TOKYO — Eight years ago, Yuriko Koike became the first woman to lead Tokyo, beating her male predecessor. She won her third term as governor Sunday, and one of her closest rivals was a woman.

Multiple women competing for a top political office is still rare in Japan, which has a terrible global gender-equality ranking, but Koike’s win highlights a gradual rise in powerful female officials and a society more open to gender balance in politics. That said, even if a woman eventually becomes prime minister, politics here is still overwhelmingly dominated by men, and experts see a huge effort needed for equal representation.

“There are growing expectations for women to play a greater role in politics,” said parliamentarian Chinami Nishimura, a senior official with the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. “In politics or parliament, which are still largely considered men’s work, it is extremely meaningful for women to show their presence and have our voices heard.”

Nishimura, who also heads the opposition party’s gender-equality promotion team, hopes to have women make up 30% of her party’s candidates in the next national election. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party last year vowed to achieve 30% female representation within 10 years and is working to recruit more female candidates.

Finding aspiring female candidates, however, isn’t easy. Women in Japan are still often expected to be in charge of childrearing, elderly care and other family responsibilities.

National parliamentarians are also expected to regularly travel between Tokyo and their home constituencies, which makes it especially difficult for female lawmakers trying to balance a career and family. Nishimura says former female colleagues have quit national politics and returned to local assemblies because of such demands.

Nishimura began her political career in her hometown Niigata’s prefectural assembly in 1999, the first woman to serve there in decades. The 53-member assembly now has five women.

A growing number of women are now seeking political careers, but they are still in the minority, especially in national politics where electoral decisions are largely determined by closed-door, male-dominated party politics, and outspoken women tend to be targets.

One of Koike’s top rivals was a woman, Renho, a veteran former parliamentarian who goes by one name and who finished third. Renho told reporters last month that she often saw headlines about the Tokyo governor’s race that trumpeted “A battle of dragon women.”

“Would you use that kind of expression to describe a competition between male candidates?” she asked.

Koike, a stylish, media-savvy former television newscaster, was first elected to parliament in 1992 at age 40. She served in several key Cabinet posts, including as environment minister and defense chief, for the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party, before becoming Tokyo governor in 2016.

Renho, known for asking sharp questions in parliament, was born to a Japanese mother and Taiwanese father. A former model and newscaster, she was elected to parliament in 2004 and served as administrative reform minister in the government led by the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan.

Attacks on Renho’s aggressive image were a clear example of gender bias in a society that expects female candidates to be “motherly or cute,” said Chiyako Sato, a Mainichi Shimbun editorial writer and a commentator on politics.

Because of a small female presence in politics, powerful women tend to get excessive attention. Their presence in Tokyo governor’s election “conveyed a positive message that women can become political leaders, but a large amount of the noise about them also reflected Japan’s sad reality,” said Mari Miura, a Sophia University professor and expert on gender and politics.

For instance, a survey of national and local lawmakers in 2022 conducted by a civil group showed one-third of about 100 female respondents faced sexual harassment during election campaigns or at work.

Earlier this year, a gaffe-prone former prime minister, Taro Aso, was forced to apologize for describing Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, a woman, as capable but not beautiful.

Women make up about 30% of the Tokyo assembly, and their presence in town assemblies in urban areas is also growing. On average, female representation in more than 1,740 Japanese local assemblies doubled to 14.5% in 2021 from 20 years ago. There are growing calls for more female voices in politics.

But in rural areas, where more traditional gender roles are more usual, 226, or 13% of the total, had “zero women” assemblies last year, according to the Gender Equality Bureau of the Cabinet Office.

In parliament, where conservative Liberal Democrats have been in power almost uninterruptedly since the end of World War II, female representation in the lower house is 10.3%, putting Japan 163rd among 190 countries, according to a report by the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union in April.

In 1946, the figure wasn’t much different — only 8.4% — when a first group of 39 women were elected to parliament, according to the Gender Equality Bureau.

“There have been changes starting from regional politics, but the pace is too slow,” Sato said, proposing a mandatory quota for women.

One woman in a Cabinet of about 20 ministers was standard in the 1990s. Lately, two is usual. Maintaining an increased number of female ministers is a challenge because of a shortage of women with seniority. Women are also given limited leadership chances, which delays gender equality laws and policies.

