Chinese coast guard vessels spent 70% of the past year patrolling in a tract of the South China Sea claimed by Malaysia, an American think tank says. Malaysia did little to push back.The coast guard presence, especially long-term for a Chinese mission in the widely disputed South China Sea, followed by Malaysia’s muted response gives China an ever-stronger upper hand over the Southeast Asian country and more clout in a broader six-way maritime dispute that has grabbed attention as far away as Washington. China already has a military and technological edge in the dispute.In Malaysia, “they do monitor, but I don’t think they do the shooing them away kind of thing, because China is simply too powerful for doing so,” said Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.FILE – China Coast Guard vessels patrol past a Chinese fishing vessel at the disputed Scarborough Shoal, April 5, 2017.Chinese coast guardAt least one Chinese coast guard vessel was broadcasting from Luconia Shoals on 258 of the past 365 days, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative under U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report September 26.Most of the shoals are under water, but a reef called Luconia Breakers may include a small sandbar that protrudes above water at high tide, the think tank initiative says.The Chinese coast guard also patrolled around the disputed sea’s Scarborough Shoal for 162 of the past 365 days and Second Thomas Shoal for 215 days, the initiative report says. China disputes both with the Philippines and controls Scarborough. China started patrolling around Luconia Shoals in 2013, according to the report.Other countries see China’s coast guard as a paramilitary force just short of its navy.China and MalaysiaThe mission to Luconia Shoals appears aimed at proving China’s heft over Malaysia and at locking in Chinese claims to about 90% of the sea, scholars say. Malaysia is the most active developer of undersea oil and gas among the governments with claims in the 3.5 million-square-kilometer waterway, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. But the country lacks China’s coastal patrol hardware.FILE – This photo from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency shows the Japan Coast Guard ship Tsugaru and helicopters of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency during a joint exercise off Kuantan, Malaysia, Jan. 29, 2018.“Most of the MMEA (Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency) craft were pretty small,” said Collin Koh, maritime security research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. “They could not actually go that far out to Luconia Shoals, because when you are further out there, the sea state, the weather wouldn’t have been conducive for those craft anyway.“And furthermore, it’s not just the size,” he said. “The maintainability and the operational readiness of a number of these craft are actually suspect.”According to think tank initiative data, two Royal Malaysian Navy warships each patrolled near the Chinese coast guard vessel Haijing 3306 at Luconia Shoals for at least two days in September and October 2018. But in May this year, a Chinese coast guard vessel engaged in intimidation of a Malaysian drilling rig near Luconia Breakers, the think tank initiative’s report says.Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad reacts during a news conference in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Sept. 18, 2019.Malaysia seldom spoke out before Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad took office in 2018 with calls to review Chinese investment in his country and avoid use of warships in the disputed sea. Malaysia also laid plans in 2017 to modernize its navy, but its forces haven’t matched those of China.The Philippines and fellow South China Sea claimant Vietnam often use formal diplomacy to challenge China’s past decade of island-building and militarization in the waterway. Brunei also claims part of the sea, and Taiwan claims nearly all of it. The sea stretches from Borneo to Hong Kong.China has amassed more manpower over the past few years to patrol around the clock, Koh said. The government in the Malaysian state of Sarawak is pushing now for its own marine police unit, he noted.Show of sovereigntyChina might be using its coast guard as pressure on Malaysia to negotiate but almost certainly as a way to remind the outer world of its maritime claims, said Huang Kwei-bo, vice dean of the international affairs college at National Chengchi University in Taipei.South China Sea Territorial Claims“I think it’s still all about stretching a claim to sovereignty,” Huang said. “I wouldn’t dare say there’s no possibility of cooperation, but that location would appear to lean toward ‘claim my sovereignty.’”The U.S. think tank initiative calls Luconia Shoals “a symbolically important series of reefs … which China seems determined to control without physically occupying.”Chinese leaders feel they should show strength at sea to keep the United States and its allies away, experts have said since 2017 when U.S. President Donald Trump stepped up naval voyages into the South China Sea. The U.S. helps train Philippine troops and moved in 2016 to resume sales of lethal arms to Vietnam.If Malaysia acknowledges China’s claim to sovereignty, the two sides could work together on joint energy exploration, Oh said. “It’s a “delicate dance going on between China and Malaysia in this respect.”
