Japan has confirmed its first case of a strain of a coronavirus that has killed one man and sickened 41 others in China since last month.The Health Ministry says a man in his 30s who lives in Kanagawa prefecture was hospitalized last week suffering from a persistent cough and a fever, which developed after visiting the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. The ministry says the man has since recovered and been released.This is the second reported case of the virus outside of China, after a Chinese woman traveling in Thailand was diagnosed with the virus. Neither person had visited the seafood market in Wuhan that has been identified as the center of the outbreak and that had sparked fears that the virus could spread through human-to-human transmission.The virus is a new strain of the same family of viruses that caused the outbreak of several acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, that killed over 600 people in China and Hong Kong between 2002 and 2003. The detection of this outbreak comes ahead of the Lunar New Year, when hundreds of millions of Chinese normally travel.
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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
While US Relaxes Demands in S. Korea Cost-Sharing Talks, Gaps Remain
Harry Harris, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, says Washington has softened its demand for how much Seoul should pay for the cost of the U.S. military presence here, but says a gap remains and that “time is of the essence.” “We have some time left, [but] not a lot of time,” Harris said Thursday, a day after a sixth round of cost-sharing negotiations ended in Washington with no breakthrough. For the second consecutive year, U.S. and South Korean negotiators were unable to reach an agreement before the cost-sharing deal expired at the end of the year. Both sides hope to eventually reach a deal that would retroactively cover the intervening weeks. Seoul’s foreign ministry Thursday said both sides expanded their mutual understanding during the latest round of talks, but that there are still differences. Speaking to foreign correspondents at his residence, Harris said the chief U.S. negotiator has reduced the “top-line number” for how much Seoul should pay for the presence of the 28,500 troops. “He has compromised, so we are now waiting for the Korean side to do the same,” said Harris.The U.S. had reportedly asked South Korea to increase the amount it pays by five times – a demand rejected by Seoul as unreasonable. The issue has created an awkward strain in a nearly 70-year-old alliance that both sides tout as “ironclad.” Opinion polls show South Koreans overwhelmingly reject the U.S. demand but still support the alliance and want U.S. troops to stay. “I pay attention to South Korean public opinion – it’s important,” Harris said. However, he insisted there is no evidence the U.S. financial demands were detrimental to the overall relationship.“Financial demands only become detrimental if we can’t reach an agreement,” Harris said. Earlier this week, President Moon Jae-in said South Korea should contribute a “reasonable and fair amount,” noting that any eventual deal will need to be approved by South Korea’s National Assembly, its legislature.People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s New Year’s speech at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, Jan. 7, 2020.Trump demandsLast year, the U.S. and South Korea were unable to reach an agreement until early February. Seoul eventually agreed to pay $925 million — an 8% increase from the previous year. The deal only covered a single year rather than five, as in the previous arrangement, meaning the issue continues to be an irritant to bilateral ties. U.S. President Donald Trump has frequently blasted South Korea for paying what he considers an inadequate amount for U.S. protection. In Seoul, most public anger has been directed at Harris. In October, a group of anti-U.S. protesters broke into Harris’ residential compound, carrying signs complaining about the cost-sharing talks.Small groups of fringe protesters have also gathered outside the U.S. Embassy. During at least one of those protests, demonstrators plucked the mustache hairs out of a sign depicting Harris’ face. Harris defends mustacheHarris’ facial hair created international headlines last month, when a South Korean reporter asked the ambassador if he would shave his mustache in order to improve relations with South Koreans. The Korea Times reporter said some South Koreans associate mustaches with South Korea’s former Japanese colonial rulers, many of whom had facial hair.Retired Adm. Harry Harris, currently the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, attends a ceremony to mark the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.Harris rejected that notion on Thursday, pointing out that many historical South Korean independence leaders also wore mustaches. “It’s a cherry-picking of history,” said Harris, whose mother was Japanese.Some South Koreans on social media have taken issue with Harris’ Japanese heritage – a fact that Harris lamented.“To take that history and put it on me simply because of an accident of birth is I think a mistake,” Harris said. “I didn’t grow a mustache because of my Japanese heritage, because of the independence movement in Korea, or even because of my dad [who also wore a mustache],” Harris added. “I did it because I could. And I did. Nothing more than that.”Harris, who has attempted to make light of the issue, handed out fake mustaches on a stick to reporters at his press availability and briefly posed with a fake mustache afterward. “I couldn’t grow hair on top of my head. But I could grow it on the front of my head,” said the 63-year-old Harris. “So I did that.”
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Will US-China ‘Phase 1’ Trade Deal Reset Other Stalled Talks?
The United States and China agreed to a ‘Phase 1’ trade deal on Wednesday that includes the protection of intellectual property rights and agricultural policy.Both countries say they plan to continue working on issues. “The parties intend to continue implementation and improvement of existing mechanisms for bilateral communication on agricultural policy,” according to the FILE – U.S. and Chinese officials are seen meeting during the second bilateral Diplomatic and Security Dialogue, at the State Department in Washington, Nov. 9, 2018.Citing Washington’s call for a “results-oriented” relationship with Beijing, U.S. officials are reportedly not anxious to resume the DSD, which is perceived as highly symbolic.On Jan. 3, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Chinese Politburo member Yang Jiechi by phone after the U.S.- targeted killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani. Yang raised the resumption of DSD with Pompeo, according to a diplomatic source.”We are not going to comment on the details of our diplomatic conversations or engagements,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA.One of the top issues on the U.S. agenda is persuading China to halt the purchase of oil from Iran, which Washington says has fueled Tehran’s nuclear and missile ambitions. Trump has also called on China and other signatories of the so-called JCPOA Iran nuclear deal to “walk away from the 2015 deal.”Watch related video by VOA’s Patsy Widakuswara:Sorry, but your player cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline. Embed” />CopyWhile senior administration officials say they have repeatedly emphasized to Beijing “the threat posed to regional stability by Iran’s nuclear and missile programs,” some experts are skeptical that China, a traditional ally of Iran, will cooperate with the U.S. against Tehran.Jon Alterman, CSIS’s director of the Middle East, said he is doubtful China could use its influence over Iran to help ease tensions in the Middle East. “I wouldn’t expect China is able to play a useful role in de-escalating this conflict,” Alterman said. “China might wish to be included in a larger grouping of countries as it was in the JCPOA process, but even so, I’d expect its role to be quite passive.” Others say China welcomes a distracted U.S., which would provide Beijing with breathing space to continue to build its comprehensive national power. “The Chinese Communist Party would welcome developments in the Middle East that siphon U.S. resources and attention away from U.S. efforts to deter Chinese aggression,” said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
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US, China Lower Tension With Trade Deal but Disputes Remain
The United States and China have signed phase one of a trade deal that may help lower tensions between the world’s two largest economies. But as White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara reports, much of the trade disputes between the two countries remain unresolved.
