Fires in Australia are increasingly under control as cooler temperatures and light winds stay consistent, according to fire fighting officials.Teams near the town of Bodalla in New South Wales, the state most affected by weeks of bushfires, said Sunday that they were able to move from defense to offense, working to ensure a fire would not reach a major highway, the Associated Press reported.The Gospers Mountain fire northwest of Sydney, which has been burning since October, is under control as of Sunday thanks to light rain, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Sunday.As of Sunday evening, 111 fires were still burning across the state of New South Wales – 40 of them still uncontrolled, according to the NSW Rural Fire Service.At 8:30pm there are 111 bush and grass fires burning across NSW, all at the Advice alert level, with 40 not yet contained. While it’s been pleasing to hear of rain falling across parts of the state today, many of these fires will still take some time to fully contain. #NSWRFSpic.twitter.com/ZtF2IgDzkc
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 12, 2020Since September, at least 27 people have died in Australia’s bushfires. More than 10 million hectares (24 million acres) of land — an area bigger than Portugal — have been scorched.Climate change rallies have been held in Australia by thousands of protesters critical of the government’s handling of the bushfire crisis. A demonstration in Sydney Saturday has reportedly drew 30,000 people.Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has come under scrutiny for his response to the wildfires — most recently for underplaying the role of climate change in the devastating wildfires.The prime minister has previously defended his energy and climate policies as adequate and responsible, but on Sunday said his government was working to create a long-term program designed to reduce the risk of natural disasters “in response to the climate changing,” the Associated Press reported.
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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
Young Cambodian Activists Challenge Social and Political Status Quo
With two-thirds of its population under the age of 30, Cambodia is undergoing a generational shift that is challenging the nation’s social and political status quo. VOA’s Brian Padden reports from Phnon Penh that with no memory of the Khmer Rouge’s bloody rule in the 1970s, or the long years of civil war, many young people today are less worried about upheaval than their elders and more willing to advocate for greater freedom and change.
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Australian Village Ready for ‘The Beast’ to Burn on through
As the sky darkened and the smoke billowed through the village, it seemed to those hunkering at the fire station that “The Beast” would finally roar through. But the wildfire only crept closer, prodding forward a few tentative fingers before falling asleep again as the winds died.The weary volunteer firefighters of Burragate returned to bed early Saturday after a week of worry and false alarms. Many have had enough. If the fire is going to burn through their southeast Australian town, they say, then they want it to get on with the job so they can start cleaning up.”I’d prefer it not to come, but if it’s going to come, stop teasing,” said resident Joe Seamons, who has taken to describing what’s officially called the Border Fire as “The Beast.”Resident Joe Alvaro put it more bluntly. “I just want to get it bloody over and done with,” he said.Across Australia, wildfires have killed at least 27 people, including a firefighter on Saturday, and burned down more than 2,000 homes since September. They have focused international attention on climate change and caused political problems for Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has been criticized for his lackluster response.Sheep graze in a field shrouded with smoke haze near at Burragate, Australia, Jan. 11, 2020.The wildfires have lurked near Burragate for over a week, filling the sky with noxious smoke that is burning people’s eyes and making them cough. The sun has turned red and distant hills have disappeared behind a shroud of haze.The village in New South Wales is tiny, with about 100 residents, according to the latest census, although some locals say there are fewer than half that. With no shops or bars, the fire station has become the focal point for the community. Sometimes they hold movie nights there. On Friday, the station was filled with stacks of donated goods, more carrots and toothbrushes than people knew what to do with.An Australian Army combat engineer from the 5th Engineer Regiment utilizes a JD-450 Bulldozer to spread out burnt woodchip at the Eden Woodchip Mill in southern New South Wales, Australia, in support of Operation Bushfire Assist, Jan. 11, 2020.On Friday night, with strong winds expected to make the fire flare up, a convoy of trucks — including some from the army and others carrying a strike team of volunteer firefighters — rolled into town. At one point, more than 30 people were at the station, hoping to save lives and homes but prepared to retreat inside if the flames were too intense.Among them was Bill King, an operations section chief from the U.S. Forest Service in Colorado. He’s part of a reciprocal arrangement in which more than 250 Americans are being posted to Australia to help battle the blazes. He’s also the dad of a 3-month-old daughter, and jokes that he’s sleeping better on his assignment.As some of the convoy moved on to other towns, the local volunteers remained, drinking espresso made from an overworked machine and poring over maps.Seamons, who is retired, said he and his wife moved to Burragate because they didn’t want to live in a crowded town any longer. But he said their lifestyle has been affected by three years of drought, with his garden plants dying and his apple trees not producing any fruit.Lately he’s taken to sitting inside with the fan going to get away from the smoke. Some places in Australia have recorded air quality worse than in New Delhi or Beijing as a result of the fires. Seamons said he has had enough of The Beast.”Hopefully it gets sick of hanging around Burragate,” he said. “But I don’t wish it on anyone else, either.”
Alvaro said that on Friday, he was ready for the fire.”When I saw the smoke and everything, I was relieved,” he said. “I thought, come and get it.”But now he’s hoping that with favorable weather forecast for the next week, fire crews will finally be able to move from playing defense against the fires to attacking them. He said he just hopes he doesn’t have to go through the stress of another night on high alert.And if the fire does come, he said, he’s going to fight it all the way.“We’re a pretty close-knit community. There are some beautiful people here,” Alvaro said. “So it’s worth protecting.”
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Thousands of Thais Join ‘Run Against Dictatorship’
Thousands of Thais joined a run in the capital Sunday in what appeared to be the biggest show of dissent against the government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, although he also drew a big show of support at a rival event.Police estimated nearly 13,000 runners and supporters gathered before sunrise at a park in Bangkok, wearing athletic outfits and colorful shoes, to participate in the “Run Against Dictatorship” event.Some of them shouted slogans such as “Prayuth, get out!” or “Long live democracy!” while running the 2.6-km (1.6-mile) course amid a sprinkling of security forces. Many also gave a three-finger salute of resistance to authority.A man is pictured while attending a “Run Against Dictatorship” event at a public park in Bangkok, Jan. 12, 2020.“I want things to be better,” said Bangkok resident Waraporn Waralak, 45, after completing her run. “I want Prayuth to get out.”Thailand’s government is headed by Prayuth, 65, after an election in March 2019 that the opposition described as having been manipulated to favor the leader’s pro-army party.“This is the biggest gathering since the coup,” said Anusorn Unno, dean of the sociology and anthropology faculty at Bangkok’s Thammasat University, adding that the harmless nature of the activity had spurred greater participation than usual.An excited crowd watched as organizers auctioned bibs bearing numbers significant in Thai politics, such as 2475, the Buddhist calendar year of the revolution that ended absolute monarchy in 1932.To loud cheers, a bib numbered 0044, in reference to the former ruling junta’s Article 44 that gave Prayuth absolute executive power, was ripped in two on stage.The event was held in line with people’s rights and no laws were broken, a government spokeswoman told Reuters.Thailand’s opposition Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit attends a “Run Against Dictatorship” in Bangkok, Jan. 12, 2020.The run followed a rally last month staged by Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the 41-year-old leader of the progressive Future Forward Party, who has emerged as the most outspoken opponent of Thailand’s new civilian government.Thanathorn was charged Friday with breaching a law on public assembly over the December rally, and Future Forward faces dissolution this month by the constitutional court.Run or walk?Sunday’s event was called “Wing Lai Loong” in Thai, which translates as “Run to Oust the Uncle,” in an apparent reference to Prayuth’s nickname of “Uncle Tu.”It prompted a rival “Walk to Cheer the Uncle” event, held in another park, about 14 km (9 miles) away, to show support for Prayuth, where thousands also turned out.The clashing views of the two camps aroused memories of protests that periodically roiled the Thai capital before culminating in coups in 2006 and 2014.Supporters of Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha hold a banner and signs as they walk to show their support for the government at a park in Bangkok, Jan. 12, 2020.Supporters of Prayuth, who as army chief, had led the 2014 coup, put nationalism on display by brandishing the Thai flag, while branding Thanathorn and his supporters “nation haters” for their liberal views.They took turns hitting giant fruit piñatas with a wooden stick, to symbolize frustration at the Future Forward Party, with an orange, for example, signifying the party’s official color.Both crowds encompassed a wide age range, but Prayuth’s supporters were older on the whole.“We support the prime minister because he shows loyalty to the monarchy, our king,” said Sorasak Katkonganapan, a 62-year-old retiree at the walk.