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Environmental rights groups are calling on Laos to cancel the latest hydro-electric dam it has approved for construction across the Mekong River, warning of dire consequences for the millions of people who rely on the waterway for a living.A six-month “prior consultation process” for the Luang Prabang dam began on October 8, giving Laos’ partners in the Mekong River Commission (MRC) — Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam — a chance to review the project plans and raise concerns. But the rights groups say the farming and fishing communities expected to be hit hardest by such dams have been let down by the consultations for previously approved projects, and they expect no different this time.The Luang Prabang dam is the fifth mainstream Mekong dam Laos will have put through the consultation process, and with 1,460 megawatts of generating capacity, it will be the biggest thus far. The first, the Xayaburi, is due to start producing electricity at the end of the month.”For the past four prior consultation processes that we have experienced, we’ve seen big loopholes and the exclusion of affected communities in the process,” said Pianporn Deetes, Thailand campaign director for International Rivers, which advocates for sustainable river management.”This consultation process, for me personally, I’m seeing it as just a rubber stamp to get the project approval,” she told VOA.MRC members cannot veto each other’s plans for the Mekong during the consultations, only complain and make requests.Responding to concerns about the Xayaburi, the Lao government and dam developer, Xayaburi Power, made changes meant to help more sediment and migrating fish pass through. But researchers and rights groups say the upgrades might not make much of a difference, some having been modeled on rivers with different conditions. The MRC secretariat itself said it could not tell how much they would help because the company had not shared enough data.Rights groups say the consultations are failing.Save the Mekong, a coalition of concerned citizens and non-government groups across the river basin, is urging Laos to cancel the Luang Prabang and the other dams it has planned for the main stream.”There is little indication that a new prior consultation process for Luang Prabang dam will be any different from past experience or that it will be able to ensure minimum standards of transparency and accountability, let alone meaningful participation for affected communities, civil society and the general public,” it said in a statement.”Rather than embarking on another flawed prior consultation process, we urge lower Mekong governments and the MRC to address outstanding concerns regarding impacts of mainstream dams and to undertake a comprehensive options assessment to study alternatives,” it added.A six-year study by the MRC secretariat found that the cumulative effects of the 11 dams planned for the mainstream Mekong south of China by 2040 — nine in Laos, two in Cambodia — threaten the entire region’s economy and food security. It says they will slash fish stocks basinwide by at least 40%, possibly twice that.An impact assessment for the Luang Prabang itself says the dam will make it harder for migratory fish to get upstream, and that many of those that manage it will find fewer spawning grounds. It adds that some of the studies meant to soften the blow will come only once the project is under construction.Despite the warnings, Laos is diving headlong into its plans for the Mekong in a rush to become “Asia’s battery.”But rights groups say power consumption forecasts show neighboring countries won’t need the amount of electricity the dams will end up churning out, and that safer alternatives abound.”So the justification of the [Luang Prabang] project needs to be questioned, and this question needs to be answered by decision makers, [why] the important resources of the basin are being exploited more and more by construction companies together with banks, together with developers, while the existing impacts of the projects have been ignored,” said Pianporn, of International Rivers.At the Lao Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Management and Coordination Director Syamphone Sengchandala told VOA that hydropower dams were not his concern and directed questions to the Energy Ministry, which could not be reached.Receptionists for PetroVietnam, the state-owned enterprise developing the dam, refused to connect VOA with company officials or communications staff and said requests for comment would have to be arranged by mail, citing company policy.In answers prepared for VOA, the MRC secretariat conceded that the consultation process was “now without flaw.”It said it had done its best to hear feedback from “broader stakeholders” and was learning to do better with each project, including the addition of “joint action plans,” a process by which MRC members and others can continue to discuss a project once the six-month consultation is over.The secretariat said that without the consultations the upgrades to the Xayaburi would not have happened and that project documents on some other dams would never have been made public.”We believe that the prior consultation process has served its objective and addressed the mandate of the MRC secretariat. But as a process, we acknowledge that there is room for improvement,” it added.It said those improvements could include project impact assessments that take into account the likely effects of each dam beyond the country hosting it and listening to the concerns of villagers and non-government groups even after the consultations end. 