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ICJ to Rule Next Week on Urgent Measures in Rohingya Genocide Case
The UN’s top court said Wednesday it will deliver its decision next week on whether emergency measures should be imposed on Myanmar over alleged genocide against its Rohingya Muslims.The ruling comes a month after Myanmar’s civilian leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi travelled to The Hague to defend the bloody 2017 crackdown by her nation’s army against the Rohingya.The mainly Muslim African nation of The Gambia brought the case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice after around 740,000 Rohingya fled over the border into Bangladesh, carrying accounts of widespread rape, arson and mass killings.”The International Court of Justice will deliver, on Thursday 23 January 2020, its order on the request for the indication of provisional measures made by The Gambia,” the court said in a statement, adding that it would happen at 10:00am (0900 GMT).The Gambian Ministry of Justice had announced the date on Twitter earlier Wednesday.The Gambia brought the case against Buddhist-majority Myanmar with the backing of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation. Canada and the Netherlands have since also lent their support.At the December hearing, The Gambia alleged Myanmar had breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, meaning that the case could go before the ICJ, the highest judicial organ of the United Nations.It also said there was a “serious and imminent risk of genocide recurring” and called for urgent “provisional measures” to prevent Myanmar from committing any further atrocities or erasing any evidence.It is not clear how specific the emergency measures would be, but enforcing them would likely prove difficult.If the court rules in The Gambia’s favour, this would be just the first step in a case likely to take years.An estimated 600,000 Rohingya still live in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state in what Amnesty International has branded “apartheid” conditions.UN investigators have said Myanmar’s actions amounted to genocide.Suu Kyi admitted in her appearance before the court that the army may have used excessive force against the Rohingya, but said the case was based on “misleading and incomplete” claims, calling for it to be dropped.The 74-year-old, once regarded as a rights icon in the West, also said the case risked reigniting the crisis.ICJ judges have only once before ruled that genocide was committed, in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia.Suu Kyi’s defense of the generals was widely condemned in the West but proved popular at home with a public largely unsympathetic to the plight of the Rohingya.Myanmar insists its own investigations will ensure accountability for any human rights violations but critics deride the domestic panels as toothless and partial.Myanmar also faces other legal challenges over the Rohingya, including a probe by the International Criminal Court — a separate war crimes tribunal — and a lawsuit in Argentina which notably alleges Suu Kyi’s complicity.
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China: Possible That New Virus Could Spread Between Humans
The possibility that a new virus in central China could spread between humans cannot be ruled out, though the risk of transmission at the moment appears to be low, Chinese officials said Wednesday.
Forty-one people in the city of Wuhan have received a preliminary diagnosis of a novel coronavirus, a family of viruses that can cause both the common cold and more serious diseases. A 61-year-old man with severe underlying conditions died from the coronavirus on Saturday.
While preliminary investigations indicate that most of the patients had worked at or visited a particular seafood wholesale market, one woman may have contracted the virus from her husband, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said in a public notice.
The commission said the husband, who fell ill first, worked at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. Meanwhile, the wife said she hasn’t had any exposure to the market.
It’s possible that the husband brought home food from the market that then infected his wife, Hong Kong health official Chuang Shuk-kwan said at a news briefing. But because the wife did not exhibit symptoms until days after her husband, it’s also possible that he infected her.
Chuang and other Hong Kong health officials spoke to reporters Wednesday following a trip to Wuhan, where mainland Chinese authorities briefed them on the outbreak.
The threat of human-to-human transmission remains low, Chuang said, as hundreds of people, including medical professionals, have been in close contact with infected individuals and have not been infected themselves.
She echoed Wuhan authorities’ assertion that there remains no definitive evidence of human-to-human transmission.
The outbreak in Wuhan has raised the specter of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. SARS is a type of coronavirus that first struck southern China in late 2002. It then spread to more than two dozen countries, killing nearly 800 people.
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Treason Trial Opens for Cambodia Opposition Leader
The treason trial of Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha opened Wednesday, more than two years after his arrest in a case decried by his family as a “farce” and widely pilloried as politically motivated.The 66-year-old co-founded the now-banned Cambodia National Rescue Party, once considered the sole viable opponent to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) led by strongman premier Hun Sen — who has ruled the country with an iron fist for 35 years.Sokha was arrested in 2017 and his party dissolved ahead of widely criticized elections the following year — leaving the CPP to canter to victory virtually uncontested.The opposition leader was first detained in a remote prison then placed under house arrest before his bail conditions were relaxed in November last year.He stands accused of conspiring in a “secret plan” with foreign entities to overthrow the government, according to court documents — charges he vehemently denies.“There is no specific evidence,” Sokha told AFP on Wednesday during a break in proceedings. “I want justice to come swiftly.”His lawyers say the case could take months. If convicted, Sokha faces up to 30 years in jail.Police surrounded the Phnom Penh court on Wednesday morning as Sokha arrived for hearings.Reporters and human rights monitors were barred, with the limited seating reserved for foreign diplomats and relatives.Sokha’s daughter Kem Monovithya decried the proceedings.”This whole ordeal is a farce,” she told AFP.”It is damaging to Cambodia’s image. We hope he will be acquitted, so Cambodia can begin to get back on a democratic path.”Amnesty International called the trial “a mockery of justice”, while the US State Department has said the charges “appear to be politically motivated”.But government lawyer Ky Tech told reporters Wednesday there were more than two dozen witnesses and “suitcases of evidence” to bolster the treason charges.Due to concerns over human rights, the European Union is reviewing whether Cambodia should be withdrawn from a tariff- and duty-free scheme.If axed, it could deal a blow worth billions to the kingdom’s lucrative garment sector.While preferential access to Western markets is essential for some sectors, the kingdom’s economy has been pumped up on Chinese investment and soft loans — delivered without questions over rights and democracy.To relieve international pressure, the government may reach for a compromise solution to the Sokha issue, according to political analyst Ou Virak.This could come in the form of a royal pardon if Kem Sokha is convicted, he said.
