A new law, issued just days before the end of a two-year nationwide state of emergency imposed after Myanmar’s military coup, has placed a high bar on the registration of political parties ahead of a general election the junta has planned for 2023. Approved by junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing last week, the law drew immediate condemnation from leaders of political parties that won the country’s 2020 election, annulled by the junta after the Feb. 1, 2021 coup. They said the restrictions would ensure the military faces no…
Month: January 2023
Golf Course or Housing? A Patch of Green Divides Hong Kong
On an autumn afternoon at the Hong Kong Golf Club, hundreds of dogs — pugs, Pomeranians, Shiba Inus — strolled the verdant grounds with their owners in tow, enjoying rare access to the range that charges new members a $2 million entry fee. But these impeccable greens, in the northern reaches of Hong Kong, have become an unlikely battleground. The Hong Kong Golf Club has been fighting a government proposal to carve out less than one-fifth of its 172 acres of land and redevelop it for public housing. The open…
Myanmar’s Economy Lags but Slow Growth Expected
Myanmar’s economy is expected to see growth by the end of the current fiscal year, but that growth still lags pre-coup levels. In a report released by the World Bank on Monday, the Southeast Asian country is forecasted for an economic growth of 3% by the end of September. Titled “Myanmar’s Economic Monitor: Navigating Uncertainty,” the report states that the risks outweigh the positives when it comes to Myanmar’s economic recovery, which include “a worsening of conflict in the lead-up to planned election.” Myanmar has been in crisis since the…
‘Human Mines’: China’s Population Policy Flip-Flops Spark Anger
Advertisement In early 2023, China officially admitted that the country is experiencing population decline for the first time in 60 years. That announcement did not surprise ordinary Chinese residents struggling to make ends meet amid a slowing Chinese economy and the political turbulence led by the now abandoned zero COVID measures. On the Chinese internet, a term called “human mine” (人矿) captured the public’s attention for a few days before being censored by Chinese cyberspace officials. This new internet term ironically equates human beings to mineral resources like gold, iron,…
Junta Defections Drop Two Years After Myanmar Coup
YANGON, MYANMAR — Defections from Myanmar security forces to the anti-junta opposition have dropped significantly, according to People’s Embrace, an organization supporting defectors established by the opposition National Unity Government, as well as ethnic opposition groups and defectors. They point to tightened security and stricter regulations in Myanmar’s military, as well as inadequate protection and support for defectors by the NUG and other opposition organizations as the reasons for the drop. “The main reason for the severe decline [in the number of defectors] is the junta’s tightened security within the…
Hydrogen fuel from the ocean? Scientists say they’ve found a way to do it
“In this work, we demonstrate direct electrolysis of seawater that has not been alkalised nor acidified and has only been filtered to remove solids and microorganisms.” Hydrogen is regarded as the ultimate, non-polluting fuel and energy-storage medium of the future. To produce hydrogen, water is split into oxygen and hydrogen using electricity in a process called electrolysis. Advertisement According to the International Energy Agency, hydrogen demand stood at 94 million tonnes in 2021, representing about 2.5 per cent of global energy consumption. China was the world’s largest consumer of hydrogen…
Two years after coup, Myanmar’s anti-junta teachers face lengthy jail terms
The police vehicle pulled up to the house on a September evening and three officers got out. They demanded to see Kyaw Naing Win, a secondary school teacher who had refused to go to work as part of the country’s Civil Disobedience Movement after the February 2021 military coup. They quickly shoved him into the vehicle, where they beat him before they drove off into the night, a person close to the teacher said, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisal. Hours later, with no word from her husband, Kyaw Naing…
Taiwan warnings show US military is preparing for war, Chinese analysts say
“It seems like the US military is using the warnings to declare its stance clearer day after day: if mainland China intends to attack Taiwan, then the Americans should react with military intervention,” said Zhu Feng, a professor of international affairs at Nanjing University. “Such warnings may encourage American pilots to become more aggressive when dealing with their Chinese counterparts on the front lines, increasing the risk of conflicts.” Advertisement “The unprecedented anxiety over a war for Taiwan [in 1971] was caused by a lack of intercommunications and mutual understanding,”…
Chinese province ends ban on unmarried people having children
A Chinese province of more than 80 million people will lift restrictions on unmarried people having children and remove caps on the number of babies as part of a national drive to increase the country’s birth rate. Sichuan’s health commission announced on Monday it would allow all people to register births with the provincial government from 15 February. It will also remove limits on the number of birth registrations for any parent. Until now, the commission had allowed only married couples who wanted to have up to two children to…
Two Years After Coup, Battle of Attrition Grinds on in Myanmar
Bangkok — Two years after Myanmar’s military toppled a democratically elected government, analysts say the country remains trapped in a deadly battle of attrition between the ruling junta and resistance forces that will only get bloodier ahead of planned elections this year. The junta still fails to control wide swaths of hinterland and continues to come under heavy attack from a patchwork or armed groups across the country of 54 million people. The United Nations says over 1.2 million have been displaced by fighting since the coup, a number still…