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Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said Saturday the murder suspect whose case was the spark that started the fire of the Hong Kong protests — an extradition proposal to allow Hong Kong to transfer suspects to Taiwan, as well as  mainland China, among other places, that Lam has announced will be withdrawn — is ready to turn himself in to Taiwanese authorities.Lam said Chan Tong-kai wrote to her, saying he would “surrender himself to Taiwan” in connection with his alleged involvement in a murder case.Chang is accused of murdering his girlfriend in Taiwan.  When he fled back to Hong Kong, he was arrested on money laundering charges but is expected to be released soon.Hong Kong is facing the 20th straight weekend of anti-government protests, after both sides revealed this week that they are digging in.Protesters say they won’t back down from their “five demands” on Hong Kong’s government, and Lam said she would make no concessions to protesters.Lam’s hardline position was echoed earlier this week by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who went a step further and warned that anyone advocating Hong Kong’s independence from China risked “crushed bodies and shattered bones.”But protesters say they’re not giving up. On Friday, more than 1,000 people flooded the city’s financial center, marching past banks and luxury stores, drawing hordes of curious onlookers and bringing traffic to a halt.  The protesters’ main demands include universal suffrage, an investigation of police violence, amnesty for protesters and the full, official withdrawal of the extradition bill, which would allow mainland China to try people arrested in Hong Kong.
 
Protests have been a near-constant presence in the city since June, even though police have outlawed unauthorized protests and the wearing of face coverings during public gatherings.  Police have not granted permission for protests planned for this weekend.   Protests are also planned for every weekend for the rest of the year — or until one side gives in.Fern Robinson contributed to this report.
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Around 20 South Korean protesters broke into the residential compound of the U.S. ambassador to South Korea Friday, prompting U.S. officials to call for tighter security measures around diplomatic missions here.Video of the break-in posted online shows a group of young, chanting protesters using ladders to scale the stone wall surrounding Ambassador Harry Harris’ house, which is in a central area of Seoul.After scaling the compound walls, the intruders attempted to forcibly enter the ambassador’s residence but were detained by Seoul police, according to a statement by the U.S. Embassy issued Saturday.Some of the protesters carried signs calling for Harris to leave Korea and characterized U.S. troops as an occupying force.Protesters shout slogans while holding signs to oppose planned joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 5, 2019.Pockets of anti-US sentimentAlthough polls show South Koreans overwhelmingly support the alliance with Washington, pockets of anti-U.S. sentiment remain.In 2015, a knife-wielding South Korean man with a history of militant Korean nationalism ambushed then-U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert outside a building in downtown Seoul. Lippert sustained cuts to his arm and face.More sporadic, minor disturbances have occurred since then.“We note with strong concern that this is the second instance of illegal entry into the ambassador’s residential compound in 14 months,” a U.S. embassy official in Seoul said Saturday. “We urge the Republic of Korea to strengthen its efforts to protect all diplomatic missions to the ROK.”The group that broke into the compound Friday says it is a coalition of progressive college students. Reuters reports the group recently held a forum to present “research findings” on the achievements of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and said it would welcome a visit by Kim to Seoul.The students also attempted to break into the U.S. Embassy in Seoul last January before being stopped by police, Reuters reported.Seoul’s foreign ministry said attacks on diplomatic facilities will not be tolerated, adding it will take “all appropriate measures” to prevent further incidents. Seoul police said they will increase security around the U.S. Embassy, according to the Yonhap news agency.South Korean protesters hold banners during a rally as police officers stand guard near the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Feb. 10, 2019. South Korea and the United States are negotiating how much Seoul should pay for U.S. military presence.Cost-sharing talksThe break-in comes at a particularly tense moment for U.S.