Sydney — Australia, Japan, and the United States are expanding defense cooperation. Analysts say the moves are a response to China’s growing military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.

Senior Australian and Japanese officials Thursday met for the 11th Australia-Japan 2+2 Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultation in the state of Victoria.

Australia’s deputy prime minister and minister for defense, Richard Marles, told reporters that plans were agreed for Japan to join U.S. Marine rotations in northern Australia, as well as more joint exercises and fighter jet deployments.

“The relationship between our two countries really has gone to a very different level. Today we have agreed to enhance our air engagement with greater people-to-people links, more training, greater exercises between our two air forces,” he said.

Long-standing territorial disputes and differences over Taiwan have unsettled Japan’s relations with China.

China overtook Japan as the world’s second-largest economy in 2010 and analysts have said that greater economic prosperity in China has been accompanied by more aggressive military posturing.

The bilateral talks in Victoria came after two Chinese incursions into Japanese territory.

A Chinese surveillance plane breached Japanese airspace on August 26, while a survey ship entered Japan’s territorial waters a few days later.

Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko told reporters that closer ties with Australia are essential.

“Amidst the increasingly difficult security environment in the Indo-Pacific, we need to raise the Japan-Australia security cooperation to a new height,” said Yoko.

Under the plans, Japanese troops could join up to 2,500 U.S. Marines who train in Australia’s Northern Territory each year. Japan and Australia could also collaborate on their long-range missile systems. There has been no response, so far, from Beijing to these strategic plans.

Japan was an enemy of Australia and the United States in World War II, but Euan Graham a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a research organization funded by the Australian and other governments, said on social media the proposals show “at a symbolic level how successfully Australia and Japan have put wartime memories behind them.”

Australia’s formal military ties with Washington date to the early 1950s and are considered by successive governments in Canberra to the cornerstone of Australia’s sense of security in an increasingly fractious region.
…

Melbourne, Australia — Pope Francis’s visit to Papua New Guinea will take him to a remote part of the South Pacific island nation where Christianity is a recent addition to traditional spiritual beliefs developed over millennia.

Francis will visit the diocese of Vanimo on the main island of New Guinea, one of the most remote and disadvantaged in a poor and diverse nation, according to local Bishop Francis Meli.

Trappings of modernity are scarce. There is no running water for the more than 120,000 people who live in the diocese, according to a church website. Electricity is a luxury for the few who can afford solar panels or portable generators.

The visit is an extraordinary religious highlight in an area where Christian missionaries did not arrive until 1961, and where the religion coexists with traditional ancestor worship, animism and sorcery.

The pope will meet around a dozen missionary nuns and priests from his native Argentina during his visit scheduled for Sept. 8. He will also inspect a church-built high school and crisis center for abused women and girls.

Argentinian missionary Tomas Ravaioli, a priest of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, said he came to the Vanimo Diocese 14 years ago after his superiors told him there was “a big need for priests.”

While Christian churches are full, Indigenous “customs and traditions are very much rooted,” Ravaioli said.

“Sometimes for people, it’s not easy to live Christianity 100% because they have traditions that are pagan,” Ravaioli said.

“But honestly, I think Christianity here in Papua New Guinea is very, very strong,” he added.

Papua New Guinea is an overwhelmingly Christian country — a 2000 census showed 96% of the population identified with the religion — but the spiritual beliefs that developed during 50,000 years of human habitation remain part of the fabric of the nation’s culture.

Michael Mel is a 65-year-old academic who was baptized as a baby by one of the first missionaries to reach his village in the remote highlands. An Indigenous man, he said he also “aligns” with traditional spirituality and cautions against abandoning Indigenous culture.

“Western civilization is great. The West has brought us reading and writing and technology and all of the rest of it, but there are some things where I think our sensibilities were much, much better,” Mel said, giving Indigenous forest care as an example.

Mining has widened the country’s economic divide and pitted the haves against the have-nots.

“We need to balance ourselves. We cannot just gung ho throw our knowledge away and accept Western civilization completely,” Mel said.

But traditional beliefs can also contribute to the deadly tribal violence that is creating an unprecedented internal security threat across the country, especially allegations of witchcraft, known in local languages as sanguma.

Sorcery allegations typically arise in reaction to unexpected deaths or illness. But some suspect they also reflect jealousies and rivalries arising from major societal changes in recent decades that have more to do with rapid modernization and uneven development than religion.

As traditional bows and arrows are being replaced by more lethal assault rifles, the toll of fighting is getting deadlier, and police fear that they are outgunned. Mercenaries are also now a feature of what were once conflicts limited to tribal rivals.

“Even though they believe in God and they believe in Jesus Christ, … they fear witchcraft,” said Bishop Meli, who was born east of Vanimo on an island off New Britain.

Authorities don’t condone the persecution of supposed witches. Parliament in 2013 repealed the Sorcery Act which had made an accusation of sorcery a partial defense against a murder charge. But a study has found that prosecutions for violence against accused sorcerers remain rare compared to how commonplace witch hunts are.

Another enduring source of conflict is land ownership. Almost all the land in Papua New Guinea is customarily owned, which means it belongs to a distinct tribe or group instead of individuals. With no clear borders between customary lands, territorial disputes regularly lead to violence.

Both were among the complex combination of causes blamed for a massacre in East Sepik province, east of Vanimo, on July 17 when 30 men armed with guns, axes, spears, knives and sling shots launching sharpened steel rods killed at least 26 villagers.

Four weeks later, police reported a single suspect had been arrested. They remained hopeful that the rest of the culprits would be found. The U.N. children agency UNICEF said 395 survivors of the attack, including 220 children, remained homeless more than a month later because their houses were torched.

Meli said tribal violence was not a problem in his diocese, where he described the population as “friendly and peaceful.”

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape relished the attention the papal visit would bring his country, noting that 80 members of the international media had registered to travel there for the event.

Marape said South Pacific leaders he met at the Pacific Islands Forum on Tonga in late August had proposed sending delegations to meet the pontiff.

He also noted that Catholics were the largest Christian denomination in Papua New Guinea. Catholics accounted for 26% of the population, according to a 2011 census.

“We look forward to the visit,” Marape told The Associated Press at the Tongan capital, Nuku’alofa.

The Vatican is highlighting Papua New Guinea on the international stage at a time the United States and China struggle over the former World War II battleground for strategic influence.

The United States and close ally Australia, concerned by China’s growing influence in the South Pacific, have struck new security agreements with Papua New Guinea. Australia’s latest pact addresses Port Moresby’s concerns about deteriorating internal security problems. China is also reportedly pursuing a bilateral policing pact with Papua New Guinea.

The Vatican. meanwhile, has been working for years to try to improve relations with China that were officially severed over seven decades ago when the Communists came to power. A renewed agreement between China and the Vatican on the appointment of Chinese bishops is expected to be signed in October.

Bishop Meli said the faithful in his diocese were amazed that they would be included in the itinerary of the first visit by a pontiff to Papua New Guinea since Pope John Paul II in 1995.

“They are so excited and people are full of jubilation and joy because this is historic,” Meli said.

“They don’t think any pope in history will be able to come again to Vanimo,” he said.
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HONG KONG — Southern China’s Hainan province evacuated over 400,000 people ahead of the expected landfall on Friday of Super Typhoon Yagi, while tens of thousands prepared to seek shelter in neighboring Vietnam from what is set to be the strongest storm to hit the region in over a decade.

