U.S. journalist Danny Fenster was imprisoned in Yangon on Monday. His family has been given no information as to why the editor of Frontier Myanmar was detained. Fenster is one of dozens of journalists arrested since Myanmar’s military seized power in February.Producer: Esha Sarai. Contributor: Jessica Jerreat.
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Category: East
East news. East is the direction toward which the Earth rotates about its axis, and therefore the general direction from which the Sun appears to rise. The practice of praying towards the East is older than Christianity, but has been adopted by this religion as the Orient was thought of as containing mankind’s original home
US Expected to Move Only Aircraft Carrier in Asia-Pacific Region to Middle East
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected Thursday to approve moving the only aircraft carrier based in the Asia-Pacific region to the Middle East, two defense officials told VOA. The rare movement of the USS Ronald Reagan, which is based in Yokosuka, Japan, and usually deploys around the Pacific, would support the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, according to the officials. The deployment of the USS Ronald Reagan will likely mean the U.S. won’t have an aircraft carrier based in the region, at least for part of the carrier’s deployment. But Britain’s HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier strike group, which is hosting hundreds of U.S. Marines and 10 of the Marine Corps’ F-35 fighter jets, is currently en route to the Pacific region. According to USNI News, this will be the first time the Japan-based strike group and air wing will operate in the Middle East since 2003, when the USS Kitty Hawk, now a decommissioned carrier, deployed to the Persian Gulf to provide air support for the war in Iraq. The Pentagon has frequently said it is placing greater focus on the Indo-Pacific region in accordance with the 2018 National Defense Strategy, which made near-peer competition with China and Russia its top priority. Need for air supportBut President Joe Biden’s announcement in April that the U.S. would pull its troops out of Afghanistan by September 11 has increased the need for a continued carrier presence in the Middle East to provide additional air support. The USS Ronald Reagan will relieve the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which has been deployed for more than three months. Officials would not confirm how long the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower would remain in the region after its replacement’s arrival. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby declined to confirm the deployment, saying the Pentagon does not talk about ship movements in advance. “The only thing I would add is … the secretary wants to make sure that General (Austin “Scott”) Miller has the right options at his disposal to make sure that the withdrawal from Afghanistan is done in a safe, orderly and deliberate way,” Kirby said. Last week, the Navy announced that the USS Ronald Reagan had left Japan for a deployment “in the Indo-Pacific region.” The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the carrier’s rare move.
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China Seen Expanding Military Capability in Space, but not Yet on Mars or the Moon
China’s military may be examining its decades-old space program for ways to improve data collection and disrupt the satellites of other countries if needed, analysts said this week following a Mars landing and a debris crash into the Indian Ocean.Earlier this month China placed a rover on Mars, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, becoming the second nation after the United States to make the landing. A little more than two years ago, China sent its robotic spacecraft Chang’e 4 to a basin on the far side of the moon. A Chinese orbital space biology lab is due for completion by 2025, the Beijing-based Global Times news website said in March.China Lands Spacecraft on MarsPlans call for rover to stay in lander for few days of diagnostic tests before rolling down ramp to explore icy area of Mars, Utopia PlanitiaAlong with its achievements, China’s fast-growing space program has caused some alarm. Earlier this month, there was real concern about possible casualties as debris from one of its rockets fell to earth, landing in the Indian Ocean west of the Maldives and south of India.Although none of China’s space missions has an express military motive, analysts believe the People’s Liberation Army is monitoring this ever-deeper exploration for opportunities, such as new ways to collect intelligence or blind satellites from other countries during any conflict.“Now that they have a very modern launch vehicle fleet, they want to probe as much as they can, and if there’s something that’s attractive for industry or for military purposes, then they’ll proceed,” said Marco Cáceres, director of space studies with the market analysis firm Teal Group Corp. in the United States.Decades of space explorationChina launched its first satellite in 1970 and put its first man in space in 2003, becoming the world’s third nation, after Russia and the United States, to do so. Chinese officials have said they are using space exploration peacefully and have spoken at the U.N. Conference on Disarmament against the militarization of earth’s outer atmosphere.Some of its scores of satellites are for military or dual-purpose use, the SpaceRef industry news website says. Western countries believe two in particular to be for express military use, it says.The U.S. Department of Defense has said in reports on the Chinese armed forces that the manned space launch could help China militarily and that the country may be developing a direct-ascent anti-satellite weapon to jam U.S. navigation satellite signals.’Dazzle’ and gather dataThe Chinese military could be looking for ways now to use direct energy beams to “dazzle” or disrupt other countries’ gear operating in low orbits, said Derek Grossman, senior analyst with the U.S.-based Rand Corp. research organization. Its satellites might eventually gather information in a way that protects that data from “adversarial interference”, he added.To target a foreign satellite would mean “mutually assured destruction,” said Carl Thayer, an Asia-specialized emeritus professor from the University of New South Wales in Australia.China is not capable of militarizing the moon or Mars, said Alexander Huang, a strategic studies professor at Taiwan’s Tamkang University in Taiwan.China Space Agency: Lunar Probe Successfully Lands on MoonProbe is expected to gather lunar soil and rock samples and return them to EarthShowing strength on earthBut missions to the far reaches of space let China flex muscle on earth, Thayer said.“The larger [agenda] is demonstrating technological prowess, advanced technology to convince the rest of the world ‘you’re on a losing wicket if you’re going to stick to the U.S.’, that China’s growing more and more powerful,” Thayer said. Many smaller Asian governments consider Washington to be a military ally as China’s navy becomes stronger in the region.China’s space program is catching up to the United States, currently the world’s top space power in terms of resources, Grossman said. Few other countries have programs that come even close. “Their space program is second in the world,” he said. “They are catching up to us rapidly and will probably overtake us if we don’t invest in the coming years.”China is anxious to compete especially so it can impress its own citizens around events such as the 100-year anniversary this year of the Communist Party’s founding, Huang said. It’s looking at space for scientific knowledge too, he said.“China needs one or two leading programs that can give more No. 1 stickers to China when they celebrate the centennial and continue to celebrate whatsoever,” Huang said.Steady progress, no agendaChina still lacks a specific “agenda” save to expand its presence in space as other countries do, Caceres said. But all along, he said, China’s military will have the “biggest role” of any government department, even in multi-use endeavors. The country with the world’s third strongest armed forces after the United States and Russia is exploring space in a “methodical” way, without the shifts that the U.S. space agency, NASA, experiences when new presidents take office in Washingtonton, he said.But overall, he said, “they’re just kind of seeing what’s possible.”