-South Korea relations. The two countries next week will begin a second round of contentious negotiations over how to split the cost of the U.S. military presence in South Korea.President Donald Trump has long complained that U.S. allies, and South Korea in particular, are not paying their “fair share” for the cost of U.S. troops.In an apparent hardball negotiating tactic, Trump in August said South Korea agreed to pay “substantially more” for protection from North Korea. Seoul shot back, saying cost-sharing talks haven’t even begun.South Korean reports say U.S. negotiators are demanding a fivefold increase in how much South Korea pays for U.S. troops. Harris appeared to indirectly confirm that figure in an interview last week.He told the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper that from the U.S. perspective, South Korea could be seen as having funded only one-fifth of the total defense cost, and that as the world’s 12th-largest economy South Korea should take on a larger share.South Korean officials have reportedly rejected the demand, saying they are prepared to engage in “reasonable” negotiations before the current cost-sharing agreement expires at the end of the year.FILE – Protesters march after a rally to oppose a planned visit by U.S. President Donald Trump in Seoul, South Korea, June 29, 2019.Anti-US displays rareOver the past decade, overt displays of anti-U.S. sentiment have become less common in Seoul than in previous decades.According to a 2018 Pew Research poll, 80% of South Koreans have a favorable view of the United States. That same poll, however, suggested just 44% of South Koreans have confidence in Trump.Historically, conservatives have been the most reliably pro-U.S. contingent in South Korea. Recently, though, there has been a small backlash against Trump among conservatives, many of whom are already skeptical of Trump’s outreach to North Korea.The situation has been exacerbated by Trump’s comments on cost-sharing negotiations. Trump reportedly recently used an Asian accent to mock South Korea’s president over the issue. Earlier this year, Trump said a certain country, widely seen as South Korea, was “rich as hell and probably doesn’t like us too much.”The Pentagon says roughly 28,000 troops are in South Korea to help deter North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.South Korea rejects Trump’s notion that it doesn’t contribute enough toward the cost of the U.S. troops, insisting it pays almost half of the total cost of $2 billion. That doesn’t include the expense of rent-free land for U.S. military bases, Seoul says.
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HONG KONG — Hong Kong is bracing for the 20th straight weekend of anti-government protests, after both sides revealed this week that they are digging in.Protesters say they won’t back down from their “five demands” on Hong Kong’s government, and the city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, said she would make no concessions to protesters.Lam’s hardline position was echoed earlier this week by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who went a step further and warned that anyone advocating Hong Kong’s independence from China risked “crushed bodies and shattered bones.”But protesters say they’re not giving up. On Friday, more than 1,000 people flooded the city’s financial center, marching past banks and luxury stores, drawing hordes of curious onlookers and bringing traffic to a halt.  The protesters’ main demands include universal suffrage, an investigation of police violence, amnesty for protesters and the full, official withdrawal of the spark that lit the fires of dissent: a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would allow mainland China to try people arrested in Hong Kong.
 
Protests have been a near-constant presence in the city since June, even though police have outlawed unauthorized protests and the wearing of face coverings during public gatherings.  Many protesters speaking to VOA did not provide their full names out of fear of retribution from law enforcement.  Many expressed frustration with Lam’s intransigence.Protesters wear masks of Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam during a protest in Hong Kong, Oct. 18, 2019. 
“She’s just not responding at all,” said a woman who identified herself as Mrs. Ho and said she is a retiree. “We have all these five demands, but not one of them was granted, except she withdrew the bill. But what about the other four? The other four are so important as well. So I think the five demands, not one less, is very, very vital.”Young people have played a central role in these leaderless protests, and have made up a significant proportion of protesters during weekend protests.  One-third of the more than 2,200 people arrested have been under the age of 18.Students have taken to wearing their masks to school, in defiance of the mask ban, and many schools have defended their actions.“We really see that Carrie Lam, like she is trying to frighten we Hong Kongers,” said a 14-year-old student who said his name is Ambrose. “But this will just make us more angry and we will be willing to come out and tell her we’ll never give up.”So what will make them stop? Protesters gave almost identical answers. This man, a 52-year-old businessman, gave his name as Mr. Ho.“Five demands,” he said, as two policemen behind him unfurled a yellow banner, warning protesters that their gathering was illegal. “And the sixth demand is all the police must be reorganized.”In a Facebook live session this week, Lam made it clear she would entertain none of that — especially not the police demand. She defended the force, saying they provide much-needed public safety.