Yagi killed at least 13 people in the Philippines earlier this week when it was still classified as a tropical storm, triggering floods and landslides on the country’s main island of Luzon before strengthening into a super typhoon over the past few days.

The storm was expected to make landfall in China later on Friday along the coasts of Hainan, a popular holiday destination, and neighboring Guangdong province, the state-run Xinhua news agency said, citing authorities.

The ministry of water resources on Thursday raised its emergency response to flooding in both provinces to the third-highest tier.

“Yagi is likely to be the strongest typhoon to hit China’s southern coast since 2014, making flood and prevention work very challenging,” Xinhua said, citing a meeting held by flood officials.

Authorities in Hainan have evacuated over 400,000 people on the island, the news agency said, citing local authorities.

Packing wind speeds of more than 240 kilometers per hour, the typhoon “is equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane,” according to NASA Earth Data.

In Hong Kong, a typhoon warning that had been in effect was lowered shortly after noon following heavy rains overnight as Yagi passed within 400 kilometers of the city.

Trading at Hong Kong’s stock exchange was suspended on Friday, and day schools were closed.

Authorities said five people were injured in the city due to the weather, but damage was limited.  

Southern China is frequently hit during the summer and autumn by typhoons that form in the warm oceans east of the Philippines and then travel west.

But climate change has made tropical storms more unpredictable while increasing their intensity, leading to heavy rains and violent gusts that cause flash floods and coastal damage, experts say.

After moving through southern China, Yagi will head towards Vietnam, on course to hit the northern and north-central regions around the famed UNESCO heritage site Halong Bay on Saturday.

Tens of thousands of people will be evacuated to safer areas in Hai Phong and Thai Binh provinces on Friday, local authorities said.

“This will be the strongest typhoon (to hit northern Vietnam) in 20 years,” said Pham Duc Luan, head of the dyke management authority on Thursday.

More than 457,000 military personnel have been mobilized by the relief and rescue department of the defense ministry.

Officials have also directed 50,000 fishing vessels carrying 220,000 people to take shelter.
…

NEW DELHI — India’s main opposition Congress party this week set up a new internal group to promote LGBTQ+ rights while another party has named a person from the community as its spokesperson, in the first such political recognition after many setbacks.

The country’s top court in 2018 decriminalized homosexuality but greatly disappointed the LGBTQ+ community last year when it declined to legalize same-sex marriage and left it to parliament to decide.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has also said the legislature is the right platform to rule on the contentious issue, and this week invited the public to share views on how best to ensure that policies for the community are inclusive and effective.

Same-sex relations are mostly a taboo in the largely conservative country of 1.42 billion people, and the government told the Supreme Court last year that such marriages were not “comparable with the Indian family unit concept of a husband, a wife and children”.

Congress, whose political clout has risen after doing much better than expected in the April-June general election, this week named LGBTQ+ activist Mario da Penha as the head of its new unit for the community under its All India Professionals’ Congress division.

This follows Congress’s poll promise to bring in a law to legalize civil unions between same-sex couples.

Da Penha said on X it was the “only representative framework for queer people within any recognised national political party in India”.

Anish Gawande, who last month became the first person from the community to become the spokesperson for a big party, the opposition Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar, said da Penha’s appointment was “a major moment for queer inclusion in Indian politics.”

Gawande earlier said on social media of the Nationalist Congress appointment: “If you’d told me 10 years ago that it would be possible to be out and in Indian politics, I would have scoffed in disbelief.”

The federal government says it has taken a host of measures for the community, which includes enabling same-sex couples to access government food programs as families, open joint bank accounts and choose each other as nominees, and seek medical and other care without discrimination.

The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment said in a statement on Sunday it had invited inputs from the public to ensure that policies and initiatives for the community are inclusive and effective.

It did not mention any law to recognize marriages between same-sex couples.

A spokesperson for the ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
…

washington — China recently warned against what it described as “external interference” in Myanmar, a country increasingly caught in the crossfire of escalating geopolitical rivalry between Beijing and Washington.

This warning came as the United States has been deepening its engagement with Myanmar’s pro-democracy forces, raising concerns in Beijing, where experts suggest there is deep skepticism about Washington’s intentions in Myanmar.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed these concerns during an informal meeting with the foreign ministers of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar on August 16 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Wang emphasized that Myanmar’s internal affairs should remain free from external interference, particularly from outside the region.

The Chinese Embassy in Myanmar and state-controlled media quickly echoed this stance, stressing that no party should cross the line of “external intervention.”

This meeting coincided with a virtual discussion between U.S. officials and Myanmar’s opposition, during which Washington reiterated its support for a transition to civilian government.

Although Wang did not directly mention the United States, his remarks were widely interpreted as a response to Washington’s increased involvement.

Chinese distrust

Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington, noted China’s growing distrust of U.S. intentions in Myanmar.

“From a Chinese perspective, they reject the U.S. role in Myanmar,” Abuza told VOA. “The problem is the Chinese don’t want to deal with us in Myanmar.”

Hla Kyaw Zaw, a veteran observer of Sino-Myanmar relations based in China, echoed this sentiment, noting that China is more concerned about U.S. involvement than any other external influence.

“China prefers to take the lead in addressing the Myanmar crisis, as seen in its mediation efforts earlier this year,” Hla Kyaw Zaw said, referring to China’s role in talks between Myanmar’s military junta and ethnic armed groups.

In response to a VOA request for comment, the Chinese Embassy in Washington reiterated China’s stance opposing actions that provoke internal unrest and civil war in Myanmar. “China opposes deliberate interference in Myanmar’s internal affairs by external forces,” the embassy said in an email.

According to Abuza, there is little potential for U.S.-China cooperation on the Myanmar crisis, despite the two having similar goals.

“We actually both want much of the same thing — an end to military rule, an end to civil war, and a return to a stable, prosperous Myanmar. But I see very little cooperation going forward in the short term,” Abuza said.

China-US differences

The divergence underscores broader tensions in Southeast Asia. While both powers ostensibly seek stability in Myanmar, their approaches differ sharply, according to a recent analysis by the United States Institute of Peace.

The United States has shown support for the democratic movements in Myanmar, for example, by imposing sanctions on the country’s military government. Also, following the 2021 coup, Washington passed the BURMA Act of 2022, authorizing nonlethal aid to pro-democracy resistance groups and sanctioning the junta.

The U.S. also allowed Myanmar’s opposition, the National Unity Government, or NUG, to open a liaison office in Washington, although the NUG has not been formally recognized as Myanmar’s legitimate government by the U.S.

According to an August 16 U.S. State Department release, Counselor Tom Sullivan and Michael Schiffer, U.S. Agency for International Development assistant administrator,  praised the efforts of pro-democracy groups in Myanmar to establish an inclusive federal democratic system and reaffirmed U.S. commitment to supporting these groups.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and China’s Wang addressed the issue during talks in China on August 27-28, according to a White House statement. The statement did not provide details.

China’s strategic interests in Myanmar are driven by its substantial economic investments and the country’s strategic location as a gateway to the Indian Ocean.

“Since China is a neighboring country, it has a greater stake in Myanmar. It’s widely understood that Myanmar is vital to China’s plans to gain access to the Indian Ocean,” said Hla Kyaw Zaw, emphasizing Myanmar’s critical role in geopolitics, particularly in relation to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI.