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Australia to Close Embassy in Afghanistan within Days
Australia says it will close its embassy in Afghanistan this week, because it will not be able to guarantee security once international troops leave.Australia’s Embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul will shut on May 28.Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he hoped the closure would be temporary, and that Australia could reopen an embassy in the future.Until then, diplomats will fly into Afghanistan from other countries.Morrison has said an “increasingly uncertain security environment” made it too unsafe for embassy staff to be based in Afghanistan. The precise location of the Australian embassy in Kabul has rarely been publicly identified, due to security concerns.Mark Wales, a retired Australian Special Forces soldier, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that closing the embassy is a logical move.“Kabul is still not a secure area. There is a lot of attacks happening there. So, it makes sense they would try and consolidate the embassy as U.S. and allied troops are drawn down. It is a natural step towards concluding the war. I think the Taliban are in a position of significant leverage. They have outlasted a superpower and all the allies that we could muster,” he said.FILE – Mohammad Naeem, spokesman for the Taliban’s political office, speaks in Moscow, Russia, March 19, 2021.The Taliban “assures all foreign diplomats and staff of humanitarian groups that (we) will not pose any threat to them,” Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem told VOA in response to the announcement by Australia. Naeem said the Taliban will ensure a “safe environment” for the activities of foreign diplomats and aid workers in the country, noting his group has for years been working closely with humanitarian organizations in the strife-torn country. “In the future, they don’t have to worry about running their business as usual,” the spokesman asserted. The Taliban is said to be controlling or contesting more than half of Afghanistan’s 34 districts. There has been a surge in violence in recent weeks since U.S. President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of American troops, which will bring the NATO-led operation to an end.FILE – NATO soldiers inspect near the site of an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 25, 2020.Some analysts have expressed concern that the military pull-out could send Afghanistan back into a full-scale conflict.There are also concerns for Afghan nationals who worked with the Australians, particularly if peace talks between the Afghan government with the Taliban, a hard-line Islamic movement, fail.A special investigator probing allegations of war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan said the closure of the embassy in Kabul was “not…ideal” but that contingencies to speak to witnesses were in place.Almost 40,000 Australians were deployed to Afghanistan during 20 years of war. Forty-one military personnel were killed. It is estimated that 60,000 members of the Afghan security forces died and nearly twice as many civilians.About 80 Australian troops remain in the country, and they will be brought home by September.VOA’s Ayaz Gul in Islamabad contributed to this report.
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Major Japanese Newspaper Calls for Cancellation of Tokyo Olympics
A major Japanese newspaper has called for the Tokyo Olympic Games to be cancelled due to the worsening COVID-19 crisis in the country. An editorial printed in Wednesday’s edition of The Asahi Shimbun called on Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to calmly assess the current circumstances and cancel the Olympics. The editorial criticized the leaders of the International Olympic Committee for being “self-righteous,” especially vice-president John Coates, who said last week the Tokyo Olympics would be held even if a state of emergency were in force. The newspaper said Coates’s comments were out of step with the Japanese public.IOC and Tokyo 2020 Olympic organizers hold joint news conference in Tokyo, May 21, 2021.Public sentiment against staging the Olympics has been growing amid a surge of new infections that has overwhelmed hospitals across the country. Tokyo and other regions in Japan are under a state of emergency that expires on May 31, but will likely be extended through June. The Asahi Shimbun, whose liberal-leaning editorial stance places it opposite those of Prime Minister Suga’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is the first major Japanese newspaper to call for the event’s cancelation, despite being one of its major sponsors. The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association, which represents about 6,000 primary care doctors and hospitals, has also called on Suga to convince the International Olympic Committee to cancel the games. The Shimbun’s editorial comes just two days after the U.S. government issued a warning for its citizens not to travel to Japan because of the new surge of COVID-19 cases. The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8 after a one-year postponement as the novel coronavirus pandemic began spreading across the globe. In Australia, the southern state of Victoria is dealing with a new outbreak of COVID-19 cases. Acting state Premier James Merlino told reporters Wednesday health authorities have identified six new coronavirus infections in Melbourne, bringing the total number of infections in the capital city to 15.In this May 10, 2021, file photo, a Fire and Rescue worker receives a Pfizer vaccine at the newly opened COVID-19 vaccination center in Sydney, Australia.The new cases are linked to an overseas traveler who became infected during his mandatory hotel quarantine phase. Merlino says all the cases are related, which he described as “a good thing,” but said officials are “very concerned by the number and by the kind of exposure sites.” He has imposed new mandatory mask wearing in restaurants, hotels and other indoor venues until June 4, and warned that the next 24 hours “are going to be particularly critical.” As of Wednesday, there are 167.8 million confirmed COVID-19 cases around the world, including 3.4 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Center. The United States leads both categories with 33.1 million total COVID-19 cases and 590,941 fatalities, with India in second place with just over 27.1 million coronavirus cases and 311,388 deaths. The World Health Organization said Tuesday the world gained a total of 4.1 million new COVID-19 cases over a one-week period that ended May 23, a decrease of 14 percent, while recording 84,000 new fatalities during that same period, representing a 2 percent decrease.
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Two Rivals Claim Samoa’s Prime Ministership As Political Crisis Deepens
The political crisis in Samoa has deepened as two rivals claim to be prime minister of the South Pacific island nation. Samoa lies about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, and has a population of about 200,000 people. Samoans voted in a general election in early April. The result was very close, and both major parties have claimed victory. The opposition FAST Party, led by Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, said it had secured the crucial support of an independent lawmaker to form a government with a 26-25 majority in parliament. However, Samoa’s long serving leader, Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, who has been in power since 1998, disputed the result. His refusal to stand down was described as a ‘coup’ by his opponents. On Monday, the Samoan parliament was scheduled to administer the oath of office to Fiame Naomi Mata’afa as the nation’s first female prime minister. However, she and her colleagues were locked out of the building by officials loyal to the previous government despite a Supreme Court ruling that the session proceed. So, instead prime minister-elect Fiame Naomi Mata’afa — who is also the daughter of the country’s first prime minister — took the oath of office in an ad hoc ceremony in a large tent outside after her party was locked out of parliament. Her political rivals said the swearing in was unconstitutional. Court challenges are expected to follow. George Carter, head of the Australian National University’s Pacific Institute, is urging both sides to resolve their differences calmly. “At the moment the country is still at peace despite the difference in Samoa’s ideology and ideals. But this is part of (the) political process in Samoa and part of that is being patient to allow this to take place,” Carter said.The first nation to formally recognize Fiame Naomi Mata’afa as prime minister was the small Pacific archipelago of the Federated States of Micronesia. A spokesperson for the United Nations secretary-general has urged Samoa “to find solutions to the current political situation through dialogue in the best interest of the people and institutions of Samoa.” Australia and New Zealand have insisted democracy in Samoa must be respected. Samoa’s economy has traditionally been dependent on foreign aid and remittances from citizens overseas as well as tourism, agriculture, and fishing.