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China-hostile Incumbent Wins Re-election in Taiwan, Vows to Pursue Talks
Taiwanese voters re-elected incumbent Tsai Ing-wen on Saturday by a landslide, renewing her mandate to keep holding off the island’s long-time military rival, China, after a year of fast-changing threats.
But the 43-year-old U.S.-educated law scholar’s approach to China over the next four years might depart from her first four. Shortly after winning the election with more than 57% of the vote, Tsai suggested her government would speak with angry officials in Beijing if they don’t treat Taiwan as an equal partner.”As president, I must handle relations with China according to popular opinion, and I will do my utmost to break the stalemate and improve cross-Strait relations,” Tsai told a news conference outside her Taipei campaign headquarters after receiving more than 8 million votes.”Supporters of Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election candidate, Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen cheer for Tsai’s victory in Taipei, Taiwan, Jan. 11, 2020.So, I’d like to appeal to leaders in Beijing to respect Taiwanese people’s opinion and consensus for peace and equal treatment,” she said. “Then we can set up a sustainable as well as a healthy communication mechanism that is able to meet expectations for people’s welfare.”
Resumption of dialogue would ease a festering military flashpoint in Asia. China maintains the world’s third strongest military and has not ruled out use of force, if eventually needed, to capture Taiwan.
The government in Beijing considers Taiwan part of its own territory that must eventually unify with China. Taiwanese said in surveys last year they prefer today’s democratic autonomy over unification. The two sides have been self-ruled since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s, when Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists fled to the island and re-based their government here.
Events in 2019 further hardened many people’s views against China, endearing them instead to Tsai as someone who won’t engage Beijing on its terms: that both sides come to the table as parts of one country.
A year ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping 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, but the former British colony was hit by months of anti-China protests last year. Also in 2019 China sailed aircraft carriers near Taiwan twice and within a week persuaded two Taiwanese diplomatic allies to break ties in favor of Beijing.Chen Li-chin, a 43-year-old mother from suburban Taipei, decided to vote for Tsai because the president shows willingness to resist China.
“To safeguard Taiwan’s democracy and that’s the most important thing the government can do,” she said. “In comparing candidates on this issue, it’s Tsai Ing-wen. We can still carry on cooperative relations state to state (with Beijing) as long as China doesn’t take Taiwan to be part of its own country.”
The two sides never spoke formally in Tsai’s first four years. She irritated Beijing last year particularly by rejecting “one country, two systems.”
Lin Chong-pin, a retired strategic studies professor from Tamkang University in Taiwan, believes Tsai is already working on ways to start talks. “I think both sides will do something gradually, but they need to do it quietly before it surfaces to the public eye,” he said. “I think they probably are doing it already.”
Beijing may drop its “one China” condition for dialogue if Tsai’s government makes a concession in return, one Washington-based scholar said last month.
But other analysts expect Tsai to make no change from the past four years, which would mean sidelining Beijing in favor of stronger ties with other countries to boost Taiwan’s international standing.Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told a news conference Thursday his government would try to deepen relations with Europe, Japan and the United States if Tsai was re-elected.
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo congratulated Tsai on Saturday and lauded Taiwan’s democratic process. “Under her leadership, we hope Taiwan will continue to serve as a shining example for countries that strive for democracy, prosperity, and a better path for their people,” he said in a statement.
On Saturday, Tsai beat Han Kuo-yu of the Nationalist party, also called the KMT. Han, the 62-year-old mayor of Taiwan’s chief port city Kaohsiung, had advocated trade and investment talks with China on Beijing’s condition that both sides are two parts of one country.
His policies follow from those of ex-president Ma Ying-jeou. Over Ma’s eight years in office before 2016, China and Taiwan signed more than 20 trade and investment deals while setting aside the political dispute. But by 2014 many Taiwanese feared Ma was getting dangerously cozy with China and staged mass street protests in Taipei
Taiwanese on Saturday also renewed Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party majority in parliament, giving it control of the foreign affairs budget and a clear channel to pass any laws related to Taiwanese people’s interactions with China.
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North Korea: US Must ‘Unconditionally Accept Our Demands’
North Korea will not resume nuclear talks unless the United States unconditionally accepts its demands, a senior North Korean official said Saturday.“We have wasted our time with U.S. for more than a year and a half,” said Kim Kye Gwan, a North Korean vice foreign minister, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.Kim, a senior diplomat, said Kim Jong Un’s relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump remains positive, noting that Kim recently received birthday greetings from Trump.“But it is a personal thing and our chairman, who represents the state and works for the benefit of the state, will not make decisions based on his personal relationship,” Kim added.”For dialogue to happen, the U.S. must unconditionally accept our demands. However, we know that the U.S. is not ready to do so, or cannot do so,” he added.The North Korean diplomat did not say what North Korea is demanding. North Korea regularly complains about U.S. and international sanctions, as well as joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises and weapons sales.Two years into dialogue with North Korea, the only apparent remnant is the occasional Trump-Kim letter. Even that relationship may be at risk, however, if North Korea resumes longer-range missile or nuclear tests, as it has been hinting.“Personal relationships at the top can get a dialogue going, but personal relations alone don’t result in deals,” said Daniel DePetris, a fellow at Defense Priorities, a Washington-based research organization. “This is what Trump doesn’t appear to understand. He’s banking on his ‘friendship’ with Kim to lead the way to denuclearization.”“Friendship or not, denuclearization left the barn a long time ago,” DePetris added.Many analysts are pessimistic about the short-term chances for talks.“North Korea has made clear it will not return to the talks unless the U.S. offers new proposals,” Kim Dong Yub, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said at a Seoul conference Friday.
The North Korean leader has not likely abandoned talks altogether, however, Kim said. “The U.S. is the only country that can help North Korea be a normal nation in the international community,” he added.
