Around a third of Japanese now back holding the Olympics, up from just 14 percent last month, a new poll showed Monday, though a majority still prefer cancellation or postponement because of the pandemic. The poll reinforces other recent surveys that suggest opposition to Tokyo 2020 is softening slightly, just over a month before the July 23 opening ceremony. Support for holding the virus-postponed Games rose to 34 percent, according to the poll by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper published on Monday. However, 32 percent still want the Games to be cancelled altogether and 30 percent want the games to be delayed again, down from 43 percent and 40 percent in last month’s survey, respectively. Organizers have ruled out postponing the Games again, and the first Olympic athletes have already arrived in Japan. The Asahi survey was conducted on June 19 and 20, with 1,469 responses from people contacted on home and mobile phones. It comes after several recent surveys that offered respondents the choice between cancelling the Games or holding it — with no postponement option — found that more back holding the event than scrapping it. The shift in sentiment will be welcome news for organizers, who are expected to announce later Monday how many local fans, if any, will be in the stands for the Games. After a coronavirus state of emergency ended in Tokyo on Sunday, new restrictions limit audiences at large events to 5,000 people or 50 percent capacity, whichever is smallest. That rule is scheduled to be in place until July 11, after which the cap will expand to 10,000 people or 50 percent capacity. Local media reports suggest Olympic organizers will set a 10,000 spectator cap, but that the audience for the opening ceremony could swell to 20,000 including dignitaries and sponsors. Japan has seen a comparatively small virus outbreak, with around 14,500 deaths despite avoiding harsh lockdowns. But its vaccine rollout started slowly, only picking up pace in recent weeks. Around 6.5 percent of the population is currently fully vaccinated. 
…

your ad here

Taiwan said seven employees of its trade office in Hong Kong left the financial hub on Sunday after authorities there demanded they sign a pledge recognizing China’s sovereignty over the self-ruled island.The move comes after both Hong Kong and Macau closed their trade offices in Taipei and as Beijing seeks to pile diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan.Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Hong Kong’s government had demanded its trade office staff sign a “one China pledge,” which supports Beijing’s view that the island is part of its territory.Taiwan’s current democratically elected government views the island as a de facto sovereign state.”China and Hong Kong government use the ‘one China pledge’ to set up barriers and affect the rotation of staff and normal operations of our office in Hong Kong,” Taiwan’s MAC said in a statement on Sunday.”We firmly reject the irrational political suppression of forcing our staff to sign the ‘one China pledge,’ and condemn the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities over this.”Seven staff members flew out of Hong Kong on Sunday, MAC deputy chief Chiu Chui-cheng said.Just one Taiwanese employee is left in the office, although their visa runs out next month. The only remaining members will be local staff.Chiu said that the pledge Hong Kong demanded staff sign also included a promise not to “interfere with Hong Kong’s affairs, nor to do or say anything that undermines Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity or that embarrasses the Hong Kong government.”Taiwan is a major trading partner with both China and Hong Kong but relations between their governments are cratering.Last month, Hong Kong suspended operations of its trade office in Taiwan.It accused Taiwan of “grossly interfering” in the city’s affairs and causing “irretrievable damage” to relations.Macau followed in shutting its office last Wednesday, saying it was having trouble getting visas for staff.Both Hong Kong and Macau are semi-autonomous cities, but Beijing decides foreign policy and is ramping up direct control in both former colonies.China had encouraged trade offices when relations were warmer with Taiwan.But after the 2016 election of Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, Beijing cut official contacts and began a concerted pressure campaign.Tsai’s government is also a vocal supporter of democratic principles and has quietly helped open its doors to some Hong Kongers trying to escape Beijing’s crackdown on dissent after huge democracy protests rocked the financial hub in 2019.Hong Kong says that amounts to “interference.”   
…