 
But as previous protests have seen, police have inflicted the most casualties, with tear gas, rubber bullets and even the occasional live round. More protests are planned this weekend, although police have not granted permission.Protests are also planned for every weekend for the rest of the year — or until one side gives in. 
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As concerns grow in Vietnam about sanitary food, a U.S. government-led delegation is completing a visit here Friday, aimed at increasing sales of American farm products in Vietnam.The delegation has been visiting Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to send the message that while the U.S. values Vietnam trade, the market is not open enough.”Our people see great opportunity to do more business with Vietnam and likewise we see great opportunity for Vietnam to do business with the U.S.,” Ted McKinney, U.S. undersecretary of agriculture for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, said at a press conference. “Vietnam is proving itself as a terrific trading partner across all U.S. products.”FILE – U.S. Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney, center, leaves from a hotel for meetings with Chinese officials in Beijing, China, Jan. 8, 2019.Not completely terrific, however. He repeated U.S. President Donald Trump’s complaint that the U.S. trade deficit with Vietnam is too high, so Vietnamese need to buy more American goods, he said.”You sell us way more than we sell you,” he said.Vietnam exported $44 billion worth of products and services to the U.S. from January to September, while importing $10 billion of products and services, according to the Vietnam Customs Department.Few economists treat trade surpluses and deficits as a priority, however. William Lastrapes, a University of Georgia economist, said the U.S. trade deficit doesn’t mean other countries are taking advantage of the U.S. On the contrary, the U.S. imports products because they’re made in countries with a comparative advantage in making the products most efficiently, but those countries also take that money earned and invest it back into the U.S., he said in a blog post.Still the U.S. delegation wants to decrease Vietnam’s surplus. The delegation has more than 70 people representing U.S. businesses, state departments of agriculture, and industry associations. In Ho Chi Minh City they have spent the week meeting Vietnamese companies that can import their products, while in Hanoi they have lobbied the government to allow more U.S. products in.FILE – Imported American grapes and apples are on display at Fivimart supermarket in Hanoi, Oct. 23, 2012.One Vietnamese man questioned McKinney on how locals can afford the imported products. Imported U.S. grapes, for instance, can cost as much as $10 a kilogram, even though Vietnam’s minimum wage is less than $200 a month. At those prices it makes sense for some Vietnamese to buy from local grape farmers, who charge closer to $1 a kilogram, not from the U.S.However, Truong Thu Thuy, a mother who lives in a wealthy district of Hanoi, orders imported fruit from the web.”Food at traditional markets is cheaper, but no one guarantees their origins, so I have given up on them,” she told local news site Vnexpress, referring to open-air markets. “I need to know that my family is consuming food without banned preservatives and chemicals.”  She is just the kind of customer driving demand for U.S. imports.”A major driver in the demand that’s coming from Vietnam is the incredible growth your country has shown in, particularly, the middle class,” McKinney said. “They are asking for new types of food.”He said customers are also asking for protein sources.Pork is an important example because it is the most popular meat consumed in Vietnam, as in China. Also, like China, Vietnam faces a possible pork shortage because of the spread of African swine flu, although the government has vowed to keep supplies stable, especially leading up to the lunar new year, when consumption increases.Some of the pork increase will probably come from the U.S.Besides pork, Vietnam also imports fruit, cotton, and animal feed from the U.S., and the U.S. imports fish, shrimp, nuts, and coffee from Vietnam.