“Myanmar’s involvement in the BRI has not gone as smoothly as China had hoped,” Hla Kyaw Zaw said. “That’s why China wants to complete projects in Myanmar as quickly as possible. To achieve this, I believe China will do everything in its power to stabilize Myanmar and ensure peace.”

May Sabe Phyu, a prominent Myanmar human rights activist who advocates for democracy and human rights at the United Nations, highlighted China’s significant power on the international stage and noted that the West has struggled to counter China’s influence because of Beijing’s expanding economic power.

“Countries around the world, including Western nations, are increasingly unable to effectively push back against China’s growing dominance,” she said.
…

BANGKOK — Northern Thailand’s worst floods in years are causing significant damage, and experts say this could be the first real test for the country’s new prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

The floods, caused by seasonal monsoon rain in August, have killed at least 22 people, injured others and damaged upwards of 30,000 homes across more than a dozen provinces, authorities said on August 26.

The bad weather in Thailand continues, with Typhoon Yagi forecast to cause more heavy rainfall over the weekend. Nine provinces are particularly at risk — Chiang Rai, Phayao, Sukhothai, Lampang, Phetchabun, Phrae, Nan, Phitsanulok and Nakhon Sawan.

Arisara Lekkham, a lecturer at the School of Law at the Mae Fah Luang University in Chiang Rai, said the floods are more severe than in previous years. “The current flooding in northern Thailand is both an annual occurrence and an extraordinary event this year,” she told VOA.

“Key factors include exceptionally heavy and prolonged rainfall, urban expansion blocking natural drainage paths, deforestation and conversion to monoculture agriculture reducing soil water retention, topography of mountainous regions leading to flash floods [and] high-water levels in the Mekong River and its tributaries slowing drainage,” she said.

“These factors have resulted in more frequent, intense and long-lasting floods, affecting areas that rarely flood and causing significant damage across multiple provinces. While flooding is expected annually in certain regions, the scale and impact of this year’s floods are notably more severe than in typical years,” said Lekkham, who has published papers on the legal principles of the Mekong River.

Thai politics have endured a storm of their own recently, with Paetongtarn having become prime minister after a court removed her predecessor, Srettha Thavisin. Analysts say the heavy floods will be Paetongtarn’s first test.

“If we get this kind of rain at this pace, continuously for the month of September, it could be a big crisis for her. But if the rain dissipates and the drier season comes in by the second half of September or early October, then the pressure will be off a bit. It’s a matter of nature,” political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak told VOA.

In 2011, Thailand suffered some of its worst flooding in recent history because of rain from monsoon season triggered by a tropical storm. The flooding lasted from July to January 2012, killing at least 815 people and affecting over 13 million. Sixty-five of Thailand’s 76 provinces were declared disaster zones. The World Bank estimated that the five-month-long floods caused economic damages and losses of over $46.5 billion.

At the time, Thailand was governed by another Shinawatra, then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Yingluck was heavily criticized for the vast damage done by the disaster, but she was not prosecuted following allegations of dereliction of duty in water management by Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Committee.

Thitinan called the current situation reminiscent of the massive flooding that occurred soon after Yingluck took office.

“On Paetongtarn, it’s a test of her personal character and personal leadership. We don’t know how bad the floods will get. But if it’s a lot less [than 2011] … the floods will incur some damage, but it will not be critical to her premiership,” he said.

Lekkham said Paetongtarn and her new Cabinet — announced this week — must manage the current flood problem, providing flood relief assistance and urgent aid, and monitor and warn of the risks nationwide, including in Bangkok.

Long-term measures also must be implemented, she said. “What Paetongtarn and the new government need to do [is] manage the flood problem long-term, support innovation and technology for flood assistance, such as drones for supply delivery or equipment to rescue people stranded in floodwaters, develop systematic, seasonal monitoring and warning plans, ensuring central agencies have a unified view that can be disseminated to local levels, establish flood management as a routine practice, not just a seasonal activity.

“Flood management should become a regular, year-round effort rather than a reactive, seasonal approach,” she said.

There have been added concerns that China has been releasing water from its Jinghong Dam in Yunnan into the Mekong River.

“Increased water levels in the Mekong River, partly due to dam releases, are pushing water back into tributaries, worsening flooding in agricultural areas. The dams affect the natural flow of the Mekong, impacting downstream countries like Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia,” Lekkham said.

But a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok denied the dam was the reason for Thailand’s worsened flooding, asserting it had not released any water lately.

The Mekong Dam Monitor, an online platform monitoring reservoir levels in the Mekong River, says its satellite data shows no evidence that China’s recent water releases were the reason for the Thailand’s heavy floods.

But China is still “partly” to blame,” Thitinan said.

“I saw the statistics that [show] the Chinese have released less water than last year, but only a little bit less than last year. But that’s irrelevant, because the water that has been released is still making the floods worse in Thailand. So, in practical terms, the Chinese are partly responsible for how bad the floods are,” he said.

Lekkham said more communication and trust is needed between six riparian countries that are part of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, a framework focusing on joint usage of the Mekong River.

“There is a need to further promote communication on data exchange, particularly regarding water levels behind dams, daily water releases, and advance warnings during wet seasons. Implementing publicly accessible CCTV systems could foster mutual trust between China and lower Mekong countries,” she said.

Economically, the floods could cost Thailand up to $176 million in damages, Thailand’s Chamber of Commerce has warned. Thailand’s agricultural, industrial and services sectors have been the most affected, while the kingdom is already suffering from a sluggish economy.
…

Islamabad — Pakistan Federal Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik said Wednesday that international sanctions have caused complications for the Iran-Pakistan cross-border natural gas pipeline project. 

Media outlets reported that Iran had warned Pakistan to complete its part of the project or face an $18 billion penalty — news that sparked a debate days later in Pakistan’s lower house, the National Assembly.  

Responding to a question by a lawmaker on the floor of the house regarding Iran’s final notice, Malik said, “This is a deeply complicated matter and involves international sanctions.” 

Malik did not provide more details about sanctions, but said the government is available to discuss the complications. 

He rejected the penalty figure of $18 billion, saying, “I do not know where it has come from.” 

In response to a query regarding reports of Iran’s notice, Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said last week that Pakistan had taken note of the development. 

“Pakistan and Iran have robust channels of communications including this matter. We have always said that we would like to resolve all issues [with Iran] through friendly consultations,” she said during a briefing. 

Petroleum Minister Malik, during an informal conversation on the gas pipeline project with local journalists in March, confirmed that Pakistan would present its case to the U.S. and seek an exemption from sanctions. 

“We cannot bear American sanctions. We will present our stance to the U.S. We want to complete this project but without any sanctions,” Malik told journalists. 

However, Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Baloch, also in March, said that the project is progressing “in conformity with our commitment to the Iran-Pakistan pipeline.” She emphasized that Pakistan perceives no grounds for objections from external parties as the construction activities are confined within Pakistani territory. 

During a briefing Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that helping Pakistan address its energy shortage was a priority for the United States.  He added, however, that “we will continue to enforce our sanctions against Iran. We also advise anyone considering a business deal with Iran to be aware of its possible ramifications.” 

Pakistan experts say Pakistan failed to meet its commitment to build its part of the pipeline for several reasons, including a volatile security situation in Balochistan, where the pipeline is supposed to pass. Gas pipelines are not safe in restive Balochistan and Baloch insurgents frequently target gas pipelines in the resource-rich southwestern province bordering Iran.    