your ad here

Two executives from Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Apple Daily appeared in court on Saturday on charges of collusion and were denied bail after authorities deployed a sweeping security law to target the newspaper, a scathing critic of Beijing.Chief editor Ryan Law and CEO Cheung Kim-hung are accused of colluding with foreign forces to undermine China’s national security over a series of articles that police said called for international sanctions.Chief magistrate Victor So said there were insufficient grounds “for the court to believe that the defendants will not continue to commit acts endangering national security.”The two will remain in custody until their next court appearance on Aug. 13 as prosecutors said police needed time to examine more than 40 computers and 16 servers seized from the newsroom.The case is the first time political views and opinions published by a Hong Kong media outlet have triggered the security law, which was imposed last year by Beijing to stamp out dissent in the financial hub.Apple Daily and its jailed owner Jimmy Lai have long been thorns in Beijing’s side, with unapologetic support for the city’s pro-democracy movement and caustic criticism of China’s authoritarian leaders.More than 500 police officers raided the paper’s newsroom on Thursday. Five executives were arrested. Law and Cheung were charged on Friday while the three others were released on bail pending further investigations.”We will continue to publish our paper tomorrow,” deputy chief editor Chan Pui-man said outside court. She was released late Friday on bail.Dozens of supporters were queuing to get seats in court on Saturday morning, including many former and current employees of Apple Daily.A staff member, who gave her surname as Chang, said she and many other Apple Daily employees treat “every day like it is our last” working for the paper.”At first, authorities said the national security law would only target a tiny number of people,” she told AFP.”But what has happened showed us that is nonsense,” she added.Another staff reporter, who gave her first name as Theresa, said she felt Apple Daily’s legal troubles were a warning shot.”I think what has happened to Apple Daily today can eventually happen to every other news outlet in the city,” she said.Plunging press freedomMultiple international media companies have regional headquarters in Hong Kong, attracted to the business-friendly regulations and free speech provisions written into the city’s mini-constitution.But many are now questioning whether they have a future there and are drawing up contingency plans as Beijing presses on with a broad crackdown on dissent in the city.Local media have an even tougher time, with journalist associations saying reporters are increasingly having to self-censor.Hong Kong has steadily plunged down an annual press freedom ranking by Reporters Without Borders, from 18th place in 2002 to 80th this year.Mainland China languishes at 177th out of 180, above only Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea.Hong Kong and Chinese officials say the arrests were not an attack on the media.Earlier this week, security secretary John Lee described Apple Daily as a “criminal syndicate.”Apple Daily is by far the most outspoken of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy media outlets. But it is not clear how long it can survive.Its wealthy owner Lai, 73, is currently serving multiple jail sentences for his involvement in democracy rallies in 2019.He has also been charged under the national security law and has had his Hong Kong assets frozen.Authorities froze a further HK$18 million (US$2.3 million) of Apple Daily’s company assets on Thursday.Police say they also plan to prosecute three companies owned by Apple Daily under the security law, which could see the paper fined or banned.It is the first time companies, rather than an individual, have faced a national security investigation.Mark Simon, an aide to Lai who lives overseas, said the paper would have difficulty paying its staff of about 700.Company lawyers were trying to work out the breadth of the asset freeze order, he added.”Money is not an issue. Draconian orders from Beijing via the NSL (national security law) are the issue,” he told AFP.
…