“Because of the absence of leadership change, the metabolism is bad in Japan. Because of that, politics does not change despite changes in the public view,” Miura said.

Koike became the first female candidate to run in the LDP leadership race in 2008. Two others, Sanae Takaichi and Seiko Noda, ran in 2021 against Kishida.

Most recently, Kamikawa, the foreign minister, is seen as having a chance, because the LDP wants change as it struggles with dwindling support ratings and corruption scandals.

The winner, determined by a vote among LDP lawmakers and party members, automatically becomes prime minister because of the LDP’s dominance in parliament.

Under the Japanese system, however, having a female prime minister doesn’t necessarily mean progress in gender equality because of overwhelming male political influence. But it could be a crucial step forward, even if symbolic, said Sato, the political commentator.

“Having role models is very important … to show gender equality and that women can also aim for a top job,” Sato said. “Women in politics are no longer expected to be wallflowers.”
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SYDNEY — Australia has Tuesday appointed its first antisemitism envoy in response to an increase in attacks against its Jewish community.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the envoy would promote social cohesion and help to curb a rise in violence and abuse against Australia’s Jewish community since the start of the Israel-Gaza conflict last October.

The Prime Minister said that overwhelmingly Australians did not want the conflict in the Middle East to bring violence here.

Jillian Segal, a lawyer and business executive who has been a senior member of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, will serve as antisemitism envoy for three years.

Albanese told reporters in Sydney Tuesday that the country’s successful multiculturalism must be protected.

“What is clear is that we cannot take that for granted. What is clear is we continue to reinforce the need for social harmony and that is what today’s announcement of Jillian (Segal) is all about.”

Segal will advise the government and also promote education and awareness of antisemitism.

She told a media conference in Sydney on Tuesday that intolerance must not be allowed to take root. 

 

“It triggers the very worst instincts in an individual,” she said. “To blame others for life’s misfortunes and to hate, and it is often based on misinformation and inaccurate rumor and it can spread from individual to individual to contaminate the collective, damaging life for the entire community and leading to violence as we have seen.”

But the Jewish Council of Australia, which has been critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza, told local media in a statement that Segal was an “Israel lobbyist” and her appointment would worsen social division.

Community groups have reported an increase in Islamophobic and antisemitic abuse in Australia since Israel’s war in Gaza began more than nine months ago.

Australian police are continuing to investigate an attack by a masked gang on the Melbourne office of a Jewish-Australian lawmaker last month.

Windows were smashed, and fires were lit.

The slogan “Zionism is fascism” was graffitied in red paint over an image of Josh Burns, a federal government parliamentarian.

Albanese also reconfirmed the government would also appoint a special envoy on Islamophobia.   

 
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Irvine, California — Jeremiah Manele and Charlot Salwai, the prime ministers of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, are in China this week. Their visits come as Beijing seeks to grow its bilateral ties with the two South Pacific nations and as China is increasingly competing for influence in the region with Australia, the United States and others.   

Last week, China donated a presidential building to Vanuatu while Australia and New Zealand inaugurated an airfield in the Solomon Islands. During his first overseas trip to Australia last week, Manele sought Canberra’s support to double the Solomon Islands’ police force.

The airfield and Australia’s security support are two key things analysts say China will focus on during Manele’s visit to Beijing this week.  

“Everything happening in the region is viewed through a comparative lens and recent developments [in the Solomon Islands-Australia relationship] will be top of the agenda for the Chinese,” Michael Walsh, a visiting researcher at the Lasky Center for Transatlantic Studies at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, told VOA by phone.  

For Manele, the priority will be addressing the Solomon Islands’ economic issues, some experts say. 

“[Since] the Solomon Islands’ economy is in a precarious state, Manele wants to demonstrate to Solomon Islanders that his government’s close relationship with Beijing will bring economic benefits that are tangible to their everyday lives,” Parker Novak, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, told VOA by phone.  

Ahead of the trips, China’s Foreign Ministry said discussions will focus on issues of mutual interest and growing relations. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Manele’s trip would be a “great opportunity for the two sides to work together to further strengthen strategic communication, expand practical cooperation, and advance our bilateral ties.” 

