The head of Myanmar’s military-appointed state election commission said Friday that his agency will consider dissolving Aung San Suu Kyi’s former ruling party for alleged involvement in electoral fraud and having its leaders charged with treason. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy came to power after a landslide 2015 election victory and won an even greater majority in last November’s general election. It was set to start a second term in February when the military seized power in a coup, arresting her and dozens of top government officials and party members. Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing cited electoral fraud as the reason for the army’s takeover, saying “there was terrible fraud in the voter lists.” The army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, which suffered unexpectedly heavy losses in the election, made similar allegations. FILE – Military supporters carry a portrait of junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing as they celebrate the coup in Naypyitaw.Independent observers dispute the assertions of widespread irregularities. Political parties were called to discuss planned changes in the electoral system at a meeting Friday. Union Election Commission chairman Thein Soe said an investigation of last year’s election that would soon be completed showed that Suu Kyi’s party had illegally worked with the government to give itself an advantage at the polls. “We will investigate and consider whether the party should be dissolved, and whether the perpetrators should be punished as traitors,” he said. Asked for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ reaction, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: “Should that happen, that would be a clear step in the wrong direction.” “What we have all been working for, what the Security Council, the international community has been working for, is a restoration of democracy and a restoration of the voice of the people of Myanmar,” Dujarric said.  Suu Kyi’s party, which has thrown its weight behind the mass popular movement against the military takeover, has faced constant harassment since the coup, with its members arrested and offices raided and closed. FILE – Anti-coup protesters walk through a market with images of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi at Kamayut township in Yangon, Myanmar, April 8, 2021.The junta initially announced that it would hold new elections a year after taking power, but it later hedged and said the delay could be up to two years. Before the start of democratic reforms a decade ago, Myanmar was ruled by the military for 50 years. Suu Kyi’s party also won a 1990 election, but the military stepped in to prevent it from taking power. Suu Kyi and other members of her government already face various criminal charges that could keep them from running in the next election. Their supporters assert all the charges are politically motivated.  The announced purpose of Friday’s commission meeting was to discuss the junta’s plan to change the country’s election system from “first past the post” to proportional representation. In first-past-the-post systems, the candidate with the most votes in a given constituency is the winner, while in proportional representation, the share of winning parliamentary seats in an area with several seats is allocated according to the proportion of the vote won by each party or candidate. Almost all the major parties — including Suu Kyi’s NLD — refused to go to Friday’s commission meeting, as they regard the body as illegitimate. Local media reported that almost a third of the parties boycotted the gathering in the capital, Naypyitaw. Many of the 62 attending were pro-military organizations that polled badly in last November’s election, failing to win a single seat. After taking power, the military dismissed the members of the election commission and appointed new ones. It also detained members of the old commission, and, according to reports in independent Myanmar media, pressured them to confirm there had been election fraud. The new commission declared the last election’s results invalid. A nonpartisan election monitoring organization said this week that the results of last November’s voting were representative of the will of the people, rejecting the military’s allegations of massive fraud. The Asian Network for Free Elections said in a report that it “lacked sufficient information to independently verify the allegations of voter list fraud” because the election law did not allow it access to voting lists, but that it had not seen any credible evidence of any massive irregularities. However, the group also called Myanmar’s electoral process “fundamentally undemocratic” because its 2008 constitution, implemented under army rule, grants the military an automatic 25% share of all parliamentary seats, enough to block constitutional changes. It also noted that large sectors of the population, most notably the Muslim Rohingya minority, are deprived of citizenship rights, including the right to vote. The military ruled Myanmar from 1962 up to 2011, when a quasi-civilian administration backed by the army took over.