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Report: China Undermining Human Rights System Worldwide
China is using its economic and diplomatic leverage to silence critics abroad and undermine international human rights systems, according to the 2020 Human Rights Watch world report. The report, which examines about 100 countries, claims that Beijing’s efforts not only suppress the rights of its citizens but extend far beyond it’s borders. VOA’s Jesusemen Oni has more.
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Vietnam Aims to Grow its Economy by 7% This Year, Faster Than China
Vietnamese officials aim to expand their economy by 7% this year, among its fastest rates ever and quicker than world factory powerhouse China, due to investment in manufacturing, lack of trade disputes and the rise of a middle class.The central government has formally decided to pursue GDP growth this year of 6.8% to 7%, securities analysis firm SSI Research in Hanoi said January 3. Manufacturing will be the “leading growth vector going forward, with the service sector forecasted to follow closely behind,” the research firm said.A 7% showing would rank Vietnam among the 10 fastest-growing economies in Asia this year, according to Asian Development Bank data, and place it ahead of China. The development bank forecasts China’s GDP to grow at 6%. GDP, or gross domestic product, means the value of all goods and services produced over a given timeframe.Money flowing into factories, offices and ports makes up much of Vietnam’s total, said Song Seng Wun, an economist in the private banking unit of CIMB in Singapore. Consumption is now becoming more obvious he said. Factories, tourism, educationForeign-invested manufacturing is expected to lead Vietnam’s economy this year as it has over the past seven, country analysts say. Minimum wages as low as $132 a month and what Song calls “government stability” make Vietnam attractive to capital from abroad.Investors normally come mainly from Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Their Vietnam factories make garments and auto parts as well as consumer electronics. In the first half of 2019, foreign-invested projects were due to allocate $9.1 billion, up nearly 8% over same period of 2018, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said on its website.Outside manufacturing, analysts point to growth in tourism and higher education.Vietnamese are increasingly offering different types of tourism experiences, like this restaurant with hammocks at Tri An Lake, outside Ho Chi Minh City.(Photo: Ha Nguyen / VOA)Between 2010 and 2018, the number of foreign tourists in Vietnam expanded from 5 million to more than 15 million due largely to an influx of Chinese visitors. In higher education, enrollment by 10% of the population in 2000 has about tripled.Education matters now because investors want workers with stronger problem-solving skills, said Murray Hiebert, senior associate of the Southeast Asia Program at the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. They’re looking for technical staff as well as office managers. ““One of the key strengths is that education is a high priority,” he said. “One key weakness is that the Confucian education system teaches students to memorize so they can pass exams, but they don’t really learn how to think critically or problem solve.”More than one-third of Vietnam’s 97 million people will be middle class or more within the year, the Boston Consulting Group forecasts. A lot of people are living better as export manufacturing creates new jobs. Consumers often tilt their spending toward electronics, motor scooters, travel and their children’s education.Trade war diversionForeign investors who had prepared in 2018 to take capital out of China and escape the Sino-U.S. trade dispute are now bringing that money in, analyst say. Diversion from China makes up about 1% of Vietnam’s GDP, said Adam McCarty, chief economist with Mekong Economics in Hanoi. The GDP was $241.3 billion as of December 2018. “It’s very easy for a relatively small economy (to attract) investment ever since the trade fight escalated,” Song said.The Sino-U.S. dispute that erupted in 2018 led to tariffs on U.S.-bound goods worth $550 billion. Diversion to Vietnam at first raised the specter of relabeling goods already made in China for re-export, but fear of reprisals from Washington has stopped those ideas, McCarty said. “Now the actual investments are happening,” he said. “First people did their thinking, then they made plans and then they’d moved their factories, so factories are actually moving now after about one year of trade dispute.”Faster than ChinaThe same trade dispute will contribute to slowing GDP growth in China, the world’s second largest economy, said Scott Kennedy, director with the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Project on Chinese Business & Political Economy. The Chinese GDP was forecast to grow 6.1% last year after rising 6.6% in 2018, down from double-digit percentages each year a decade ago. The trade dispute “has hurt business confidence,” Kennedy says, while years of efforts to ease credit growth have muted the private sector.Foreign investors had quit offshoring to China even before the trade row. China is still the country widely known as the world’s factory but labor and land began to cost more. Countries in much of Southeast Asia have picked up some of their capital.
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US Imposes Sanctions Over N. Korean Workers Abroad
The United States has imposed sanctions on two North Korean entities for facilitating the export of labor in violation of U.N. sanctions.A U.S. Treasury statement issued Tuesday identified the entities as Korea Namgang Trading Corp (NTC) and Beijing Sukbakso.”The Government of North Korea continues to use the illicit exportation of North Korean labor to generate income overseas in contravention of United Nations (U.N.) sanctions. Today’s action targets a North Korean trading corporation and a China-based North Korean lodging facility that facilitate North Korea’s practice of sending laborers abroad,” the statement said.Under a U.N. resolution adopted in 2017, nations had until December 22, 2019, to send back all workers from North Korea. Human rights groups have often accused North Korea of sending its citizens to foreign countries for forced labor to sustain its economy, with most of the workers’ salary going straight to the government. The country is known to violate international labor practices when sending workers abroad, putting them to work under harsh conditions.”The exportation of North Korean workers raises illicit revenue for the government of North Korea in violation of U.N. sanctions,” said Secretary Steve Mnuchin.As a result of the sanctions announced Tuesday, “all property of NTC and Beijing Sukbakso that are in the U.S. or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported” to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.”