While former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare was in office, the Solomon Islands deepened ties with China, including signing a police cooperation agreement with Beijing.  

Manele was the Solomon Islands’ foreign minister during Sogavare’s tenure, and some analysts expect he’ll maintain a similar foreign policy agenda.  

“He said he would maintain the standard position of ‘being friends to all and enemies to none’ for the Solomon Islands,” said Tess Newton Cain, an adjunct associate professor at Griffith Asia Institute in Australia. 

“[While] the meat and bones of Solomon Islands’ foreign policy is not going to change significantly under Manele, he will be more moderate when it comes to presenting his administration’s foreign policy agenda,” Cain told VOA by phone. 

After his trip to Australia, Manele told journalists that discussions about seeking Canberra’s support to expand the Solomon Islands’ police force won’t affect the island nation’s security arrangements with Beijing.  

“The arrangements with the People’s Republic of China, including the police cooperation arrangements, will remain in place,” he said, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 

Following his trip to China, Manele travels to Japan to attend the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders meeting from July 16 to July 18. 

Great power competition in Pacific  

Despite a failed attempt to push through a regional security pact with 10 Pacific Island nations in 2022, China continues to seek opportunities to increase its influence in the Pacific.  

China signed a police cooperation deal with the Solomon Islands last year and has offered to provide security support to Tonga for a Pacific Islands Forum taking place in August. Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni said he was considering the offer.  

Meanwhile, Kiribati’s acting police commissioner, Eeri Aritiera, told the Reuters news agency in February that a Chinese police delegation would support the island nation’s community policing program and IT department, raising concerns from some U.S. lawmakers. 

In January, Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister, Justin Tkatchenko, revealed that his country was engaging in early talks with China about a potential security and policing deal, prompting a senior U.S. official to warn that security guarantees offered by Beijing may come with costs.

 

Since China has presented itself as a security stakeholder in the Pacific region, some experts say Beijing will likely keep building security partnerships with regional countries.  

“[China] seeks to deepen its presence [in the Pacific] through existing mechanisms like policing and its growing maritime presence through its coast guard fleet,” said Anna Powles, an associate professor in security studies at Massey University in New Zealand.  

While China seeks to expand its security footprint in the Pacific, the United States and other democratic countries have tried to counter China’s growing security presence in the Pacific in recent years, including Washington’s efforts to sign a security agreement with Papua New Guinea in 2023. 

WATCH: US and Papua New Guinea sign security pact

Despite these attempts, Walsh in Munich said China is still making inroads in several Pacific island nations, including Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Kiribati.  

“The West doesn’t seem to have an effective response,” he told VOA.  

There is also the question of whether security deals align with the needs of Pacific island countries, said the Griffith Asia Institute’s Cain. 

“While Pacific island countries don’t see China as posing any military threat to them, they need to have relevant security conversations with countries [they are engaging with] in order to talk about what they are really concerned about,” she told VOA.  

To safeguard their interests, Novak at the Atlantic Council said regional countries are likely to try to foster positive relationships with all external partners, whether it’s the United States, Australia, or China.  

“They believe [doing so] will ensure regional stability and sovereignty,” he told VOA. 
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Beijing — Chinese state media on Monday criticized the state grains stockpiler Sinograin after local media reported that its fuel tankers were allegedly also used to transport cooking oil, sparking food safety concerns.

The Beijing News last week reported it was an “open secret” in the transportation industry that Sinograin was using tankers to transport both fuel and food products like cooking oil, soybean oil and syrup, without cleaning the tankers in between.

The report sparked an uproar on social media over worries of food contamination.

Chinese consumers have been increasingly sensitive over food safety, with consumers turning to foreign brands and Beijing stepping up controls, after a series of scandals, including the sale of baby formula containing lethal amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in 2008.

Sinograin, in a Weibo post on Saturday, said it had ordered an investigation into whether transportation carriers leaving and entering its warehouses were compliant with food safety regulations.

Transportation units and carrier vehicles found in violation of the regulations would be terminated immediately and any major problems found would be reported to the relevant regulatory authorities, Sinograin said.

