Myanmar’s military regime has arrested and jailed nearly 2,000 members of the deposed National League for Democracy, or NLD, since seizing power in a coup d’etat, the party said Wednesday in a statement to mark the 35th anniversary of its founding. The NLD became Myanmar’s ruling party in 2015, following a landslide victory at the polls, but the military claimed the ballot was fixed and carried out a putsch on Feb. 1, 2021, arresting de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and other top officials. Since then,…
Month: September 2023
INTERVIEW: ‘None of my mother’s work endangered state security’
Rahile Dawut, an internationally recognized expert in Uyghur folklore who disappeared in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region nearly six years ago was recently confirmed to be serving a life sentence for “endangering state security,” according to the U.S.-based human rights group Dui Hua. Prior to her disappearance in December 2017, Dawut had founded and directed a folklore research institute at Xinjiang University, and wrote dozens of journal articles and books, including studies on Islamic sacred sites in Central Asia, and presented her work at conferences around the world. Rahile Dawut was…
Washington Zoo Says Goodbye to Its Giant Pandas
In a grand farewell to its beloved giant pandas, Smithsonian’s National Zoo is hosting “Panda Palooza,” a celebration ending October 1. From their longtime Washington base, the pandas have brought joy to millions of visitors and generations of fans — and now they are being moved to China. Liliya Anisimova has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Sergey Sokolov. Voice of America
Huawei’s role in Indonesia raises ‘digital colonization’ concerns
Lush green hills and a majestic lake surround a private university here that is training tomorrow’s elite Indonesian digital workers with help from a Chinese technological powerhouse reviled by the U.S. government. The Del Institute of Technology, or IT Del, founded by a key aide to Indonesia’s president, has been collaborating since 2013 with Huawei, China’s leading tech company. Through the partnership, faculty members and students have access to cutting-edge training, certification and research opportunities in fields such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and cyber security. “It’s a win-win situation…
Thailand’s Pro-Democracy Party Regroups in Opposition
Thailand’s progressive Move Forward Party won a May election but has been pushed into opposition. Its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, has stepped down — for now — under legal pressure, and the party faces the specter of dissolution. But at a recent town hall, party members were in a defiant mood, saying democracy will win eventually. Vijitra Duangdee reports from Bangkok. Voice of America
The Guardian view on disappearances in China: silence sends a sinister message | Editorial
In 1971, Lin Biao, hailed by China as Mao Zedong’s successor, fell from grace, fled the country and was killed in an aircrash in Mongolia. Despite his prominence, it was weeks before the public was told of his death, and months before any explanation was offered. The recent spate of disappearances from China’s top echelons is hardly as seismic. They have happened in calmer political waters, far from the Cultural Revolution’s turmoil. But they speak to the way that politics still operates in Beijing. The glaring absences of senior officials…
Can China Really Build a New World Order?
Advertisement Hardly a day goes by without more pronouncements about China’s intent to remodel the world order. “China is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and the power to do it,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned. Beijing’s “clear goal is a systemic change of the international order with China at its center,” echoed Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission. “Together,” China and Brazil can “change world governance,” Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised. Every move from…
Mainland activist jailed in Hong Kong tested crackdown ‘red lines’
Zeng Yuxuan, a doctoral student from mainland China found in possession of posters depicting the “Pillar of Shame” sculpture commemorating the Tiananmen massacre, was recently handed a six-month jail term under colonial-era sedition laws. Zeng’s Sept. 12 sentencing came after she was convicted of conspiring with U.S.-based democracy activist Zhou Fengsuo to “commit acts with seditious intent” ahead of the June 4 massacre anniversary, and has sent shockwaves through the growing community of mainland Chinese who have made Hong Kong their home. Zeng is the first mainland Chinese person to…
Myanmar’s resistance says it has cracked junta’s anti-drone jammers
Resistance fighters in Myanmar are increasingly relying on drones to attack Myanmar military forces now that they have cracked the junta’s anti-drone jammers, rebel groups and drone operation groups said. The performance of the drones has also improved significantly, said Ko Nyein, who is in charge of a rebel drone force called Cloud Wings in Kayin state, in eastern Myanmar. “Our drones can now carry heavier payloads, fly higher and further, and penetrate the junta’s jammers,” he said. “We now can use our drones widely in many military columns across…
Syrian first lady thanks China for standing by her country, preventing plans ‘still being hatched’
Syria’s first lady, Asma al-Assad, has thanked China for standing by her country during international forums to prevent “plans which were and are still being hatched against independent countries”. Both countries were facing a threat to erase their national cultures “through multiple means … in the name of development and modernisation”, she said on Tuesday, according to a speech seen by the Post. She added the goal was to “destroy societies and erase identity.” Syria allows resumption of UN aid deliveries across Turkey border Assad made the remarks in Arabic…