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Indonesia: UAE Crown Prince to Lead New Capital Construction
Abu Dhabi’s crown prince has agreed to lead a committee that will oversee the construction of a new capital city for Indonesia that is estimated to cost $34 billion, an Indonesian official said Tuesday.Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said it would be “an honor to play a role in the development of the largest Muslim-majority country,” Indonesian Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said in a statement.The committee will also include Masayoshi Son, the billionaire founder and chief executive of Japanese holding company SoftBank, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who currently runs the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, he said.“We expected their presence would provide a confidence boost for prospective investors in the new capital,” Pandjaitan said.Indonesian President Joko Widodo met Sheikh Mohammed during a two-day trip to Abu Dhabi that ended on Monday.Widodo announced last August that Indonesia’s capital will move from overcrowded, sinking and polluted Jakarta to a site in sparsely populated East Kalimantan province on Borneo island, known for rainforests and orangutans.The capital’s relocation to a 180,000-hectare (444,780-acre) site almost triple the size of Jakarta will cost an estimated $34 billion. Of that, 19% is to come from the state budget and the rest from cooperation between the government and business entities and from direct investment by state-run companies and the private sector.Widodo welcomed talks between Indonesian officials and the United Arab Emirates, as well as SoftBank, on the setting up of an Indonesia Sovereign Wealth Fund which will be finalized at the end of this month in Tokyo, the maritime and investment ministry said.It said the UAE, a federation of seven sheikdoms on the Arabian Peninsula; SoftBank; and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation will participate in the SWF’s funding of Indonesian development projects.The idea to set up the fund came during a visit by Sheikh Mohammed to Indonesia last July, and the UAE has pledged to become the main investor in SWF projects, Pandjaitan said.During Widodo’s visit to Abu Dhabi, the two countries reached 16 business and government deals in which the UAE agreed to invest $6.8 billion through five government-to-government agreements and 11 business-to-business deals, the maritime and investment ministry said.Jakarta is an Asian mega-city with 10 million people, or 30 million including those in its greater metropolitan area. It is prone to earthquakes and flooding and is rapidly sinking because of uncontrolled extraction of ground water. The water and rivers are highly contaminated. Congestion is estimated to cost the economy $6.5 billion a year.Mineral-rich East Kalimantan was once almost completely covered by rainforests, but illegal logging has removed many of its original growth. It is home to only 3.5 million people and is surrounded by Kutai National Park, known for orangutans and other primates and mammals.Indonesia is archipelago nation of more than 17,000 islands, but currently 54% of the country’s nearly 270 million people live on Java, the country’s most densely populated area.
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Malaysia’s Mahathir Mulls Risks, Rewards of Postponed Power Transfer
Malaysia’s government looks increasingly likely to miss a promised mid-2020 leadership transfer from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to coalition partner Anwar Ibrahim, raising fears of a succession scuffle that could split an already fragile alliance and cost it the next election.The former mentor and protégé fell out in the late 1990s but joined forces again to hand the country’s long-ruling and corruption-mired Barisan Nasional coalition a surprise national election defeat in May 2018 by promising to clean up government, lower living costs and bolster minority rights. Heading into the polls, Mahathir, now the world’s oldest serving prime minister at 94, also vowed to step down to make way for Anwar after two years “at the most.”However, Mahathir, enjoying his second spell as prime minister, after a 22-year run that ended in 2003, has dithered. In an interview with Reuters last month, he reaffirmed his vow to anoint Anwar his successor. Only days later, at the Doha Forum in Qatar, an annual high-level policy gathering, he would not commit to Anwar as heir apparent and said he would consider stepping down only after Malaysia finished hosting the next summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries in November.FILE – President of the People’s Justice Party Anwar Ibrahim gives the keynote address during their general assembly in Melaka, Malaysia, Dec. 7, 2019.Anwar has thus far faced Mahathir’s equivocations with equanimity, insisting that his ally-turned-rival-turned-ally would make good on their deal in due time. However, prolonged doubts about when or even if that will happen could still split their coalition — Pakatan Harapan, or the Alliance of Hope — said Ben Bland, director of the Southeast Asia Project at Australia’s Lowy Institute.”There obviously is a risk that this very fragile coalition fractures because of a lack of clarity about the transition and the strength of these different personalities competing to secure the leadership, that they end up attacking each other and undermining their credibility and potentially damaging their prospects at the next election or even undermining their ability to even form a coalition at the next election,” he told VOA.The latest pact between these grandees of Malaysian politics was bound to make for an awkward alliance. Anwar had looked poised to succeed Mahathir while serving as his finance minister through most of the 1990s.But by the end of the decade their differences on how to tackle the fallout from the Asian Financial Crisis morphed into a bitter power struggle. Anwar was removed from office in 1998 and soon arrested and convicted on a dubious sodomy charge, spending the next six years in jail, some of that time in solitary confinement.’No normal relationship of trust’They put their differences aside to challenge a common enemy in Barisan in 2018 but “it’s clear they still don’t have a normal relationship of trust,” Bland said. He added that many in the coalition remain to be convinced that Anwar wields the political capital to lead Pakatan to a second victory.Some analysts say Mahathir also fears turning into a lame duck once a date for his departure is set in stone.”As soon as he [says], OK, I’m handing over to Anwar on Tuesday the 15th of November, or whatever it is, then power ebbs away from him from that day onwards,” Bland said, “but so long as the transition question is unresolved … he’s still really the focus, and he clearly is still enjoying that limelight and being in that position of ultimate authority.”Having witnessed Mahathir waiver on his handover some also wonder whether the APEC summit is more an excuse to extend his latest run as prime minister, and whether more may follow.’Cementing legacy’Others say the summit would make a fitting swan song for a man who has always cared deeply about his standing on the world stage.”I think he would like to cement his legacy before he leaves,” Adib Zalkapli, the Malaysia-based director of Bower Group Asia a consulting firm, said.”Which is why,” Zalkapli said, “I think APEC is important for him. I mean that is one way for him to cement his foreign policy legacy. He’s going to be the only leader to chair APEC twice, so I think that’s symbolically a very big win for him.”As much as Mahathir and his allies may still mistrust Anwar, Zalkapli believes they have accepted that a handover must come and that his successor will need at least two years to cement his own position as prime minister before the next election, due by mid-2023.Wong Chin Huat, a political scientist and professor at Malaysia’s Sunway University, said Mahathir was savvy enough to see that serving the full term would all but guarantee Pakatan’s split and the parties’ defeat to their arch-rival the United Malays National Organization party (UMNO), a heavyweight of the toppled Barisan coalition.Pakatan has already slipped precipitously in popularity polls since its 2018 win and lost a string of local elections to a resurgent UMNO and new ally the Malaysian Islamic Party. A drawn-out dustup for succession within Pakatan “would be deadly for everyone in the fight,” said Wong.FILE – Malaysia’s Minister of Economic Affairs Azmin Ali gives a news conference after a High-Speed Rail (HSR) signing ceremony at Putrajaya, Sept. 5, 2018.”And it would be bad for Mahathir as well, because he would want to show that he actually laid the groundwork for a new Malaysia, however you define it. But if his government is defined by an abrupt end, whether voluntary or involuntary, [and forced] into a fresh election and then replaced by all those people he vowed to kick out, it’s clearly a failure of Mahathir as well. So I think for Mahathir and Anwar, and even for Azmin, they have some interest to work together.”Azmin is Economic Affairs Minister Mohamad Azmin Ali, Anwar’s deputy president in the PKR, Pakatan’s largest party, and rumored rival to replace Mahathir.With shades of Anwar’s past break with Mahathir, Anwar and Azmin’s own relationship was tested last year by leaked video purporting to show Azmin having sex with another man, a crime in Malaysia. Azmin denied the allegation while Anwar rejected his deputy’s claims that party insiders were behind the scandal. Police recently said they would not be filing any charges in the case because none of the men in the video could be identified.Wong’s best guess is that Mahathir is genuine when he says he wants to see Anwar replace him. But the longer Anwar struggles to assert control of his own party, and to convince doubters around Mahathir that he is ready to lead, the harder that gets.”If Anwar is not strong, it makes the case for Mahathir to stay a bit longer,” he said.