“In my opinion, however, Pakistan’s real worry is U.S. sanctions,” said Naveed Hussain, an editor of the Pakistan English daily newspaper The Express Tribune. “It has declared force majeure, but Iran says Pakistan had signed the agreement while being fully cognizant of [the] U.S. sanctions risk, especially when India had withdrawn from the project for the same reason.” 

Khaleeq Kiani, who writes about the economy for the Pakistan English daily newspaper Dawn, told VOA, “The U.S. stance is clear, and recently it imposed sanctions on companies providing equipment to Pakistan missile programs, that was a clear indication to Pakistan to not proceed with the pipeline project.” 

In April, the U.S. imposed sanctions on four entities — one based in Belarus, and the other three in China — for supplying missile‐applicable items to Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, including its long-range missile program.   

Despite that precedent, Pakistan’s foreign minister, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, said at a May press briefing that Pakistan would not succumb to international pressure on the pipeline project.  

“We will not let anyone use their veto,” Dar said, without naming the United States.  

Dar’s remarks came weeks after Donald Lu, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs, told a U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that importing gas from Iran would expose Pakistan to U.S. sanctions. 

Pakistan is facing gas shortages and relies on subsidized gas, putting pressure on the national exchequer, Petroleum Minister Malik said on the house floor Wednesday.

Originally envisaged as the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline, the project was reduced to a bilateral agreement after India pulled out in 2008. Tehran and Islamabad signed a 25-year contract in 2009 to export gas from Iran through a 2,400-kilometer gas pipeline to be built jointly by both countries.  

While Iran has completed its pipeline section, Pakistan keeps dragging its feet on the project. In 2019, the two countries revised their contract, and Islamabad committed to building its portion of the pipeline by 2024.  

This story originated in VOA’s Deewa Service.
…

Washington — Efforts by Beijing to limit Taiwan’s participation in the recently concluded Pacific Islands Forum underscore the intense and ongoing tug-of-war between Western democracies and China for influence in the region, analysts say.

During the Pacific Islands Forum, or PIF, which wrapped up Friday, Beijing ally Solomon Islands tried unsuccessfully to block Taiwan from future participation. Then, on Saturday, the PIF removed a reference to Taiwan in its final communique after Beijing’s top Pacific diplomat expressed outrage at its inclusion.

The communique originally reaffirmed a 30-year-old agreement allowing Taiwan to take part in the PIF. That wording was later removed. Beijing’s communist leaders insist that democratically ruled Taiwan is a part of China and have worked for decades to limit the island’s participation in international organizations.

After the references to Taiwan were removed, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday, “Taiwan issued the strongest condemnation on China’s arbitrary intervention and unreasonable actions that undermine regional peace and stability.”

However, the ministry said the revision did not undermine Taiwan’s status at the forum or prevent it from participating in the future.

Asia Group senior adviser Kathryn Paik, who helped lead the creation of the first U.S.-Pacific Islands Forum Summit while at the U.S. National Security Council, said that while Taiwan’s status as a development partner is still solid, what happened highlights the intensity of Beijing’s efforts in the region.

“China has made gaining access and influence in the Pacific a top priority in recent years, sending savvy diplomats to the region. In fact, China currently has vastly more diplomats on the ground in more countries than the United States, outnumbering the U.S. in almost every location,” Paik told VOA. “The pushback on the Solomon Islands’ attempt — which was transparently an attempt by China — to remove Taiwan as a development partner to the PIF demonstrated the high regard that many nations have for Taiwan’s contributions to Pacific development.”

PIF officials did not explain why Taiwan was removed from the communique but stressed that the PIF would continue to welcome Taiwan at its regional meetings.

Nikkei Asia reported that Chinese Special Envoy for the Pacific Qian Bo told reporters Friday the reference was “a mistake” that “should be corrected.”

“Taiwan is part of China. Taiwan is not a dialogue partner of PIF, so China has the representation on behalf of the whole China, including Taiwan and the mainland,” Qian said.

VOA reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Washington and the Solomon Islands for comment but has yet to receive a response.

Partnership through 2027

On Sunday, Taiwan announced an agreement with the Pacific Islands to extend the development partnership through 2027, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

The statement also highlighted programs Taiwan has supported in the Pacific Islands, efforts that have focused on areas such as agriculture, education, medical care, communications technology, women’s empowerment and basic infrastructure.

Commenting Tuesday on China’s efforts at the PIF, the U.S. State Department backed Taiwan’s continued right to attend regional meetings.

“The PRC’s efforts to pressure Pacific Island countries to remove this reference fit a pattern of PRC coercion to constrain Taiwan’s international position,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA, using an abbreviation of the country’s formal name, the People’s Republic of China. “Taiwan is a highly capable, engaged, democratic and responsible member of the global community.”

US Pacific territories

While China and the United States maintain status as partner nations in the PIF, U.S. territories Guam and American Samoa were granted status as associate members during last week’s meetings. Although they do not have voting rights, they will be able to provide speakers at plenary sessions and nominate members to PIF working groups.

“The United States supports the U.S. Pacific territories’ increased participation in the PIF and greater connectivity with PIF members,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA.

The Asia Group’s Paik said that having two U.S. territories “more tightly knit into the Pacific community” further reinforces that the U.S. is a Pacific nation and opens opportunities for the U.S. to influence decision-making at the forum.

Ivan Kanapathy, a former deputy senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, agrees.

“This will provide more allied voices and reduce PRC influence, which often relies on elite capture,” said Kanapathy, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.

He added: “Washington must convince the region that it is willing to impose real costs on Beijing — more than just diplomatic statements.”

Some information for this report came from Reuters.
…

ISLAMABAD — As monsoon season nears its end in Pakistan, higher than average rainfall and rain-related accidents leave behind a trail of deaths, nearly half of them children.

Monsoon season runs from July to September in Pakistan. Since the beginning of July, the country has counted at least 337 rain-related deaths, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. One-hundred-seventy children are among the dead. Thousands also have been displaced as floodwaters inundated villages.

Pakistan’s meteorological department recorded rains 60% higher than average in the first two months of the monsoon season. August saw 137% more rain than the month’s average after slightly below average rainfall in July. Weather officials expect mostly normal rainfall in September.

The data shows that rainfall patterns in Pakistan are changing.

“The shift that we are seeing is that monsoon used to go to the upper areas, that trend is lessening a bit,” Sahibzad Khan, director general of PMD, told VOA. “Now it’s shifting more to the south.”

Rain that was twice as heavy as normal battered Pakistan’s two southern provinces, Sindh and Balochistan, over the last two months, while the northern, mountainous regions saw average-to-below-average rain, according to the national weather agency.

Just in Sindh, 72,000 children saw their education disrupted by the severe weather, Save the Children said in a statement Wednesday.

Despite heavy rains, flooding, and displacement in parts of the country, experts say Pakistan escaped extensive damage this monsoon season, partly because of lessons learned from the devastating floods in 2022.

“We are working more on anticipatory approaches. Looking at past patterns, we are predicting the scale and velocity of upcoming floods,” said Shafqat Munir Ahmad, deputy executive director of the Resilience Development Program and Policy Outreach at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Islamabad.

In 2022, historic rains submerged nearly a third of the country at one time, affecting 33 million Pakistanis and causing nearly $30 billion in damage.