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South Korea requested from the United States incentives such as tax deductions and infrastructure construction to ease the U.S. investment of Korean firms, including leading chipmaker Samsung Electronics, its presidential office said Friday.South Korean President Moon Jae-in, in Washington for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, told a gathering of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, her South Korean counterpart and CEOs of Qualcomm, Samsung and other companies that both countries can benefit by strengthening supply chain cooperation.Biden has advocated for support for the U.S. chip industry amid a global chip shortage that has hit automakers and other industries.He met with executives from major companies including Samsung in April and previously announced plans to invest $50 billion in semiconductor manufacturing and research.Samsung plans to invest $17 billion for a new plant for chip contract manufacturing in the United States, South Korea’s presidential Blue House added in a statement, confirming plans previously reported.In February, documents filed with Texas state officials showed that Samsung is considering Austin, Texas, as one of the sites for a new $17 billion chip plant that the South Korean firm said could create 1,800 jobs.There has been no new public documentation filed on the potential Texas chip plant application since March, the website for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts showed Friday.The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Korean industry ministry agreed Friday that for continuous chip industry cooperation, policy measures such as incentive support, joint research and development, cooperation on setting standards, and manpower training and exchange are needed, the Blue House said.Meanwhile, DuPont announced plans to establish an R&D center in South Korea to develop original chip technologies such as photoresist for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, the Blue House said.
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U.S. President Joe Biden is due to meet Friday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.  Moon is only the second world leader Biden has hosted since taking office in January.  The visit may be Moon’s final trip to the United States as head of state and the last chance to fulfill campaign pledges before his term ends.   The discussions between the two leaders are set to occur just a few weeks after the Biden administration finalized its months-long 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. This shift in rhetoric — one that strays from the Obama-era “strategic patience,” while refraining from making flashy deals — has yielded a “sense of calm” as Moon and Biden prepare to engage in talks, said Jean Lee, director of the Korea program at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.  “When you use that rhetoric, that fire and fury, it gives North Korea the justification to test, and when they have that, it means the arsenal gets that much stronger,” Lee said. “The steadiness consistently being exuded by the Biden administration is designed to avoid this escalation of tensions we saw in the early parts of the Trump presidency.”  Moon welcomed this open-ended approach in a nationally televised speech marking his four-year anniversary on May 10. Issuing a call to action to restore inter-Korean dialogue, he vowed to do everything he could to “restart the clock of peace.”“I will consider the remaining one year of my term to be the last opportunity to move from an incomplete peace toward one that is irreversible,” Moon said.  North Korea is expected to be near the top of the meeting agenda. But while the two leaders have mutually vowed to work toward the ultimate goal of achieving a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, experts say Biden’s incremental approach may potentially frustrate Moon in achieving his promised goal of securing a peace regime.  Despite these variances in timelines, upholding the alliance between the U.S. and Republic of Korea will remain the top priority, said Kim Heung-kyu, who teaches political science at Ajou University in South Korea and is the director of the China Policy Institute. The Wilson Center’s Lee echoed these observations, adding that North Korea will be closely watching the summit and that the joint meeting will “send a signal to the North that Moon has Biden’s ear, which is a position of strength that Moon is keen to establish.” Japan, China The Moon-Biden summit will mark Biden’s second in-person meeting since he took office in January. The first was also with an Asian leader, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Together the two meetings serve as a strong indicator of the Biden administration’s broader commitment to forging peace and security across the Indo-Pacific region, bolstering the U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateral security alliance, and preparing to strike back at China’s growing influence.  Some of Washington’s larger agenda items may have South Korea walking a tightrope though and will heavily depend on to what extent South Korea decides to participate, said Park Won-gon, who teaches North Korea studies at Ewha University in Seoul. “With Korea-Japan relations still deadlocked, Biden is trying to make headway with the trilateral alliance before granting Korea and Japan space to find common ground on policies,” Park added.  When it comes to the role of China in the North Korea equation, Moon and Biden will likely “try to encourage it to instill a positive influence on North Korea,” said Kim, and encourage the North to move toward diplomatic engagement.But South Korea will also be careful to play its cards prudently while sandwiched between two superpowers. As the U.S. responds to greater Chinese assertiveness and aggression, South Korea will seek to strike a balance between nurturing its strong relationship with the U.S. while not jeopardizing relations with China, its largest trading partner.COVID vaccines