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Myanmar’s Arrest of Journalists an ‘Extraordinary Attack on Freedom of Expression,’ UN Says
Myanmar’s media community is experiencing a critical moment, with a number of journalists detained or charged, says the editor of Frontier Myanmar. Sonny Swe, founder of Frontier Myanmar, one of the country’s top independent news sites, spoke to VOA Burmese on Tuesday, following the arrest of the outlet’s managing editor, Danny Fenster. American journalist Fenster, 37, was detained at an airport in Yangon, his outlet reported. Swe confirmed that Myanmar’s military authorities have moved Fenster to Yangon’s Insein prison. “We are trying to work on his release as soon as possible. We lost contact with him since (Monday),” Swe said. “So far, we simply don’t know exactly why and how it happened. As far as legal representation, the U.S. Embassy in Yangon is trying to assist for his release.” A State Department spokesperson said Monday the United States is aware of reports that a U.S. citizen was detained in Myanmar. “We take seriously our responsibility to assist U.S. citizens abroad and are monitoring the situation,” the spokesperson said. Swe said Frontier Myanmar was ”shocked and surprised” to hear of Fenster’s arrest. “We are sure that he is doing nothing wrong while he was doing his job responsibly. We did not expect such kind of arrest,” Swe said, adding that the outlet is trying to find out what happened. The arrest will not change how Frontier Myanmar operates, Swe said.FILE – AP journalist Thein Zaw, center, waves outside Insein prison after his release, March 24, 2021, in Yangon, Myanmar. Thein Zaw was arrested while covering a protest against the coup in Myanmar.It is one of only a handful of independent outlets still in operation since the military overthrew the civilian government on February 1. “Hopefully, there will not be any disruption to our work,” Swe said. “We have been working hard professionally, no reason to change our job abruptly.” The news outlet’s founder told VOA that Myanmar’s media are ”passing through this critical moment of the country, under difficult circumstances” and added that he is worried. “Journalists should not be arrested,” Swe said. “I would like to call [on] authorities concerned to release and drop charges, not only for Danny Fenster but also for all detained journalists. I am praying for the release of all detained journalists.” ‘Extraordinary attack’ Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power, with nearly daily protests across the country. During the coup, de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was deposed. She faces multiple criminal charges. The coup happened nearly three months after Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won elections in a landslide. The junta alleges electoral fraud, a charge the civilian electoral commission denies. Myanmar’s FILE – Japanese journalist Yuki Kitazumi raises his hands as he is escorted by police upon arrival at the Myaynigone police station in Sanchaung township in Yangon, Myanmar, Feb. 26, 2021.”We’re absolutely stunned and extremely confused as to why Dan was detained,” said Fenster’s brother, Bryan, in remarks made available by Frontier Myanmar. “We’ve been assured that there is no concern for his safety, but no doubt we are very worried.” The Vienna-based International Press Institute said Fenster’s detention ”demonstrates, once again, that neither local nor foreign journalists are safe from arbitrary arrest in Myanmar.” “The international community must respond forcefully to the increase in detentions, violence and intimidation of journalists in Myanmar in recent weeks, which represents an unacceptable attack on press freedom,” the media watchdog’s executive director, Barbara Trionfi, said in a statement. Local journalists who are in custody face tough conditions. The family of Kay Zune Nway are worried for her health, said a person familiar with the Myanmar Now journalist’s case, who requested anonymity. Kay Zune Nway was arrested February 27 while covering protests in Yangon. “Prison authorities accused Kay Zune Nway of staging a hunger strike to protest while she was fasting as a Muslim during Ramadan, then punished her in solitary confinement,” the person speaking anonymously said. “Her family is worried for Kay’s poor health of nerve aches and stomach problems. According to the recently released inmates, Kay was repeatedly interrogated in prison.” Nilar Khine, a lawyer representing Kay Zune Nway, told VOA Burmese the journalist has a court hearing scheduled for June 3. ”My client is still in solitary confinement and wonders why she has been punished,” the lawyer said. The wife of jailed Voice of Myanmar chief editor Nay Lin has said that family are not allowed to visit their relatives in prison. Nay Lin and his colleague Shine Aung were arrested April 27. Media Arrests Continue as Myanmar Military Steps Up Repression Myanmar’s military detains more than 80 journalists, blocks independent reporting as repression increases after overthrow of civilian governmentSome journalists and news outlets have moved their operations outside of Myanmar to try to protect staff. However, three journalists for the broadcaster Democratic Voice of Burma were arrested in Thailand on May 9, on charges of illegal entry into the country. They remain detained in an immigration detention center. The Thai Foreign Ministry is believed to be working with foreign embassies to try to move the journalists to a third country rather than deport them. In Reporters Without Borders’ latest World Press Freedom Index, Myanmar ranks 140th out of 180 countries, where 1 is the freest. The media watchdog said earlier this year that the military coup in Myanmar could set the country’s journalists back 10 years. This story originated in VOA’s Burmese service. Some reporting from Reuters.
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Biden Administration Moves to Protect Myanmar Nationals Residing in US
Nearly four months after a coup in Myanmar triggered a prolonged period of violence and upheaval in the country, the Biden administration has designated Myanmar nationals for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), allowing many in the U.S. to be shielded from deportation and obtain work permits.The registration period is set from May 25 to November 22. The A damaged church in which four people taking refuge were killed in an army shelling in Loikaw in Myanmar’s eastern Kayah State, May 24, 2021, as clashes continue in the area between the army and the local rebel fighters. (Credit: Kantarawaddy Times)The coup took place hours before the seating of a new parliament following election results that were seen as rejection to the country’s generals. Security forces reportedly have killed dozens of protesters since the coup. Here in the U.S., the temporary protected status will last 18 months. According to DHS, in addition to demonstrating continuous residence in the United States since March 11, 2021, applicants must undergo security and background checks.But the department added that border restrictions because of the coronavirus pandemic remain in place, and citizens still in Myanmar “should not believe smugglers or others claiming the border is now open.”Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, said that her organization has resettled in the U.S. about 7,000 Burmese nationals over a period of years.In a statement, Vignarajah commended the Biden administration for extending humanitarian protection to Myanmar nationals.“Burmese nationals in the U.S. are unable to safely return home because of rampant human rights abuses at the hands of the country’s military. This designation recognizes that we cannot in good conscience deport families to a crisis zone where violence, religious persecution of both Christian and Muslim minorities, and a de-facto forced-assimilation policy, still reign,” Vignarajah said.According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, a research center that collects and analyzes immigration court activities, recent data showed there were 602 Burmese nationals facing deportation in U.S. immigration courts. In the 2019 fiscal year, 28 Burmese citizens were deported.
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US Issues ‘Do Not Travel’ Warning for Japan Ahead of Tokyo Olympics
With less than two months remaining before the opening ceremony, the Tokyo Olympics received another jolt Monday when the U.S. government issued a warning for its citizens not to travel to Japan due to rising rates of new COVID-19 cases. The State Department issued its highest travel advisory warning, Level 4, citing Japan’s slow vaccination rate and the country’s own restrictions on travelers from the United States. A separate warning issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said “even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid all travel to Japan.” Security personnel stand guard near the Olympic rings monument during a rally by anti-Olympics protesters outside the Japanese Olympic Committee headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, May 18, 2021.The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8 after a one-year postponement as the novel coronavirus pandemic began spreading across the globe. But the Japanese capital and other parts of Japan are under a state of emergency to quell a surge of new infections that has overwhelmed hospitals across the country, prompting growing public sentiment against staging the event. The opposition was boosted by an open letter earlier this month from the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association, which represents about 6,000 primary care doctors and hospitals, urging Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to convince the International Olympic Committee to cancel the games. The current outbreak has already prompted Japanese authorities to ban foreign audiences from attending the Olympics. But Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters Tuesday the warning does not prohibit essential travel to Japan, and that authorities there do not detect any change in Washington’s support for Japan to go through with staging the Olympics. Japan has recorded just 722,668 total COVID-19 infections and 12,351 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, but has only inoculated just under five percent of its population. FILE – People protest the Tokyo 2020 Olympics amid the coronavirus outbreak, around Olympic Stadium (National Stadium) as an Olympic test event for athletics is held inside the venue in Tokyo, Japan, May 9, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo.Hong Kong warning
In Hong Kong, a high-ranking official is warning that the city may soon have to discard millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses because not enough people are getting inoculated before the doses expire. Thomas Tsang, a former controller of Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection and a member of the government’s vaccine task force, told public broadcaster RTHK Tuesday there is only a “three-month window” to use the first batch of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine, a situation complicated by current plans to close the community vaccination centers after September. Hong Kong bought rough doses of Pfizer and China’s Sinovac vaccine to cover its entire 7.5 million citizens, but only 2.1 million have taken the shots since the city’s vaccination program began in late February. FILE – Members of the Hong Kong Fire Services Department receive a dose of the Sinovac Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine at a community vaccination center in Hong Kong, China, Feb. 23, 2021. (Paul Yeung/Pool via Reuters)Tsang said it was “just not right” that Hong Kong was sitting on an unused pile of doses while the rest of the world “is scrambling for vaccines” and warned that the city would not be buying anymore doses. Observers have blamed the situation on a number of factors, including vaccine hesitancy, online disinformation, a lack of urgency in a city that has largely avoided a major outbreak of the virus, and rising distrust of authorities in Hong Kong and China.