Since then, Pakistan incorporated technology to plan scenarios and issue early severe weather warnings to communities, said Ahmad, adding that improved coordination and response time also reduced damage.

This year, Pakistan also used lightning detectors that China provided last year.

“China has collaborated with us. With their help, we have 26 lightning detector stations that tell us about the type and severity of lightning and thunder,” said weather chief Khan.

Pakistan still lacks sufficient long-term planning, however, to tackle the impact of climate change, experts say. The Germany-based Global Climate Risk Index ranks Pakistan the 8th most vulnerable country.

A web app created at the University of Maryland that predicts what a city’s weather will be like in 60 years shows summers and winters in several Pakistani cities will be much warmer than they are at present.

While projects to mitigate climate change may attract funding, Ahmad said efforts to help vulnerable communities adapt to changing climate lack necessary financial support in Pakistan.

Several communities across the South Asian nation are still awaiting funds to rebuild homes devastated by the 2022 weather calamity.

Just last July, the Asian Development Bank approved a $400 million loan to fund the reconstruction of homes and infrastructure in Sindh.

At a donor conference in January 2023, donors pledged more than $9 billion to help Pakistan build back after the 2022 floods. Still, the country has barely tapped the funds that were largely designated as project loans.

As authorities and charitable organizations rush to provide food, water and shelter to communities displaced by this year’s rains and floods, Save the Children urged increased support to prevent the current impact of the floods from becoming long-term problems.

“Governments must tackle the underlying causes of these climate driven disasters, including channeling funding and support to children and their families in Pakistan to adapt, recover and rebuild their lives,” the statement said, quoting country director Khuram Gondal.
…

Dhaka, Bangladesh — Thousands of students and others on Thursday rallied in Bangladesh’s capital to mark one month since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power by a mass uprising initially led by students over a quota system for government jobs.

Hasina fled to India on Aug. 5 after weeks of violence left more than 600 people dead, including students. The uprising ended the 15-year-rule of the country’s longest-serving prime minister who began a fourth consecutive term in January following an election boycotted by the major opposition parties, who questioned the credibility of the electoral process.

The demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Where is Hasina? Bury her, bury her!” and “Hasina-Modi, warning, be careful!” or “Naraye Takbeer, Allahu Akbar.”

They were referring Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, as Hasina is known to be a trusted ally of India. Many protesters do not like India for promoting Hinduism and demonstrating what they see as a big brotherly dominance, and condemned it for sheltering Hasina.

The central procession, styled as a “shaheedi march” or “procession for the martyrs” began from the Dhaka University campus and marched through streets. In addition to the many Bangladeshi flags, some participants carried a giant Palestinian flag.

Tens of thousands joined rallies across the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people.

In Dhaka’s Uttara neighborhood, thousands of school and madrasah students in uniform took part in processions, chanting anti-Hasina slogans. Some carried banners and placards, reading “We want Hasina’s execution” and “We want reforms of the state.”

Thursday’s development came as Bangladesh was returning to normalcy after the protests, despite challenges such as a struggling economy. An interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who had a frosty relationship with Hasina for many years, has prioritized law and order to stabilize the country.

Yunus in an interview with the Press Trust of India, or PTI, news agency released Thursday said that Hasina should stay quiet, and that her political remarks from India are an “unfriendly gesture.”

The protesters and other opponents of Hasina want her and her associates to stand trial for mass killings during the demonstrations that began in July.

“If India wants to keep her until the time Bangladesh wants her back, the condition would be that she has to keep quiet,” the PTI quoted Yunus as saying.

“No one is comfortable with her stance there in India because we want her back to try her. She is there in India and at times she is talking, which is problematic … No one likes it,” he said.

Yunus was apparently referring to Hasina’s statement on August 13 in which she demanded “justice”, saying those involved in recent “terror acts”, killings and vandalism must be investigated, identified and punished.

Yunus’ administration is reorganizing police, bureaucracy and other state institutions to take control amid reports of violence and continuing unrest.

Days of street protests by garment workers and other industries forced owners to shut their factories for days before they restarted their operations on Thursday amid heightened security in two major industrial hubs outside Dhaka.

Also, media reports said that a young Hindu man was beaten on Wednesday by a Muslim mob in the presence of security officials in the southwestern Khulna region after he allegedly posted derogatory comments online about the Prophet Muhammad.

The country’s two leading Bengali-language dailies, Prothom Alo and Samakal, reported online that the man, named as Sri Utso, was lynched by the mob, but they later removed the stories from their websites and republished new versions, saying that he did not die and was now receiving medical treatment. The reports provided no further details about the whereabouts of the 22-year-old man.

The military’s Inter Service Public Relations office in a statement later Thursday said that the soldiers rescued Utso after an angry mob attacked him inside the office of a senior police official. It said he survived and was out of danger, and he would be handed over to police for legal actions against him.

Yunus in the interview with the PTI refuted earlier reports that the Hindu minority had been targeted since Hasina’s fall. Modi had also earlier voiced concern over the reports of attacks on Hindus.

Yunus said the issue of attacks on minority Hindus in Bangladesh is “exaggerated” and questioned the manner in which India projected it.

He said the attacks on minorities in Bangladesh are more political than communal: he described them as the fallout of political upheaval as there is a perception that most Hindus supported the now-deposed Awami League regime of Sheikh Hasina.
…

Beijing — Hundreds of African political and business leaders filed into China’s Great Hall of the People on Thursday eager to forge new partnerships, sign contracts and make industry connections.

“Business is business, we’ll buy from anywhere. In China, the price is right,” Abakar Tahir Moussa, a Chadian construction firm owner, told AFP, showing off the business card of a potential new Chinese partner. 

He hoped to use the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which ends on Friday, to partner with Chinese firms on road and bridge projects.

“I’m here to make contacts and get more business,” Moussa said after he joined thousands of delegates from more than 50 countries at the forum’s colorful opening ceremony.

A housing developer from Burkina Faso, who asked not to be identified, said Chinese products were “cheaper than elsewhere.”

“We buy everything from China: lights, air conditioning, wires… The only thing we get elsewhere is cement,” he told AFP outside the hall. 

“If you want quality you can get quality (in China), and even the quality things are cheap,” he said, kicking off his shoes and clutching a smartphone with a gold case.

Bustling Beijing

The atmosphere was hopeful and friendly ahead of meetings that many Africans hoped would spur much-needed development and investment back home.

Leaders and their entourages from across Africa have flown in to Beijing since Saturday, keeping President Xi Jinping busy with bilateral meetings all week.

South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa and Nigerian president Bola Ahmed Tinubu heaped praise on their Chinese hosts, even over the food served at a lavish banquet thrown by Xi on Wednesday evening.

Broad-shouldered security guards in dark sunglasses kept watch outside the hall as delegates entered through airport-style X-ray machines. 

Security around the capital has been tight all week with the steady arrival of heads of state.

Passengers arriving at Beijing train stations have faced enhanced security checks, while authorities have increased scrutiny of vehicles entering the city through traffic checkpoints.

Hotels have been booked out all week and surrounded by armed guards and new metal fences.

Bars in Sanlitun, a central shopping and nightlife district, have been packed with visitors from across Africa.

Xi pledged more than $50 billion in financing for Africa over the next three years — more than half of it in credit — telling delegates at the opening ceremony that China was “ready to deepen cooperation with African countries.”