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S. Korea Pushes For Cooperation With North, Despite Rejection, Insults
It was a relatively modest step: South Korea would relay birthday greetings from U.S. President Donald Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who turned 36 last week.Even if it was not likely to lead to a breakthrough in U.S.-North Korea talks that have been frozen for months, South Korea’s decision to pass on the message could help prove the negotiations are not dead and possibly revive Seoul’s role as a mediator.It didn’t work as planned. North Korea’s foreign ministry on Saturday said it already received the birthday message and lashed out at Seoul’s “presumptuous” attempt to “meddle in the personal relations” between Trump and Kim.The statement, delivered by senior diplomat Kim Kye Gwan, mocked South Korea for still holding onto its “lingering hope for playing the role of ‘mediator.’”The biting tone of Kim’s remarks is difficult to convey in English, says Kim Jeong-min, who covers the Koreas for the Seoul-based NK News, a North Korea-focused publication. “But it sounds something similar to ‘Trump and Kim are better friends than you guys and your fear of missing out is laughable,’” she says.U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as they meet at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019.Mocked, ignoredIt’s the type of scenario that has played out repeatedly over the past year, as South Korean President Moon Jae-in makes peace overtures to the North, only to be at best ignored and at worst humiliated by North Korean officials.It is a severe disappointment for Moon, whose outreach to Kim helped smooth the path for the first Trump-Kim summit in June 2018. “I think the Moon government is (acting) out in desperation to save his peace engagement policy, which was envisioned to be his legacy,” says Hoo Chiew-ping, a Malaysia-based Korea specialist. “That legacy is now in ruins.”Moon and Kim held three summits in 2018, agreeing to a series of economic and military cooperation projects that Moon hoped could build trust and eventually become the first phase in the long process of reunifying the two Koreas.But Moon has been unable to implement most of those agreements, largely because of United States and United Nations sanctions imposed on North Korea over its nuclear weapons program.With nuclear talks stalled, North Korea has blasted the South’s unwillingness to move ahead, accusing Seoul of prioritizing its relationship with Washington over Pyongyang.Will Moon push ahead regardless?Ahead of South Korea’s parliamentary elections in April, there are signs Moon could move ahead on parts of the inter-Korean agreements anyway.In his annual New Year’s press conference Wednesday, Moon hinted South Korea could attempt to resume individual tourism to the North, even with international sanctions still in place.In a speech last week, Moon also urged his government to work toward resuming joint projects at the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Mount Kumgang resort – efforts that could be much trickier from a legal perspective. “As the party directly involved in the Korean Peninsula issue, South Korea will expand room for maneuvers and move forward things that can be carried out independently as much as possible,” Unification Ministry spokesperson Lee Sang-min said last week.International sanctions do not ban tourism to North Korea. But some of them do prohibit setting up joint ventures and other investment projects, creating a possible legal gray area where Washington would have to exercise discretion, says Henri Feron, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for International Policy.”Seoul can nevertheless point to Chinese tourism and to the existence of several foreign-based tourism agencies, such as Koryo Tours, as a precedent for its own involvement in tourism,” says Feron, referring to a Beijing-based company that specializes in trips to North Korea. “China is flooding North Korea with tourists. It’s understandable that South Korea would want to restore its own economic leverage in North Korea,” adds Feron.In response to the Moon administration’s recent comments, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told VOA’s Korean Service last week that all United Nations member states are required to implement U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions, “and we expect them all to continue doing so.” “The United States and South Korea coordinate closely on our efforts related to the DPRK, and we mutually work to ensure that U.N. sanctions are fully implemented,” the spokesperson continued, using an abbreviation for North Korea’s official name.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in walk together at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, April 27, 2018.Domestic pressureOne reason Moon may be getting impatient: domestic politics.In recent weeks, both pro- and anti-engagement forces in South Korea have urged Moon to change his approach to the North.”He needs to consider his domestic situation as well,” says Kim Joon Hyung, chancellor of South Korea’s National Diplomatic Academy. “I think it is time for him to make a drastic measure to find a breakthrough.”Conservatives, who take a more hardline approach toward North Korea, are also increasingly vocal.”It has become painfully embarrassing to watch Moon beg Kim (Jong Un) for any sign of recognition,” said an editorial this week in the conservative Chosun Ilbo. “How many more times will North Korea have to spit in President Moon Jae-in’s face as he attempts to reclaim his self-appointed role of mediator before he gets the message? Most people have lost count of the snubs and insults,” the paper continued.Approval rating steadyBut there is still widespread support for Moon’s approach to North Korea, opinion polls suggest.According to a survey released last week, 28 percent of South Koreans support Moon’s North Korea policy, while 25 percent said they support an even more conciliatory approach. Only 36 percent said they want tougher measures, according to Realmeter, a South Korean polling company.Moon’s overall approval rating has fallen to the upper-40s, down from over 80 percent in the days following his first meeting with Kim.With a slumping economy, elections approaching, and a controversy surrounding his scandal-hit justice minister who was forced to resign, Moon may be tempted to push for progress on a signature achievement, such as improving inter-Korean relations.Moon positiveDespite the insults and rejection from North Korea, Moon remains upbeat, touting the fact that any talks at all are happening, even if they are just happy birthday messages. “North Korea received the (birthday) letter and gave a swift response,” Moon said Wednesday. “Even though it is conditional, it made clear that the door is not yet closed for talks.”