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American Journalist Detained in Myanmar
A U.S. journalist working for a news magazine in Myanmar has been detained by authorities, according to his news organization. Frontier Myanmar said on Twitter that its managing editor, Danny Fenster, was detained Monday at the main Yangon International Airport while preparing to board a flight to Malaysia and was transferred to Yangon’s Insein Prison. “We do not know why Danny was detained and have not been able to contact him,” the news magazine said. “We are concerned for his well-being and call for his immediate release. Our priorities now are to make sure he is safe and provide him with whatever assistance he needs,” it said. Frontier Myanmar publishes in both English and Burmese and is one of the country’s top independent news sites. A State Department spokesman said the United States is aware of reports that a U.S. citizen has been detained in Myanmar. “We take seriously our responsibility to assist U.S. citizens abroad, and are monitoring the situation,” the spokesman said. Fenster’s brother, Bryan, said in a Facebook post Monday, “We’re absolutely stunned and extremely confused as to why Dan was detained.” There was no response from authorities. Fenster is a 37-year-old native of the Detroit, Michigan area who joined Frontier Myanmar last year. Media rights group, the Committee to Protect Journalists, called for Fenster’s immediate release. “This unlawful restriction of a foreign journalist’s freedom of movement is the latest grave threat to press freedom in Myanmar,” it said. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand said in a statement that it is “deeply concerned” to learn of the detention of Fenster.Find our statement on the detention of US journalist Danny Fenster by the military government in Myanmar today: #WhatsHappeningInMyanmarpic.twitter.com/Rnl930dZB2
— FCCThai (@FCCThai) May 24, 2021In Reporters Without Borders’ latest World Press Freedom Index, Myanmar ranks 140th out of 180 countries, where 1 is the freest. The media watchdog said earlier this year that the military coup in Myanmar could set the country’s journalists back 10 years.Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a February 1 coup, with nearly daily protests across the country. During the coup, de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was deposed. She faces multiple criminal charges. The coup happened nearly three months after Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won elections in a landslide. The junta alleges electoral fraud, a charge the civilian electoral commission denies.Myanmar’s Suu Kyi Makes First Personal Court Appearance Since Coup Ousted de facto leader has been detained since February 1 military takeover Myanmar’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says more than more than 800 protesters and bystanders have been killed by the military since the coup began and more than 4,300 people have been detained. A United Nations spokesperson in May called on Myanmar to free dozens of detained journalists. The spokesperson said more than 80 members of the media have been arrested since the coup, and that the military has revoked operating licenses for six major news outlets. Myanmar in April detained a Japanese freelance journalist, Yuki Kitazumi, who was covering the aftermath of the coup. Authorities released Kitazumi on May 14 and returned him to Japan in a move the junta described as a gesture of friendship to Tokyo, the Associated Press reported.VOA’s Jessica Jerreat and Aru Pande contributed to this story.
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Kenyan Court Lifts Ban on Donkey Slaughter
Kenya’s population of donkeys is once again under threat after the High Court lifted a 2020 ban on donkey slaughterhouses, allowing them to resume selling the meat and skins to Asian markets. The high price for donkey skins for use in Chinese medicine has led to donkey poaching and fears the working animals could soon go extinct. Brenda Mulinya reports from Nairobi.Camera: Amos Wangwa
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Samoa Prime Minister-elect Barred From Parliament, Unable to Officially Take Office
The small Pacific island nation of Samoa was thrown into a constitutional crisis Monday after Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi refused to leave office despite his party losing last month’s parliamentary election.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa’s party was narrowly defeated by the opposition party led by
Fiame Naomi Mata’afa. Fiame showed up at parliament Monday to form a new government, but she and her supporters were locked out of the building.
The Supreme Court over the weekend ordered Parliament to be in session Monday so Fiame could be seated, but head of state Tuimalealiifano Va’aletoa Sualauvi II cancelled the session.
“We remain in this role and operate business as usual,” Tuilaepa told reporters Monday.
Fiame and her party were sworn in during a makeshift tent ceremony outside the locked parliament building, an action Tuilaepa denounced as treasonous and illegal.
The party later issued a statement defending the swearing-in ceremony, declaring “Democracy must prevail, always.”
If Fiame manages to take power, she would be Samoa’s first female prime minister and bring an end to Tuilaepa’s 22-year hold on power. She has pledged to cancel a $100 million port development backed by China, calling it an excessive expense for a country that is already heavily in debt to Beijing.
Fiame had served as Tuilaepa’s deputy prime minister until the two had a bitter split last year.
Last month’s election ended with both Fiame’s FAST party and Tuilaepa’s HRP party with a 25-25 parliamentary tie. The electoral commission handed down a decision that gave Tuilaepa’s party an extra parliamentary seat, but the high court ruled against the commission, as well as a separate decision by head of state Tuimalealiifano to void the results and conduct a new election.
Fiame holds a bare 26-25 majority with the help of an independent parliamentary candidate who sides with her party.
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Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi Makes First Personal Court Appearance Since Coup
Aung San Suu Kyi made her first in-person court appearance Monday since she was deposed as Myanmar’s de facto leader in the February 1 military takeover.
Her lawyers told journalists in the capital Naypyitaw they were allowed to meet with Suu Kyi for 30 minutes before the hearing to discuss the case. They said the 75-year-old Nobel Peace laureate sounded and looked healthy, and wished the people of Myanmar good health.
Suu Kyi also issued a defiant message about her National League for Democracy party, saying “the people grew out of the people so it will exist as long as people support it.”
The lawyers also briefly met with ousted President Win Myint, who served in the government Suu Kyi led as state counsellor.
Suu Kyi has been detained since the coup. She is facing multiple criminal charges, the most serious an allegation that she accepted $600,000 in illegal payments. She has also been charged with the possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, violating COVID-19 restrictions, breaching telecommunication laws and incitement to cause public unrest.
The civilian government was overthrown nearly three months after the NLD won parliamentary elections in a landslide. The junta has cited widespread electoral fraud in the November 8 election as a reason for the coup, an allegation the civilian electoral commission denied. The junta has threatened to dissolve the NLD over the allegations.
The coup triggered a crisis in the Southeast Asian country that led to deadly anti-junta demonstrations and clashes between several armed ethnic groups and the ruling junta.
In a campaign to quell the protests, the government has killed more than 800 protesters and bystanders since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks casualties and arrests.