On Monday, state broadcaster CCTV called the operation a cost-saving measure that was “tantamount to poisoning.”

“While Sinograin is trying to make up for its loss, consumers are still confused and stunned,” CCTV said in a post on WeChat.

“Usually, we can avoid poor quality cooking oil by not cutting corners and choosing big brands and well-known manufacturers. But big brands can also have loopholes in the transportation chain where fuel and cooking oils are mixed, which is obviously beyond most people’s knowledge,” it said.

Such mixing of products was “not only a blatant provocation to the ‘Food Safety Law’, but also showed an extreme disregard for the life and health of consumers,” CCTV said.
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MANILA, Philippines — Japan and the Philippines signed a key defense pact Monday allowing the deployment of Japanese forces for joint military exercises, including live-fire drills, to the Southeast Asian nation that came under brutal Japanese occupation in World War II but is now building an alliance with Tokyo as they face an increasingly assertive China.

The Reciprocal Access Agreement, which similarly allows Filipino forces to enter Japan for joint combat training, was signed by Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in a Manila ceremony witnessed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It would take effect after ratification by the countries’ legislatures, Philippine and Japanese officials said.

Kamikawa called the signing of the defense agreement “a groundbreaking achievement” that should further boost defense cooperation between Japan and the Philippines.

“A free and open international order based on the rule of law is the foundation of regional peace and prosperity,” she said. “We would like to work closely with your country to maintain and strengthen this.”

Kamikawa and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara later held talks with their Philippine counterparts on ways to further deepen relations.

The defense pact with the Philippines is the first to be forged by Japan in Asia. Japan signed similar accords with Australia in 2022 and with Britain in 2023.

Under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the Japanese government has taken steps to boost its security and defensive firepower, including a counterstrike capability that breaks from Japan’s postwar principle of focusing only on self-defense, amid threats from North Korea and China’s growing assertiveness. It’s doubling defense spending in a five-year period to 2027 in a move to bolster its military power and make Japan the world’s third-biggest military spender after the United States and China.

Many of Japan’s Asian neighbors, including the Philippines, came under Japanese aggression until its defeat in World War II and Japan’s efforts to bolster its military role and spending could be a sensitive issue. Japan and the Philippines, however, have steadily deepened defense and security ties.

Kishida’s moves dovetail with Marcos’ effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine military’s limited ability to defend Manila’s territorial interests in the South China Sea. The busy sea passage is a key global trade route which has been claimed virtually in its entirety by China but also contested in part by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

The United States has also been strengthening an arc of military alliances in the Indo-Pacific to better counter China, including in any future confrontation over Taiwan, and reassure its Asian allies. Japan and the Philippines are treaty allies of the U.S. and their leaders held three-way talks in April at the White House, where President Biden renewed Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to defend Japan and the Philippines.

Japan has had a longstanding territorial dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea. Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy ships, meanwhile, have been involved in a series of tense confrontations in the South China Sea since last year.

In the worst confrontation so far, Chinese coast guard personnel armed with knives, spears and an axe aboard motorboats repeatedly rammed and destroyed two Philippine navy supply vessels on June 17 in a chaotic faceoff in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal that injured several Filipino sailors. Chinese coast guard personnel seized seven navy rifles.

The Philippines strongly protested the Chinese coast guard’s actions and demanded $1 million for the damage and the return of the rifles. China accused the Philippines of instigating the violence, saying the Filipino sailors strayed into what it called Chinese territorial waters despite warnings.

Japan and the United States were among the first to express alarm over the Chinese actions and call on Beijing to abide by international laws. Washington is obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
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Seoul, South Korea — Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said South Korea’s recent military drills near the border between the two nations are an inexcusable and explicit provocation, according to a report from state media KCNA on Monday.

Kim Yo Jong also accused South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol of creating tensions on the Korean peninsula to divert public attention away from his poor performance in domestic politics. She cited an online petition calling for Yoon to be impeached, with more than 1 million signatures.

Kim said that in case North Korea judges its own sovereignty as violated, its armed forces will immediately carry out a mission and duty according to its constitution.

The South Korean military has resumed live-fire artillery drills near the western maritime border in late June, the first time since 2018.