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Philippine Volcano Continues to Spew Lava, Ash for Third Day
More than 30,000 people near the Philippine capital, Manila, have been evacuated from the immediate vicinity of a volcano that has been belching lava, ash and steam since it erupted Sunday.Scientists at the Philippines’s seismology agency issued a warning of a major and far more explosive eruption at the Taal volcano, located more than 60 kilometers north of Manila. The large cloud of ash, which blasted several kilometers into the sky during Taal’s initial eruption, has also produced intermittent streaks of lightning.The ash eventually fell over Manila, forcing authorities to shut down the city’s main airport until Monday.Taal last erupted in 1977, 12 years after an eruption killed some 200 people. The Philippines archipelago lies along the Pacific Ocean’s so-called “Ring of Fire,” a long line of active faults and volcanoes where most of the world’s seismic activity occurs.
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Trump-Kim Chemistry Will Not Sway N. Korea On Denuclearization
The personal relationship between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump has no impact on Pyongyang’s denuclearization stance toward Washington, said experts.”The recent North Korean statement responding to Trump’s birthday card was very clear,” said Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. “The personal feelings between Trump and Kim have no bearing on DPRK policy.”The DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official English name for North Korea.Over the past two years, Trump has attempted to parlay his personal relationship with Kim into a breakthrough on denuclearization talks. Kim Kye Gwan, first vice foreign minister of North Korea, arrives at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, July 26, 2011The Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s state media, issued the statement on Saturday.Ken Gause, director of the Adversary Analytics Program at CNA, said the remarks do not mean that Kim will end his personal relationship with Trump but suggested, “Trump can’t trade on that relationship to get denuclearization or maybe even a freeze on testing.”Throughout the Trump administration’s diplomatic outreach to Pyongyang that began in 2018, Trump has touted his personal relationship with Kim, which culminated in an exchange of letters between the two.”I was really tough and so was he, and we went back and forth,” Trump told supporters at a West Virginia rally on September 30, 2018, months after he met Kim for the first time in Singapore. “Since the failed Hanoi Summit in February, North Korea has demanded that the U.S. relax sanctions imposed on the country. Kim’s advisor said in his statement that North Korea’s offer to close down a main nuclear facility at Yongbyon in exchange for sanctions relief made at the Hanoi Summit is no longer valid. “There will never be such negotiations as that in Vietnam, in which we proposed exchanging a core nuclear facility for the lifting of some U.N. sanctions,” said Kim Kye Gwan.Klingner said, “Pyongyang’s demands remain constant, for the U.S. to capitulate to regime demands if Washington wants to have another nuclear agreement.”Gause said, “The U.S. will have to provide concessions to restart negotiations,” adding, “Birthday greetings won’t get it done.”Gause does not expect Trump to “offer concessions to restart negotiations until he feels emboldened domestically.”Gause said, “That is not likely to happen until and unless he is re-elected.” He continued, “I don’t expect major progress on the relationship until 2021, provided Trump is re-elected.”Trump is aiming for his second term as president in the upcoming election in November. But his re-election prospects are clouded by the impeachment trial Trump is expected to face by the Senate after the House votes this week to transmit the article of impeachment to the Senate.
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Taiwan Elections Belie Notion of ‘Asian Value,’ Says Analyst
For Washington-based U.S. analysts, Saturday’s Taiwan elections were a threefold victory, for President Tsai Ing-wen and her ruling Democratic Progressive Party, Taiwan as a whole, and the very concept of democracy in Asia.“There’s this debate, which I always thought was a dishonest debate” about whether democracy as a form of governance is suited to Asian history and culture, Derek Mitchell, president of the National Democratic Institute, said.He referenced Lee Kuan Yew, who ruled Singapore with a firm hand for three decades until 1990.““Lee Kuan Yew once said that we Asians, democracy isn’t right for our culture,” Mitchell said at a Saturday morning function sponsored by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S. and two think tanks focused on Taiwan and China studies. But, he told VOA, the successful conduct of Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections was a testament to the fact that democracy is a universal value that can work just as well in Asia as in other parts of the world. Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang Party (KMT) presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu votes at a polling station during general elections in Kaohsiung, Jan. 11, 2020.Mitchell was particularly heartened by the “graceful” concession speech of losing presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu, leader of the Kuomintang (KMT) party. His party, seen as more friendly to China than Tsai’s DPP, took only about 40% of the vote compared to about 60% for the victors. Distrust of China spurred by months of anti-Beijing protests in Hong Kong were seen as contributing to the DPP’s margin of victory. Taiwan’s experience this week, along with South Korea’s successful democratic transition in the 1990s, “put a lie to this notion that Asians aren’t suitable for democracy,” Mitchell said.Another guest at the Saturday function, longtime Asia watcher Richard Bush, was similarly impressed with Taiwan’s election, noting that democracy imposes unique demands on citizens and politicians alike. “Not all countries take the risk of allowing their average citizens to select leaders,” he remarked. For Stanley Kao, Taiwan’s chief representative in Washington, the election marked not so much the end of a long campaign as the beginning of a new set of challenges – and opportunities. Stressing that Taiwan does not take its ties with Washington for granted, Kao said, “We have lots of business to take care of,” including a potential free trade agreement, increased cooperation on security and more people-to-people exchanges. He told VOA that his job is made easier because of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which ensures U.S. ties with the island in spite of American recognition of the government in Beijing as Washington’s official counterpart. Kao described what he envisioned to be his duty and approach in Washington: “Follow the line, get the job done. You don’t want to overdo it, but at the same time, we don’t want to shy away from making requests,” he said. “We stay optimistic, but at the same time realistic.”
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US No Longer Branding China a Currency Manipulator
The Trump administration is no longer designating China a currency manipulator as it gets ready to sign the first phase of a trade agreement with Beijing.”China has made enforceable commitments to refrain from competitive devaluation and not target its exchange rate for competitive purposes,” a Treasury Department report to Congress said Monday.But China will remain on the Treasury’s watch list of countries whose currency practices will be monitored. Others on the list include Germany, Japan, and Vietnam.Monday’s decision comes five months after the U.S. formally branded China a currency manipulator — the first time any country was given that designation since U.S. President Bill Clinton’s administration designated China as such in 1994.Currency manipulation occurs when a country artificially lowers the value of its money to make its goods and services cheaper on the world market, giving it an unfair advantage over its competitors.China has always denied the practice.