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China Probes Deaths of 21 Runners After Freak Weather Hits Ultra-marathon
An investigation was underway Monday into the deaths of 21 runners during a mountain ultra-marathon in northwest China, as harrowing testimony emerged from survivors who battled to safety through freezing temperatures and bone-chilling winds. The extreme weather struck a high-altitude section of the 100-kilometer (62-mile) race held in the scenic Yellow River Stone Forest in Gansu province Saturday afternoon. Provincial authorities have set up an investigation team to look into the cause of the incident, state media reported, as questions swirled over why organizers apparently ignored extreme weather warnings from the city’s Early Warning Information Center in the lead up to the race, which attracted 172 runners. China’s top sports body also vowed to tighten safety rules on holding events across the country. Survivors gave shocking testimony of events on the rugged mountainside, where unconfirmed meteorological reports to local media said temperatures had plunged to as low as minus 24 degrees Celsius (minus 11 degrees Fahrenheit). “The wind was too strong, and I repeatedly fell over,” wrote race participant Zhang Xiaotao in a Weibo post. “My limbs were frozen stiff, and I felt like I was slowly losing control of my body… I wrapped my insulation blanket around me, took out my GPS tracker, pressed the SOS button and lost consciousness.” He said when he came round he discovered a shepherd had carried him to a cave, placed him by the fire and wrapped him in a duvet. ‘Foaming at their mouths’Marathon survivor Luo Jing told state broadcaster CCTV she saw runners struggling back down the mountain wearing only T-shirts and shorts. They “described to us people foaming at their mouths, and urged us to quit the race as soon as possible,” she said. Other survivors said insulation blankets provided by organizers were blown to shreds by strong winds. One told state media as he battled down the mountain he saw many people lying on the ground, some he believed to be dead. Gansu province is often subject to extreme weather conditions including sandstorms and earthquakes. The Gansu Meteorological Bureau had warned of “sudden heavy showers, hail, lightning, sudden gale-force winds” and other adverse weather conditions across the province in a report dated Friday. Victims included elite Chinese long-distance runners Liang Jing and Huang Guanjun, local media reported. Liang had won multiple Chinese ultramarathons in recent years while Huang won the men’s hearing-impaired marathon at the 2019 National Paralympic Games. Fury mounted on Chinese social media after the disaster, with many users blaming organizers for poor contingency planning. More than 84 million viewed the hashtag “Is the Gansu marathon accident natural or man-made?” while 130 million scoured a thread around safety concerns for marathons and cross-county races. “This is purely a man-made disaster,” wrote one. China’s top sports governing body has issued instructions to the country’s sports system to improve safety management in sports events. The previous management model for safety in races “had some problems and deficiencies,” the sports administration said in a readout published Monday, and said all organizations would now have to set up detailed contingency plans and a mechanism to halt the event quickly if needed.
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No One’s Safe Anymore: Japan’s Osaka City Crumples Under COVID-19 Onslaught
Hospitals in Japan’s second largest city of Osaka are buckling under a huge wave of new coronavirus infections, running out of beds and ventilators as exhausted doctors warn of a “system collapse,” and advise against holding the Olympics this summer. Japan’s western region home to 9 million people is suffering the brunt of the fourth wave of the pandemic, accounting for a third of the nation’s death toll in May, although it constitutes just 7% of its population. The speed at which Osaka’s healthcare system was overwhelmed underscores the challenges of hosting a major global sports event in two months’ time, particularly as only about half of Japan’s medical staff have completed inoculations. “Simply put, this is a collapse of the medical system,” said Yuji Tohda, the director of Kindai University Hospital in Osaka. “The highly infectious British variant and slipping alertness have led to this explosive growth in the number of patients.” Japan has avoided the large infections suffered by other nations, but the fourth pandemic wave took Osaka prefecture by storm, with 3,849 new positive tests in the week to Thursday. That represents a more than fivefold jump over the corresponding period three months ago. Just 14% of the prefecture’s 13,770 COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized, leaving the majority to fend for themselves. Tokyo’s latest hospitalization rate, in comparison, is 37%.Fourth wave of COVID-19 pandemic, in Takatsuki, Osaka prefecture, Japan May 17, 2021.A government advisory panel sees rates of less than 25% as a trigger to consider imposition of a state of emergency. By Thursday, 96% of the 348 hospital beds Osaka reserves for serious virus cases were in use. Since March, 17 people have died from the disease outside the prefecture’s hospitals, officials said this month. The variant can make even young people very sick quickly, and once seriously ill, patients find it tough to make a recovery, said Toshiaki Minami, director of the Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University Hospital (OMPUH). “I believe that until now many young people thought they were invincible. But that can’t be the case this time around. Everyone is equally bearing the risk.” Breaking point Minami said a supplier recently told him that stocks of propofol, a key drug used to sedate intubated patients, are running very low, while Tohda’s hospital is running short of the ventilators vital for severely ill COVID-19 patients. Caring for critically ill patients in the face of infection risk has taken a serious toll on staff, said Satsuki Nakayama, the head of the nursing department at OMPUH. “I’ve got some intensive care unit (ICU) staff saying they have reached a breaking point,” she added. “I need to think of personnel change to bring in people from other hospital wings.” About 500 doctors and 950 nurses work at OMPUH, which manages 832 beds. Ten of its 16 ICU beds have been dedicated to virus patients. Twenty of the roughly 140 serious patients taken in by the hospital died in the ICU. Yasunori Komatsu, who heads a union of regional government employees, said conditions were dire as well for public health nurses at local health centers, who liaison between patients and medical institutions. “Some of them are racking up 100, 150, 200 hours (about 1 week 1 and a half days) of overtime, and that has been going on for a year now…when on duty, they sometimes go home at one or two in the morning, and go to bed only to be awakened by a phone call at three or four.” Medical professionals with firsthand experience of Osaka’s struggle with the pandemic take a negative view on holding the Tokyo Games, set to run from July 23 to August 8. “The Olympics should be stopped, because we already have failed to stop the flow of new variants from England, and next might be an inflow of Indian variants,” said Akira Takasu, the head of emergency medicine at OMPUH. He was referring to a variant first found in India that the World Health Organization (WHO) designated as being of concern after initial studies showed it spread more easily. “In the Olympics, 70,000 or 80,000 athletes and the people will come to this country from around the world. This may be a trigger for another disaster in the summer.”
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IOC VP Gets Backlash for Saying Olympics Are on, Virus or Not
If John Coates was trying to stir controversy, he succeeded.An International Olympic Committee vice president, Coates was asked a few days ago by a Japanese reporter at an online news conference if the Tokyo Olympics would go ahead, even if a state of emergency were in force in Japan.Coates replied: “Absolutely, yes.”Coates said what the IOC and local organizers have been trying to persuade the Japanese public about for months: The postponed Olympics with 11,000 athletes from 200 nations and territories will open on July 23 and will be “safe and secure.”But his defiant tone has stirred a backlash in Japan where 60-80% in polls say they do not want the Olympics to open in two months in the midst of a pandemic.Just over 12,000 deaths in Japan — good by global standards, but poor in Asia — have been attributed to COVID-19. But Tokyo and Osaka and several other areas are under a state of emergency until May 31. And it’s likely to be extended.There is fear of new variants spreading with only a tiny percentage of Japanese vaccinated. Estimates range between 2% and 4%.“Right now, more than 80% of the nation’s people want the Olympics postponed or canceled,” Japanese billionaire businessman Masayoshi Son said over the weekend. He is the founder and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. He also owns the SoftBank Hawks baseball team.“Who is forcing this to go ahead, and under what rights?” Son added.Technically, the games belong to the International Olympic Committee and only it has the power to cancel. Of course, any move would have to be negotiated with Japanese organizers.There is no suggestion this will happen.Social media criticized Coates, and also went after IOC President Thomas Bach who has said repeatedly that everyone must “sacrifice” to pull off these Olympics, which have already banned fans from abroad. A decision on local fans attending — if any — will be made next month.The IOC relies on selling television rights for 75% of its income, and Japan has officially spent $15.4 billion to prepare the games. Government audits suggest the figure is much higher. All but $6.7 billion is public money.The Shukan Post magazine said in its latest issue that organizers have booked all the rooms during the Olympics in at least four of Tokyo’s most expensive hotels. The magazine called the accommodations “fitting or royalty” for the IOC and others.Tokyo organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said Friday the “Olympic family, IOC and international federations” would amount to 23,000 visitors. The magazine said the IOC would pay up to $400 per night for rooms, with local organizers making up any difference.Many of Japan’s newspapers are among more than 60 local Olympic sponsors that have contributed more than $3 billion to local organizers. They have been restrained in their criticism, although one of them — the Hokkaido Shimbun — did call for unspecified action from Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Suga has said it’s the IOC that must determine the fate of the Olympics.“That inaction itself is forfeiting the responsibility over people’s lives and health. Those in charge should take that to heart.”The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, which is not a sponsor, called for a cancellation in an editorial on Sunday.“We are in no mood to celebrate an event filled with fear and anxiety,” the newspaper said. “The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics should be canceled … The government must make the decision to protect the lives and livelihood of the people.”Organizers and the IOC say that the games will be safe because of extensive testing and building a bubble around the athletes. It says more than 80% of the residents in the Olympics Village, located on Tokyo Bay, will be vaccinated.The comments of Atsuko Saitoh, who identifies herself as midwife and former university professor, are representative of the criticism on social media. She has run unsuccessfully for Japan’s upper house and is running in the next lower house election.“Bach and Coates do not value the lives of the athletes, others involved or the people of the host nation. It’s tantamount to predicting terrorism to say that the games will be held under an emergency, despite the overwhelming opposition in public opinion.”
