Month: January 2024

Beijing —  The Chinese government has protested to the United States over the treatment of Chinese arriving to study in America, saying some have been interrogated for hours, had their electronic devices checked and in some cases were forcibly deported from the country. Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador in Washington, said dozens of Chinese have been denied entry every month for the past few months when returning to school from overseas travel or visiting relatives in China, according to a post on the Chinese Embassy website. “When they landed at…

BANGKOK —  Australian mining companies operating in Myanmar are contributing to military government funding, according to a new report. Justice for Myanmar, an activist group that focuses on campaigning against military-rule, says the mining companies listed in a new report titled “Mining Against Humanity” remain active and create revenue for the military. That activity, the report says, aids the junta in its attacks on opposition forces in the country. Myanmar has been in chaos since military leader General Min Aung Hlaing and his military forces overthrew the democratically elected government…

Washington  —  Myanmar’s military government has approved resumption of construction of the Chinese-backed Kyaukphyu deep-sea port after years of delay. The project is a significant step in China’s push to develop an outlet to the Indian Ocean and bypass the Strait of Malacca, a pirate-infested chokepoint on busy trade routes to the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The State Administration Council and the Chinese state-owned firm CITIC signed the Kyaukphyu deep-sea port deal, a “supplementary agreement,” to a 2014 deal in the final weeks of 2023. Discussions on the $7.3…