Last month, South Korea said it would suspend a military agreement signed with North Korea in 2018 aimed at easing tensions, in protest of North Korea’s trash balloon launches toward the South.
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TOKYO — Voters in Tokyo cast ballots Sunday to decide whether to reelect conservative Yuriko Koike as governor of Japan’s influential capital for a third four-year term.

The vote was also seen as a test for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s governing party, which supports the incumbent, the first woman to lead the Tokyo city government.

Tokyo, a city of 13.5 million people with outsized political and cultural power and a budget equaling some nations, is one of Japan’s most influential political posts.

A record 55 candidates challenged Koike, and one of the top contenders was also a woman — a liberal-leaning former parliament member who uses only her first name, Renho, and was backed by opposition parties.

A win by Koike would be a relief for Kishida’s conservative governing party, which she has long been affiliated with. Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, unofficially backed her campaign.

Renho, running as an independent but supported by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Japanese Communist Party, slammed Koike’s connection with Kishida’s party, which has been hit by a widespread slush fund scandal. A victory for Renho would be a major setback for Kishida’s chances in the governing party’s leadership vote in September.

While the two high-profile women garnered national attention, Shinji Ishimaru, a former mayor of Akitakata town in Hiroshima, was seen to have gained popularity among young voters.

The main issues in the campaign included measures for the economy, disaster resilience for Tokyo and low birth numbers. When Japan’s national fertility rate fell to a record low 1.2 babies per woman last year, Tokyo’s 0.99 rate was the lowest for the country.

Koike’s policies focused on providing subsidies for married parents expecting babies and those raising children. Renho called for increased support for young people to address their concerns about jobs and financial stability, arguing that would help improve prospects for marrying and having families.

Another focus of attention was a controversial redevelopment of Tokyo’s beloved park area, Jingu Gaien, which Koike approved but later faced criticism over its lack of transparency and suspected environmental impact.

Koike, a stylish and media savvy former TV newscaster, was first elected to parliament in 1992 at age 40. She served in a number of key Cabinet posts, including environment and defense ministers, as part of the long-reigning Liberal Democratic Party.

Renho, known for voicing sharp questions in parliament, was born to a Japanese mother and Taiwanese father and doesn’t use her family name. A former model and newscaster, she was elected to parliament in 2004 and served as administrative reform minister in the government led by the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan.
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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Japan’s foreign minister on Saturday announced a joint project with Cambodia to share knowledge and technology on land mine removal with countries around the world, including Ukraine. 

Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa made her comments during a visit to the Cambodian Mine Action Center, which was formed in the 1990s at the end of the Southeast Asian nation’s decades of civil war. It seeks to deal with an estimated 4 million to 6 million land mines and other unexploded munitions left strewn around the countryside.  

“Cambodia, which has steadily advanced mine removal within its own country, is now a leader in mine action around the world,” she noted, adding that Japan has consistently cooperated in Cambodia’s mine removal since the civil war. 

Cambodian deminers are among the world’s most experienced, and several thousand have been sent in the past decade under U.N. auspices to work in Africa and the Middle East. Cambodia in 2022 began training deminers from Ukraine, which also suffers from a high density of land mines and other unexploded munitions as the two-year Russian invasion drags on. 

“As a concrete cooperation under the Japan Cambodia Landmine Initiative, Japan will provide full-scale assistance to humanitarian mine action in Ukraine,” she said. “Next week, we will provide Ukraine with a large demining machine, and next month, here in Cambodia, we will train Ukrainian personnel on how to operate the machine.” 

The NGO Landmine Monitor in its 2022 report listed both Cambodia and Ukraine among nine countries with massive mine contamination, meaning they had more than 100 square kilometers of uncleared fields. 

Since the end of the fighting in Cambodia, nearly 20,000 people have been killed and about 45,000 have been injured by leftover war explosives, although the average annual death toll has dropped from several thousand to less than 100. 

Despite a very active demining program, many dangerous munitions remain in place, posing a hazard to villagers. 

Cambodia’s training of Ukrainian deminers, in Poland as well as Cambodia, came after former Prime Minister Hun Sen — in an unusual move for a nation that usually aligns itself with Russia and China — condemned Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, saying “Cambodia is always against any country that invades another country.” 