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IOC VP Gets Backlash Saying Olympics Are on, No Matter Virus
If John Coates was trying to stir controversy, he succeeded.An International Olympic Committee vice president, Coates was asked a few days ago by a Japanese reporter at an online news conference if the Tokyo Olympics would go ahead, even if a state of emergency were in force in Japan.Coates replied: “Absolutely, yes.”Coates said what the IOC and local organizers have been trying to persuade the Japanese public about for months: The postponed Olympics with 11,000 athletes from 200 nations and territories will open on July 23 and will be “safe and secure.”But his defiant tone has stirred a backlash in Japan where 60-80% in polls say they do not want the Olympics to open in two months in the midst of a pandemic.Just over 12,000 deaths in Japan — good by global standards, but poor in Asia — have been attributed to COVID-19. But Tokyo and Osaka and several other areas are under a state of emergency until May 31. And it’s likely to be extended.There is fear of new variants spreading with only a tiny percentage of Japanese vaccinated. Estimates range between 2% and 4%.“Right now, more than 80% of the nation’s people want the Olympics postponed or canceled,” Japanese billionaire businessman Masayoshi Son said over the weekend. He is the founder and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. He also owns the SoftBank Hawks baseball team.“Who is forcing this to go ahead, and under what rights?” Son added.Technically, the games belong to the International Olympic Committee and only it has the power to cancel. Of course, any move would have to be negotiated with Japanese organizers.There is no suggestion this will happen.Social media criticized Coates, and also went after IOC President Thomas Bach who has said repeatedly that everyone must “sacrifice” to pull off these Olympics, which have already banned fans from abroad. A decision on local fans attending — if any — will be made next month.The IOC relies on selling television rights for 75% of its income, and Japan has officially spent $15.4 billion to prepare the games. Government audits suggest the figure is much higher. All but $6.7 billion is public money.The Shukan Post magazine said in its latest issue that organizers have booked all the rooms during the Olympics in at least four of Tokyo’s most expensive hotels. The magazine called the accommodations “fitting or royalty” for the IOC and others.Tokyo organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said Friday the “Olympic family, IOC and international federations” would amount to 23,000 visitors. The magazine said the IOC would pay up to $400 per night for rooms, with local organizers making up any difference.Many of Japan’s newspapers are among more than 60 local Olympic sponsors that have contributed more than $3 billion to local organizers. They have been restrained in their criticism, although one of them — the Hokkaido Shimbun — did call for unspecified action from Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Suga has said it’s the IOC that must determine the fate of the Olympics.“That inaction itself is forfeiting the responsibility over people’s lives and health. Those in charge should take that to heart.”The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, which is not a sponsor, called for a cancellation in an editorial on Sunday.“We are in no mood to celebrate an event filled with fear and anxiety,” the newspaper said. “The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics should be canceled … The government must make the decision to protect the lives and livelihood of the people.”Organizers and the IOC say that the games will be safe because of extensive testing and building a bubble around the athletes. It says more than 80% of the residents in the Olympics Village, located on Tokyo Bay, will be vaccinated.The comments of Atsuko Saitoh, who identifies herself as midwife and former university professor, are representative of the criticism on social media. She has run unsuccessfully for Japan’s upper house and is running in the next lower house election.“Bach and Coates do not value the lives of the athletes, others involved or the people of the host nation. It’s tantamount to predicting terrorism to say that the games will be held under an emergency, despite the overwhelming opposition in public opinion.”
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In Fast-Aging China, Elder Care Costs Loom Large
China’s latest census shows that the country’s population is quickly growing older, creating a policy challenge familiar to many governments: how to cover elder care costs while ensuring continued prosperity for everyone else.Over the past decade, China’s overall population grew at the slowest pace since the first modern census in 1953, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This came even though the one-child policy was abolished in 2016.In about 25 years, one-third of China’s population will be retirees, and their living and health care expenses will eat up a quarter of the country’s GDP, according to the NBS census report, which was released last week. But by 2035, the government-run basic pension system for corporate employees will likely be depleted, according to a 2019 Chinese Academy of Social Sciences report.China’s “increasing elderly population will reduce the supply of labor force and increase the burden on families’ elder care and the pressure on the supply of basic public services,” said Ning Jizhe, head of the NBS, at a May 11 press conference in Beijing marking the release of the census.”The aging of the population has further deepened, and in the coming period, (we will) continue to face pressure for the long-term balanced development of the population,” Ning said.”I think it’s a serious problem,” Mrs. Su, a retired teacher living in Beijing, told VOA Mandarin. “But to be honest, I couldn’t care less about our country’s family planning policies and what the government is going to do from now on. I only care about my retirement benefits and how I can enjoy my remaining years.” She asked to be identified by only one name to avoid attracting the attention of authorities.Africa bucks trendChina is not alone in facing this demographic tension.In many developing and developed nations, younger working people pay part of their income into pension plans, offsetting the costs of an aging population. As birthrates fall in the Americas, Europe and elsewhere in Asia, this construct is challenging governments. Only in Africa do demographers see population growth, at least over the next two decades.China’s current economy was built on lives spent in poorly paid manufacturing jobs which offered little to workers for their retirement. Male workers become eligible to retire at 60; female office workers, 55; and female blue-collar workers, 50. Officials set the ages in the 1950s, when China’s life expectancy was less than 45. As of 2019, life expectancy was 77.3 years nationwide, with city dwellers expected to keep going past 80 years.In China, families have traditionally been the caregivers and major source of financial support for older adults. According to a study published in the China Economic Journal in 2015, roughly 41% of Chinese 60 and over live with an adult child. Another 34% have an adult child living nearby.Yet that pattern is gradually changing. China enforced the one-child policy between 1979 and 2015, aiming to control population growth. This means that people born in the 1940s could have three or four children to care for them when they are old, while people born in the 1950s and 1960s usually have only one adult child. Mrs. Su, the retired teacher in Beijing, is from the latter group.Mr. Chen, a retired professor living in Beijing, said that the one-child policy is not the only thing that’s contributing to today’s demographic trend. He asked to be identified by only one name to avoid attracting the attention of authorities.”Modern medicine has prolonged our life expectancy, so it’s inevitable for China to have an aging population,” he said. “In addition, just as many young people in the developed countries, young people in China today don’t really want to have kids because of the high cost. So even with the policy change, not a lot of young people choose to have a second kid since the cost of living is so high.”Official census data for 2020 alone showed a fertility rate of 1.3 children per couple.Chinese policymakers “have been studying — and adjusting for — the effects of demographic change on China’s economy for more than three decades,” wrote Lauren Johnston, a research associate at SOAS China Institute, in a 2019 post for the World Economic Forum.Effect on economic growthOfficials understood that an aging population coupled with a low birthrate could slow economic growth — and