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Wildlife Catastrophe Caused by Australian Bushfires
More than 1 billion animals have been killed in bushfires in the Australian state of New South Wales, according to leading wildlife experts.Bushfires have had a terrible impact on Australia. Lives have been lost, thousands of homes destroyed and vast areas of land incinerated. The disaster has also had catastrophic consequences for animals. Images of badly burned koalas, Australia’s famous furry marsupials, have come to define the severity of the fire emergency.The University of Sydney has estimated that more than 1 billion mammals, birds and reptiles, as well as “hundreds of billions” of insects have died in the fires. Experts have warned that “for some species we are looking at imminent extinction.”They also fear that animals that have survived the fires by fleeing or seeking safety underground will return to areas that will not have the food, water or shelter to support them. FILE – Veterinarians and volunteers treat injured and burned koalas at Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park on Kangaroo Island, southwest of Adelaide, Australia.Saving the zoo animalsAt zoos and wildlife reserves, staff risked their lives protecting the animals in their care.As fires tore through the town of Mogo on the New South Wales south coast on New Year’s Eve, there were grave fears for the animals at the local zoo. Remarkably, they all survived, but the property is badly damaged.Chad Staples, the head keeper, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about his decision to stay to fight the flames.“We have a lot of damaged fences,” he said. “The good thing is that we saved every single animal, there is no injuries, there’s no sickness. We had to stay here and protect them. We knew that this was the best place that we, if we worked hard, could make this a safe place. But, yeah, of course, I think everyone, at [a] different point, was scared out of their wits.”Farm animals perishTens of thousands of farm animals also have likely died in the bushfire disaster.Farmers have been forced to euthanize injured stock. The losses could run into the millions of dollars.Only when the fires clear will Australia be able to more accurately assess the full extent of the damage on livestock and wildlife.Dozens of fires continue to burn across several Australian states.
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Australia Wildfires Merge; Fairer Weather Forecast
BURRAGATE, Australia — Two wildfires merged to form a massive inferno in southeast Australia Saturday, near where a man suffered serious burns protecting a home during a night of treacherous conditions during the nation’s unprecedented fire crisis.Authorities were assessing the damage after firefighters battled flames fanned by strong winds through the night and lightning strikes sparked new blazes in New South Wales and Victoria, Australia’s most populous states. Conditions were milder Saturday and forecast to remain relatively benign for the next week.“In the scheme of things, we did OK last night,” Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said.New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters that officials were “extremely relieved” the fires were not been more destructive overnight.Burned power lines are seen in Mallacoota, Victoria, Australia, Jan. 10, 2020.Firefighting injuriesA man suffered burns protecting a home near Tumbarumba in southern New South Wales and was airlifted to a Sydney hospital in serious condition to undergo surgery, Fitzsimmons said.Several firefighters received minor burns, and one suffered shortness of breath but were not admitted to a hospital, he said.With no heavy rain expected, the 640,000-hectare (1.58 million-acre) blaze that formed overnight when two fires joined in the Snowy Mountains region near Tumbarumba close to the Victorian border is expected to burn for weeks, officials said.Since September, the fires have killed at least 26 people, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and scorched an area larger than the U.S. state of Indiana.The crisis also has brought accusations that Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s conservative government needs to take more action to counter climate change, which experts say worsens the blazes. Thousands of protesters rallied late Friday in Sydney and Melbourne, calling for Morrison to be fired and for Australia to take tougher action on global warming.The protesters carried placards saying, “We deserve more than your negligence,” “This is ecosystem collapse” and “We can’t breathe,” referring to wildfire smoke that has choked both cities.Australia is the world’s biggest exporter of coal and liquid natural gas. Australians are also among the worst greenhouse gas emitters per capita.On Friday, thousands of people in the path of fires fled to evacuation centers, while some chose to ignore evacuation orders and stayed to defend their homes.Evan Harris owns this mud brick house, where he prepared to minimize fire impact at Burragate, Australia, Jan. 10, 2020, as a nearby fire threatens the area.Wake-up call for peopleEvan Harris, who lives in the New South Wales rural village of Burragate, said police and fire crews told him he should leave his cottage because of the threat. He told them he wasn’t going anywhere.Burragate was choked with smoke for several hours Friday and was directly in a fire’s path.A fire strike team and several members of the Australian Army arrived to try to save properties, and they were prepared to hunker down in a fire station if the flames overran them.In the end, the winds died down and so did the fire. But crews worry the flames will flare again during a fire season that could continue for months.Harris said he likes to live off the grid in his remote home, which is made from mud bricks. He has no electricity, instead using batteries to power the lights and a small wood burner to heat water. Harris feels like he has a point to make.Evan Harris prepares his property to minimize the fire impact at Burragate, Australia, Jan. 10, 2020, as a nearby fire threatens the area.“If this house survives, I think it will be a bit of a wake-up call for people,” he said. “That maybe people should start building like this, instead of over-exorbitant houses.”Harris prepared for the blazes by tacking sheets of iron over his windows and clearing the area around the house of grass and shrubbery that might have caught fire. He dug a hole away from the cottage to house his gas canisters.Harris said he was disappointed in the environmental destruction and that people should be paying attention to the more sustainable way that indigenous Australians previously lived.“This is a result of the human species demanding too much of the environment,” he said of the wildfires.
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China’s Mysterious Virus Claims First Victim
A 61-year-old man has died from pneumonia in the central Chinese city of Wuhan after an outbreak of a yet to be identified virus while seven others are in critical condition, the Wuhan health authorities said Saturday.In total, 41 people have been diagnosed with the pathogen, which preliminary lab tests cited by Chinese state media earlier this week pointed to a new type of coronavirus, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said in a statement on its website.Two of them have been discharged from the hospital and the rest are in stable condition, while 739 people deemed to have been in close contact with the patients have been cleared, it said.The man, the first victim of the outbreak that began in December, was a regular buyer at a seafood market in the city and had been previously diagnosed with abdominal tumors and chronic liver disease, the health authority said.Treatments did not improve his symptoms after he was admitted to hospital and he died Jan. 9 when his heart failed. He tested positive for the virus.Outbreak centers on seafood marketThe commission added that no new cases had been detected since Jan. 3.The Wuhan health authority also said that the patients were mainly vendors and purchasers at the seafood market, and that to date no medical staff had been infected, nor had clear evidence of human-to-human transmission been found.The World Health Organization said Thursday that a newly emerging member of the family of viruses that caused the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreaks, could be the cause of the present outbreak.Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause infections ranging from the common cold to SARS. Some of the virus types cause less serious disease, while some like the one that causes MERS, are far more severe.The outbreak comes ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays in late January, when many of China’s 1.4 billion people will be traveling to their home towns or abroad. The Chinese government expects passengers to make 440 million trips via rail and another 79 million trips via airplanes, officials told a news briefing Thursday.Take precautionsThe Wuhan health authority in its statement also urged the public to take more precautions against infectious diseases, and said it was pushing ahead with tests to diagnose the pathogen and as of Friday had completed nucleic acid tests.Hong Kong’s Department of Health said in a separate statement Saturday that it strengthened checks and cleaning measures at all border check points, including the port, airport and the city’s high-speed rail station which receives passengers from Wuhan city.In 2003, Chinese officials covered up a SARS outbreak for weeks before a growing death toll and rumors forced the government to reveal the epidemic. The disease spread rapidly to other cities and countries. More than 8,000 people were infected and 775 died.