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HRW Director: China’s Respect for Human Rights on ‘Downward Trajectory’
The executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, says China’s decision to deny him entry into Hong Kong shows “the downward trajectory of Beijing’s respect for human rights.”In an interview with VOA’s Mandarin Service Monday, Roth said that his case illustrates the problem in Hong Kong which he said is Beijing’s undermining of the “one country, two systems” arrangement that China agreed to when Hong Kong was returned from Britain. Roth had traveled to Hong Kong on Sunday with plans to launch the organization’s “World Report 2020″Human Rights Watch was scheduled to release the report on January 15th at a news conference in Hong Kong. Roth’s introductory essay to the 652-page report warns that China’s government is “carrying out an intensive attack on the global system for enforcing human rights.”Roth said he was told by immigration officials that the reason he was being denied entry into Hong Kong was for “immigration reasons” but was given no further explanation.Protesters wave flags that read “Hong Kong Independence” during a rally in Hong Kong, Jan. 12, 2020. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, said Monday that Roth was denied entry into China as a matter of “Chinese sovereignty” and blamed Human Rights Watch for the turmoil in Hong Kong.”Such organizations deserve sanctions and must pay a price,” Geng said.Roth told VOA that China’s line of reasoning is “just silly” and said it is also insulting to the people of China. “If you look behind this excuse, what’s really going on is that the authorities in Beijing are terrified by what the Hong Kong protests represent, because they represent widespread discontent with the authoritarian drift of the Chinese government,” he said. He said because China is unable to admit this “they have to concoct these ridiculous stories that the Hong Kong people are just pawns of various international groups” which he called “absurd.”Roth said the answer for China would be to “start listening to the complaints of the protesters, to start respecting the rule of law and political freedom.”Protesters in Hong Kong first rallied around a now defunct extradition law proposal that would let Hong Kong criminal suspects be deported to mainland China, where punishments are harsher. Protester demands now include universal suffrage and an independent probe into police brutality.VOA’s Mandarin Service contributed to this report.
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WHO: First Case of New Virus Behind China Outbreak Found in Thailand
The World Health Organization confirmed Monday the first case in Thailand of a new virus from the same family as SARS that is behind a Chinese pneumonia outbreak.The U.N. health agency said a person traveling from Wuhan, China, had been hospitalized in Thailand on January 8 after being diagnosed with mild pneumonia.”Laboratory testing subsequently confirmed that the novel coronavirus was the cause,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told AFP in an email, referring to the new virus.WHO said it might soon host an emergency meeting on the spread of the new virus.The case marks the first outside of China, where 41 people with pneumonia-like symptoms have so far been diagnosed with the new virus in the central city of Wuhan, with one of the victims dying last Thursday.The episode has caused alarm due to the specter of SARS, or Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which in 2002-2003 killed 349 people in mainland China and another 299 in Hong Kong, whose economy was hit hard by the epidemic’s devastating impact on tourism.The WHO has confirmed that the outbreak in China has been caused by a previously unknown type of corona virus, a broad family ranging from the common cold to more serious illnesses like SARS.The agency said Monday it had been informed by Thai health officials that the patient there was recovering from the illness.It stressed that it was not surprising that the virus had spread beyond China.”The possibility of cases being identified in other countries was not unexpected, and reinforces why WHO calls for on-going active monitoring and preparedness in other countries,” it said in a statement.It pointed out that it had issued guidance on how to detect and treat people who fall ill with the new virus, and stressed that China’s decision to rapidly share the genetic sequencing of the virus made it possible to quickly diagnose patients.WHO has not recommended any specific measures for travelers or restrictions on trade with China, but stressed Monday it was taking the situation seriously.”Given developments, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will consult with Emergency Committee members and could call for a meeting of the committee on short notice,” it said in a statement.
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While Shuttered at Home, China Exploits Social Media Abroad
China says its diplomats and government officials will fully exploit foreign social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter that are blocked off to its own citizens.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Monday likened the government to “diplomatic agencies and diplomats of other countries” in embracing such platforms to provide “better communication with the people outside and to better introduce China’s situation and policies.”
Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms have tried for years without success to be allowed into the lucrative Chinese market, where Beijing has helped create politically reliable analogues such as Weichat and Weibo. Their content is carefully monitored by the companies and by government censors.
Despite that, Geng said China is “willing to strengthen communication with the outside world through social media such as Twitter to enhance mutual understanding.” He also insisted that the Chinese internet remained open and said the country has the largest number of users of any nation, adding, “we have always managed the internet in accordance with laws and regulations.”
The canny use of social media by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong has further deepened China’s concern over the use of such platforms, prompting further crackdowns on the mainland, including on the use of virtual private networks.