China is Africa’s largest trading partner and its loans have helped build much-needed infrastructure, but they have sometimes also stoked controversy by saddling governments with huge debts.

Yet many delegates seemed hopeful that China, which seeks to tap Africa’s vast natural resources, could help their countries develop. 

The Burkina Faso developer said Chinese investment had been “good for the economy” and “improved people’s lives”, while increased trade meant there were “many more things for people to buy.”

“I hope the forum will improve relations even further and bring more cooperation.”
…

DHAKA, Bangladesh — A month ago, a student-led movement ousted Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, after weeks of protests and clashes that killed over 600 people and pushed the country to the brink of chaos.

What began as student protests over government jobs became a large-scale revolt against the country’s longest-serving prime minister.

Hasina, 76, fled to India on Aug. 5 as anger against her government swelled. But the ouster triggered more violence. Police went on strike and mobs rampaged across the country until a new interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in.

Here is where things stand now, a month after the country was roiled by its worst bloodshed in decades:

What is the interim government focused on?

Since he was sworn in, Yunus declared that his key tasks would be to restore peace and law and order, fight corruption, and prepare for new elections.

His Cabinet, which includes two student leaders who spearheaded the protests, has fixed its sights on overhauling and reforming Bangladesh’s institutions, from its courts and police to the Election Commission. To do this, it’s also seeking support from the United Nations Development Program.

Reforms have been a key priority as demonstrations against Hasina quickly escalated into anger against her increasingly autocratic rule. Her government had jailed opposition members, curbed independent media and curtailed civil society.

Protesters also accused Hasina’s Awami League of corruption and said that public institutions, including the Election Commission, had been eroded under her 15-year rule.

What Yunus needs is time.

The 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who pioneered microcredit to help impoverished people, especially women, asked for patience in an address to the nation. He said his Cabinet has worked hard to curb the violence and lawlessness that set in after Hasina was ousted.

“I request everyone to be patient,” he said. “It is one of our objectives that public institutions regain public trust.”

What is the mood in Bangladesh?

Unrest persists. Garment workers demanding better wages have forced about 100 factories to shut down and tensions are simmering, with lingering but widespread anger against Hasina and her Awami League.

Hasina, now in self-imposed exile, is facing murder charges in more than 100 cases. Key officials perceived as close to her resigned after mass protests.

Many cases have also been registered against those associated with Hasina, her party or her government — from former ministers and judges to journalists and even a prominent cricket player. They’ve been attacked, stopped from leaving the country and even jailed. Rights groups have also condemned these lump charges.

Most of the cases are legally weak and politically driven, said Zillur Rahman, executive director of the Center for Governance Studies, a Dhaka-based think tank.

This form of “vigilante justice” has sparked fears that “the system that Hasina perpetuated is still alive, just the victims have changed,” Rahman said.

What about the students?

Within a week of unseating Hasina, the students who drove her out were directing traffic in the capital, Dhaka.

Some schools and universities have since reopened, including Dhaka University, which became the epicenter for the protests against Hasina. But things are not back to normal yet.

Many heads of educational institutions have been forced to resign and in some cases, even though classes have formally restarted, few students are attending them.

Still, many students remain optimistic about the interim government’s potential to bring about real change.

Sneha Akter, a student at Dhaka University, believes the removal of those who were previously in power is the first step.

“By replacing them, we are correcting past mistakes,” she said. “It is not possible to change the entire country in one month. … We need to give the government some time.”

There are those who say the Yunus-led temporary government should remain in power until meaningful reforms are enacted, “whether that takes three months, three years or even six years,” said Hafizur Rahman, another Dhaka University student.

What’s next?

There is a sense that normalcy is slowly returning — Dhaka’s streets are no longer a battleground between security forces and students. Internet is back on and a nationwide curfew with a shoot-on-sight order has been lifted.

With much of the violence eased, there is hope for a new chapter. Shops, banks, hotels and restaurants are open, and police — who went on strike over fears for their own safety — are back at work.

However, their morale is low. Officers are less visible on the streets and seemingly unwilling to tackle disturbances as their crackdown against the students remains fresh in the minds of many Bangladeshis.

Dozens of police were killed during the uprising, their stations torched and looted.

Another challenge is restoring the economy, which was disrupted by the weekslong shutdown during the uprising, sending prices of food and commodities soaring.

The biggest question is: When will the new elections be held?

Some experts say the interim government doesn’t have the mandate to enact major reforms and that it should focus on building consensus among political parties on reforms — and schedule the polls.

Hasina’s Awami League has remained under the radar so far.

Yunus is banking on the support he enjoys among the country’s youth, but Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute, says that support may have an expiration date.

“If security continues to be a problem and economic relief is slow to come … young people could grow impatient and anxious,” Kugelman said.

Hasina’s chief opposition — the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP — is seen as having the greatest chance of winning the polls and has been pushing for the elections to happen soon.

“That raises an unsettling question: What happens if the BNP, which has no formal role in the interim government, doesn’t get the elections it wants to see soon?” Kugelman said. “Will it launch a movement? Will it trigger unrest?”

“That could pose new risks to law and order and deepen political uncertainty and volatility,” he said.
…

…

BEIJING — Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday pledged more than $50 billion in financing for Africa over the next three years, promising to deepen cooperation in infrastructure and trade with the continent as he addressed Beijing’s biggest summit since the pandemic.

More than 50 African leaders and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres are attending this week’s China-Africa forum, according to state media.

African leaders already secured a plethora of deals this week for greater cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, mining, trade and energy.

Addressing the leaders at the forum’s opening ceremony in Beijing’s ornate Great Hall of the People on Thursday morning, Xi hailed ties with the continent as their “best period in history.”

“China is ready to deepen cooperation with African countries in industry, agriculture, infrastructure, trade and investment,” he said.

“Over the next three years, the Chinese government is willing to provide financial support amounting to $50.7 billion,” Xi said.

Over half of that will be in credit, he said, with $11 billion “in various types of assistance” as well as $10 billion through encouraging Chinese firms to invest.

He also promised to help “create at least one million jobs for Africa.”

Also addressing the meeting, UN chief Guterres told African leaders that growing ties between China and the continent could “drive the renewable energy revolution.”

“China’s remarkable record of development — including on eradicating poverty — provides a wealth of experience and expertise,” he said.

Deals and pledges

China, the world’s number two economy, is Africa’s largest trading partner and has sought to tap the continent’s vast troves of natural resources including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals.

It has also furnished African countries with billions in loans that have helped build much-needed infrastructure but sometimes stoked controversy by saddling governments with huge debts.

Analysts say that Beijing’s largesse towards Africa is being recalibrated in the face of economic trouble at home and that geopolitical concerns over a growing tussle with the United States may increasingly be driving policy.

But bilateral meetings held on the sidelines of the summit delivered a slew of pledges on greater cooperation in projects from railway to solar panels to avocados.

Following meetings on Wednesday, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema said he had overseen a deal between the country’s state-owned power company ZESCO and Beijing’s PowerChina to expand the use of rooftop solar panels in his country.

Nigeria — one of Beijing’s biggest debtors on the continent — and China inked a joint statement agreeing to “deepen cooperation” in infrastructure, including “transportation, ports and free trade zones.”

Expanding transport links

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, in turn, obtained a commitment from Xi to push for new progress on a long-stalled railway connecting his country to neighboring Zambia.

