Updates story at 3:37 pm on 11/10/2022 to correct Zelenkskyy’s title. Cambodia’s longtime Prime Minister Hun Sen may be a shrewd and ruthless politician but his chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year has not enhanced his reputation as a negotiator. Even before the ASEAN summit that opens on Friday, marking the closure of Cambodia’s tenure as the annual chair of the 10-nation bloc, Hun Sen is staring at another setback in his efforts to mediate in an international conflict. First it was over the civil conflict…
Day: November 9, 2022
Police arrest 7 farmers in land-use dispute in Vietnamese highlands
In the latest clash over land-use rights in Vietnam, police have detained seven residents in the Central Highlands for trying to prevent men from cutting down a farmer’s coffee and durian trees amid a contract dispute, residents said. The five men had been sent to cut down the trees because the farmer, identified as Nguyen Thanh Giang, hadn’t given Thang Loi Coffee Joint Stock Co., the company he was leasing the land from, the amount of coffee beans stipulated in his contract. Since 2019, Giang had refused to hand over…
‘Accident Prevention Month’ means police extort more than usual in North Korea
November is “Accident Prevention Measures Month” in North Korea – which means that police are shaking down citizens for fines and bribes more than usual, sources in the isolated country told Radio Free Asia. Paying off the cops is a way of life in North Korea. Since most North Koreans can barely survive on the salaries of their government-assigned jobs – which in 2018 averaged about U.S.$4 per month – many families have side jobs, buying and selling goods as merchants or providing services. Police officers and other authority figures,…
Virus Lockdowns Hit Guangzhou, China’s Economic Powerhouse
Advertisement A surge in COVID-19 cases has spurred lockdowns in the southern Chinese manufacturing hub of Guangzhou, adding to financial pressure that has disrupted global supply chains and sharply slowed growth in the world’s second-largest economy. Residents in districts encompassing almost 5 million people have been ordered to stay home at least through Sunday, with one member of each family allowed out once per day to purchase necessities, local authorities said Wednesday. The order came after the densely populated city of 13 million reported more than 2,500 new cases over…
China’s Dominance Over Critical Minerals Faces New Challengers
Advertisement It was only 10 months ago that François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s industry minister, waved through the acquisition of Canadian miner Neo Lithium by China’s state-backed Zijin Mining Group. Brushing aside national security concerns, Champagne pointed to Neo Lithium’ assets in Argentina and assured skeptics that Neo Lithium is “really not a Canadian company.” Chinese miners may have interpreted the deal as a welcome signal that they could continue buying up Canadian minerals unimpeded. Their relief would turn out to be short-lived. In a dramatic twist, Ottawa announced on October 28…
Facebook user’s wife says claims her husband insulted authorities are groundless
The wife of Vietnamese Facebook user Bui Van Thuan says he has never admitted to breaking the law in the 15 months since his arrest. Trinh Thi Nhung also said Thuan had met two lawyers to prepare his defense. The People’s Procuracy of Thanh Hoa province prosecuted Thuan for “making, storing and spreading information with items aimed at opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” on Sept. 26, this year “Bui Van Thuan’s activities are of a very serious nature and have infringed on security in the field…