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People in China Cautious, But Not Worried About New Virus
China’s health officials say there is no danger that a new strain of coronavirus could cause a worldwide spread of pneumonia-like illness similar to the 2003 SARS (Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus) pandemic. More than 40 people have been diagnosed with the new virus in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province and one person has died from the complications caused by it. Chinese authorities are applying measures to prevent the spread of the infection within the city as well as in other parts of China. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
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China Relations Stumble after Beijing Skeptic Wins Reelection in Taiwan
Taiwan’s ever-testy relations with China stumbled again after a Beijing skeptic was reelected to the presidency and her party grabbed a legislative majority Saturday, but analysts and officials in Taipei say this dip won’t go as deep as others.A day after President Tsai Ing-wen won with more than 8.1 million votes and a 57% majority, China’s official Xinhua News Agency called the outcome “a development that deeply worries people who hope for peace” and slung charged language at the reelected leader.”Tsai and the DPP used dirty tactics such as cheating, repression and intimidation to get votes, fully exposing their selfish, greedy and evil nature,” the commentary said, referring to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.This language hearkens back to the harsh words China used after Tsai won her first election in 2016. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan but Tsai rejects the Beijing government’s condition for dialogue that both sides belong under one flag. The two sides have been separately ruled since the 1940s.China followed up from 2016 through 2019 by passing military planes near the island, cutting back on Taiwan-bound tourism and persuading seven countries to drop recognition of the Taipei government.Shallow dipTsai anticipated more pressure from China in a speech Saturday but said she would try not to exacerbate it.”Pressure from China will continue to exist and could even become heavier,” Tsai told a news conference. Facing China’s threats, she said, “We will stick with our non-provocative, non-adventurist attitude to do our utmost in ensuring peace and stability between the two sides.”Taiwanese President and presidential election candidate Tsai Ing-wen casts her ballot at a polling station in New Taipei City, Taiwan, Jan. 11, 2020.Some scholars believe China expects calm in relations with Taiwan because Tsai no longer needs to flex muscle against Beijing. Tsai’s campaign focused voter attention on China’s aim of ruling Taiwan the way it now governs Hong Kong a setup that has sparked mass protests in the former British colony since June.”I don’t think China will ever back off,” said Yun Sun, East Asia Program senior associate at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington. But Chinese officials hope eventually to start dialogue, she said. For the immediate aftermath of the election, “it is in the mainland’s interest not to overplay it,” Sun said. Will not get worse’Tsai will be president for the next four years, while the ruling party will hold a majority in parliament with 61 of 113 seats. China’s reaction is just verbal, not a prelude to new actions against Taiwan, said Wang Ching-Hsing, assistant political science professor at National Cheng Kung University. But formal talks never held under Tsai to date are unlikely to take place, he said. Chinese President Xi Jinping will insist on his goal of ruling Taiwan, an idea that most Taiwanese have said in surveys over the past year they reject. Tsai backs that majority.The president called Saturday for “parity:” in relations, meaning “neither side denies the fact of the other’s existence.””I wouldn’t think cross-Strait relations will not get worse over the coming months, but they won’t get any better,” Wang said. “If you want Xi Jinping to take back ‘one country, two systems’, I think that’s of utmost difficulty,” he said.In January a year ago, the Chinese president gave a speech advocating that China rule Taiwan under a “one country, two systems” model that’s supposed to allow a measure of local autonomy. Beijing has ruled Hong Kong that way since 1997. Tsai suggested Saturday the two sides set up communications if China respects the will of Taiwanese people for autonomy.China, for its part, omitted Taiwan from a late 2019 new year’s speech on its governance of Hong Kong, Sun noted.Beijing authorities are still focused on an unresolved Hong Kong protest situation, Wang added.
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US-China Trade War Seen as Boosting Vietnam Growth
Vietnam will enjoy the fastest economic growth in Southeast Asia in 2020, according to a new forecast from British multinational investment bank HSBC.Vietnam has been a beneficiary of the China-U.S. trade war, enjoying a boost in services and exports that should drive economic growth to 7% this year, HSBC economist Yun Liu said last week. But she said the country remains vulnerable to economic risks including trade protection and inflation.Inflation is increasing as swine flu forces up the price of pork, showing how a single product can weigh on the economic indicators of an entire nation of nearly 100 million people. Vietnam also fears rising inflation if simmering Middle East tensions continue to push up oil prices.Nevertheless, Liu predicted the communist nation’s “impressive” economic performance will give it another “year in the 7% club,” outshining fast-growing Myanmar, the Philippines, and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.Nintendo, AppleLiu noted that some of the biggest names in technology, ranging from Nintendo to Google, are relocating to Vietnam, probably because the trade war is making production in China more expensive.FILE – A shop in Hanoi sells electronics, which are becoming a big export product for Vietnam.”Likely due to the trade tensions that have accelerated multinational corporations’ relocation decisions, many tech giants, including Apple, Google, Nintendo and Kyocera, have now followed in Samsung’s footsteps and plan to move parts of their production to Vietnam,” Liu forecastSamsung, the Korean smartphone giant, already accounts for close to one quarter of Vietnam’s exports, but others are following the same path. Total electronics exports to the United States rose 76% in the first 11 months of 2019, as U.S. tariffs made Chinese-made phones more expensive for Americans.”Contrary to many Asian countries which have seen a contraction in industrial activity, Vietnam’s manufacturing sector remained resilient [in 2019], contributing 30% to headline GDP growth,” Liu said.Also contributing to GDP growth are increases in tourism and private consumption among Vietnamese citizens themselves.RisksThe solid growth has brought renewed risk of inflation, a problem Hanoi had mostly brought under control in recent years. Prices last month rose by 5.2% on an annualized basis — the highest monthly figure since January 2014. Economists attribute the unexpected jump in part to higher pork prices.FILE – A butcher in Ho Chi Minh City sells pork, whose price increases are feeding fears of inflation in Vietnam.”The economy faces two key risks over the coming year,” said Gareth Leather, a senior Asia economist, in an analysis for research company Capital Economics. Citing trade protectionism as one risk, he said the other “is the outbreak of African swine fever, which has led to a sharp rise in pork prices.”Liu agrees. She said Vietnam faces “a confluence of factors including higher pork demand in the run-up to the Tet holidays [Lunar New Year] and likely competition with mainland China on pork imports as the latter has recently lowered pork tariffs.”The regional minimum wage in Vietnam has also increased, while oil prices around the world spiked after a U.S. airstrike killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force. Leather said the most vulnerable Asian nations are Vietnam, India and China.He also voiced a widely held sentiment regarding Vietnam’s trade imbalance with the United States. “Vietnam’s growing bilateral trade surplus with the U.S. could lead to retaliatory action,” Leather said.
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HRW Director Denied Entry to Hong Kong
Hong Kong denied entry to the executive director of Human Rights Watch, the international watchdog said Sunday.Kenneth Roth, who traveled to Hong Kong with plans to launch the organization’s “World Report 2020,” was told he could not enter when he landed at Hong Kong International Airport on Sunday. Human Rights Watch said that immigration agents gave no reason as to why the U.S. citizen was denied entry.”I had hoped to spotlight Beijing’s deepening assault on international efforts to uphold human rights,” Roth said. “The refusal to let me enter Hong Kong vividly illustrates the problem.”I flew to Hong Kong to release @HRW’s new World Report. This year it describes how the Chinese government is undermining the international human rights system. But the authorities just blocked my entrance to Hong Kong, illustrating the worsening problem. https://t.co/GRUaGh8QUbpic.twitter.com/iTHVEXdbwO— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) January 12, 2020Human Rights Watch was scheduled to release the report on January 15th at a news conference. Roth’s introductory essay to the 652-page report warns that China’s government is “carrying out an intensive attack on the global system for enforcing human rights.”The watchdog said Roth will now present the report Jan. 14 from New York City.
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