That project — which Zambian media has said Beijing has pledged $1 billion towards — is aimed at expanding transport links in the resource-rich eastern part of the continent.

Zimbabwe also won promises from Beijing for deeper cooperation in “agriculture, mining, environmentally friendly traditional and new energy (and) transportation infrastructure,” according to a joint statement by the two countries.

The southern African nation and Beijing also agreed to sign a deal that would allow the export of fresh Zimbabwean avocados to China, the joint statement said.

And Kenyan leader William Ruto said Xi had promised to open up China’s markets to agricultural products from his country.

The two sides agreed to work together on the expansion of the country’s Standard Gauge Railway — built with finance from Exim Bank of China — which connects the capital, Nairobi, with the port city of Mombasa.

And Ruto also secured a pledge for greater cooperation with China on the Rironi-Mau Summit-Malaba motorway, which Kenyan media has said is expected to cost $1.2 billion.

Ruto last year asked China for a $1 billion loan and the restructuring of existing debt to complete other stalled construction projects. The country now owes China more than $8 billion.
…

New Delhi — An Indian state that was rocked by the gruesome rape and murder of a trainee doctor last month is set to introduce tougher penalties for rape that include life imprisonment and death sentences.  

But activists question whether stringent laws alone can help stem cases of sexual assault against women, whose numbers have remained high, although India has ramped up punishments for rape over the last decade.  

The Aparjita Woman and Child Bill, unanimously passed by the West Bengal state assembly on Tuesday, raises prison terms for people convicted of rape — from 10 years that the federal law presently stipulates to either life imprisonment or execution. It also includes measures to accelerate rape investigations.  

The bill still must be approved by the president before becoming law. It was passed amid outrage over the violent assault of a 31-year-old doctor at a hospital in the city last month. Three weeks on, enraged doctors in the state capital, Kolkata, continue to hold protests demanding safety for medics and justice for the victim. A police volunteer working at the hospital has been arrested and charged with the crime.  

The West Bengal government said the bill aims to enhance protection for women and children and create a safer environment for them.  

But stiffer punishment will do little to deter offenders in a country with a slow-moving justice system, according to lawyers and women rights activists.  

“There is little fear of the law. That is because trials seldom result in convictions — the conviction rate in rape cases is only about 28%,” pointed out Abha Singh, a lawyer and social activist.  

She said police investigations often face hurdles. “We have too few forensic laboratories, and the police are sometimes short staffed. Then, witness protection is not effective, so witnesses often turn hostile. So, we first need to first fix the justice system if we want women and girls to be safe.”   

Women’s rights activists point out that the federal government brought in sweeping changes to criminal laws in 2013 following the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in New Delhi. Five years later, the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl led to even stiffer punishments — the government enhanced minimum prison terms from 10 to 20 years for the rape of a girl younger than 16 and from seven to 10 years for older women. 

But statistics show those changes had little impact on cases of sexual violence against women. About 25,000 cases were recorded in 2012. Ten years later, in 2022, that number stood at more than 31,000, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau.   

In a country where executions are rare, some also oppose the bill’s provision for giving a death sentence for rape in cases where the victim dies or enters a vegetative state. India has capital punishment for only the most serious cases, or what are called the “rarest of rare cases,” such as gruesome murders and terror attacks.  

The Supreme Court imposed the death penalty on four men convicted of the 2012 rape of the 23-year-old woman after calling it the “most brutal, barbaric and diabolical” crime.  

“I think stiffer punishments, particularly the death penalty, is not the way to go. Such laws come in response to the public outcry when there is a particularly horrific case,” according to Mary John, a former director at the Centre for Women’s Development Studies in New Delhi. “The death penalty is not a demand that has come from women’s groups.”  

Women’s rights activists also say that rather than harsher punishments, the major challenge is to change attitudes and patriarchal mindsets that are blamed for the continuing tide of sexual violence against women.  

“The need of the hour is to empower women and create safer workplaces for them. This rape in Kolkata, for example, happened inside the hospital premises,” according to Ranjana Kumari, director for Center for Social Research in New Delhi. “And what is failing women is not the existing laws but their implementation.”  

In the wake of the rape of the trainee doctor, India’s Supreme Court has set up a national task force of doctors who will make recommendations on the safety of health care workers at their workplace.
…

Seoul — South Korea says it has detected suspected trash-carrying balloons launched by North Korea, in the latest round of a Cold War-style psychological warfare between the war-divided rivals. 

The metropolitan government of Seoul, South Korea’s capital, issued text alerts Wednesday saying that objects likely to be North Korean balloons were spotted in regions north of the city. It advised people to stay indoors and beware of objects dropping from the sky.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the direction of winds suggested that the balloons could drift into the northern part of Gyeonggi Province, near Seoul. It advised people to report to the police or military if they see fallen balloons and not to touch them. 

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. 

North Korea in recent weeks has flown thousands of balloons toward the South to drop waste paper, cloth scraps and cigarette butts, in what it described as a retaliation against South Korean civilian activists flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border. North Korea is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of its authoritarian leadership and the third-generation ruler Kim Jong Un. 

Trash carried by at least one North Korean balloon fell on the South Korean presidential compound in July, raising concerns about the vulnerability of key South Korean facilities. Officials said the balloon contained no dangerous material and no one was hurt. 

South Korea, in response to the North Korean balloons, has activated its front-line loudspeakers to blast broadcasts of propaganda messages and K-pop songs. 

The tit-for-tat Cold War-style campaigns are adding to the tensions fueled by North Korea’s growing nuclear ambitions and the South’s expansion of joint military exercises with the United States. 
…

JAKARTA — Pope Francis urged Indonesia to live up to its promise of “harmony in diversity” and fight religious intolerance on Wednesday, as he set a rigorous pace for an 11-day, four-nation trip through tropical Southeast Asia and Oceania that will test his stamina and health.

Despite the grueling itinerary, an energetic Francis joked and laughed his way through a packed first full day in Indonesia, meeting with outgoing President Joko Widodo and other Indonesian officials at the presidential palace and then greeting Catholic priests, nuns and seminarians at Jakarta’s main cathedral in the afternoon.

Cannons boomed as Francis joined Widodo on the veranda of the palace along with President-elect Prabowo Subianto. A marching band, stiff-legged troops and children in traditional Indonesian dress welcomed the first pope to visit in 35 years.

In his remarks to officials, Francis compared Indonesia’s human diversity to the archipelago’s 17,000 islands. He said each one contributes something specific to form “a magnificent mosaic, in which each tile is an irreplaceable element in creating a great original and precious work.”

And yet, Francis warned that such diversity in a country with the world’s largest Muslim population can also become a source of conflict — an apparent reference to episodes of intolerance that have flared in recent years in Indonesia as well as a broader concern about conflicts raging around the world.

“This wise and delicate balance, between the multiplicity of cultures and different ideological visions, and the ideals that cement unity, must be continuously defended against imbalances,” Francis said. Political leaders, he said, had a particular role to play but he also assured Widodo of the Catholic Church’s commitment to increasing interreligious dialogue.

“This is indispensable for meeting common challenges, including that of countering extremism and intolerance, which through the distortion of religion attempt to impose their views by using deception and violence,” he said.

