today thanks to Paik Sun-yup and other heroes who put everything on the line to defeat Communist invaders in the 1950s. We mourn General Paik’s death at age 99 and salute his legacy.”
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China is warning the recent vote by pro-democracy parties in Hong Kong to choose candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections there may have violated the new national security law imposed on the financial hub. More than 600,000 Hong Kongers flocked to some 250 polling stations to cast ballots to select the strongest pro-democracy candidates to contest pro-Beijing candidates in September’s Legislative Council elections, defying earlier warnings from Erick Tsang Kwok-Wai, secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, that the vote might run afoul of the national security law. A statement issued Monday by the Liaison Office, which represents the mainland Chinese government in Hong Kong, called the primary vote “a serious provocation to the current electoral system.”  The statement also criticized the efforts of the vote’s organizers, specifically longtime pro-democracy activist Benny Tai, as an attempt “to seize the power of governance in Hong Kong and stage the Hong Kong version of a ‘color revolution.’”  The term is used to describe popular protest movements around the world that have swept a government from power.People wearing face masks queue up to vote in Hong Kong, July 11, 2020, in an unofficial “primary” for pro-democracy candidates ahead of legislative elections in September.Pro-democracy forces say the goal of fronting candidates for the September elections is to achieve a parliamentary majority that could block passage of the budget and other key legislation, and thereby force the resignation of Chief Executive Carrie Lam.  Under the new security 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. The new law was a response to the massive and often violent pro-democracy demonstrations that engulfed the financial hub in the latter half of last year. Western governments and human rights advocates say the measure effectively ends the “One Country, Two Systems” policy under which Hong Kong was promised a high degree of autonomy after the handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997. 
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Over 600,000 Hong Kongers cast their ballots in the democratic camp primaries elections over the weekend, far exceeding the organizer’s expected turnout in a poll widely seen as a sign of continuing opposition to the new national security law imposed by Beijing.  The election, held 10 days after the law took effect, aims to select the strongest pro-democracy candidates to contest pro-Beijing candidates in September’s Legislative Council elections.  Benny Tai, one of the vote’s organizers, described the turnout as “a miracle created by Hong Kongers.” He told the press that during the two-day unofficial vote, 592,000 electronic ballots and 21,000 paper ballots were tallied, more than three times his expected turnout of 170,000.  “Hong Kong people have made history again,” Tai said. “Hong Kong people have demonstrated to the world, and also to the authorities, that we have not given up to strive for democracy.” Although the primaries were only for the opposition, the level of participation is seen as a guide to popular opinion in the financial hub of 7.5 million people.   The last punch Defying warnings from Erick Tsang Kwok-Wai, secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, that the vote might run afoul of the national security law, residents young and old flocked to over 250 polling stations staffed by thousands of volunteers. A voter who gave her name only as Chan told VOA that in addition to expressing her dissatisfaction with the new national security law, she came to vote for future generations. With the awareness that these efforts might not change what the Chinese Communist Party does to Hong Kong, she said that Hong Kongers have to show they would not easily give up.  “This is the last punch by the Hong Kong citizens, and that’s why we are all coming out to vote. We understand this vote is unofficial, but we want to tell the government that we want ‘One Country, Two Systems,’ and Hong Kong needs democracy,” Chan said. Another voter, Wong, echoed that he wished to express his dissatisfaction with the new national security law through his ballot.  “On the surface, few people dare to talk. But most of my friends do not like this new national security law,” he told VOA. “With no designated agency in Hong Kong to explain the law, every government official can enforce it according to their own understanding. It’s like what we used to read in Chinese history, you can be thrown into prison because of your words.”   District Councilor Janet Ng told VOA that the voter turnout reflected people’s distrust of the Hong Kong government.  “Everyone is feeling the chills of the new national security law, so they want to voice their opinions through their ballots,” Ng said, “They don’t want the future generation to live like their mainland counterparts.” ‘We can’t be intimidated’ Meanwhile, some pro-democracy activists fear authorities may yet try to stop some candidates from running in September’s election.  Sunny Cheung, a candidate in the West Kowloon district, told VOA even if he wins the primary election, he might face disqualification in the official Legislative Council election.  “Every ballot is a show of support for us. For people like Joshua Wong and me … we might be disqualified. We might be arrested. But now, people are coming out to speak. … We Hong Kongers value populist expression,” Cheung said.  He urged all Hong Kongers to come out and vote in future elections, adding that the first democratic vote after the implementation of the national security law has shown that “we Hong Kongers can’t be intimidated. We Hong Kongers can’t be defeated.” 