Cambodia was one of nearly 100 U.N. member countries that co-sponsored a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion. 

Several other countries, including the United States and Germany, have already provided Ukraine with demining assistance. 

Kamikawa also held talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Hun Sen, his father who stepped down last year after ruling for 38 years. 

She and her Cambodian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea, signed agreements for a concessional loan from Tokyo of up to $51.6 million for upgrading the highway between the capital, Phnom Penh, to the border with Thailand, and grant aid up to $2.4 million to support junior administrative officials to study in Japan, a Japanese Embassy statement said. 

Kamikawa next goes to the Philippines, where she and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara will hold talks on Monday with their Philippine counterparts. They are set to discuss signing a mutual defense pact that would allow each country to deploy troops on the other’s territory. 
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TAIPEI — Taiwan prosecutors said on Saturday they were investigating a senior official and member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party who deals with China on suspicion of bribery. He said he had done nothing wrong. 

Cheng Wen-tsan is head of the Straits Exchange Foundation under the China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council that deals with day-to-day issues like accidents involving Taiwanese in China. The foundation is technically private because the governments in Beijing and Taipei do not recognize each other or have any official relations. 

Prosecutors in the northern Taiwanese city of Taoyuan, where Cheng was mayor from 2014-2022, said he had been summoned for questioning on Friday on bribery suspicions and that they had applied to a court to detain him. 

It did not give details of the allegations against him. 

Cheng, in a statement issued via his lawyer and released by the foundation, denied wrongdoing. 

“I have not committed any illegal acts, and I will cooperate with the judicial investigation. I hope to clarify the truth and prove my innocence as soon as possible,” he said. 

Taiwan’s presidential office said it respects the judiciary and hopes investigators will clarify the matter as soon as possible.
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Koh Tao, Thailand — A diver glides over an expanse of bone-white coral branches, recording the fish that dart between the ghostly arms extending from the sea floor off the Thai island of Koh Tao.

Nannalin Pornprasertsom is one of a growing number of scuba divers learning conservation and citizen science techniques as coral reefs experience a fourth global bleaching event.

After a two-week course in Koh Tao, the 14-year-old can identify coral types, carry out reef restoration, and help scientific research on coral health by recording the color and tone of outcroppings at dive sites.

“It’s just something that I can do that will have a good consequence for the environment,” Nannalin, who has been diving since she was 12, told AFP after a series of dives.

“I want to help the reef.”

And she is not alone.

The Professional Association of Diving Instructors — better known as PADI, one of the world’s leading dive training organizations — says conservation certifications jumped over six percent globally from 2021-2023.

This year, it is launching a major shark and ray census, harnessing its network of divers to collect data that will shape protection policies.

On Koh Tao, Black Turtle Dive offers courses on everything from how to properly “dive against debris” — collecting marine plastic or stranded fishing nets — to coral restoration techniques.

“There’s an increased awareness,” said Steve Minks, a certified conservation instructor at Black Turtle.

“There’s a lot of bleaching going on and there’s a lot of concern about the marine environment.”

Death spiral

Coral polyps are animals that depend on algae to provide most of their food. These algae also generally give the reef its color.

But when the sea is too warm, the polyps expel the algae. The reef turns white and the coral begins to starve.

Coral bleaching has been recorded in more than 60 countries since early 2023, threatening reefs that are key to ocean biodiversity and support fishing and tourism globally.

The death spiral is everywhere in the waters of the Gulf of Thailand around Koh Tao.

Worst affected are branching species that grow quickly, but are also less resilient.

If water temperatures come down, they will have a chance at recovery. But for now, their spectral stems are even visible from the surface, glimmering through the aquamarine water.

“I was not ready for that much bleaching, it’s quite an impact,” admits instructor Sandra Rubio.

The 28-year-old says bleaching and other marine degradation are driving divers to take her conservation courses.

“People want to start learning because they see these kinds of changes,” she told AFP.

“And even if they don’t really understand why, they know it’s not good.”

She walks students through how to identify species, including soft coral. Wave at it, she explains, mimicking wiggling a hand in the water, and wait to see if it “waves back.”