your ad here

The international community sent a strong signal Friday to Myanmar’s military, condemning its seizure of the civilian government and its monthslong violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.  In a resolution adopted in the U.N. General Assembly by a vote of 119-1, with Belarus the only country voting against and 36 abstentions, member states called for an end to the violence and for respect of the will of the people as expressed in the November election. They called for the return to the democratic path, the release of political detainees and the end of the state of emergency imposed after the February 1 coup. While the legal power to impose an international arms embargo lies only with the Security Council, the resolution does call on “all member states to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar.” Myanmar’s ambassador, who is aligned with the national unity government, welcomed the resolution, saying that he hoped it would help pressure the military to stop “their inhumane acts” but was disappointed it fell “far short of our expectations.” FILE – Myanmar’s United Nations Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun addresses the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, March 11, 2019.Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun said it had been more than 130 days since the coup and there was no sign the brutal military crackdown was easing. He appealed to the international community, as well as to the U.N. Security Council, to take “collective and decisive action” to ease the violence. Nearly 900 civilian protesters have been confirmed killed and 6,000 arrested since the military seized power February 1, rejecting the outcome of the November elections that overwhelmingly gave power to the National League for Democracy party. “The military is still operating in its own twisted reality, ignoring the international community’s calls,” Kyaw Moe Tun said. The resolution also calls on the military to “immediately facilitate” a visit by U.N. Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener. She has been trying to return to the country since the coup, but the junta has repeatedly put her off. “Time is of the essence,” she told the gathering. “The opportunity to reverse the military takeover is narrowing, and the regional threat increasing.” FILE – Protesters react after tear gas is fired by police during a demonstration against the military coup in the northwestern town of Kalay, March 2, 2021.She said that fighting had emerged in areas covered in the 2015 nationwide cease-fire agreement, and that there had been “serious confrontations” in areas with long-standing bilateral truces with the military. “The risk of a large-scale civil war is real,” she warned. On April 24, at a summit in Indonesia, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations issued a five-point plan to lead the country out of the crisis. The plan included dialogue, ASEAN mediation and a halt to the hostilities. The Myanmar military has so far ignored it. The General Assembly called on the junta to engage with ASEAN to seek a peaceful outcome to the crisis. But not all ASEAN members supported the resolution. Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand abstained. FILE – A protester against Myanmar’s junta holds a placard criticizing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in Mandalay, Myanmar, June 5, 2021.Diplomats said the 10-member bloc preferred to support the measure in a “consensus” rather than a recorded vote. But Belarus demanded the recorded vote, and it chipped at the unity. China, which is not an ASEAN member and is close to the Myanmar military, also abstained. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks to the media in New York City, New York, June 18, 2021.Earlier Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters that the human rights abuses and killings must stop and that the conditions need to be created for democracy to be restored. “I hope the General Assembly will be able to send a very clear message in this direction because we cannot live in a world where military coups become a norm. It is totally unacceptable,” he told reporters. European Union envoy Olof Skoog, who was part of the core group that negotiated the text, said they did succeed in sending the military a powerful message “that is the broadest and most universal condemnation of the situation in Myanmar to date.” “It (the resolution) delegitimizes the military junta, condemns its abuse and violence against its own people, and demonstrates its isolation in the eyes of the world,” he said. 
 
…

your ad here

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his government to be prepared for both dialogue and confrontation with the Biden administration — but more for confrontation — state media reported Friday, days after the United States and others urged the North to abandon its nuclear program and return to talks.Kim’s statement indicates he’ll likely push to strengthen his nuclear arsenal and increase pressure on Washington to give up what North Korea considers a hostile policy toward the North, though he’ll also prepare for talks to resume, some experts say.During an ongoing ruling party meeting Thursday, Kim analyzed in detail the policy tendencies of the U.S. under President Joe Biden and clarified steps to be taken in relations with Washington, the Korean Central News Agency said. It did not specify the steps.Kim “stressed the need to get prepared for both dialogue and confrontation, especially to get fully prepared for confrontation in order to protect the dignity of our state” and ensure national security, it said.In 2018-19, Kim held a series of summits with then-President Donald Trump to discuss North Korea’s advancing nuclear arsenal. But the negotiations fell apart after Trump rejected Kim’s calls for extensive sanctions relief in return for a partial surrender of his nuclear capability.Biden’s administration has worked to formulate a new approach on North Korea’s nuclear program that it describes as “calibrated and practical.” Details of his North Korea policy haven’t been publicized, but U.S. officials have suggested Biden will seek a middle ground between Trump’s direct meetings with Kim and former President Barack Obama’s “strategic patience” to curb Kim’s nuclear program.Earlier this week, leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations issued a statement calling for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and “the verifiable and irreversible abandonment” of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. They called on North Korea to engage and resume dialogue.Sung Kim, the top U.S. official on North Korea, is to visit Seoul on Saturday for a trilateral meeting with South Korean and Japanese officials. His travel emphasizes the importance of three-way cooperation in working toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the State Department said.Kim Jong Un has recently threatened to enlarge his nuclear arsenal and build high-tech weapons targeting the U.S. mainland if Washington refuses to abandon its hostile policy toward North Korea.In March, Kim’s military performed its first short-range ballistic missile tests in a year. But North Korea is still maintaining a moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear tests in an indication that Kim still wants to keep prospects for diplomacy alive.Kwak Gil Sup, head of One Korea Center, a website specializing in North Korea affairs, wrote on Facebook that Kim’s statement suggested he’s taking a two-track approach of bolstering military capability and preparing for talks. But he said Kim will more likely focus on boosting military strength and repeating his demand for the U.S. to withdraw its hostile policy, rather than hastily returning to talks.Kim said last week North Korea’s military must stay on high alert to defend national security.
Analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea said North Korea will likely return to talks but won’t accept a call for immediate, complete denuclearization. He said North Korea may accede to a proposal to freeze its atomic program and partially reduce its nuclear arsenal in phased steps if the Biden administration relaxes sanctions and suspends its regular military drills with South Korea.Cha Duck Chul, a deputy spokesman at South Korea’s Unification Ministry, said it’s closely monitoring the North’s ongoing political meeting and wants to reemphasize the best way to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula is through dialogue.In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijiang called for renewed dialogue between North Korea and the U.S., saying that “We believe that the Korean Peninsula situation is facing a new round of tension.”Kim called the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee meeting taking place this week to review efforts to rebuild the economy, which has been severely crippled by pandemic border closings, mismanagement amid the U.S.-led sanctions, and storm damage to crops and infrastructure last year.On Tuesday, Kim opened the meeting by warning of potential food shortages, urging officials to find ways to boost agricultural production because the country’s food situation “is now getting tense.” He also urged the country to brace for extended COVID-19 restrictions, suggesting North Korea would extend its border closure and other steps despite the stress on its economy.
…