undercut the ruling Communist Party’s promises of continued prosperity. In 2018, an editorial in the official People’s Daily newspaper said, “To put it bluntly, the birth of a baby is not only a matter of the family itself, but also a state affair.”In 2020, the Chinese government created a strategy for responding to its aging population and added it to its next five-year plan. China would increase the retirement age, develop the elder care sector and improve the quality of service for senior citizens, according to the official China Daily newspaper, which did not report any details of how the plan would be carried out.According to the latest official census data, those 60 and over now make up 18.7% of the population, or 264 million people. In 2010, the over-60 cohort was 13.3% of a total population of 1.34 billion, or 178 million people. Those 65 and above accounted for 13.5% of the population in 2020. In 2010, 8.9% were 65 or older, compared with just under 7% in 2000 and 5.6% in 1990. China uses age 60 as the marker for being elderly, while the United Nations uses 65 years.The U.N. and the World Health Organization define an “aging society” as having at least 7% of the total population over 65 years old. When the percentage reaches 14%, it is called an “aged society.” A “super-aged society” is one in which more than 20% of the population is over 65. China became an “aging society” in 2002, according to a study published in BioScience Trends in 2019.According to a 2014 study by consulting firm Deloitte, developed countries generally do not become “aging societies” until their average gross domestic product reaches $10,000 per person.”By contrast, China became an aging society in 2011 when its average GDP was only $5,416 per person. Today, the elderly in China depend on pensions, family care, and income from work,” the report said, adding that the shortage in China’s pension fund will reach $1.4 trillion in 2050.China’s state media Xinhua News Agency reported in 2019 that from 2005 to 2016, the average monthly pension payment for enterprise retirees increased to about $350 (2,400 RMB) from just under $100 (640 RMB).Nursing home shortageAs the demand for elder care increases in China, so does the shortage of affordable assisted living facilities and nursing homes. According to The Rooth Law Firm of Chicago, in 2014, less than 3% of China’s aged population could find accommodation in nursing homes.In cities such as Shanghai or Beijing, the cost of a nursing home ranges from $310 (2,000 RMB) per month to $3,100 (20,000 RMB per month), with the requirement of purchasing at least a one-year lease.In Shanghai, according to China Daily, only 3% of the city’s elderly population is cared for in nursing homes. The majority — 90% — remain at home, and they or their families hire a caregiver to provide some form of assistance at a monthly cost of $450-$700 (3,000-4,500 RMB).”Obtaining a spot in a nursing home has become incredibly competitive,” the law firm said, “The top social welfare home in Beijing has a waiting list of more than 10,000 applicants, and only approximately 1,100 beds in the facility, with only about 12 spots opening up annually.”Mrs. Wang, a retired doctor, said she has seen numerous cases of elderly adults failing to get a bed in nursing homes. She asked to be identified by only one name to avoid attracting the attention of authorities.”If you want to get into a private nursing home, you’ve got to have money first,” she told VOA Mandarin. “On top of that, you have to prepare gifts for the staff so you can receive good care.”
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More Than 125,000 Myanmar Teachers Suspended for Opposing Coup
More than 125,000 schoolteachers in Myanmar have been suspended by military authorities for joining a civil disobedience movement to oppose the military coup in February, an official of the Myanmar Teachers’ Federation said.The suspensions have come days before the start of a new school year, which some teachers and parents are boycotting as part of the campaign that has paralyzed the country since the coup cut short a decade of democratic reforms.A total of 125,900 schoolteachers had been suspended as of Saturday, said the official of the teachers’ federation, who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals. He is on the junta’s wanted list on charges of inciting disaffection.Myanmar had 430,000 schoolteachers according to the most recent data, from two years ago.”These are just statements to threaten people to come back to work. If they actually fire this many people, the whole system will stop,” said the official, who is also a teacher. He said he had been told that the charges he faces would be dropped if he returns.Reuters was unable to reach a junta spokesman or the education ministry for comment. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper has called on teachers and students to return to schools to get the education system started again.The disruption at schools echoes that in the health sector and across government and private business since the Southeast Asian country was plunged into chaos by the coup and the arrest of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.Around 19,500 university staff have also been suspended, according to the teachers’ group.Registrations begin next week for the school term that starts in June, but some parents said they also plan to keep their children out of school.”I am not going to enroll my daughter because I don’t want to give her education from military dictatorship. I also worry about her safety,” said 42-year-old Myint, whose daughter is 14.Students, who have been at the forefront of daily protests, also said they planned to boycott classes. Since the coup, more than 800 people have been killed by security forces and more than 4,200 have been arrested, charged or sentenced, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).”I will only go back to school if we get back democracy,” said Lwin, 18.Myanmar’s education system was one of the poorest in the region and ranked 92 of 93 countries in a global survey last year.Even under the leadership of Suu Kyi, who had championed education, spending was below 2% of gross domestic product. That was one of the lowest rates in the world, according to World Bank figures.A National Unity Government, set up underground by opponents of the junta, said it would do all it could to support the teachers and students, calling on foreign donors to stop funding the junta-controlled education ministry.”We will work with Myanmar’s educators who are refusing to support the cruel military,” Sasa, who goes by one name and is a spokesperson for the national unity government, said in an email to Reuters. “These great teachers and brave teachers will never be left behind.”
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China’s ‘Father of Hybrid Rice’ Dies; His Research Helped Feed World
Yuan Longping, a Chinese scientist who developed higher-yield rice varieties that helped feed people around the world, died Saturday at a hospital in the southern city of Changsha, the Xinhua News agency reported. He was 91.Yuan spent his life researching rice and was a household name in China, known by the nickname “Father of Hybrid Rice.” Worldwide, a fifth of all rice now comes from species created by hybrid rice following Yuan’s breakthrough discoveries, according to the website of the World Food Prize, which he won in 2004.On Saturday afternoon, large crowds honored the scientist by marching past the hospital in Hunan province where he died, local media reported, calling out phrases such as: “Grandpa Ye, have a good journey!”In the 1970s, Yuan achieved the breakthroughs that would make him famous. He developed a hybrid strain of rice that recorded an annual yield 20% higher than existing varieties — meaning it could feed an extra 70 million people a year, according to Xinhua.His work helped transform China from “food deficiency to food security” within three decades, according to the World Food Prize, which was created by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug in 1986 to recognize scientists and others who have improved the quality and availability of food.Yuan and his team worked with dozens of countries around the world to address issues of food security as well as malnutrition.In his later years, Yuan did not stop researching. In 2017, working with a Hunan agricultural school, he helped create a strain of low-cadmium indica rice for areas suffering from heavy metal pollution, reducing the amount of cadmium in rice by more than 90%.
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Myanmar Junta Says Deposed Leader to Appear in Court
The head of Myanmar’s military government said Saturday that ousted leader
Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health and would appear in court in coming days.