The skills taught at Black Turtle and other dive shops are not simply theoretical.

Artificial coral reefs are dotted around Koh Tao, actively rebuilding marine habitats.

And Nannalin’s data on coral health is part of Coral Watch — a global citizen science project that has produced numerous research papers.

“What we’re doing is collecting data for scientists so they can actually work with governments and authorities,” explained Minks.

‘Doing our best’

On a sunny afternoon on Koh Tao, a boat carries a starfish-shaped rebar structure designed by schoolchildren out to sea, where it will become Global Reef’s latest coral restoration project.

Since it was founded two years ago, Global Reef has transplanted around 2,000 coral colonies, with a survival rate of about 75 percent, said Gavin Miller, the group’s scientific program director.

“It’s not really going to maybe save coral reefs globally… but what it does do is have a very, very large impact locally,” he said.

“We have snappers returning. We have resident puffer fish.”

Global Reef also hosts interns who are training artificial intelligence programs to identify fish in 360-degree videos for reef health surveys, and collaborates regularly with the dive school next door.

And they are studying the surprising resilience of some local coral to persistently high temperatures.

“These might be sort of refuges for coral,” explained Miller.

This year’s bleaching has left many marine enthusiasts despondent, but for conservation divers on Koh Tao, it is also a call to arms.

“In the previous generations, we didn’t have this research and education that we have now,” said Nannalin.

“I think people my age should make the most of it and try their best to reverse the things that have already been done.”

The work also helps Rubio balance the sadness she feels at the changes below the water.

“It’s not like we are going to change things from one day to another, but we are doing our best, and that is the best feeling,” she said.

“I’m working every day to do something good for the environment and for the reef that I love.”
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ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia — Tsenguun Saruulsaikhan, a young and newly minted member of Mongolia’s parliament, is unhappy with below-cost electricity rates that she says show her country has yet to fully shake off its socialist past.

Most of Mongolia’s power plants date from the Soviet era, and outages are common in some areas. Heavy smog envelops the capital Ulaanbaatar in the winter because many people still burn coal to heat their homes.

“It’s stuck in how it was like 40, 50 years ago,” said Tsenguun, part of a rising generation of leaders who are puzzling out their country’s future after three decades of democracy. “And that’s the reason why we need to change it.”

Democracy in Mongolia is in a transition phase, said Tsenguun, who at 27 is the youngest member of a new parliament sworn in this week. “We are trying to figure out what democracy actually means,” she said in a recent interview.

Discontented voters deliver ruling party setback

Mongolia became a democracy in the early 1990s after six decades of one-party communist rule. Many Mongolians welcomed the end of repression and resulting freedoms but have since soured on the parliament and established political parties. Lawmakers are widely seen as enriching themselves and their big business supporters from the nation’s mineral wealth rather than using it to develop a country where poverty is widespread.

Voters delivered an election setback to the ruling Mongolian People’s Party last week, leaving it still in charge but with a slim majority of 68 out of the 126 seats in parliament.

Tsenguun was one of 42 winning candidates from the main opposition Democratic Party, which made a major comeback after being reduced to a handful of seats in the 2016 and 2020 elections.

She articulates a vision for Mongolia that dovetails with small government Republicans in the United States. In her view, too many people think the government will take care of them, and the large budget just feeds corruption. Government should be as invisible as possible, she said, and give people the freedom and responsibility to build their own lives.

“I don’t think that (the) free market has developed yet because the people are not used to this mentality,” she said. “People are afraid of competition.”

The detention of journalists in the past several months has fueled worries that the government may be edging backward, eroding the freedoms that democracy brought.

Younger voters, female representation

The ruling party, which also ran the country during the communist period, is well-entrenched and enjoys the support of many older voters.

Younger voters historically have not voted in large numbers, but anecdotal reports suggest their turnout may have risen in Ulaanbaatar in last week’s election. Nearly half the country’s population of 3.4 million people live in the capital.

“It was really encouraging to see so many young people in such a long line to vote as early as possible,” said Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, a former Democratic Party lawmaker and Cabinet minister who founded her own party two years ago.

