Police in Vietnam said they are investigating lawyers for the Peng Lei Buddhist Church, accusing them of violating the country’s penal code as part of their representation for the religious group. Officials from the Ministry of Public Security said the lawyers could be charged under Article 311, which criminalizes ‘abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the State’ and is often used by authorities to target dissidents and opponents in Vietnam. On Feb. 22, police in Ho Chi Minh City arrested Vo Van Dien, a YouTuber who had…
Month: February 2023
Japan, NZ Accelerate Intel-Sharing Pact Amid China Concerns
Tokyo — The foreign ministers of Japan and New Zealand agreed Monday to speed up talks on an intelligence sharing pact as the two island nations vowed to strengthen security ties and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region amid shared concern over an increasingly assertive China. New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and her Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, also agreed during their talks in Tokyo to collaborate on priority issues for Pacific Island nations such as climate change, maritime security and infrastructure. The two countries pledged to ensure that the Pacific…
New US House Committee to Focus on Strategic Competition With China
U.S. lawmakers this week are launching a two-year effort to address strategic competition between the United States and China, with a prime-time hearing set for Tuesday that will include testimony from human rights activists and members of former President Donald Trump’s national security team. Representative Mike Gallagher, who will chair the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition with China, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” earlier this week, “We may call this a strategic competition, but it’s not a tennis match. This is about what type of world we want to…
House Committee on US Competition with China to Hold First Hearing
The newly created House Select Committee on U.S. competition with China will hold its first hearing late Tuesday, with testimony from former President Donald Trump’s national security advisers and Chinese human rights activists. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson sat down with three of the committee’s members to discuss their upcoming work. Camera: Saqib Ui Islam VOA
Where Did Covid Originate? Here’s What We Know and Don’t Know
WASHINGTON — The Energy Department’s conclusion, with “low confidence,” that an accidental laboratory leak in China most likely caused the coronavirus pandemic has renewed questions about what sparked the worst public health crisis in a century — and whether the virus at the heart of it was somehow connected to scientific research. Scientists and spy agencies have tried assiduously to answer that question, but conclusive evidence is hard to come by. The nation’s intelligence agencies are split, and none of them changed their conclusions after seeing the Energy Department’s findings, officials…
Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 370 of the invasion
The military situation is becoming increasingly difficult around the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday as many of Ukraine’s battlefields turn to mud. “In the Bakhmut sector, the situation is constantly becoming more difficult,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly address. “The enemy is constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions for fortification and defence.” Russia’s defence ministry claimed its forces destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot near the town – the focal point of Russia’s advances in eastern Ukraine – also shooting…
Cambodia’s Hun Sen ramps up efforts to bring political opponents to heel
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is continuing efforts to compel political opposition figures to back his ruling Cambodian People’s Party ahead of general elections in July. Activists from the Candlelight Party — the main challenger to the ruling party — say authorities are defacing and stealing party signs and billboards, and police are monitoring their meetings. Candlelight Party activists in almost all provinces have reported cases of intimidation and harassment, party spokesman Kim Sour Phirith said. Police and local authorities have threatened those who join the party, saying they will…
Chinese-Owned TikTok Banned on Canadian Government Mobile Devices
TORONTO — Canada announced Monday it is banning TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices, reflecting widening worries from Western officials over the Chinese-owned video sharing app. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it might be a first step to further action. “I suspect that as government takes the significant step of telling all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their work phones many Canadians from business to private individuals will reflect on the security of their own data and perhaps make choices,” Trudeau said. The European Union’s…
US Ambassador: China Should Be Candid About COVID Origins
The U.S. ambassador to China says Beijing needs to be more forthcoming about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, a day after reports that the U.S. Energy Department concluded the outbreak likely began because of a Chinese laboratory leak. Nicholas Burns told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event by video link Monday that China needs to “be more honest about what happened three years ago in Wuhan with the origin of the COVID-19 crisis.” Wuhan is the Chinese city where the first cases of the novel coronavirus were reported in…
Five people related to activist teacher gunned down in their home
A family of five, including a 3-year-old boy and an 80-year-old man, were gunned down in their Yangon home by six people in civilian clothes – believed to be pro-junta militia members – as frightened neighbors looked on. The family is related to Win Soe, a secondary school teacher who is also an activist with the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement, often called the CDM. The Feb. 22 killings shows that activists – and their families – are also being targeted in urban areas, not just the countryside. A person close…