Day: June 29, 2023

Myanmar Junta-Aligned Militia Defect to Rebels During Heavy Clashes

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BANGKOK, THAILAND – Myanmar anti-coup fighters briefly seized several border outposts after junta-aligned militia defected and joined the rebels, sparking days of heavy clashes, state media reported Thursday. Fighting has ravaged swaths of the country since the military’s 2021 putsch, with some established ethnic rebel groups training and fighting alongside newer People’s Defense Forces against the junta. Rugged Kayah state on the border with Thailand has become a resistance hotspot, hosting thousands of democracy protesters turned PDF fighters. Five border posts in the state manned by Border Guard Force (BGF)…

Putin ‘Somewhat Weakened’ by Mutiny, Trump Says

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WASHINGTON – Former U.S. President Donald Trump, a longtime admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Thursday that Putin has been “somewhat weakened” by an aborted mutiny and that now is the time for the United States to try to broker a negotiated peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine. Speaking expansively about foreign policy in a telephone interview with Reuters, the front-runner in opinion polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination also said China should be given a 48-hour deadline to get out of what sources familiar with the matter…

Myanmar junta sentences LGBTQ activist to 10 years in prison

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Mynamar’s military junta this week sentenced a male LGBTQ activist to 10 years in prison on Wednesday on charges of terrorism, activists and students told Radio free Asia. Justin Min Hein, president of the LGBTQ Union in the country’s central Mandalay region, was a leader of several anti-junta activities including a strike, flash protests, and other organized campaigns in Mandalay prior to his arrest. He was convicted of violating the Anti-Terrorism Act, said activist Saw Han Nway Oo. She said Justin Min Hein was in poor health. “I’m worried about…

China’s Waning Leverage Over SKorea Lessens Chances of Retaliation Against THAAD, Experts Say

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WASHINGTON – China’s waning economic leverage over South Korea is making Beijing less likely to retaliate significantly against Seoul’s normalization of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile defense system, experts say. South Korea “will take follow-up measures to normalize the [THAAD] base” and “to resolve the inconvenient situation” for American soldiers, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyu said at a news briefing Tuesday in Seoul. Normalization is the process of turning an ad hoc installation at a golf course into a military base that has operational, support and living facilities for…

Trump says Putin is ‘somewhat weakened’ by aborted mutiny

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Donald Trump, a longtime admirer of Vladimir Putin, said on Thursday that the Russian president has been “somewhat weakened” by an aborted mutiny and that the US should use this moment to negotiate a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine. “I want people to stop dying over this ridiculous war,” Trump told Reuters in a telephone interview. On Ukraine, Trump did not rule out that the Kyiv government might have to concede some territory to Russia in order to stop the war, which began with Russian forces invading Ukraine 16…

US Shoots Down Chinese Calls to Lift Sanctions

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WASHINGTON —Renewed calls by Chinese officials for the lifting of sanctions in exchange for open lines of communication with the U.S. military are echoing into a diplomatic abyss, even as tensions between the two superpowers continue to mount. The Pentagon on Thursday rejected the demand, arguing there is no good reason for high-level Chinese military officials to avoid conversations with their U.S. counterparts. “From our perspective, there are no obstacles to keeping open lines of communication,” the Pentagon press secretary, Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, told reporters, responding to a question…

Japan looks to expand diplomatic corps in overseas charm offensive

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Receive free Japanese politics & policy updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Japanese politics & policy news every morning. The Japanese government has ambitions to strengthen its diplomatic service with a huge hiring spree, part of an overseas charm offensive intended to counter the global rise of economic nationalism and respond to a more assertive China in the region. The plan, which was laid out in a paper by the ruling Liberal Democratic party in April and formally adopted as foreign ministry policy…

As Beijing swelters, activists hope the heat will prompt climate action

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As temperatures in the Chinese capital are forecast to creep back up to record-breaking heights this weekend, activists are hoping that overheated Beijingers will start thinking about the causes of, as well as the solutions to, such intense heatwaves. Last weekend the mercury soared past 40C (104F) for three consecutive days, the first time that the city has endured such prolonged heat since its weather station started recording temperatures in 1951. Surrounding areas also issued “red” weather warnings, indicating that the temperature could surpass 40C within 24 hours. While social…

US special envoy for Iran on leave amid security clearance review

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Receive free US-Iran tensions updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest US-Iran tensions news every morning. The US state department’s Iran envoy Rob Malley is on leave while his security clearance is under review in a potential setback to the resumption of indirect talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme. “I have been informed that my security clearance is under review. I have not been provided any further information, but I expect the investigation to be resolved favourably and soon,” Malley, who was appointed special envoy…

Chinese, Russian Firms to Build Lithium Plants in Bolivia

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LA PAZ, BOLIVIA – Chinese and Russian companies will invest more than $1.4 billion in the extraction of lithium in Bolivia, one of the countries with the largest reserves of the mineral used in electric car batteries, the government in La Paz said Friday. China’s Citic Guoan and Russia’s Uranium One Group — both with a major government stake — will partner with Bolivia’s state-owned YLB to build two lithium carbonate processing plants, Bolivian President Luis Arce said at a public event. Lithium is often described as the “white gold”…