 
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China’s economic growth slowed to a 26-year low in the latest quarter amid a tariff war with Washington, adding to deepening slump that is weighing on global growth.The world’s second-largest economy expanded by 6% in the three months ending in September, down from the previous quarter’s 6.2%, data showed Friday. It was the lowest rate since China started reporting data by quarters in 1993.The slump increases pressure on Chinese leaders to avert politically dangerous job losses as they fight a tariff war with President Donald Trump over Beijing’s trade surplus and technology ambitions.“Pressure on economic activity should intensify in the coming months,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics in a report.Global repercussionsThe slowdown in China, the world’s biggest trader, has global repercussions. It is depressing demand for industrial components from Asian countries and prices of soybeans, iron ore and other commodities, hitting Brazil, Australia and other suppliers.The International Monetary Fund cited the U.S.-Chinese tariff war as a factor in this week’s decision to cut its 2019 global growth forecast to 3% from its previous outlook of 3.2%.Trump agreed last week to delay a tariff hike on Chinese goods and said Beijing promised to buy up to $50 billion of American farm goods. Officials say the two sides still are working out details.Beijing has yet to confirm the scale of possible purchases of U.S. goods. It is unclear whether Chinese leaders want more steps including possibly lifting punitive tariffs already in place before purchases go ahead.Cooling domestic activityAn even bigger impact on Chinese growth appears to come from cooling domestic activity including consumer spending and investment.Retail sales growth declined to 8.2% over a year earlier in the first three quarters of 2019, down from the first half’s 8.4%, the National Bureau of Statistics reported.Chinese leaders are in a marathon campaign to nurture growth based on domestic consumption and reduce reliance on trade and investment. But those plans call for maintaining the level of exports that support millions of jobs.Factory output growth slowed to 5.6% in the January-September period, down from 6% in the first six months of the year.China’s exports to the United States, its biggest foreign market, fell 21.9% in September from a year ago. That helped to drag down overall Chinese exports by 1.4%. Imports of American goods sank 15.7%.The latest economic growth figure was the lowest since China began reporting data by quarters in 1993. Annual growth tumbled to 3.9% in 1990 but rebounded to 9.3% the following year.
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China says two Americans involved in a teaching exchange program were detained three weeks ago near Shanghai for allegedly “illegally moving people across borders.”Alyssa Petersen, who attended the Idaho campus of Brigham Young University from 2014 to 2017, was being held in a Chinese jail outside Shanghai, according to social media posts by China Horizons, her employer, and her parents. After not hearing from her for weeks, her family discovered she had been arrested by Chinese police sometime around the end of September. Her employer Jacob Harlan, who owns China Horizons, was detained.But Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Petersen and Harlan have been released on bail and granted access to U.S. consular officials.The charges are “bogus, as she has been doing this for 8+ years with no issues,” the family of Alyssa Peterson stated.Petersen is director of China Horizons, an English language program that provides a cultural experience for American college students who teach English in Chinese schools. She assisted her employer, Jacob Harlan in coordinating visas and travel arrangements, according to the company’s Facebook page. Petersen first went to China as a teacher 10 years ago, her family wrote on social media, teaches at a school in Zhenjiang, and “when she is not in China,” attends BYU-Idaho.Carrie and Clark Peterson contacted the State Department to check on their daughter’s whereabouts, and U.S. officials at the American Consulate in Shanghai located Petersen at a jail in Zhenjiang, China, the Idaho State Journalreported.
 
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said it is aware of the detention of two citizens in China, and is “monitoring” the situation.”Alyssa has loved China since the first time she went as a teacher,” said Carrie Peterson on the family GoFundMe Page. “She longs to make the world a better place. She has taught us, her family, much about accepting and loving other cultures and appreciating their uniqueness.”Alyssa Petersen lists work as a volunteer missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from January 2013 to July 2014 on her LinkedIn profile.”Oh my word! I’m so sad to hear about this. China Horizons was an absolute pleasure to work with to experience China (twice!),” posted former participant Doug Webster on Facebook. “Jacob wouldn’t hurt a fly, and has done so much to further international understanding between the US and China. Hoping for a quick resolution!”The U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory warning on January 3 for Americans to exercise caution when traveling to China. The detention of Petersen and Harlan comes amid diplomatic and trade tensions between Beijing and Washington, including the ongoing political crisis in Hong Kong.”U.S. citizens may be detained without access to U.S. consular services of information about their alleged crime… may be subjected to prolonged interrogations and extended detention.”China Horizons has announced that the organization is closing after 17 years “because of increasing political and economic problems between the U.S. and China.” The organization says they are working to bring all of their teachers home.   