Apart from getting North Korea to join the negotiating table, experts suggest vaccine shortage issues may also be a topic of discussion Moon may want to push for. The shortage has been one of the reasons Moon’s approval ratings have dropped in recent months and starkly contrasts with South Korea’s reputation as a pandemic-era success story for its rigorous test-and-trace program. The summit’s success ultimately might be determined by whether Moon manages to procure faster access to vaccines, a South Korean official told Reuters. The summit may also open a conversation about how South Korea and the U.S. can partner to play a role in global vaccine development and distribution in the future.  But the more immediate challenge for Biden and Moon involves reaching a mutual decision on engaging North Korea while ensuring their timelines align. “The challenge for Moon and Biden during this summit will be managing their differences behind closed doors while presenting a united front so that North Korea can’t drive a wedge between them,” said Lee.
 Juhyun Lee contributed to this report
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More than 70,000 people have signed a petition urging the Australian government to ease COVID-19 entry restrictions on foreign-born parents of Australian citizens, who are allowed into the country only on compassionate grounds. Campaigners argue the rules are having a “profound impact” on family relations and mental health.Foreign-born parents of Australian citizens are not considered to be “immediate family” under the law. They need an exemption on compassionate grounds to be allowed into the country under strict COVID-19 border measures. Campaigners argue that few cases are approved and that the regulations should be changed because families have been separated and children have not met grandparents.Celia Hammond, a member of the House of Representatives, the lower house of Australia’s Federal Parliament, from the governing Liberal Party, told the House that parents were a key part of an emotional support system for many immigrants and their families.Kateryna Dmytrieva has tried unsuccessfully to bring her mother back to Australia from Ukraine.“My mum left on the second of March 2020 for what was supposed to be, like, a three- to four-week trip to Ukraine,” she said. “Nothing was indicative at this time that the borders would be closed forever. So she left and she never returned, and I applied for [an] exemption five times and the answer was just ‘Not exempt.’”The petition has been presented to the Parliament in Canberra and is awaiting a response from the government. Australia’s home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, has up to 90 days to respond.Australia banned most foreign nationals more than a year ago to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Citizens returning from overseas face 14 days in mandatory hotel quarantine, but capacity is limited. The government says it probably won’t be safe to reopen international borders until the middle of 2022.“It is not one day the borders are open, one day the borders are closed,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison. “That is not how it works. There is a sliding sort of scale here, and we are working on the next steps. Now, it is not safe to take those next steps.”Critics, though, say that is far too long to wait and that Australia’s isolation is not sustainable.A recent newspaper poll showed almost three-quarters of Australians want to keep international borders closed until at least the middle of next year.Australia has recorded 30,000 coronavirus infections since the pandemic began, and 910 people have died, according to the Health Department.
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New Zealand plans to rebuild its Antarctic base and spend billions more on welfare payments as part of a spending program aimed at lifting the economy out of a coronavirus slump.The government on Thursday unveiled its annual budget, which indicated the economy is doing much better than forecast after the pandemic first hit.That’s thanks in large part to the nation’s success in stopping the spread of the virus, as well as strong international demand for the nation’s milk and other agricultural exports.Treasury figures indicate the nation’s economy is expected to grow by 2.9% this year and rise to 4.4% growth by 2023. That follows a sharp plunge and quick recovery last year, which ended in an overall economic contraction of 1.7%.The budget plan includes $344 million New Zealand dollars ($247 million) to rebuild Scott Base in Antarctica, which has been used by scientists since it first built in 1957.”The outdated buildings and facilities that keep the residents alive in the coldest, driest, windiest place on earth have deteriorated,” Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said. “Doing nothing would eventually lead to the closure of the base.”The project would involve demolishing the existing 12 buildings, which were built in the early 1980s, and replacing them with three large, interconnected buildings. The rebuilt base could accommodate up to 100 people at a time.One of the new buildings would be used for accommodation and dining, one for science, and one for engineering and storage. A windfarm that produces renewable electricity would be overhauled.The project still needs final signoff from both New Zealand and its Antarctic treaty partners. Under the plan, bulldozers would be shipped to Antarctica in the first year and construction would take another six years.Due to its proximity to Antarctica, New Zealand has been a stop-off point from the days of the earliest explorers through to current U.S. missions. New Zealanders have also been involved in exploration and research for generations.Other new spending proposed in the budget includes a boost in benefits for welfare recipients and more money for health care.”Previous economic downturns have made inequality worse. We’re taking a different approach,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “By investing in those who need it the most, we are driving recovery by reducing need, at the same time as providing stimulus for our economy.”Proposed new infrastructure spending includes an overhaul of