your ad here

Adding a crew to China’s new orbiting space station is another major advance for the burgeoning space power.  
Here’s a look at key developments:  What’s The Mission’s Purpose?  
The three-member crew is due to stay for three months in the station’s main living module, named Tianhe, or Heavenly Harmony. They will be carrying out science experiments and maintenance, space walks and preparing the facility to receive two additional modules next year.
 
While China concedes it arrived late at the space station game, it says its facility is cutting-edge. It could also outlast the International Space Station, which is nearing the end of its functional lifespan.  
The launch Thursday  also revives China’s crewed space program after a five-year hiatus. With Thursday’s launch, China has now sent 14 astronauts into space since it first achieved the feat in 2003, becoming the third country after the former Soviet Union and the U.S. to do so.  Chinese astronauts, from left, Tang Hongbo, Nie Haisheng, and Liu Boming listen to a journalist’s question during a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center ahead of the Shenzhou-12 launch from Jiuquan in northwestern China.Why Is China Building The Station?  
As the Chinese economy was beginning to gather steam in the early 1990s, China formulated a plan for space exploration, which it has carried out at a steady, cautious cadence. While China has been barred from participation in the International Space Station, mainly over U.S. objections to the Chinese program’s secretive nature and close military connections, it’s likely the country would have built its own station anyway as it sought the status of a great space power.  
At a news conference Wednesday, China Manned Space Agency Assistant Director Ji Qiming told reporters at the Jiuquan launch center that the construction and operation of the space station will raise China’s technologies and “accumulate experience for all the people.”  
The space program is part of an overall drive to put China on track for even more ambitious missions and provide opportunities for cooperation with Russia and other, mostly European, countries along with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.  Politics And Security  
China’s space program has been a massive source of national pride, embodying its rise from poverty to the world’s second-largest economy over the past four decades. That has helped shore up the power of the Communist Party, whose authoritarian rule and strict limits on political activity have been tolerated by most Chinese as long as the economy is growing.
 