 
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A government minister Thursday promised an unprecedented funding increase for Australia’s main spy agency, which is struggling to meet demands posed by the nation’s new foreign interference laws, espionage and terrorism.Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton promises more money and staff a day after the Australian Security intelligence Organization, better known as ASIO, revealed in an annual report an “increasing gap between demand for our counter-espionage and foreign interference advice and our ability to furnish this assistance.”“It’s getting unprecedented funding and we’ll continue to support,” Dutton told reporters.“We have more demands on our intelligence services and law enforcement agencies than ever before,” he added.Covert foreign interferenceAustralia last year outlawed covert foreign interference in world-first legislation that has angered China, its biggest export market.Since December, individuals and businesses that are attempting to influence the government and Australian politics on behalf of a foreign government have had to register, a requirement meant to add transparency for the public and government decision-makers.The public register is a response to a government-commissioned classified report that found the Chinese Communist Party for a decade had tried to influence Australian policy, compromise political parties and gain access to all levels of government.There have been no public reports of anyone being charged with breaching the legislation by attempting to covertly influence government.Dutton said whether individuals were charged was a matter for police.Demand for expertise risesThe ASIO report said the passage of new laws on foreign interference espionage affected the threats.Some foreign spy agencies had reassessed the risks of conducting clandestine intelligence operations in Australia, the report said.“However, we anticipate the most capable foreign intelligence services will adapt their behavior over time to circumvent the new legislation,” the report said.The elevated threat of espionage and foreign interference, combined with greater awareness of the threat among Australians, had increased demand for ASIO’s help and was “stretching current resources,” the report said.“We will necessarily prioritize our finite resources — across our counter-terrorism, counter-espionage and foreign interference, border integrity and protective security advice programs — toward addressing activities of the greatest potential harm to Australians and Australian interests,” the report said.Opposition spokeswoman on the Home Affairs Department portfolio Kristina Keneally said the government should be alarmed by ASIO’s resourcing concerns.“It’s an incredibly important agency in our national security framework and for them to be reporting in this time when the challenges they face are quite complex, that they are stretched for resources, well that’s an alarm bell,” she said.
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South Korea is deploying snipers, installing traps and flying drones along its border as it ramps up efforts to stop wild boars from spreading swine fever from rival North Korea.African swine fever, fatal to hogs but no threat to humans, has wiped out pig herds in many Asian countries. Feral hogs are thought to be a main reason for its spread, and North Korea has been snubbing the South’s repeated calls for joint quarantine efforts, officials say.South Korea has culled about 154,500 pigs in the past month, all in farms near the North Korean border. North Korea hasn’t released any detailed reports on the disease, but South Korea’s spy agency says that pig herds in one North Korea province were “annihilated.” North Korea observers in Seoul say the pork prices in markets there have soared.A look at African swine fever in North and South Korea.FILE – Researchers of the Veterinary Institute under the Academy of Agricultural Research check on African Swine Flu at Ryongsong District in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 10, 2019.Start of the diseaseNorth Korea first reported an outbreak in May after widespread deaths of pigs in neighboring China. Chinese officials say farms there have slaughtered at least 1.17 million pigs while trying to control the disease since August 2018.North Korea told the World Organization for Animal Health that 77 of 99 pigs at a farm in its Jagang province, which borders China, died of the disease. The remaining 22 pigs were culled. North Korea said it’s fighting hard to stop the disease’s spread, but has not reported any other outbreaks.Suh Hoon, director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, told lawmakers in a private briefing last month that African swine fever has spread across North Korea. Pig herds in North Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, have been “annihilated” and people were complaining about the lack of meat, lawmakers said he told them.North Korea monitoring groups say the disease occurred in North Korea well before May.South Korea confirmed its first outbreak in the border town of Paju on Sept. 17. It has since reported 13 more cases near the border and culled 154,500 pigs, including all hogs in Paju.FILE – Quarantine officials stand guard as a precaution against African swine fever near a pig farm in Paju, South Korea, Sept. 20, 2019.Risks to South KoreaFailure to contain the disease would be potentially devastating for South Korea’s huge pork industry. The consequences would be much worse for the chronically food-scarce North.South Korean officials say North Korea