the rail network, with 60 new trains and 1,900 new wagons. Officials say the plan will create about 450 jobs and reduce emissions by moving freight from trucks to trains.Treasury figures indicate unemployment is forecast to peak at 5.2% this year before declining, much less than the 10% rate predicted last year.The government also plans to borrow less than anticipated, with net government debt reaching a peak of 48% of GDP before declining, down from last year’s forecast of 55%.”In the face of this one-in-100-year shock, the New Zealand economy has proved to be remarkably resilient,” Finance Minister Grant Robertson said.Opposition Leader Judith Collins said the budget lacked the ambition needed to grow the economy and reduce debt, and offered nothing to middle-income earners.The budget’s approval in Parliament is seen as a formality because Ardern’s Labour Party holds a majority of the seats.
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South Korean President Moon Jae-in on May 21 will be the second world leader to meet face-to-face with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House, marking what may be his final visit to the United States and last chance to fulfill campaign pledges before his term ends.  The discussions between the two leaders arrive just a few weeks after the Biden administration finalized its monthlong 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.  This shift in rhetoric — one that strays from Obama-era strategic patience while refraining from making flashy deals — has yielded a “sense of calm” as Moon and Biden prepare to engage in talks, said Jean Lee, director of the Korea program at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.  “When you use that rhetoric, that fire and fury, it gives North Korea the justification to test, and when they have that, it means the arsenal gets that much stronger,” Lee said. “The steadiness being exuded consistently by the Biden administration is designed to avoid this escalation of tensions we saw in the early parts of the Trump presidency.”  Moon welcomed this open-ended approach in a nationally televised speech marking his four-year anniversary on Monday.FILE – This handout photo taken and released by the presidential Blue House on May 10, 2021 shows South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivering a special address during a press conference marking the 4th anniversary of his inauguration.Issuing a call to action to restore inter-Korean dialogue at the upcoming summit, he vowed to do everything he could to “restart the clock of peace.”  “I will consider the remaining one year of my term to be the last opportunity to move from an incomplete peace toward one that is irreversible,” Moon said.  North Korea is expected to be near the top of the meeting agenda. But while the two leaders have mutually vowed to work toward the ultimate goal of achieving a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, experts say Biden’s incremental approach may potentially frustrate Moon, who has less than a year in office to follow through with his promised goals of securing a peace regime.  Despite these slight variances in timelines though, upholding the alliance between the U.S. and Republic of Korea will unwaveringly remain the top priority, said Kim Heung-kyu, who teaches political science at Ajou University and is the director of the China Policy Institute.  Lee echoed these observations, adding that North Korea will be closely watching the summit and that the joint meeting will “send a signal to the North that Moon has Biden’s ear, which is a position of strength that Moon is keen to establish.”  The Moon-Biden summit will mark Biden’s second in-person meeting since he took office in January.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.The first was also with an Asian leader, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, which serves as a strong indicator of the Biden administration’s broader commitment to forging peace and security across the Indo-Pacific region, bolstering the U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateral security alliance, and preparing to strike back at China’s growing influence.Some of Washington’s larger agenda items may have South Korea walking on a tightrope, though, and will heavily depend on “to what extent South Korea decides to participate,” said Park Won-gon, who teaches North Korea studies at Ewha University in Seoul.  FILE – A protester sits next to a statue symbolizing a wartime sex slave to demand full compensation and an apology for wartime sex slaves near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Jan. 8, 2021.”With Korea-Japan relations still deadlocked, Biden is trying to make headway with the trilateral alliance before granting Korea and Japan space to find common ground on policies,” Park added. When it comes to China, Moon and Biden will likely home in on its ability to directly sway North Korea’s policy.  Kim said that “in this sense, the two administrations will hope that China helps complete the picture instead of complicating it by conveying to North Korea messages that instill a positive influence on the regime.” Apart from getting North Korea to join the negotiating table, experts project vaccine shortage issues may also be a topic of discussion Moon may want to push for.FILE – South Korean senior citizens receive their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a vaccination center in Seoul, South Korea, Apr. 1, 2021. (Chung Sung-Jun/Pool via Reuters)The heated issue has in part caused his approval ratings to nosedive in recent months and starkly contrasts with South Korea’s acclaim as a pandemic-era paragon for its rigorous test-and-trace program.  This upcoming summit’s success, unlike that of conventional summits, might be determined by whether Moon manages to procure faster access to vaccines, a South Korean official told Reuters.    The summit may also open up a conversation on how South Korea and the U.S. can partner in the near future to play a role in global vaccine development and distribution.  But in the meantime, the more immediate challenge for Biden and Moon involves reaching a mutual decision on engaging North Korea while ensuring their timelines align.  “The challenge for Moon and Biden during this summit will be managing their differences behind closed doors while presenting a united front so that North Korea can’t drive a wedge between them,” said Lee. Juhyun Lee contributed to this report.