President and head of the party Xi Jinping has associated himself closely with that success, and Ji in his remarks cited Xi as setting the updated agenda for China’s rise to prominence in space. The first mission to the station also coincides with the celebration of the party centenary next month, an important political milestone.  
At the same time, China is modernizing its military at a rapid pace, raising concerns from neighbors, the U.S. and its NATO allies. While China espouses the peaceful development of space on the basis of equality and mutual respect, many recall that China in January 2007 sent a ballistic missile into space to destroy an inactive weather satellite, creating a debris field that continues to be a threat.  Who Are The Astronauts?
Mission commander Nie Haisheng, 56, and fellow astronauts Liu Boming, 54, and Tang Hongbo, 45, are former People’s Liberation Army Air Force pilots with graduate degrees and strong scientific backgrounds. All Chinese astronauts so far have been recruited from the military, underscoring its close ties to the space program.  
For Nie, it is his third trip to space, and for Liu, his second following a mission in 2008 that included China’s first space walk. Tang, who was recruited as one of the second batch of candidates in 2010, is flying in space for the first time.  
Future missions to the station will include women, according to officials, with stays extended to as long as six months and as many as six astronauts on the station at a time during crew changeovers. With China stepping up international cooperation and exchanges, it’s only a matter of time before foreign astronauts join the Chinese colleagues on missions to the station, Ji told reporters Wednesday.  What Else Is China Doing in Space?  
Along with its crewed space program, China has been moving boldly into exploration of the solar system with robotic space ships. It landed a probe on Mars last month that carried a rover, the Zhurong, which is conducting a range of surveys, looking particularly for frozen water that could provide clues as to whether the red plant once supported life.  
Earlier, China landed a probe and rover on the moon’s less explored far side, joining the Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, rover that was part of an earlier lunar exploration mission. China also brought back the first lunar samples by any country’s space program since the 1970s and officials say they want to send Chinese astronauts to the moon and eventually build a research base there.
…

your ad here

China launched the first crew of its new permanent space station into orbit Thursday morning.Veteran astronauts Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming and rookie Tang Hongbo blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China aboard the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft.A crowd of well-wishers bid the three astronauts farewell in an elaborate ceremony before they boarded a van to take them to the launch pad to board their spacecraft.  The mission is China’s first manned space flight in five years.The trio is expected to reach the first module of the station, dubbed Tianhe, or “Heavenly Harmony,” by Thursday evening, where they will spend the next three months outfitting the module with equipment and testing its various components.This mission is the third of 11 needed to add more elements to the space station before it becomes fully operational next year. The new station is expected to remain operational for 10 years.The station could outlast the U.S.-led International Space Station, which may be decommissioned after its funding expires in 2024. China has never sent astronauts to the ISS due to a U.S. law that effectively bars the space agency NASA from collaborating with China.China is aggressively building up its space program as an example of its rising global stature and technological might. It became the third country to send a human into space in 2003, behind the United States and Russia, and has already operated two temporary experimental space stations with manned crews.Just this year, it sent an unmanned probe into orbit around Mars, while another probe brought back the first samples from the moon in more than 40 years.
…

your ad here

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations reassured Congress Wednesday that she is working to monitor and rein in what she called China’s “malign influence” at the world body. “China has been aggressive and coercive in using its power at the United Nations,” Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She said Beijing promotes an “authoritarian approach to multilateralism.”  The ambassador pointed to an array of actions, including its influence at three U.N. technical organizations where their nationals are in charge, and Beijing’s use of COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy to pressure some poorer nations. “We will be pushing hard against those efforts,” she said. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield testifies to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the Biden administration’s priorities for engagement with the United Nations on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 16, 2021.She urged lawmakers to invest in the United Nations to restore U.S. influence there, which declined during the Trump administration. “Our adversaries and competitors are investing in the United Nations. We can’t expect to compete unless we do, too,” Thomas-Greenfield said. More than 40 legislators questioned the veteran diplomat over more than four hours during a hearing on the Biden administration’s priorities for engagement with the United Nations. Many expressed concerns about China’s persecution of minority Uyghur Muslims in the autonomous Xinjiang province. Human rights groups accuse China of sending more than a million Uyghurs to detention camps. China says the compounds are “vocational education centers” intended to stop the spread of religious extremism and terrorist attacks.  U.S. Representative Michael McCaul asked Thomas-Greenfield if she agrees with the committee that the Chinese government is carrying out a genocide and crimes against humanity on the Uyghurs. FILE – A perimeter fence is constructed around what is officially known as a vocational skills education center in Dabancheng in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, Sept. 4, 2018.”Yes, genocide is being committed against Uyghurs in Xinjiang,” she said. “And the PRC government is committing crimes against humanity. We have called the Chinese out on this.” Lawmakers also expressed concern about China’s sway over the World Health Organization, some charging that Beijing’s influence had made the WHO fail in its duty to warn the world of the severity of the coronavirus pandemic. Thomas-Greenfield made clear that the Biden administration supports “a robust and transparent” investigation into the origins of the pandemic. As for the WHO, she noted it has appointed an independent committee headed by former Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark to review WHO’s response. “I am confident in their abilities to get to the bottom of this, and I know they are working hard,” she said. “Their reputations are attached to this, and we are looking forward to seeing the results.” U.S. Representative Mark Green asked if Taiwan should participate at the United Nations. China has used its influence over the years to prevent its recognition. “We support Taiwan,” she said. “We want to see Taiwan recognized for the extraordinary democracy that it is.” Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. continues to push at the U.N. for Taiwan’s participation in programs that do not require member state status, such as the recent World Health Assembly. However, that effort failed. Thomas-Greenfield took up her post as U.N. ambassador and a member of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet in February. The posting is the culmination of a wide-ranging, 35-year State Department career. 
 