had about 2.6 million pigs in 14 government-run or cooperative farms before the disease’s outbreak.Cho Chung-hui, a former North Korean official in charge of livestock issues who fled to South Korea in 2011 says pork accounts for up to 80 percent of protein consumption for North Korea’s 25 million people. Many North Korean households raise and sell a pig or two each year to be able to buy rice since rationing systems are in shambles.A 100 kilogram (220 pound) hog can be sold to buy about 150 kilograms (330 pounds) of rice, enough for a family for a year, Cho said.He said North Korean animal health officials and farms do not slaughter animals even if they’re sick.South Korea’s own risks are somewhat contained by the fact that most of its 6,300 pig farms, raising some 11 million hogs, are indoor facilities. The country has ample experience with fighting animal diseases after dealing with numerous foot-and-mouth outbreaks since the 2000s.Wild boarsAfrican swine fever spreads easily through contact with infected animals, carcasses, manure and contaminated substances such as feed, clothing and vehicles.The Koreas’ 248-kilometer (155-mile) border is the world’s the most heavily fortified with barbed wire fences installed in minefields, but South Korean officials and experts say wild boards could still roam in and out of North Korea by swimming across rivers.Those rivers could also spread the disease if contaminated by carcasses or runoff from affected farms, says Sur Jung-hyang, a professor of veterinary medicine at Seoul’s Konkuk University.A powerful typhoon with torrential rains in September likely caused runoff of contaminated soil and water from North Korea in early September, Cho said. Insects and rats could also spread the virus, he said.South Korea’s Ministry of Environment said that samples taken from seven dead wild boars found on the southern side of the border have tested positive for African swine fever.Whatever the source of the South Korean outbreaks, experts say controlling movements of wild boars is crucial.FILE – Disinfectant solution is sprayed from a vehicle as a precaution against African swine fever near a pig farm in Paju, South Korea, Sept. 20, 2019.Quarantine effortsTo stop the disease from spreading, South Korea’s military Tuesday said it has deployed snipers and civilian hunters to search for and kill wild boars in border areas. They will work in shifts around the clock, using night-vision goggles to spot the animals when it’s dark, which is when they are most active.The military will also try flying drones equipped with thermal cameras to monitor areas for wild boars and will use helicopters to transport carcasses and other samples to labs more quickly, the Defense Ministry said.Authorities have installed hundreds of traps and plan to install more barbed-wire fences to stop wild boars from reaching pig farms. Thousands have been assigned to enforce quarantines and beef up biosecurity practices at border farms; 2,000 checkpoints have been set up to restrict movements of people and livestock and decontaminate vehicles.North Korea would have much less effective quarantine efforts, the experts said. When he was working in North Korea, Cho said the country did not have any disinfection trucks. It still appears to lack any.“Even in China, there have been problems about people cooking and eating infected pigs. It would have been the same situation in North Korea,” Sur said.
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The conflict between Myanmar’s armed ethnic groups and government forces is escalating.  New recruits are joining groups such as the Arakan Army which has set up training camps in Kachin state, home to fellow Northern Alliance member, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). Steve Sandford traveled to the region and filed this report for VOA
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Rescue workers in Japan searched for the missing on Wednesday as the death toll from one of the worst typhoons to hit the country rose to 74, public broadcaster NHK said, many drowned by flooding after scores of rivers burst their banks.Public broadcaster NHK said 12 were missing and more than 220 injured after Typhoon Hagibis lashed through the Japanese archipelago at the weekend. Throughout the eastern half of the main island of Honshu, 52 rivers had flooded over.Click to see an interactive graphic plotting the path of Typhoon Hagibis) Residents in Fukushima prefecture, which has seen the highest number of casualties, were busy dumping water-damaged furniture and rubbish onto the streets. Many elderly remained in evacuation centers, unable to clean up their homes.In Date city, not far from the site of the nuclear disaster in 2011, farmer Masao Hirayama piled damp books in the street in front of his house, adding to a mound of rubbish from the neighborhood.He said the water had reached about 2 meters (6.6 feet) deep in his house, when he and his son were rescued by boat and taken to an evacuation centre. His wife and grandchildren had stayed with relatives through the storm.”I feel down,” Hirayama, 70, said, adding that the flood had swept away all his green houses and farming equipment. “All that is left is the land.”Hirayama said he had rebuilt his house in 1989, raising the ground level following a flood in 1986. His family plan to live on the second floor until he can make repairs, which he reckons could take three months.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government would spend 710 million yen ($6.5 million) to facilitate disaster relief.
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