“She is at her home and healthy. She is going to face trial at the court in a few days,” junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said in a May 20 virtual interview with Hong Kong-based broadcaster Phoenix Television, parts of which were released on Saturday. It was his first interview since overthrowing Suu Kyi on February 1.
Suu Kyi is facing multiple criminal charges, including the possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, violating COVID-19 restrictions, breaching telecommunication laws and incitement to cause public unrest. She has also been accused by the junta of accepting $600,000 in illegal payments.
The coup triggered a crisis in the Southeast Asian country that led to deadly anti-junta demonstrations and clashes between several armed ethnic groups and the ruling junta.
One such group, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), attacked an army post early Saturday in the Sagaing region, according to local media reports. A KIA spokesman confirmed the attack with Reuters news agency but did not give details.
Junta leaders have sought to justify their coup by saying the November 8 election won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was fraudulent, an accusation the electoral commission rejected.
Protesters have been demanding the return of the civilian government that led 10 years of democratic reforms under Suu Kyi’s watch.
In a campaign to quell the protests, the government has killed more than 800 protesters and bystanders since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks casualties and arrests.
When the military removed Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy government, it detained Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and imposed martial law across Myanmar.
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Biden Announces US-South Korea Vaccine Partnership
COVID-19, climate change and cooperation in high-tech industries were the focus of a summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House Friday. While the leaders also discussed North Korea, prospects for a breakthrough on denuclearization appear dim. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
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Taiwan Says China is Spreading Fake News During COVID Spike
A Taiwanese official accused China on Saturday of spreading fake news about the COVID-19 situation on the island, saying this was why the government was publicizing and refuting instances of false information that have been circulating online.After months of keeping the pandemic under control, Taiwan is dealing with a surge in domestic infections, and the whole island is under a heightened state of alert with people asked to stay at home and many venues shut.Taiwan has repeatedly warned that China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own, is trying to use “cognitive warfare” to try and undermine trust in the government and its response to the pandemic.Speaking to reporters, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen said they had “clearly felt” the danger represented by Chinese propaganda and misinformation against Taiwan.“The reason we are continuing to explain the contents of the fake information to everyone is to call attention to it. We must immediately intercept this, and not let cognitive warfare affect Taiwan’s society,” he added.Chen listed examples of what he said was fake news circulating online, including that Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen had been infected and it was being covered up.“I want to say to everyone that this is really vile fake news,” he said.Tsai tested negative this week after a worker at her residence was confirmed to be infected.A security official watching Chinese activity in Taiwan told Reuters this week the Taipei government believed Beijing was engaged in cognitive warfare to “create chaos” and undermine public trust in how the pandemic is being handled.China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, in a statement to Reuters on Thursday, said Taiwan’s accusations were “imaginary,” and that the government was trying to draw attention away from real problems.Taiwan should “stop playing political games, and take practical measures to control the pandemic as soon as possible,” it added.Taiwan says this weekend is critical to breaking the chain of transmission and has urged people to stay at home.The health ministry brought out its social media dog mascot, a shiba inu called Zongchai, to suggest songs about being alone people could sing at home to keep themselves entertained, like Taiwanese rocker Wu Bai’s hit Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird.“At the weekend, don’t go out unless absolutely necessary,” the ministry said, showing Zongchai wearing glasses in front of a microphone.
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Biden, Moon Announce US-South Korea Vaccine Partnership
President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced at a White House meeting Friday a U.S.-South Korea vaccine partnership to expand the manufacture of vaccines and scale up global vaccine supplies. “We will strengthen our ability to fight the pandemic and respond to future biological threats,” Biden said during a joint press conference with Moon. South Korea has vaccinated only 3% of its 52 million residents, but aims to reach herd immunity by November. Under the agreement, the U.S. will help Seoul reach that goal, including by providing vaccines for 550,000 members of the Korean military who work alongside U.S. forces in the region. FILE – A South Korean elderly woman receives her first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center in Seoul, South Korea, April 1, 2021.The leaders also focused on climate change and regional security, including partnerships with other allies in the region. They discussed the democratic crisis in Myanmar, tensions in the Taiwan Strait and cooperation regarding high-tech industries. Biden thanked South Korean companies, including Samsung, Hyundai, SK and LG, which announced more than $25 billion in new investments in the U.S. Those investments are intended to support the Biden administration’s goal of building supply chain resilience in its rivalry with China. Last month, the two countries reached a Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on Seoul’s contribution to the cost of stationing U.S. forces in South Korea. Negotiations for the SMA deadlocked last year when then-President Donald Trump demanded a fivefold increase in South Korean contributions. “The atmospherics is very good between the two countries, so they really want to showcase the strength of the alliance relationship,” said Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow for Korea at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Moon is only the second world leader Biden has hosted since taking office in January, after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s visit in April. The visits demonstrate the importance Washington attaches to Asia as it seeks to counter China’s influence and reflect Seoul’s increasing confidence in its U.S. engagement. FILE – Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. President Joe Biden hold a joint news conference in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, April 16, 2021.”South Korea has been very ambivalent about how to respond to the Sino-U.S. rivalry,” said Scott Snyder, director of the U.S.-Korea policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations. Snyder said that by framing regional cooperation in the context of providing public goods (including vaccines), supply chain resiliency and climate change cooperation, the Biden administration has shifted regional engagement away from the anti-China focus under the Trump administration. “That’s a more fruitful basis upon which the South Korean government can engage in cooperation with the United States and other partners without necessarily casting that cooperation in opposition to China,” Snyder said. North Korea Both leaders reiterated their commitment to halt the North Korean nuclear program. “We both are deeply concerned about the situation,” Biden said The U.S. president announced that he has appointed Sung Kim, a career diplomat with expertise on North Korea policy, to serve as a special envoy to North Korea as the administration seeks to establish diplomatic relations with the hermit nation. “Our two nations also share a willingness to engage diplomatically with the DPRK to take pragmatic steps that will reduce tensions as we move toward our ultimate goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Biden said. Moon stressed that the two countries are aligned on the timeline for denuclearization. FILE – A man watches a television news program showing file footage of North Korea’s missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, Jan. 1, 2020.”The principle of the negotiation toward North Korea has already been announced by the U.S. government: very calibrated, practical, gradual, step-by-step manner and very flexible,” Moon said. “That is the common understanding that we have with the United States.” Moon is eager to cement a legacy as peacemaker before he leaves office next year. But analysts say the prospects of halting Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions are dim. “There’s no momentum when it comes to North Korea. There’s no breakthrough that can be expected,” said Terry of CSIS. Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and fuel stockpile have advanced in the past four years, despite personal diplomacy between Trump and the North Korean leader. “We’re in an impasse with North Korea, and most likely North Korea would revert to a campaign of provocation sometime soon,” Terry said. Just a few weeks earlier, the Biden administration finalized its monthslong review of North Korea policy, one that signals a departure from previous administrations by pursuing a “calibrated, practical approach,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. She framed the approach as a middle way between Trump’s strategy of aiming for a grand bargain and the Obama-era “strategic patience.” Analysts say the administration’s North Korea policy is scant on details. “The administration wants to leave itself as much space as possible,” said Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations. “Both to keep the door open for possible dialogue with North Korea, but also not to be embarrassed in the event that North Korea reverts to provocations.” Also Friday, the two leaders awarded the Medal of Honor to retired Colonel Ralph Puckett Jr. from the U.S. Army for conspicuous gallantry during the Korean War, the first time that a foreign leader has participated in the award event.
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