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As Taiwan Votes for New President, US Emphasizes Free Process
The United States is emphasizing free and fair elections as Taiwanese voters head to polls Saturday for presidential and legislative elections. The vote follows months of signs that China is stepping up political influence and disinformation operations on the island Beijing claims as its own.The U.S. sees Taiwan as part of a network of Asian democracies, calling Taiwan “a democratic success story and a force for good in the world.” Informal U.S.-Taiwan ties have improved under U.S. President Donald Trump.”We’ve been on record that, certainly, we want to see a free and fair election in Taiwan,” David Helvey, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said earlier this week in Washington.Saturday, Taiwanese voters will choose between Tsai Ing-wen, the incumbent president and ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nominee; Kuomintang (KMT) nominee Han Kuo-yu; and People First Party (PFP) nominee James Soong.Supporters of Kuomintang party presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu attend his election rally in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Jan. 10, 2020.”The U.S. takes no interest in who wins; the fact that the process stays sacrosanct is what’s important, as it is in our own election process,” a senior State Department official said Tuesday.Accusations against ChinaAs the January 11 elections approach, Taiwan officials and experts have been warning that the Beijing government is trying to sway the election through a disinformation campaign and military intimidation, an accusation China denies. A FILE – Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election candidates, from right, Democratic Progressive Party’s Tsai Ing-wen, People First Party’s James Soong, and Nationalist Party’s Han Kuo-yu attend a televised policy debate in Taipei, Taiwan, Dec. 29, 2019.Analysts warn the interference could make a substantial impact on the vote.”What’s more of an issue is YouTube, because there are many videos on YouTube now which began appearing from October onward, with many videos from YouTubers connected with China or connected with United Front organizations linked with China. There has been an increase of five or six times in a number of these,” said Puma Shen, assistant professor at the National Taipei University’s Graduate School of Criminology and director of DoubleThink Labs.Shen was speaking to Tsai and Han have rejected “one country, two systems,” a policy under which Beijing had previously offered autonomy without sovereignty to Hong Kong and Macau.The nominees have differing views on the KMT-negotiated “1992 consensus,” which affirms “one China” but subtly allows Beijing and Taipei to pursue their own interpretations.On December 31, an anti-infiltration bill that criminalizes political activities backed by hostile foreign forces was pushed through by Taiwan’s parliament, the Legislative Yuan.The bill, similar to the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act, would penalize organizations and individuals for secretly acting on China’s behalf. The new law also includes provisions to fight disinformation.Daphne Fan from VOA’s Mandarin service contributed to this report.
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Threats Against Cambodian Journalists Linger After Crackdown on Free Press
Independent news organizations in Cambodia are struggling to recover from a major crackdown on the free press during the 2018 election. VOA’s Brian Padden reportsthe Cambodian government eased its pressure on the media somewhat after the EU threatened sanctions, but journalists continue to face increased risks of imprisonment and persecution.
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How China, and the Law, Jumped in as Taiwan’s Presidential Campaign Shifted to Social Media
About 97% of internet users in Taiwan use Facebook. The island also has Asia’s second highest smartphone penetration after South Korea. Given these statistics, the first announced by Facebook in 2018 and the other by a market research firm, it made sense that a lot of campaigning for tomorrow’s presidential election would jump from the streets to the internet.But the rise of internet campaigning has challenged voters to know what’s true or false, and to follow a growing suite of anti-fake news laws, as politicians allege that mountains of online campaign information are untrue, illegally posted and often planted by Taiwan’s political rival China.“Beginning from last year we saw that China is using modern technology, in short it’s the social media platforms, to try to interrupt in our discussions on the internet, either through Facebook or through Twitter or even a popular online chat mechanism called Line,” Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told a news conference Thursday. “The fake news situation seems to be quite serious.”Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu gestures while speaking during an interview with The Associated Press at his ministry in Taipei, Taiwan, Dec. 10, 2019.Last year officials passed laws that ban the spread of that information and local media say police are already investigating several cases.Rise of social mediaSocial media such as Facebook, Line and Twitter appeal to people younger than 40 because those voters tend to trust information received through social media as posted by their friends, said George Hou, a mass communications lecturer at Taiwan-based I-Shou University. They find print and television news too formal as well as subject to manipulation by politicians, he said.Incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen and her chief rival Han Kuo-yu aggressively use Facebook to promote campaign events throughout the day and live broadcast some of them. Tsai’s official Facebook page led Han in followers at 2.6 million as of January 3.Tsai also worked with a YouTube celebrity who asked her mock pickup lines, effectively freshening up her image before the vote.“The internet stars are an important point, and they can let people get to know a different side of (the politicians),” Hou said. “Even more so, they let people feel that an authority is close to them, not so high and mighty.”Han Kuo-yu, Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election candidate of the KMT or Nationalist Party, speaks during a campaign rally in Taipei, Taiwan, Jan. 9, 2020.Glut of ‘fake news’So-called fake news comes from more than 1,000 venues in China every day, Chen Chih-wei, international affairs deputy director with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, told a news conference Tuesday. A study by the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden lists Taiwan as one of the places most vulnerable to cyberattacks, of more than 200 it surveyed worldwide.China sees Taiwan as part of its territory with no rights to elect a president. The two sides have been separately ruled since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s.Taiwanese officials believe China tries to steer voters toward candidates who they like. The incumbent has needled China since taking office in 2016 by rejecting its condition that both sides belong to the same country. Her chief opponent advocates dialogue on China’s condition. Taiwanese will also elect a new parliament.Older voters who are new to social media particularly struggle to know truth from lies, said Wu Yih-hsuan, a 28-year-old Taiwanese doctoral student. His parents, both 64 years of age, are dabbling in social media.“The young generation joined the social media starting around a decade ago, while the seniors, taking my parents for instance, started to use Line four years ago only,” he said.Corrections and crackdownsOfficials try to rebut as much fake news as possible, the foreign minister said. They, too, work with Line and Facebook to block fake accounts and remove false news, he said, and sometimes consult a local nonprofit fact-checking service.The Cabinet tightened two criminal codes in April to ban the spread of fake news, including resending false content. On Dec. 31, parliament passed an anti-infiltration law criminalizing influence from offshore in Taiwan’s elections.Police detained a National Taiwan University political science professor last month over a 2018 Facebook post criticizing the government-run National Palace Museum, according to local media reports. Someone also posted to Line the false information that Tsai’s party spent the equivalent of $1million to organize an LGBT pride parade in Taipei, according to the website PinkNews.com.“This problem has become quite obvious close to the election,” said Huang Kwei-bo, vice dean of the international affairs college at National Chengchi University in Taipei. Police probes now risk violating people’s rights to express opinions, he added. “The power to suppress free speech has grown bigger,” Huang said.But fake news probably has little impact on people’s voting decisions, said Shelley Rigger, a visiting researcher with National Taiwan University’s College of Social Sciences. Most youth are “skeptical” of what they read and Taiwanese overall have long known that “the PRC is trying to undermine their democracy.”