…

your ad here

Taiwan’s defense ministry said China flew 28 warplanes within its airspace Tuesday.   The formation of several fighter jets and bombers entered the southwestern part of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, the ministry added. Taiwan’s air force deployed several planes and initiated its air defense systems in response.   China has repeatedly deployed warplanes and naval vessels near Taiwan over the last few years as part of a pressure campaign on the self-ruled island. Beijing sent 25 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone back in April. A Chinese government spokesman said it carried out the mission in response to a statement issued at the end of the G-7 summit Sunday calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-Taiwan Strait tensions. The spokesman accused the G-7 leaders of interfering in China’s internal affairs.   Beijing considers the island as part of its territory even though it has been self-governing since the end of China’s civil war in 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces were driven off the mainland by Mao Zedong’s Communists. China has vowed to bring the island under its control by any means necessary, including a military takeover. Washington officially switched formal diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but the Trump administration angered China as it increasingly embraced Taiwan, both diplomatically and militarily, after taking office in 2017 and throughout its four-year tenure.   
…

your ad here

Fed up with a culture of overwork, through-the-roof housing prices and skyrocketing living costs, many Chinese youth are “lying flat” to express their frustration with the lack of upward social mobility.Lying flat includes opting out of getting married, having children, purchasing a home or car, and joining the corporate money-making machine, according to China’s Jiang Shuaihui, 25, a worker from Henan province plays video games in a room he is renting in Tongzhou district of Beijing, Feb. 25, 2016.And because the post-pandemic recovery has been driven by an expansion of blue-collar jobs, according to Ma Zhenguo, a system engineer at RenRen Credit Management Co., sleeps on a camp bed at the office after finishing work early morning, in Beijing, China, April 27, 2016.Government respondsBy late May, the Chinese government was countering such notions. “China is at one of the most important stages of its long road to national rejuvenation. Young people are the hope of this country, and neither their personal situation nor the situation of this country will allow them to ‘collectively lie flat,'” said a May 28 editorial  in the Global Times, a tabloid controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and quoted by Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post. Analysts say the lying flat attitude is rooted in the lack of upward social mobility. People born in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s benefited from Deng Xiaoping’s 1978 policy, a series of transformative economic reforms that opened China up to the international community and foreign investment. The reform set the stage for the emergence of Chinese companies with international reach, such as Huawei and Alibaba.”In the Deng Xiaoping era, China launched the policy to ‘let some people get rich first,'” Xie Fei, a host at Henan Broadcasting System and a current affairs commentator at China’s Zhejiang Television, told VOA Mandarin. “Yet the current generation finds that they no longer have the same opportunities as their parents to achieve upward mobility. In other words, they can’t expect to have the explosive growth of wealth as their parents’ generation.” According to 2017 data from the latest iteration of a recurring Chinese survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Science, people under 35 experienced a high level of unstable employment and relatively low salaries. Lin Thung-Hong, a research fellow at the Institute of Sociology of Academia Sinica in Taiwan, said this is partly due to the economic slowdown in 2015 and 2016. One of the survey’s key findings is that college graduates in China face difficulties finding jobs.”China’s economic development has plateaued, young people have fewer job opportunities, and the lying down attitude reflects the difficulties in the overall economy in China,” he told VOA Mandarin. ’Just