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Discovery of a rare freshwater reserve under one of its land holdings in a widely disputed sea gives China a boost in occupying the islet and offers it a new defense for its sovereignty claims if they land in international court.A freshwater lens is forming under Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea, Chinese researchers said in the peer-reviewed publication Hydrology Journal. The lens created by tidal activity will take 20 years to become “stable” at 15 meters thick, the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology researchers in Guangzhou said in the May 2020 study.“Having this freshwater access evidently will change the quality of life and change their ability to station people on the artificial island,” said Yun Sun, East Asia Program senior associate at the Stimson Center research organization in Washington.Most among the hundreds of islets in the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea are semi-submerged or too small to support freshwater supplies. China used reclaimed land to build up Fiery Cross Reef to its current 274 hectares and now operates an airbase there with several hundred personnel.The presence of water could mildly help China in any international court case to argue that Fiery Cross deserves a 370-kilometer-wide ocean exclusive economic zone, analysts say. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam contest all or parts of China’s claims to the sea. They prize the waterway for its fisheries plus undersea reserves of oil and gas.The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea considers an islet’s ability to sustain life or economic activity when deciding whether a country can draw up an exclusive economic zone, but in 2016 the Permanent Court of Arbitration rejected that right for Taiping Island, a Taiwanese-controlled Spratly feature with its own water supply.China leads the other claimants in firepower, technology and scientific research. It may have explored other South China Sea holdings for freshwater as well but found some only on Fiery Cross Reef, Sun said. Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines claim sovereignty over the same reef.Finding water will at least boost Chinese morale, said Alexander Huang, strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan.“These are somewhat psychological building blocks,” Huang said. They imply, he said, that the Chinese “are making progress, they are moving on, but I don’t think in real terms they can actually use the limited freshwater to do anything so strategically.”A local freshwater source will cut the costs of shipping water to Fiery Cross Reef or desalinating it, analysts note. That advantage would make it easier to station troops there. Woody Island, a Chinese-held South China Sea feature with about 1,000 long-term residents, collects rainwater and gets additional water shipped in.But the freshwater lens won’t give China enough water to support a “sizable” fighting force on the ground, Huang said.“It doesn’t change the balance of power in the region,” said Carl Thayer, Southeast Asia-specialized emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia. “It doesn’t give China a stronger leg up in any aspect. You could catch rainwater and store it and treat it and drink it, if you have the space.” 
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The man accused of carrying out the worst mass shooting New Zealand’s history will represent himself at his sentencing hearing next month.Attorneys for Australian Brenton Tarrant said they were dismissed by Tarrant during a hearing Monday at the Christchurch High Court. The judge approved Tarrant’s request after speaking personally to him in a pre-hearing video call, saying he was assured that Tarrant understood his actions.The sentencing hearing, which has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, is scheduled to begin on August 24 and is expected to last more than three days.Tarrant has pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 charges of attempted murder and one charge of terrorism in connection with the March 15, 2019, shootings at two mosques in Christchurch. Hours before carrying out the March 15, 2019, shootings, the now-29-year-old Australian white supremacist published a long manifesto online explaining his reasonings for the attack. He then livestreamed the attack on Facebook, which was viewed by scores of people around the world before it was taken down.Tarrant unexpectedly entered a guilty plea in March during a court hearing via video link from his prison cell in Auckland, as New Zealand began a four-week nationwide lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
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Nealry 600,000 people cast their votes in an unofficial primary in Hong Kong Sunday to determine which pro-democracy leaders will run for office in September. The vote, seen as a protest against controversial new security laws imposed by Beijing, was organized by the opposition party to determine who would run in September elections for Hong Kong’s legislative council. Hundreds of thousands of people voted in Hong Kong over the weekend, despite warnings that the poll may violate the harsh new security law enforced by Beijing. In addition to allowing security agents from mainland China to operate officially in Hong Kong for the first time, the law outlaws what Beijing describes as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.   Beijing enacted the law on June 30 in response to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protest movement, sparking widespread concern that wide-ranging freedoms Britain granted to the semi-autonomous territory before returning it to China in 1997 will be crushed. The last formal popular vote in Hong Kong took place in November 2019 for lower level district council seats, resulting in landslide victories for many pro-democracy candidates. 
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