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‘If it is Safe to Get Out, Then You Must Get Out,’ Australians Told
EDEN, Australia — Thousands of people fled their homes and helicopters dropped supplies to towns at risk of nearby wildfires as hot, windy conditions Friday threatened already fire-ravaged southeastern Australian communities.The danger is centered on New South Wales and Victoria, Australia’s most populous states, where temperatures and wind speeds are escalating after a few days of relatively benign conditions.The New South Wales Rural Fire Service had warned that coastal towns south of Sydney including Eden, Batemans Bay and Nowra could again be under threat weeks after losing homes to the fires. By early evening Friday, the wildfires burning in that region were holding within containment lines, but a strong shift in winds predicted for later Friday could cause them to flare anew, Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters.“A long afternoon to go, a long night still to go, for all our firefighters and those affected by the fires,” Fitzimmons said.A military helicopter flies above a burning woodchip mill in Eden, New South Wales, Australia, Jan. 6, 2020.Unprecedented crisisIn neighboring Victoria, evacuation orders were issued in alpine areas. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews pleaded with residents to evacuate fire-danger areas when alerts were issued.“If it is safe to get out, then you must get out. That is the only way to guarantee your safety,” Andrews said Thursday.The unprecedented fire crisis in southeast Australia has claimed at least 26 lives, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and scorched an area twice the size of the U.S. state of Maryland since September.Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Australian military was on standby to help firefighters and emergency agencies.“I’ve given them very clear instructions that they are to stand ready to move and support immediately,” Morrison said Friday. “In the event that they are needed in the wake of what we hope we will not see today, but we must prepare for today.”The military has been involved in the unfolding crisis by clearing roads closed by fallen trees, burying dead cattle and sheep and providing fodder to surviving livestock.Smoke from bushfires rises in Penrose, New South Wales, Australia, Jan. 10, 2020. High temperatures and strong winds were expected to fan massive bushfires blazing across southeastern Australia and authorities issued new warnings.Retreat of last resortIn the small village of Towamba in southern New South Wales, most residents had evacuated by Friday, after firefighters warned them that without a solid defense against the blazes, they should get out, said John Nightingale, a volunteer firefighter with the Rural Fire Service.Last week, some houses in the village were destroyed by a fire that turned the afternoon sky first a deep magenta and then pitch black, Nightingale said.“Late at night, you could hear the rumbling of the fire,” he said. “It was very terrifying.”A wind change from the south was predicted to hit the village Friday evening, which officials fear could blow the flames in a new direction. Nightingale said he and the other firefighters would work to snuff out any spot fires that flare up to try and keep them from spreading. But if conditions became too dangerous, they would need to take shelter at a community hall, a solid structure with about 25,000 liters (6,600 gallons) of water attached to it. Alongside the hall is a cleared, grassy area away from trees and shrubs where people can retreat as a last resort.“The grass on the oval is very short so there’s nothing to carry a strong fire,” he said. “So that’s a survival option, basically. A patch of grass. And if that happened, we’d have trucks and sprinklers going and hoses going, wetting people down. But I would hate it to come to that. Anything but that.”Temperatures in the threatened area were expected to reach into the mid-40s Celsius (more than 110 degrees Fahrenheit) Friday, and conditions remained tinder dry.Challenge of climate changeThe wildfire disaster has focused many Australians on how the nation adapts to climate change. Morrison has come under blistering criticism for downplaying the need for his government to address climate change, which experts say helps supercharge the blazes.Morrison said on Thursday that a government inquiry into the fires would examine the role of climate change.
Asked on Friday whether he expected fire emergencies of the same magnitude to become more common in the future with climate change, Morrison did not give a direct answer.“There’ll be the reviews that take place as you’d expect and I’ve indicated in response to questions that we’ll be working closely with state and territory authorities on how they’re undertaken,” Morrison told reporters. “The links and implications here have been acknowledged.”Morrison brushed off criticism over what many Australians perceive as a slow, detached response to the wildfire crisis.“What we’ve got here is the single largest federal response to a bushfire disaster nationally that the country has ever seen,” Morrison said. “The government’s responding to an unprecedented crisis with an unprecedented level of support.”Veterinarians and volunteers treat koalas at Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park on Kangaroo Island, Australia, Jan. 10, 2020.Significant loss of wildlifeThe conservation group WWF-Australia estimates that 1.25 billion wild animals had died in the current fire crisis in addition to livestock losses, which the government expects will exceed 100,000 animals.WWF fears the disasters could lead to local extinctions and threaten the survival of some species, such as the glossy black-cockatoo and a knee-high kangaroo known as the long-footed potoroo.WWF conservation scientist Stuart Blanch described the estimate as conservative, and it did not include bats, frogs and insects.The majority of estimated losses were reptiles, followed by birds, then mammals such as koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas and wombats.“Kangaroos can get away from fires. But a lot get burnt to a crisp stuck in a fence,” Blanch said.WWF estimates there were between 100,000 and 200,000 koalas across Australia before the fire season. Estimated koala losses in the current emergency include 25,000 on Kangaroo Island off southern Australia and 8,000 in northwest New South Wales.“It’s a significant loss, but I don’t think we’ll know for several months,” Blanch said of the koala deaths.
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US: Seoul Must Continue to Enforce Sanctions on Pyongyang
The U.S. has responded to a call by South Korean President Moon Jae-in for renewed inter-Korean cooperation by stressing that Seoul must continue to implement all sanctions on North Korea.“All U.N. Member States are required to implement U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions, and we expect them all to continue doing so,” a State Department spokesperson said in an email message sent to VOA’s Korean Service Wednesday.“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.The DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official English name of North Korea.FILE – People point to a map on a wall in Mount Kumgang resort in Kumgang, Sept. 1, 2011.New Year’s speechIn his New Year’s speech delivered Tuesday, Moon urged his government to work toward resuming joint projects at the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Mount Kumgang resort, and reviving frayed inter-Korean ties.Moon also invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to visit Seoul.On Thursday, a South Korean Unification Ministry official addressed the possible resumption of Mount Kumgang tourism by saying, “We are still discussing the issue, but FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un meet during the second U.S.-North Korea summit at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi, Feb. 28, 2019.Warming relations between Seoul and Pyongyang began to chill after President Donald Trump denied Kim’s request for sanctions relief in exchange for partial denuclearization at the failed Hanoi Summit in February.Denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang have been deadlocked since their working-level talks in Stockholm broke down in October.Moon and Kim had agreed to reopen the shuttered factory complex in Kaesong and tours on Mount Kumgang when they met at their third summit held in Pyongyang in September 2018. At the time, the two leaders were hoping that thawing relations between Washington and Pyongyang would lead to a relaxation of U.S.-led sanctions placed on North Korea.The two projects were at the heart of Seoul’s rapprochement with Pyongyang in the late 1990s.Tours of the scenic Mount Kumgang began in 1998, but were ended by Seoul after a North Korean soldier fatally shot a South Korean tourist in 2008. South Korea began its joint industrial project with Pyongyang at the factory park in Kaesong in 2004 but shut it after North Korea conducted a long-range missile test in early 2016.Last week Kim said his country will focus on economic self-sufficiency, adding the present situation with the U.S. requires North Korea “to live under the sanctions by the hostile forces.”Christy Lee contributed to this story, which originated on VOA’s Korean Service.