not sustainable’Once graduates find jobs, many feel they’re expected to overwork. Lucy Li, 35, works in the banking industry in Beijing. She asked to use a pseudonym, fearing retaliation by her employer.”I know 996 is prevalent in the tech industry, but now it has spread to every sector,” she told VOA Mandarin. “In our bank, the leadership will drop by unannounced around 8 p.m. to see who’s still working, and those still in the office are the ones getting promoted.” ”So everyone ends up working 12 hours a day,” she said. “It’s just not sustainable.”Another worker, Wang, said he quit his job with the tech giant Alibaba because he often started work around 9 a.m., returned home around 7 p.m. and then returned to the office after his two children went to bed, or around 9 p.m. Back at the office, he usually worked until midnight — or as late as 2-3 a.m. if he was developing a product or it was the busy season. He asked VOA Mandarin to use only his surname to avoid attracting attention. ”It’s just a culture. We are doing the things we love, but it’s also pretty draining if you are working 24/7,” he told VOA Mandarin.In 2019, Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, famously said on China’s Twitter-like social media platform Weibo that “it’s a blessing to be able to do 996.” “If you are not doing 996 when you are young, when can you do it? If we are doing things we love, 996 is not a problem at all,” he wrote. Widely criticized, the post was deleted. The 996 culture has led to death by overwork, a phenomenon first recognized in Japan’s workplace culture, or karoshi. Japan passed the Work Style Reform Bill in 2018 to limit brutally long work weeks.Earlier this year in China, the deaths of two employees of the online agricultural marketplace Pinduoduo sparked discussion of overwork. Many young people took to social media to say they didn’t want the 996 lifestyle, and they started to advocate for a more relaxed attitude toward work. On May 28, Weibo polled users about lying flat. Among the 241,000 people who took the survey, 43% firmly agreed with the concept, 31% said they somewhat agree with it, and another 18% said they would like to lie flat, but they have too many other responsibilities.  About 80% of Weibo’s 850 million users are 17 to 33 years old, according to a guide to advertising on the site. The popularity of the lying flat movement concerns Beijing because it runs against Chinese President Xi Jinping’s notion of a Chinese dream. In 2012, Xi used the term when he was first promoted to the top Communist Party post, saying China must “strive to achieve the Chinese dream of great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”The Global Times quoted Chinese sociologists and educators, saying the younger generations are more self-centered and more sensitive to pressure than their elders. ”Instead of always following the ‘virtues’ of struggle, endure and sacrifice to bear the stresses, they prefer a temporary ‘lying down’ as catharsis and adjustment,” the article said. The official Xinhua News Agency wrote in a commentary published in late May that “lying flat is shameful. Only hard work brings happiness.” Xinhua later posted a video of an 86-year-old Chinese scientist surnamed Zhao who rises at 4 a.m. each morning to work. “After his retirement, he still works for 10-12 hours a day voluntarily for the country and for the people,” Xinhua said. The video sparked a new wave of criticism among Chinese netizens. One post said, “The scientist is at his fifth level of needs, which is to realize his value in life. I’m at the first level, which is survival. How can you compare the two?” The other read, “Lying flat is not something I actually enjoy; it’s a helpless option under the unbearable pressure of life.” Lin, with Academia Sinica, said the immobility in China’s economy, society and politics has led to the stagnation of the entire national mobility system. And without social mobility, there would be no “Chinese dream.””The people are lying flat. The country is dreaming. It’s pretty ironic,” he told VOA Mandarin. 
…

your ad here

Sexual and gender minorities continue to suffer discrimination and harassment around the world. But in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, some transgender women are finding solace in religious teachings, as reported by VOA’s Rendy Wicaksana.Camera: Rendy Wicaksana 
…