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A U.S. warship has again sailed through the sensitive waterway that separates Taiwan from its giant neighbor China, at a time of increased tensions between Taipei and Beijing.The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” on Tuesday in accordance with international law.”The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military will continue to fly, sail, and operate anywhere international law allows,” it said.Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the ship had sailed in a southerly direction through the strait and the “situation was as normal.”The U.S. Navy has been conducting such operations every month or so, to the anger of China which always denounces them.The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is its most important international backer and a major seller of arms.Military tension between Chinese-claimed Taiwan and Beijing have spiked over the past year, with Taipei complaining of China repeatedly sending its air force into Taiwan’s air defense zone.Some of those activities can involve multiple fighters and bombers.China has said its activities around Taiwan are aimed at protecting China’s sovereignty. Taiwan’s government has denounced it as attempts at intimidation.
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Six Hong Kong pro-democracy advocates have been remanded to custody after pleading guilty to their involvement in protests dating to October 2019. District Judge Amanda Woodcock ruled in the case of political figures Figo Chan, Avery Ng, Albert Ho, Sin Chung, Yeung Sum and Richard Tsoi on Tuesday, a day after they each admitted to one count of organizing an unauthorized assembly that took place more than 18 months ago, on China’s National Day. Overall, 10 opposition figures pleaded guilty, with four already in custody in separate cases, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai. Sentencing is due to take place on May 28.  Avery Ng, 44, among the six remanded, is secretary-general of the League of Social Democrats (LSD), Hong Kong’s most radical pro-democracy party. The politician spoke with VOA in a phone interview last week. Up until Tuesday, he was one of the few opposition leaders who had avoided substantial jail time following dozens of arrests by authorities in recent months. Following the 2019 anti-government protests, Beijing implemented a national security law in June last year in Hong Kong, limiting autonomy and making it easier for dissidents to be punished. The law carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Beijing recently approved electoral changes for the territory to ensure that “patriots” govern the city. According to Ng, it’s an attempt to “redefine democracy.” FILE – Hong Kong academic and activist Joseph Cheng observes a Kuomintang (KMT) rally ahead of the election in Taipei, Taiwan, January 9, 2020.“This raising of punishment comes rather suddenly and is very much in line with the changes in the political climate. It probably means many of the judges would like to toe the Beijing line,” he told VOA. Discussing his own party’s future, Ng admits he’s an “internal cautious optimist,” but the outlook is “uncertain.” “The only option for us is to remain on the streets and with the people,” Ng said. Cheng said he believes the LSD would like to serve as the “symbolic organization of defiance within the pro-democracy movement.” And although the trial for Ng and the remaining nine opposition figures has yet to be concluded, the activist says he is “mentally prepared” for prison and plans to spend his time by reading more. “I do not get time to read books when I’m outside protesting. Strategically you want to pick the books that are thick. You have certain quotas, six books per month,” Ng said. But once he is released, he wants to help advocate for the imprisoned protesters with fewer options in life. Australia-based Cheng endorsed Ng’s efforts. “He helps confirm the fact there are still many people with ideals, with a sense of commitment and a sense of sacrifice, even among the well-educated strata,” said Cheng. “He was a finance company director, he could earn a [high] monthly income, and he was willing to go to prison.” Ng said he believes Hong Kong’s income disparities, high housing prices and deep distrust of government will spur social unrest for “decades.” He predicts the city must develop a “democratic system” or dissolve into a “more controlled, more authoritarian, more Singapore, more Chinese, more surveillance” type of system. But for the immediate future, he believes Hong Kong will first see a “period of stagnation” after two years of political turmoil. “I think we are Chapter Two of Book 1 of a series of books,” said Ng. “We’ve got beaten down, and in the third act we will rise again, and then probably another sequel.” Whatever the future may hold for Hong Kong, Ng is content to be a part of it. “We’re in the middle of history,” he said.  
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China has renewed diplomatic efforts to help facilitate a negotiated end to the conflict in Afghanistan, saying it is ready to hold peace negotiations between warring Afghans.  
 
Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed peace prospects in phone conversations with his Afghan counterpart, Mohammad Haneef Atmar and National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib, said officials in both countries. 
 
Beijing is increasingly worried the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan will descend the turmoil-hit neighbor into chaos and a sanctuary for Islamist militants. 
 
“China is ready to facilitate internal negotiations among various parties in Afghanistan, including creating necessary conditions for negotiations in China,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Wang as telling Mohib.  
 
U.S. President Joe Biden announced last month it was time to end the “forever war” in Afghanistan and directed the remaining around 2,500 American soldiers to leave the country by September 11, starting on May 1.  
 
NATO allies are also pulling their roughly 7,000 troops from the country in line with Biden’s decision. 
 
The military drawdown has seen increased fighting between Afghan government forces and Taliban insurgents despite international calls for both warring parties to reduce the violence and negotiate a power-sharing deal to end the country’s long war.  
 
Beijing maintains close contacts with both the Taliban and the Afghan government. 
 
The Afghan adversaries opened direct peace talks in Qatar last September, an outcome of Washington’s troop withdrawal deal with the Taliban signed in February 2020.  
 
But the so-called intra-Afghan peace dialogue has mostly been deadlocked and U.S. efforts to push the two sides to accelerate the process have not succeeded. 
 
In recent days, Wang has increasingly criticized Washington for what he described as the “hasty” U.S. troop pullout, claiming the move has undermined the Afghan peace process and “negatively affected regional stability.”  
 
The chief Chinese diplomat repeated his criticism while speaking to Mohib on Monday, and emphasized the need for moving the peace process forward to “promote a smooth transition” in Afghanistan. 
 
“Although the U.S. unilateral withdrawal of troops at a crucial stage of the Afghan domestic reconciliation process has brought uncertainty to the evolution of the situation in Afghanistan, peace is the trend of the times,” Wang said.  
 
The Chinese foreign minister in his conversation with Afghan counterpart Atmar urged all parties to the conflict to create a “favorable environment” for jumpstarting the peace talks.  
 