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Vietnamese Investors More Cautious with Tech Startups
Vietnamese startups are heading into the new year looking to avoid the mistakes of such companies as Uber and WeWork, which disappointed investors in 2019 for failing to turn a profit after so much buildup.Investors and entrepreneurs in the communist nation are taking a more critical look at their businesses after seeing others get burned overseas. WeWork, which rents out shared workspaces, was seen as a cautionary tale of a startup that did not live up to expectations and was not profitable.For years, investors were willing to back losing businesses to gain market share. But now, there is more scrutiny of new investments.Benchmarks setThe Vietnam Innovative Startup Accelerator (VIISA) requires its technology startups to meet a list of benchmarks throughout their time in the program.“Apart from very intuitive selection criteria that all applying startups have to go through, the program has introduced a new development measurement method, which helps us to capture the progress of startups that are accepted into VIISA,” Hieu Vo, a board member and chief financial officer at VIISA, said. “I think this process will bring out the best in each person for the particular business they have founded and committed to.”Vo said his colleagues sit down with startups when they join the accelerator to discuss key performance indicators, or KPI, that will be set as goals. VIISA also does training for the young businesses so they have quantifiable skills, such as how to structure a business deal, or how to set up their accounting system.Having metrics and ratings, Vo said, supports “both business performance, as well as personal transformation of founders.”Founder scrutinyThe founder as an individual has become a point of scrutiny for investors, who used to be more forgiving of an eccentric or aggressive founder, seen as part of the package to have a tech genius head an innovative business. But there has been a backlash among those who think too much permissiveness can damage a business, from the sexual misconduct amid the workplace culture of Uber, to the conflicts of interest in business decisions at WeWork.It helps to not just think short term and to have an outside perspective, according to Pham Manh Ha, founder and chief executive officer of Beekrowd, an investment platform in Ho Chi Minh City.“As a first-time founder, it seems impossible for us to look beyond the first six months to a year of our business,” he said, adding that experienced third parties can help businesses take the long view. “They stand outside the trees that are blocking us from seeing the forest.”To see the forest, Vietnamese businesses like his are taking a more measured approach. Vietnam has seen an escalation of tech startups, as investors have rushed to put their money to work and take advantage of the economy’s fast growth.They also remember the dot-com bubble in the United States, and the more recent global tech bubble, two reminders for caution.
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Australians Save Sanctuary Animals from Raging Bushfires
Australia’s bushfires are still raging out of control. Flames have ravaged more than 63,000 square kilometers of land, and current estimates put the animal death toll at an astounding 1.25 billion and climbing. Fire also threatened a local animal sanctuary, and as VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports, that’s when the community came to the rescue.
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Chinese Investment in Cambodia Comes at a Political Price
China’s close alliance with Cambodia has been forged, in large part, with billions of dollars in aid and investment tied to Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, which provides developmental assistance around the world to strengthen trade ties and political influence. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his government have welcomed this assistance, saying it comes without “strings attached” compared to western nations that link aid to democratic reforms. But VOA’s Brian Padden reports that China’s massive loans and investment in Cambodia come at a price.
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China Blames Pneumonia Outbreak on Newly Discovered Virus
Health officials in China say an outbreak of pneumonia in the central city of Wuhan has been caused by a new strain of the virus that led to the deadly SARS outbreak over a decade ago.State-run Xinhua news agency says a team of scientists identified the new type of coronavirus after tests run on 59 people who have been hospitalized since early December. The World Health Organization issued a statement Wednesday confirming the preliminary discovery of the virus.Health officials in Hong Kong say as many as 38 people have been hospitalized in recent days after returning from Wuhan with flu or pneumonia-like symptoms. The outbreak comes just days before the Lunar New Year, when millions of Chinese will be traveling by planes, trains or buses to celebrate the holiday. An official with China’s transportation ministry says the agency will begin efforts to disinfect public transportation stations and cargo hubs to prevent the spread of the virus.More than 8,000 people were sickened between 2002 and 2003 during an outbreak of sudden acute respiratory syndrome in China and Hong Kong, killing nearly 800 people and sparking a global health panic. Another coronavirus has been linked to MERS, or Middle East respiratory syndrome, that has killed 851 people and sickened nearly 2,500 since it was first appeared in 2012.
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China’s Vice Premier Coming to Washington to Sign Trade Deal
China’s economy czar will visit Washington next week for the signing of an interim trade deal, the government said Thursday.Vice Premier Liu He, Beijing’s chief envoy in talks with Washington over their tariff war, had been expected to attend the signing but the Commerce Ministry’s statement was the first official confirmation.Washington postponed planned tariff increases following the announcement of the “Phase 1” deal in October. But earlier punitive duties imposed by both sides on billions of dollars of each other’s goods stayed in place, dampening global trade and threatening to chill economic growth.Liu will lead a delegation to Washington, Monday through Wednesday, said ministry spokesman Gao Feng.Under the “Phase 1” deal, Beijing agreed to buy more American farm goods and Washington’s chief negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, said it would make changes to respond to complaints about its industrial policies. Details have yet to be announced, and Chinese officials have yet to confirm any regulatory changes or the size of purchases of American soybeans and other exports.Both sides have soothed financial market jitters by announcing conciliatory steps, including postponing planned tariff hikes. Beijing also has resumed purchases of soybeans, the biggest American export to China, and pork.Washington, Europe, Japan and other trading partners complain Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. Washington is pressing China to roll back plans for state-led creation of global competitors in robotics and other industries that its trading partners say violate its market-opening commitments.President Donald Trump announced last month he would sign the “Phase 1” agreement Jan. 15 and travel to Beijing after that to start the second stage of talks.Trump hailed the interim agreement as a step toward ending the tariff war, but Beijing has been more measured in its public statements.Economists say concluding a final settlement could take years. Potential hurdles include Chinese insistence that U.S. tariff hikes be canceled once an agreement takes effect. The Trump administration says some must remain in place to ensure Beijing carries out any promises it makes.
