An appeal filed by lawyers for Aung San Suu Kyi has been rejected by the military junta’s Supreme Court – a decision that comes a month after a junta pardon reduced her total prison sentence from 33 years to 27 years. But the whereabouts of the 78-year-old former de facto leader of Myanmar remains unclear. A month ago, a National League for Democracy official told Radio Free Asia that she would be moved from Naypyidaw Prison to “a more comfortable state-owned residence” in a residential area in the capital. And…
Month: August 2023
US issues sanctions over North Korean missile program
The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned two individuals and a company accused of helping the North Korean regime raise funds for its ballistic missile program, according to a statement released on Thursday. The sanctions come “in response to the DPRK’s Aug. 23 attempted launch of a reconnaissance satellite into orbit,” the statement says, using an acronym for the North Korean government. They target two Russia-based individuals, Jon Jin Yong and Sergey Mikhaylovich Kozlov, it says, and the company that they ran, Intellekt LLC. “Russia-based Jon Jin Yong worked with Sergey Mikhaylovich…
Chinese Coast Guard water cannon attack on Vietnamese fishing boat leaves 2 injured
Two Vietnamese fishermen were injured when a Chinese Coast Guard vessel fired a water cannon at their boat near the contested Paracel Islands, the latest casualties in China’s aggressive campaign to expand its control in the South China Sea. Tuesday’s incident, ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Vietnam on Sept. 10, happened as the fishing boat was moving from Woody Island to Observation Bank in the waters surrounding the Paracels, Vietnamese state media reported. The ship’s owner, Huynh Van Hoanh, 43, suffered a broken right arm while fisherman…
Kicked out of training school for being too short – then beaten for protesting
A young Cambodian man was kicked out of a state-run school for physical education teachers because he was too short – and then beaten by police for protesting in front of the Ministry of Education in a video that went viral on social media. Keo Sovannrith said he gained admission to the National Institute of Physical Education last November despite standing 162 centimeters (5 foot 4 inches) tall, under the 165 centimeter (5 foot 5 inch) minimum requirement for applicants. In December, shortly after participating in an entrance ceremony at…
‘Talk About Something Else’: Chinese AI Chatbot Toes Party Line
Chinese tech giant Baidu rolled out its ChatGPT-like ERNIE Bot to the public Thursday. But the app is highly censored, offering state-approved answers to taboo questions and sometimes refusing to process them altogether when AFP tested the service. Here are some of ERNIE’s answers to questions about sensitive topics in China: Taiwan Asked about the status of Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own, ERNIE told AFP that it is “not a country.” “Taiwan is part of the sacred territory of the People’s Republic of China. China’s…
China jails economics professor who highlighted government’s personnel costs
A Chinese court on Thursday handed down a four-and-a-half-year jail term to an outspoken economics professor who had estimated the high personnel costs of the Chinese government, finding him guilty of “incitement to subvert state power,” according to rights website. The Guiyang Intermediate People’s Court handed down the sentence to former Guizhou University professor Yang Shaozheng in a trial behind closed doors on July 29, a post on the Weiquanwang rights website said. “Yang Shaozheng expressed dissatisfaction with the judgment in court and filed an appeal,” the group said. “The…
Experts Warn of Shrinking Civic Space as BRICS Expands Membership
washington — Some analysts warn that the choice of countries selected for induction into the BRICS bloc suggests the grouping as a whole may be headed on a path toward decreased tolerance for public dissent and debate. The five-nation developing bloc, which comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, announced on August 24 the admission of six countries into its fold: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Their membership is expected to become effective in January 2024. Of the six states, four — Egypt,…
Book Review: ‘The Last Politician,’ by Franklin Foer
THE LAST POLITICIAN: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future, by Franklin Foer How will the history of the Biden administration be written: as the turning point when America began to heal or as a hiatus between moments of deadlock and adversity? Franklin Foer’s “The Last Politician,” an account of Biden’s first two years in office, is the first draft of an answer. It has the makings of high drama. Crisis follows crisis. The problem is that, from Biden’s bleak inauguration to the surprise result of…
China’s neighbors reject new territorial map
Southeast Asian countries and Taiwan on Thursday objected to China’s latest version of its territorial map because of new boundaries that reach waters they claim as well in the South China Sea. Beijing released the map on Monday amid tensions with the United States over Taiwan, and days after China Coast Guard ships formed a cordon to block Philippine supply boats delivering supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre, Manila’s military outpost in Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal), in the disputed waters. “This latest attempt to legitimize China’s purported sovereignty and jurisdiction…
Country Garden said to delay key vote as China rolls out more support
Embattled Chinese developer Country Garden is delaying a deadline for creditors to vote on whether to postpone payments for an onshore private bond, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, while Beijing rolled out more support measures for the property sector. The vote on the 3.9 billion yuan (US$535.4 million) onshore private bond is a key hurdle Country Garden will have to overcome as it strives to avoid default amid a spiralling financing crisis and opposition from some creditors. The voting was due to conclude by 10pm Hong Kong time. The voting was…