“China hopes that Afghanistan’s future leadership will pursue a moderate Muslim policy, promote a foreign policy of peace, maintain friendship with neighboring countries, and firmly combat all forms of terrorism,” Wang said.  
 
The Chinese offer of hosting Afghan peace talks, analysts say, appears to be an attempt to position China for a more active political role in the region after the exit of the U.S.-led Western troops from Afghanistan. 
 
“Afghanistan resolutely fights all forms of terrorism, including the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, and is ready to further deepen counterterrorism and security cooperation with China,” the Chinese statement quoted Mohib as assuring Wang.  
 
An Afghan government statement issued in Kabul said Mohib and Wang “identified terrorism as a common threat that both sides should fight.”  
 
It quoted the Afghan national security advisor as telling the Chinese interlocutor that “all levers of influence” should be used to “induce (the) Taliban” to engage “earnestly” in peace talks. 
 
The ETIM has been outlawed by China as a terrorist group. The Islamist outfit claims it is fighting for the rights of minority Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Chinese officials insist sustained crackdowns on ETIM operatives in the province have “effectively” tackled the security challenge. 
 
The United States, however, accuses China of committing serious human rights abuses against ethnic Muslims in Xinjiang in the name of fighting terrorism.  
 
In a coordinated effort this past March, several Western countries, including the U.S., U.K., Canada and the European Union imposed sanctions on Chinese officials connected to the abuses. 
 
China has detained Uyghurs at camps in Xinjiang, where detainees are allegedly subjected to torture, forced labor and sexual abuse, charges Beijing rejects as Western propaganda. 
 
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Samoa’s high court has restored the results of last month’s parliamentary election, putting the South Pacific nation one step closer to installing its first female prime minister.
 
The court on Monday ruled against a decision by the electoral commission that gave the ruling party of Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi an extra parliamentary seat, giving it one seat advantage over the opposition led by Fiame Naomi Mata’afa. The court also ruled against efforts by Samoa’s head of state to void the results and conduct a new election.   
 
The separate rulings give Fiame’s FAST party a bare 26-25 parliamentary majority, allowing her to form a government and end Tuilaepa’s 22-year hold on power.  Fiame had served as Tuilaepa’s deputy prime minister until the two had a bitter split last year. 
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The Philippine government took another step this month in opposing China by telling its vast fishing fleet to ignore Beijing’s annual fishing ban in the South China Sea, where the two countries are locked in a sovereignty dispute.
 
This year’s fishing moratorium “does not apply to our fishermen,” the Philippines’ South China Sea task force said on May 4, as reported by domestic media. Officials have “encouraged” fishing boats to trawl the sea, news website Philstar.com reported.
 
China’s moratorium from May 1 to August 16, imposed unilaterally since 1999 in the northern part of the sea, is intended to improve marine ecology, the official Xinhua News Agency in Beijing said last month. More than 50,000 Chinese vessels would suspend operations, it said.
 Growing anti-China sentiment
   
Mounting public pressure against China in the Philippines prompted the government to reject the moratorium publicly, a potential boon to a domestic fishing industry that employs some 2 million people, experts say.  
 
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte forged a new friendship with China in 2016 by laying aside the sovereignty dispute, but Chinese vessels continue to appear in waters claimed by Manila. Duterte’s political allies, who plan to seek office next year after he steps down due to term limits, are expected to follow public opinion on China.  FILE – Filipino activists march to protest against the presence of Chinese vessels in disputed parts of the South China Sea, at the Chinese Embassy in Makati City, Philippines, April 9, 2019.“There’s a lot of political heat, so the Philippine government cannot be seen to be acquiescing to Chinese pressure,” said Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s public policy school.
 
Fishing vessel operators want the government to take a “much stronger posture” toward the South China Sea, said Jay Batongbacal, international maritime affairs professor at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City. They complain they seldom see their own country’s navy or coast guard, he said. Four Philippine Navy ships set off this week to support fishing vessels in the Spratly Islands.
 