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Australians Urged to Evacuate Southeast Coast
TOMERONG, Australia — Residents in the path of wildfires razing southeast Australia were urged to evacuate Thursday if they don’t intend to defend their homes as hot and windy conditions are forecast to escalate the danger over the next two days.The Rural Fire Service in New South Wales state has told fire-weary community meetings south of Sydney in the coastal towns of Nowra, Narooma and Batemans Bay that northwesterly winds were likely to once again drive blazes toward the coast. Vacationers have retreated to beaches and into the ocean in the area in recent weeks as destructive fires and choking smoke have encroached on the tourist towns, scorching sand dunes in some places.In neighboring Victoria state, fire-threatened populations were urged to act quickly on evacuation warnings.“We can’t guarantee your safety and we don’t want to be putting emergency services — whether it be volunteers or paid staff — we do not want to put them in harm’s way because people didn’t follow advice that was given,” Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said.Temperatures in the threatened area were expected to reach into the mid-40s Celsius (more than 110 degrees Fahrenheit) Friday, and conditions remained tinder dry.“If you can get out, you should get out,” said Andrew Crisp, Victoria’s emergency management commissioner. “Because tomorrow is going to be a dangerous and dynamic day.”Signs are displayed near Ulludulla, Australia, Jan. 9, 2020, thanking “firies” a colloquial term for firefighters. House after house in affected areas have hung makeshift banners offering thanks to the people they call “firies.”Fire toll: 26 lives, 2,000 homesThe unprecedented fire crisis in southeast Australia that has claimed at least 26 lives since September, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and scorched an area twice the size of the U.S. state of Maryland has focused many Australians on how the nation adapts to climate change. Last year was Australia’s hottest and driest on record. The Bureau of Meteorology’s head of climate monitoring, Karl Braganza, said while the country’s rainfall was expected to pick up a bit, it wouldn’t be enough to snuff out the blazes anytime soon.“Unfortunately, we’re not looking at widespread, above-average rainfalls at this stage,” he said. “That’s really what we need to put the fires out fairly quickly. It is going to be a campaign, in terms of the fires. We are not looking at a short and sharp end to the event — it looks like something that we will have to persist with for some time.”Along a main roadway in southern New South Wales, forests of evergreen eucalyptus trees have taken on a ghostly autumnal appearance, with golden leaves and blackened trunks. The forests appear devoid of any wildlife. Outside, it often smells like a campfire that has been recently snuffed out, and hazy waves of smoke drift past.In many small towns, most homes appear untouched apart from one or two that have been razed to the ground, sometimes with only a chimney still standing. People have hung signs and banners thanking the volunteer firefighters they call “firies.” There are cars that are nothing more than burned-out chassis and wooden power poles that have been reduced to stumps. Not far from the communities, smoke can be seen rising from hills where the wildfires continue to rage.FILE – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, center, tours the Wildflower farm owned by Paul and Melissa Churchman in Sarsfield, Victoria, Jan. 3, 2020. Morrison is being criticized for the fire response, which is seen as slow and detached.Morrison criticizedPrime Minister Scott Morrison has come under withering criticism at home and abroad for downplaying the need for his government to address climate change, which experts say helps supercharge the blazes.Morrison has faced fierce backlash over what many Australians perceive as a slow, detached response to the wildfire crisis. On Thursday, he found himself on the defensive again over an awkward exchange he had with locals on fire-ravaged Kangaroo Island. In a video of his visit to the island, where an outback safari operator and his son were killed in the blazes, Morrison was seen telling locals: “Thankfully, we’ve had no loss of life.”After he was corrected, he continued: “Yes, two, that’s quite right. I was thinking about firefighters, firstly.”It was the latest in a string of gaffes for Morrison, who created a public uproar when he took a family vacation to Hawaii in the middle of the disaster. He has tried to strike a more compassionate image since, and earlier this week promised the government would commit an extra 2 billion Australian dollars ($1.4 billion) toward the fire recovery effort.“Tomorrow’s going to be a very difficult day in the eastern states,” Morrison said during a news conference Thursday. “Once again, I express my sincere condolences and sympathies to the families of all of those who have lost loved ones during the course of this terrible disaster. We will continue to remember them, but also their families in particular in what they need, in supporting them.”The New South Wales government responded to the crisis Thursday by announcing an additional AU$1 billion ($690 million) to be spent over the next two years on wildfire management and recovery.The Australian disaster is seen by many as a harbinger for other countries of the future consequences of global warming.Pope Francis has joined world leaders in expressing solidarity with the Australian people.“I’d like to ask for you all to pray to the Lord to help the (Australian) people at this difficult moment, with these powerful fires. I’m close to the Australian people,” Francis said at the end of his general audience on Wednesday, drawing applause from congregants.
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Taiwan to China: Don’t Read Too Much into Election Results
Beijing should not interpret Taiwan’s elections as representing a win or loss for China, Taiwan’s foreign minister said Thursday, days ahead of a crucial vote overshadowed by Chinese efforts to get the island to accept its rule.Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections Saturday. Its elections are always closely watched by China, which claims the island as its territory.Taiwan says it is an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name.“I just don’t think China should read Taiwan’s election as its own victory or defeat,” Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told reporters in Taipei. “If China reads too much into our election … there might be a likely scenario that China will engage in military intimidation or diplomatic isolation or using economic measures as punishment against Taiwan.”President Tsai Ing-wen, who is seeking reelection, has repeatedly warned Taiwan’s people to be wary of Chinese attempts to sway the election through disinformation or military intimidation, an accusation China denies.FILE – Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu gestures while speaking during an exclusive interview with The Associated Press at his ministry in Taipei, Taiwan, Dec. 10, 2019.Wu drew attention to the sailing of China’s new aircraft carrier into the sensitive Taiwan Strait late last year, calling the move a clear evidence of Beijing’s attempts to intimidate voters.“This is our own election. This is not China’s election. It is Taiwanese people who go to the voting booth to make a judgment on which candidate or political party is better for them,” Wu said. “If China wants to play with democracies in other countries so much, maybe they can try with their own elections at some point.”China a major election issueThe issue of China has taken center stage in the campaign, especially after Chinese President Xi Jinping warned last year it could attack Taiwan, though said he’d prefer a peaceful “one country, two systems” formula to rule the island.Taiwan-China ties have soured since Tsai took office in 2016, with China cutting off formal dialogue, flying bomber patrols around Taiwan, and whittling away at Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.China suspects Tsai of pushing for the island’s formal independence, a red line for Beijing. Tsai says she will maintain the status quo but will defend Taiwan’s democracy and way of life.In a front-page election advertisement in the mass circulation Liberty Times Thursday, Tsai appealed directly for people to cast their vote against China.“In the face of China, every ballot has power,” the advertisement read, next to a picture of Tsai wearing a camouflaged military helmet and flak jacket.Main opponent: KuomintangTsai’s main opponent is Han Kuo-yu of the Kuomintang party, which ruled China until 1949, when it was forced to flee to Taiwan after losing a civil war with the Communists.Han says he would reset ties with Beijing to boost Taiwan’s economy, but not compromise on the island’s security or democratic way of life.Overshadowing the elections have been allegations in Australian media from a self-professed Chinese spy about China’s efforts to influence Taiwan’s politics and support Han, who, along with Beijing, has denounced the accusations as lies.
