Month: November 2022

INTERVIEW: ‘There have been many years of build-up to this moment’

Chin@Strategy

Young women are prominent in the “white paper” protest movement in cities and college campuses across China that was sparked by a fire in a locked-down apartment building in Xinjiang’s regional capital, Urumqi, but swelled to calls to end ruling Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policies. To explain factors beyond frustrations over COVID restrictions that have driven so many women to the front lines of China’s largest mass protests since Tiananmen in 1989, Radio Free Asia spoke to Leta Hong Fincher, a journalist and scholar who has written…

INTERVIEW: ‘If they had let my family out, they would still be alive’

Chin@Strategy

On Nov. 24, a fire tore through a residential building in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region’s capital Urumqi, killing at least 10 people. Citizen videos that circulated on the Internet showed screaming residents of the burning apartment demanding authorities open exits they said were closed under strict COVID-19 restrictions that have been in place for more than 100 days and have caused widespread hardship.  The fire prompted angry protests in Xinjiang that spread to other cities in China over the following days, with many people expressing condolences for the victims…

Vaccinating China’s Elderly Is Key to Lifting Zero-COVID

Chin@Strategy

The Chinese government has repeatedly locked down tens of millions of people at a time over the past three years under its zero-COVID policy. It is now deploying its considerable powers of state control to suppress protests against that policy. But it has not managed to do what experts say would render the policy largely unnecessary: vaccinate and boost a greater share of its elderly population. “That’s what’s been most puzzling about China’s approach to this virus,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University School of…

South Dakota bans TikTok access on state-owned devices citing ties to China

Chin@Strategy

Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota, on Tuesday issued an executive order banning state employees and contractors from accessing the video platform TikTok on state-owned devices, citing its ties to China. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020. It has been targeted by Republicans who say the Chinese government could access user data such as browsing history and location. US armed forces also have prohibited the app on military devices. TikTok, which has exploded in popularity with a nearly addictive scroll…

With China a mutual concern, investment accelerates between Australia and Taiwan

Chin@Strategy

But overall, Taiwanese capital flows into the mainland are shrinking, falling 3.2 per cent in the year to October compared to the same period in 2021. Beijing’s draconian coronavirus controls have hurt export supply chains and lowered expectations for China’s growth this year. Many of the 4,200 Taiwanese companies in the mainland make goods for export. Advertisement “China’s zero-Covid policy has led to a significant reduction in economic and trade activities, so the trade relationship between Taiwan and Australia has increased,” said Darson Chiu, research fellow with the Apec Study…

Bangladesh, Myanmar border police agree to work jointly against militant groups

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The Bangladesh and Myanmar border police forces have agreed to work jointly to prevent illegal crossings by militants along the countries’ common frontier, the chief of the Bangladeshi border guard said Tuesday. The official did not name any of the “terrorist” groups that would be the focus of joint patrols on the border, but both Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and Arakan Army (AA) insurgents reportedly have been operating along or near the Burmese-Bangladesh frontier lately.  On Nov. 14, a Bangladesh military intelligence officer was hacked to death by suspected…

French regulator called on to withdraw licence allowing CGTN to broadcast from London

Chin@Strategy

France’s media regulator is under pressure to withdraw a licence that allows the Chinese state broadcaster to beam its programmes across Europe from a studio in west London. Ofcom revoked the organisation’s licence to transmit in the UK last year but the China Global Television Network (CGTN) was able to continue broadcasting following authorisation from the French authority. The Chinese network has produced English-language programmes, including those presented by a former BBC Wales Today presenter, from its European hub in Chiswick since 2018. When Ofcom revoked its UK licence, CGTN…

NGOs call for release of prominent NagaWorld union leader

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Nearly 70 Cambodian civil society organizations have called for the immediate release of a prominent labor union leader arrested three days ago for allegedly violating bail conditions from a prior arrest.  Authorities arrested Chhim Sithar, a leader of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of the NagaWorld casino complex, at Phnom Penh International Airport on Saturday, for violating bail conditions that allegedly prohibited her from traveling overseas. She was returning from the International Trade Union Confederation World Conference in Melbourne, Australia. “We call for her immediate and unconditional…

China Owns 400 Nuclear Warheads, According to Pentagon Report

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pentagon —  A Pentagon report warns that China now has more than 400 nuclear warheads, approximately doubling its nuclear arsenal in just two years, while its military has increased “unsafe” and “unprofessional” military behavior toward the United States and its allies in the region, especially Taiwan. The pace of China’s accelerating nuclear expansion may enable Beijing to field a stockpile of about 1,500 warheads by 2035, according to the Pentagon’s annual “China Military Power” report to Congress that was released Tuesday. The United States’ nuclear arsenal, with an estimated 3,800…

China: police crackdown on anti-lockdown protests – video

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Police in major cities across China, including Beijing and Shanghai, have increased efforts to crackdown on zero-Covid protests. According to footage circulating on social media, police have made at least one arrest. Police are patrolling areas where protests began over the weekend, installing security barriers and checking personal phones for signs of civil disobedience. Widespread anger sparked protests over the weekend following China’s decision to continue with the zero-Covid policy, introducing strict lockdowns in spite of economic consequences  The Guardian