Myanmar’s military and an alliance of armed ethnic minority groups have announced a China-mediated ceasefire after months of conflict that has posed the biggest threat to the junta since it seized power in 2021. Fighting has claimed hundreds of lives and displaced more than half a million people since October, when the alliance launched an offensive against the junta. The alliance has seized several towns and border hubs in Myanmar’s northern Shan state that are vital for trade with China, a major arms supplier and ally of the military. “With…
Tag: South and Central Asia
Human rights in decline globally as leaders fail to uphold laws, report warns
Human rights across the world are in a parlous state as leaders shun their obligations to uphold international law, according to the annual report of Human Rights Watch (HRW). In its 2024 world report, HRW warns grimly of escalating human rights crises around the globe, with wartime atrocities increasing, suppression of human rights defenders on the rise, and universal human rights principles and laws being attacked and undermined by governments. The report highlights political leaders’ increasing disregard for international human rights laws. The report says “selective government outrage and transactional…
Arundhati Roy is being hounded by the Indian state. This is a test case for its democracy | Meena Kandasamy
The climate for media and free speech in India is in a dangerous place. The country is already ranked 161 out of 180 countries in the press freedom index, but the actions of prime minister Narendra Modi’s government in the past few weeks have shown how many more clampdowns await. Desperately in need of distraction tactics – given the many failures in governance, tackling inflation or delivering jobs – the regime is after a fresh dose of sound and fury against political opponents. And so a decade-old case has been…
Pro-China candidate Mohamed Muizzu wins Maldives presidency, upending relationship with India
Pro-China candidate Mohamed Muizzu won Saturday’s presidential election in the Maldives, a result set to once again upend the archipelago’s relationship with traditional partner India. Muizzu helms a party that presided over an influx of Chinese loans when it last held power in the atoll nation, better known for its luxury beach resorts and celebrity tourists. He won over 54% of the vote in the run-off contest, prompting incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to concede defeat shortly before midnight. “Congratulations to president-elect Muizzu,” Solih wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I also…
Maldives vote: runoff for presidency begins in shadow of India-China tussle for influence
The Maldives started voting on Saturday to decide their next president, in an elections widely seen as a referendum on whether to hitch their fortunes to China or India, both vying for influence in the island nation. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, 61, faces an uphill battle to secure a second mandate after a term that saw renewed ties with New Delhi, the archipelago’s traditional benefactor. Frontrunner Mohamed Muizzu, 45, has vowed closer ties with Beijing and a review of relations with India if he is elected. Muizzu won 46% of the…
Maldives election run-off pitched as fork in the road between India and China
As the archipelago of the Maldives goes to an election run-off on Saturday, it will not just be two presidential candidates on the ballot. This election is being pitched as a larger geopolitical battle between India and China, which over the past decade have been engaged in a tug-of-war to gain influence over the Maldives. While the tussle is not new, the narrative of India versus China has reached a fever pitch in this election, where opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu is trying to unseat the government of Mohamed Solih and…
Joe Biden calls for stable US-China relationship during south-east Asia tour
Joe Biden’s national security tour of south-east Asia reached Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sunday, where the president called for stability in the US-China relationship against an increasingly complex diplomatic picture in the region for his country. “I don’t want to contain China,” Biden said. “I just want to make sure that we have a relationship with China that is on the up and up, squared away, everybody knows what it’s all about.” Biden also said that China’s recent economic downturn may limit any inclination to invade Taiwan. “I don’t think it’s…
G20: battle for influence as US seeks to rival China in the global south
The run-up to this weekend’s G20 summit in Delhi has largely been dominated by two issues: the host’s efforts to project India as a superpower; and the intriguing decision of Xi Jinping not to attend. The substance of what world leaders will discuss during their two days together has struggled to surface. Yet this year’s G20 – the 24th since the format was inaugurated in 1999 – is potentially a make or break moment for the organisation that includes the world’s 19 wealthiest nations plus the European Union as a…
The Guardian view on Brics: demand for membership is a symptom of global disorder | Editorial
The last decade of annual summits held by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (Brics) has rarely merited much attention beyond their own capitals. But last week’s conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, is likely to be remembered as a turning point in modern history – with six large nations joining the current five members. A few dozen more states wish to sign up. But the club’s popularity is not a sign that an anti-western bloc is coalescing. “Brics-11” contains two US allies: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.…
Brics to admit six new countries to bloc including Iran and Saudi Arabia
The five Brics nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – have announced the admission of six new countries from next year as the club of large and populous emerging economies seeks to reshape the global order. Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE are to become full members from 1 January 2024, the group announced at its summit in South Africa. “This membership expansion is historic,” said the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, whose country is the most powerful in the group of non-western states that…