Month: September 2023

Star Uyghur Scholar Who Vanished Was Sentenced to Life in China

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She was a trailblazing professor and ethnographer from the Uyghur ethnic group in far-western China who documented the religious and cultural traditions of her people. She was at the height of a career that the Chinese government had once recognized with awards and research grants. But it was not enough to keep her safe. Rahile Dawut, who nurtured a generation of academics and scholars, disappeared in 2017, along with other prominent intellectuals and academics targeted by the Chinese government in its campaign to crush the Uyghur cultural identity. Details about…

Chinese investors focus on West Africa amid decline in total loans

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“This trend is more significant in terms of the number of loans, plummeting from 184 to 32 in the subsequent pandemic years,” the study noted. 06:32 China’s Belt and Road, 10 years on China’s Belt and Road, 10 years on Senegal, Benin, Ivory Coast, Angola, Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda and the Demo­cratic Republic of the Congo were the borrowers in 2021-2022. Advertisement Of those, it was West African countries, which have historically borrowed less from China, that stood out for taking the biggest share of the Chinese loans to Africa over…

Philippines Condemns Chinese ‘Floating Barrier’ in South China Sea

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MANILA, Philippines —  The Philippines on Sunday accused China’s coast guard of installing a “floating barrier” in a disputed area of the South China Sea, saying it prevented Filipinos from entering and fishing in the area. Manila’s coast guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources “strongly condemn” China’s installation of the barrier in part of the Scarborough Shoal, Commodore Jay Tarriela, a coast guard spokesperson, posted on the X social media platform, formerly Twitter. The barrier “prevents Filipino fishing boats from entering the shoal and depriving them of their…

Xi Jinping calls for China and South Korea to ‘meet each other halfway’ as ties strain under US pressure

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China and South Korea should “meet each other halfway” and improve supply chain integration, Chinese President Xi Jinping told South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. Han, who was invited to China for the Asian Games in Hangzhou, met the Chinese leader on Saturday before the opening ceremony. He is the most senior South Korean official Xi has received since a meeting with President Yoon Suk-yeol last November in Indonesia. Xi told Han that China and South Korea were friendly neighbours and “inseparable” economic partners and called for mutual respect and…

China coast guard deploys ‘floating barrier’ to cut off disputed South China Sea shoal

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The Philippines has accused China’s coast guard of installing a “floating barrier” in a disputed area of the South China Sea, saying it prevented Filipinos from entering and fishing in the area. Manila’s coast guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources “strongly condemn” China’s installation of the barrier in part of the Scarborough Shoal, Commodore Jay Tarriela, a coast guard spokesperson, posted on the X social media platform, formerly Twitter. The barrier “prevents Filipino fishing boats from entering the shoal and depriving them of their fishing and livelihood activities”,…

China Wins First Gold Medals of Asian Games

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Hangzhou, China —  The first gold medals at the Asian Games were all won by host nation China on Sunday in rowing, shooting and wushu after President Xi Jinping opened the two-week multisport extravaganza in a colorful ceremony. China claimed the first gold when Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping dominated the women’s lightweight double sculls rowing final to kick off an expected medal rush for the hosts in Hangzhou. The Chinese pair finished in 7 minutes 6.78 seconds, with Uzbekistan’s Luizakhon Islamova and Malika Tagmativa taking silver, almost 10 seconds…

As World’s Problems Grow More Challenging, United Nations Head Gets Bleaker

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UNITED NATIONS —  At the annual meeting of world leaders last year, the U.N. chief sounded a global alarm about the survival of humanity and the planet. This year, the alarm rang louder and more ominously, and the message was even more pressing: Wake up and take action — right now. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ assessment, delivered in his no-nonsense style, aimed to shock. We are becoming “unhinged,” he said. We are inching closer to “a great fracture.” Conflicts, coups and chaos are surging. The climate crisis is growing. Divides are…

‘Robots can help issue a fatwa’: Iran’s clerics look to harness AI

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Iran’s holy city of Qom is better known as a centre of Islamic learning and devout pilgrimage than a hub of cutting-edge technology. But the wave of global interest in the potential of artificial intelligence has swept up even its turbaned religious leaders, who are keen to explore how AI can help with anything from parsing lengthy Islamic texts in search of guidance to issuing religious edicts. “Robots can’t replace senior clerics, but they can be a trusted assistant that can help them issue a fatwa in five hours instead…

Chinese ‘comfort women’ film debuts in Japan, with help from younger generation

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A documentary about Chinese “comfort women” during World War II has made its Japanese debut – six years after its release – with help from an international student from China. The film, titled Twenty Two, depicts the daily lives of Chinese women who were forced to be sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II. The documentary was released in 2017, but was first screened in Japan at the Kansai Queer Film Festival in Osaka on September 18 – the 92nd anniversary of the Mukden incident of 1931, which…

Biden Pacific summit suffers setback as Solomon Islands PM skips meeting

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The White House has said it is disappointed the Solomon Islands prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, will not attend a Pacific Islands summit with Joe Biden next week. The US president will host a second summit with leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum at the White House on Monday as part of his efforts to step up engagement with a region where the US is in a battle for influence with China. “We are disappointed that PM Sogavare of the Solomons does not plan to attend,” a Biden Administration official said.…