The proportion of female representatives rose from 17% to 25% in the new parliament, but most of those came in 48 seats that are allocated to parties based on their share of the vote. Female candidates did not do well in the head-to-head competition to represent 13 multi-member districts.

As a young woman, Tsenguun sees requirements that political parties nominate female candidates as a two-edged sword. She has to fight against the assumption that she got her position only because of a quota.

“I have to prove I’m not too young or inexperienced, and then afterwards comes, oh, she’s a woman,” she said. ‘We are equal people and … we can equally be strong candidates. And that’s what I want to say to my fellow female candidates.”
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washington — The United States has flatly rejected Russia’s claim that it has not violated international sanctions imposed on North Korea, calling on Moscow to stop illegal arms transfers from Pyongyang.

“The U.S. and like-minded countries have successfully highlighted Russia’s U.N. Security Council Resolutions violations,” a State Department spokesperson said in an email to VOA’s Korean Service on Wednesday, responding to an inquiry made about Russia’s denial of violating North Korea sanctions.

“Unfortunately, we now have a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council willing to openly flout sanctions to support the Kim [Jong Un] regime’s priorities.”

The spokesperson continued: “We call on the DPRK and Russia to cease unlawful arms transfers and urge the DPRK to take concrete steps toward abandoning all nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and related programs.” DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.

In a Monday press conference, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia insisted that his country had complied with international sanctions against North Korea.

“We’re not violating the North Korea sanctions regime and all those allegations that come out. They are not proved by material evidence,” he said.

The Russian ambassador went even further, questioning the integrity of a now-defunct U.N. panel of experts charged with monitoring North Korea sanctions. The panel’s annual mandate was not extended this year, following Russia’s veto at the U.N. Security Council in March.

Nebenzia alleged that the panel of experts got involved in the politics after being encouraged by certain countries, adding that “that was the major mistake that they made.”

“The sanctions regime against DPRK is an unprecedented thing in the United Nations. It’s not time bound. It doesn’t have any provisions for reviewing, and this cannot be tolerated.”

The Kremlin’s refusal to renew the expert panel’s annual mandate marked a drastic change from its earlier support for U.N. Resolution 1718, which put in place an arms embargo on North Korea by banning all imports and exports of most weapons and related material.

The U.N. Security Council passed the resolution unanimously in October 2006, just several days after North Korea’s first nuclear test.

This week’s exchange between Washington and Moscow comes as Russia has been deepening military ties with North Korea.

Russian President Vladmir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty during their summit in Pyongyang last month.

In recent months. the U.S. government has repeatedly blown the whistle on Russia’s alleged violations of international sanctions, accusing Moscow of financially and materially facilitating Pyongyang’s efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction.

In a May briefing, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby released specific figures of the refined oil Russia has provided to North Korea so far this year, stressing it has already exceeded the limit set by the U.N. Security Council.

“Russia has been shipping refined petroleum to the DPRK. Russian shipments have already pushed DPRK inputs above [those] mandated by the U.N. Security Council. In March alone, Russia shipped more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to the DPRK,” Kirby said.

In October last year, the White House released three satellite images showing containers moved by ships and trains, saying North Korea had provided Russia with more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and ammunition.

Experts in Washington say this standoff between the U.S. and Russia over North Korea will likely persist for some time.

Scott Snyder, president of the Korea Economic Institute of America, told VOA’s Korean Service via email on Thursday that the recent defense pact between Moscow and Pyongyang is not something the U.S. can afford to ignore.

“North Korea will remain a source of conflict in U.S.-Russia relations as long as North Korea sustains their strategic relationship, which will continue at least until the end of military hostilities in Ukraine,” Snyder said.

Evans Revere, who formerly served as deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said in an email to VOA’s Korean Service on Friday that Russia is setting itself up as North Korea’s backer.

“Russia has made it clear that it intends to oppose U.N. Security Council sanctions, work with North Korea and others to find ways to get around current U.N. Security Council restrictions and strengthen its tactical and strategic coordination with North Korea,” Revere said.

“Russia, which was once part of the important coalition supporting the use of pressure and sanctions to deal with Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs, has now gone over to the other side and become Pyongyang’s de facto protector.”

Jiha Ham contributed to this report.
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