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China’s Warships Hold Joint Naval Drill With Pakistan
Pakistan and China have launched a major joint naval drill in the Arabian Sea to, as officials put it, deepen their security cooperation and consolidate an “all-weather strategic partnership” between the two allied nations.The nine-day “Sea Guardians 2020” exercise went into action Monday. It is the sixth in the bilateral cooperation plan between Chinese and Pakistani military forces.An official statement Wednesday noted that warships, including frigates, destroyers, and fast attack craft “along with air and sub-surface assets” as well as marines and special operations forces from China and Pakistan, are participating in the drill. “The exercise (also) aims at enhancing capabilities of both navies to jointly deal with terrorism and crime at sea and to promote efforts for a safe maritime environment,” visiting Captain Zhou Han Wen from China’s Peoples Liberation Army (Navy) was quoted as saying.The Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced days earlier that its fleet for the Pakistan-hosted joint naval exercise would also include a supplement ship and submarine rescue ship.Pakistani Commodore Raja Rab Nawaz said the exercise will help the two navies understand each other’s perspective and share expertise in various naval domains to promote maritime stability.“Pakistan considers that maritime security isn’t just important for itself but for all other countries whose prosperity and progress are strongly bonded with the seas,” Nawaz said.Rival India has reportedly expressed concerns over the joint drill because the strategically important Arabian Sea region hosts many key Indian ports. The Pakistan-China naval exercise comes at a time of New Delhi’s heightened military tensions with Islamabad.Chinese officials in the run-up to the mock battles, however, dismissed those concerns saying they were neither related to “regional affairs” nor were they aimed at “any third party.”While Beijing has long-running strong defense ties with Islamabad, the two allies in recent years have deepened economic cooperation under Beijing’s trillion-dollar global infrastructure project known as the Belt and Road Initiative. The deepening collaboration known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, has brought in around $30 billion in Chinese investment over the past six years, building roads, ports and energy production projects in the South Asian nation. The massive Chinese project has expended and opened Pakistan’s strategically located Arabian Sea port of Gwadar. Chinese workers and facilities related to CPEC, however, have also come under deadly terrorist attacks, prompting the two countries to boost counterterrorism cooperation.
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Former Nissan CEO Claims Brutal Treatment in Japan
Former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn accused Japanese prosecutors of treating him “brutally” after his arrest in Japan and said officials with the government and the automaker colluded to force him out of his position.
Ghosn’s comments were made at a Wednesday news conference in Beirut, his first since he was arrested in November 2018, and his first public appearance since his daring escape last month from Japan. Felt like ‘hostage’
“You are going to die in Japan or you are going to have to get out,” the 65-year-old said. “I felt like the hostage of a country I served for 17 years.”
Ghosn, who was scheduled to stand trial for alleged financial misconduct at Nissan, said the decision to flee Japan for his childhood home of Lebanon “was the most difficult decision of my life.”
But Ghosn said his escape, which embarrassed Japanese authorities and details of which he declined to disclose, was necessary to clear his name. The former executive was charged in Japan with under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds, charges he described as “baseless.”
As Ghosn spoke with reporters in Beirut, the Tokyo prosecutor’s office released a statement.
“Defendant Ghosn’s allegations completely ignore his own conduct and his one-sided criticism of the Japanese criminal justice system is totally unacceptable,” the statement said. ‘There was no trust’
Ghosn characterized his arrest as a plot linked to a decline in Nissan’s financial performance.
He said “there was no trust” in his proposal to merge Nissan with French automaker Renault, of which he was also chairman.
“And some of our Japanese friends thought that the only way to get rid of Renault in Nissan is to get rid of me,” Ghosn said. He added: “I should have never been arrested in the first place.” FILE – Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn leaves the Tokyo Detention Center in Tokyo, April 25, 2019.Ghosn also said he would be willing to face charges against him “anywhere where I think I can have a fair trial.”
Lebanon last week received a wanted notice for Ghosn from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol). The notice is a nonbinding request to law enforcement agencies throughout the world to locate and provisionally arrest a fugitive.
Lebanon does not have an extradition treaty and the notice does not require Lebanon to arrest Ghosn.
Lebanese authorities have said Ghosn, who is Lebanese and also holds French and Brazilian passports, entered the country legally, casting doubt on the possibility they would hand him over to Japanese authorities.
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Swedish Parliamentarian Visits Opposition Leader in Cambodia
The Cambodian government will have to enact substantial political reforms if it wants to retain a preferential trade agreement with the European Union, a Swedish lawmaker has warned. Under the agreement, known as Everything But Arms, Cambodia can export goods to the EU duty free, but that arrangement is contingent on the nation complying with international conventions regarding human and labor rights.Cambodia needs to enact genuine democratic reforms, Asa Eriksson told Voice of America in an interview shortly after meeting opposition leader Kem Sokha at his house in Phnom Penh. “I haven’t seen any progress. We did see small, small things happening in late autumn. But it’s not enough at all. And I would say that … to me, at least, it looks more like cosmetics: things that should tell us that the process is going in the right way, but I’m not sure that the government is willing to do the changes that are needed,” she said.Eriksson is a member of the governing Social Democrats in Sweden and serves as their international trade spokesperson. She last visited Cambodia in 2017. That same year, Kem Sokha was arrested and his party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, or CNRP, was forcibly dissolved.FILE – A banner of the outlawed Cambodia National Rescue Party hangs in a house in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, Oct. 11, 2019.Kem Sokha was released in November 2019 but remains banned from politics.The European Union has initiated an investigation into Cambodia’s human rights record that could lead to potential suspension of its Everything But Arms trade privileges. With the loss of EU assistance to reach European markets, some experts are concerned that key sectors in Cambodia such as garments and footwear could become smaller. The EU is expected to make a formal announcement in mid-February.Reaction from CambodiaWhile EBA was “necessary” and “critical” to Cambodia, government spokesman Phay Siphan said that officials prioritized “peace, stability, and sovereignty.”Phay Siphan added that withdrawing the trade agreement would be a blow to the Cambodian government, but could be mitigated.”We understand that it is a short period of impact … but the government [will] do our most critical thing to settle the crisis … such as finding a new market in the world,” he told VOA in a phone interview.Upcoming trialMeanwhile, Kem Sokha’s trial on charges of treason — which many view as unfounded — is scheduled to begin next week, two months after investigations closed.Eriksson expressed hope for Kem Sokha’s acquittal.”Of course, what Mr. Sokha hopes for is that he will be released and I hope so too,” she said. “[But] most people and organizations we have met with so far think that he will not be released, but may be pardoned by the king later.” Eriksson has said, in addition to releasing Kem Sokha, the government needs to reinstate his political rights, allow the CNRP to organize again and release all political prisoners.FILE – Phay Siphan, the Cambodian government spokesperson, speaks during a press conference at the Council of Ministers, Phnom Penh, July 25, 2019. (Kann Vicheika/VOA Khmer)Spokesman Phay Siphan said the matter rested entirely in the hands of the court, and that the government could not influence its decisions.The spokesman was asked about a recent case in which Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had ordered the release of dozens of CNRP activists who had been arrested between August and November in anticipation of acting opposition leader Sam Rainsy’s announced return. Phay Siphan repeated that the courts were independent from the government. When pressed on the matter, the spokesman suggested the reporter lacked knowledge about the country. “I understand the buffalo, you understand the cow,” he said. “Go back to school, my friend. … You’re not smart.”The spokesman declined to elaborate.Even if Kem Sokha received a pardon, more substantial reforms were necessary to maintain the agreement, Eriksson said. They would include allowing for viable competition in an open democratic space, she said.The decision on whether to withdraw the EBA privileges was a sensitive issue and bore risks not only for Cambodia, the Swedish politician said.”What would be a disaster, I think, is that the EU doesn’t do anything when it’s so obvious that the Cambodian government breaks the rules for EBA, because the EBA is a privilege, something that developing countries can have if they commit the work for democracy and human rights,” she said.”From an EU perspective, there are very few countries who have the favor of EBA, and there are very clear rules to have the favor of EBA,” Eriksson added. “And if a country so clearly breaks those rules as Cambodia is doing, and if the EU doesn’t respond to that, well, then we will be irrelevant — then anyone can break any rules.”
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