your ad here

When Myanmar’s military shocked the world by announcing a coup earlier this year, many people inside the country were stunned at the news. After decades under military rule, they had enjoyed 10 years of a developing democracy until the armed forces took back control. Initially, most of the country merely looked on, hesitant to begin a rebellion given Myanmar’s violent past. But as the junta installed its own Cabinet and detained members of the National League for Democracy, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi, an uprising began brewing. Residents banged pots and pans in anger in the first few days after the coup, signaling their disapproval of the military takeover. Major protests didn’t materialize until the influence of one doctor turned activist became apparent. Spring revolution Dr. Ko Tayzar San, 33, from Mandalay, is largely credited with leading the first anti-coup demonstrations, a movement that is now known as the Spring Revolution. Today, he is on the run. He recalls the first moments of the rebellion against the junta, officially the State Administrative Council (SAC). Infuriated with the armed forces takeover, some people had planned an immediate backlash, but the swirling rumors of a coup could not be verified. “On February 1, they (Myanmar military) turned off the mobile network in the whole country. At that moment, we didn’t confirm any information, what is going on and what is happening,” Tayzar San told VOA. Three days later, he took to the streets of Mandalay to protest with friends and other demonstrators who resisted the military’s power grab. Four of his friends were arrested that day, and one has since been killed. Soon after, the soldiers came for him. The activist knew then that his life would never be the same. “As for me, the soldiers raided and destroyed my home, where my family lived before the coup. They knew my home address, so they came looking for me and smashed and break the whole house, confiscated everything and three cars.” “I already know from that moment I decided to get involved. Anytime I can be arrested. Anytime I could be shot and killed, and life could be ruined. … That we already knew and accepted,” he said.People protest in Mandalay, June 14, 2021.On the run Speaking from an undisclosed location, Tayzar San said he misses his family the most. He added that it was recently his daughter’s second birthday, and he hadn’t seen her for over 120 days. “I have been on the run for a long time. My arrest warrant has been issued since the third week of February. I have not been home since February 2,” he said. But he believes the heightened security concerns are felt everywhere. “If you live in your own home, you could be shot at any time. You can be arrested for no reason, (and) maybe threatened (with) your life. There is no security in the whole country right now.” Until recently, Tayzar San hadn’t been known for his pro-democracy advocacy, especially when compared with other well-known activists who have risen to prominence in response to Myanmar’s deep-rooted political issues in recent years. “Before the coup, my professional work was (as) executive director at Yone Kyi Yar Knowledge Propagation Society, a civil society organization in Mandalay. And I am also a doctor, so I do medical treatment in charity clinics.” But ever since Myanmar’s anti-coup protests first erupted across the country, Tayzar San has been involved. Four and a half months on, he’s still at it, often seen roaring into a megaphone in protest. Efforts noted And his efforts have recently been rewarded. Local media reported how he was the recipient of South Korea’s June Democratic Uprising award, named after the 1987 uprising that led to South Korea’s democratization. “A lot has been given in these four months. Many people have fallen, and many lives have been lost, and people are in prison,” he said, adding that Myanmar is facing both socioeconomic and business crises. “Today, Myanmar is in the darkest time. However, in the midst of so much suffering, the people are fully in the mood to reject the dictator,” he added. Protests peaked during the first two months after the coup, but since then, mass demonstrations have waned, largely due to the military’s violent crackdown on the city. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights-monitoring group based in Thailand, at least 860 have been killed and thousands detained. Tayzar San said demonstrators had been given no option but to respond with “guerrilla protests.” “We will oppose this dictatorship any way we can,” he said. Looking forward As for international intervention, Tayzar San believes implementing an arms embargo would reduce the Myanmar military’s arsenal of weapons. “I believe that the role of the international community will continue to support as long as the people of the country continue to fight,” he said. New opposition movements and organizations have formed since the coup. The Civil Disobedience Movement has led to huge strikes across the country, while the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw includes ousted politicians of the democratic government. The National Unity Government is claiming to be Myanmar’s legitimate administration, with the People’s Defense Force as its armed wing. The junta has declared that illegal. Yet challenges remain. Ethnic minority groups have been fighting for autonomy and land control for over 70 years, and deep historical animosities exist among them. But with the military’s coup so drastic and far-reaching, hopes are pinned on the country to unite against one common enemy. “To make our country peaceful, where people are treated as human beings, it is very clear that this will only happen if we can create a federal democratic union,” Tayzar San said.“For me, the new Myanmar (will be a) happy country that we want to pass on to the next generation,” he added. 
…

your ad here