“Because of the more intense public pressure, they’re responding by sending ships to show some visibility and also encouraging the fishermen to fish,” Batongbacal said.
 
China claims about 90% of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea that’s prized for fisheries and fossil fuel reserves. It’s the most militarily advanced of the six governments that dispute sovereignty over the sea. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam call all or parts of the South China Sea their own, as well. Claimants prize the waterway for its fishing stocks and fossil fuel reserves.
 
The moratorium zone covers waters used by Taiwan and Malaysia as well as the Philippines.
 Thinning relationship  
 
Duterte visited Beijing in 2016 to set aside the sovereignty issue. China then pledged $24 billion in aid and investment for the developing Southeast Asian country. But Duterte has angered Filipinos since that visit by saying China was too strong at sea for the Philippines to resist.  
 
Officials in Manila said little about previous Chinese fishing bans. Philippine fishing boats know where it’s safe and unsafe after so many years of bans, Araral said.
 
China has stoked public hostility by letting hundreds of its fishing vessels pass at least twice near Philippine-controlled islets in the disputed sea. A flotilla that peaked at 220 vessels moored at Whitsun Reef in the sea’s Spratly Islands in March. Philippine officials demanded that those vessels leave the unoccupied feature.FILE – In this handout photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, members of the Philippine Coast Guard use rubber boats as they patrol beside Chinese vessels moored at Whitsun Reef, South China Sea, April 14, 2021.Filipinos had never regarded China as a friend before 2016, allying instead with the United States militarily since the 1950s. Officials in Manila aim now to retain their Visiting Forces Agreement with Washington this year, even though Duterte had once vowed to scrap it.  
 
“For Duterte, this is an opportunity to demonstrate that he is keen to resist China in the way he deems fit,” said Collin Koh, maritime security research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
 China expected to be low key
 
China has not publicly rebutted the Philippine government for urging fishing boats to ignore the moratorium. It will probably just ask that any boats leave the no-fishing zone rather than impounding them, lest Philippine officials get even angrier, Araral said.
 
A frayed Sino-Philippine relationship risks pushing Manila closer to Washington. Beijing resents U.S. presence in the South China Sea, although the U.S. has no territorial claims there.
 
China might tell its fishing boats to leave Whitsun Reef as well as letting Philippine fishermen fish in the moratorium zone, said Aaron Rabena, research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation in Metro Manila
 
“There can be relative stability if the fishing vessels withdraw and they don’t enforce that fishing ban on us,” he said. 
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Australia plans to add an area of the Indian Ocean bigger than France or the U.S. state of Texas to its network of marine parks.A reserve would be set up around Christmas Island, which is about 1,500 kilometers west of the Australian mainland. The island houses a high-profile Australian offshore immigration center for asylum seekers and is also well known for a spectacular annual migration of millions of red crabs.The region is the only known spawning ground for the critically endangered southern bluefin tuna.The other marine sanctuary would encompass the Cocos Keeling Islands. The coral archipelago is another Australian external territory and is home to about 600 residents. The islands lie about halfway between the city of Perth and the South Asian island nation of Sri Lanka.Christmas Island and the Cocos Keeling Islands are considered by experts to be biodiversity hot spots in the Indian Ocean, which is under pressure from industrial fishing, climate change and pollution.The proposed marine parks would cover a combined area up to 740,000 square kilometers of ocean. It has the support of many environmental groups.Christabel Mitchell, the national director of the Save Our Marine Life Alliance, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. the group welcomes the plan.“This is a very exciting opportunity,” Mitchell said. “This commitment by the Morrison government is of global significance. These are the world’s next big marine parks. This could cover an area twice the size of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and be a huge step forward towards protecting our national marine treasures.”Australian authorities are starting talks with the island communities and the commercial fishing sector.Australia has established 60 marine parks around the country. Officials say they help conserve habitats and the various species that rely on them.
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