Regionally, the internal conflict in Myanmar has forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh, where thousands have fled overcrowded, violent camps to countries including Indonesia. Farther afield, Indonesia has regularly condemned Israel’s war with the militant Hamas group in Gaza and Widodo thanked Francis for the Vatican’s support for Palestinian civilians.

“War will not benefit anyone, war will only bring suffering and misery to the common people,” Widodo said. “Therefore let us celebrate the differences that we have. Let us accept each other and strengthen tolerance to realize peace, to realize a better world for all humanity.”

Francis arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday to kick off the longest, farthest and most difficult trip of his pontificate, given his myriad health problems. At 87, he uses a wheelchair, has regular bouts of bronchitis and has had multiple surgeries for intestinal problems.

By the trip’s end on Sept. 13, Francis will have flown 32,814 kilometers (20,390 miles) and visited Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore — one of the longest papal trips ever in terms of days on the road and distances traveled.

Francis appeared in good form Wednesday, showing his trademark sense of humor even as he had to stand for long periods and had multiple transfers from his wheelchair to chairs and the car.

His dry wit never let up: To Widodo and Indonesian dignitaries, he praised Indonesia’s relatively high birthrate while lamenting that in the West, “some prefer a cat or a little dog.” To a private meeting with his fellow Jesuits he quipped at the end that “The police have come to take me away.” To priests and nuns he warned against greed, saying “the devil enters through your pockets.”

That said, Francis’ prepared remarks were shorter than usual in a possible bid to spare him the strain of speaking for long periods.

In the afternoon, Francis met with Indonesian clergy and nuns in Jakarta’s Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral for his traditional pep talk to the local church.

Catholics make up just 3% of Indonesia’s population of 275 million, but the country is home to the world’s largest Catholic seminary and has long been a top source of priests and nuns for the Catholic Church.

Addressing the priests, nuns and lay church leaders, Francis continued the theme of encouraging greater fraternity among people of different faiths and cultures.

“This is important, because proclaiming the Gospel does not mean imposing our faith or placing it in opposition to that of others, but giving and sharing the joy of encountering Christ always with great respect and fraternal affection for everyone,” he said.

Sister Rina Rosalina was chosen to address the pope, and offered some constructive criticism of the inordinate amount of time it takes for the Vatican to approve Indonesian-language translations of his official texts.

“Holy Father, we are always trying to learn from you. Unfortunately, due to distance and language barriers, sometimes we have difficulties studying the documents issued from Rome,” she said, drawing knowing nods from the pope.

Outside the cathedral, several hundred well-wishers gathered to greet the pope, including at least one boy dressed as a tiny pope. They waved Indonesian and Holy See flags and children played traditional bamboo instruments.

The location of the cathedral is symbolically important for Indonesia’s push for interfaith and intercultural harmony — it is located across from the country’s main Istiqlal mosque and connected to it by an underground “Tunnel of Friendship,” which Francis is to visit on Thursday with the mosque’s grand imam.

While Francis wants to highlight Indonesia’s tradition of religious tolerance, the country’s image as a moderate Muslim nation has been undermined by flare-ups of intolerance. In 2021, a militant Islamic couple blew themselves up outside a packed Catholic cathedral on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island during a Palm Sunday Mass, injuring at least 20 people.

Amnesty International said it hoped Francis’ visit would encourage an end to acts of intolerance and discrimination against minority groups and truly promote a respect for religious freedom that is enshrined in the country’s constitution.

In a statement, Amnesty noted that from January 2021 to July 2024, there were at least 123 cases of intolerance, including rejection, closure or destruction of places of worship and physical attacks.

“The pope’s visit has an important role to play in encouraging Indonesia to end intolerance and discrimination against all minority groups,” said Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia.
…

Dhaka, Bangladesh — Bangladeshi security forces have launched an operation to recover thousands of guns, including those seized during deadly unrest that led to the ouster of autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina, police said on Wednesday.  

Weeks of student-led demonstrations escalated into mass protests, with Hasina fleeing by helicopter to neighboring India on August 5 after 15 years in power.  

Police had tried to stem the protests with gunfire but protesters responded by storming and looting police stations, when weapons were seized.  

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is now leading an interim government after Hasina’s fall.  

More than 3,700 weapons of different types had been recovered during an amnesty to surrender guns that ended on Tuesday.  

However, more than 2,000 weapons, including rifles, are missing, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition and hundreds of tear gas canisters and stun grenades.  

“Those arms which have not been submitted to the police stations within the deadline… the looted arms will be considered illegal,” senior police official Enamul Haque Sagor told AFP.  

The army and police, as well as other security force units including the paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Ansar forces, are taking part in the weapons sweep.  

Two former top police officers have also been detained in connection to the violent suppression of the protests and have been placed on remand, Dhaka deputy police commissioner Obaidur Rahman said.  

Both men face accusations of murder, although formal charges have not yet been made.   

They include former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, who quit a day after Hasina fled and has been taken into custody, Dhaka Metropolitan Police said in a statement late on Tuesday.  

Police said he had “expressed his willingness to surrender — due to a case against him — while he was under army custody.”  

He was placed under remand for eight days on Wednesday, Rahman said.    

Another top officer, AKM Shahidul Haque, who had been police chief from 2014 to 2018, was detained on Tuesday and placed on remand for seven days, Rahman said.  

More than 600 people were killed in the weeks leading up to Hasina’s ouster, according to the preliminary report of a United Nations rights team that said the toll was “likely an underestimate.”  

Many of those killed were hit by police fire. 
…

SINGAPORE — Indonesia has looked this week to boost trade ties with African nations during a summit in Bali, although many leaders from the continent stayed away, instead opting to visit China for a high-profile forum in Beijing.

Representatives from 29 African nations headed to the Indonesian resort island, well-short of the 47 countries that were represented during the inaugural Indonesia-Africa forum in 2018.

Despite this, the Southeast Asian country is hoping to have sealed $3.5 billion worth of business deals from the three-day forum, according to President Joko Widodo.

As the summit concluded Tuesday, some of the delegates headed to Beijing to join a larger representation of African leaders for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

Fifty African countries are slated to be represented at the forum in the Chinese capital, which takes place every third year.

“Between Indonesia and China, the major African leaders chose China to be present at,” said Christophe Dorigne-Thomson, an Indonesia-based foreign affairs academic.

“That doesn’t mean that the collaboration with Indonesia and the forum does not have important discussions and important outcomes. But symbolically, for sure, the choice was made for China,” Dorigne-Thomson told VOA.

Relations between Indonesia and the African continent date back to at least 1955, when former Indonesian President Sukarno hosted the Asian-Africa conference in the city of Bandung. Most of the African states represented were newly independent.

“Jakarta can boast history and a legacy of relationship that stretches back to the Bandung Conference,” said Elina Noor, senior fellow in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Indonesia has really sought to leverage on that historical relationship to recall the spirit of Bandung – it’s part of the theme at this year’s Indonesia-Africa forum,” Noor told VOA.

While the historical ties have allowed for decades of solid relations, Dorigne-Thomson says Indonesia’s interest in Africa increased when President Joko Widodo took office in 2014, adding that “the main focus is on the economy.”

The Indonesian government said that roughly $600 million of deals were signed during the inaugural Indonesia-Africa summit in 2018.

This year, they have targeted nearly six-times that amount as they look to boost economic links with African countries.

“There seem to be some concrete MOU’s (memorandum of understanding) and letters of intent, like Indonesia’s aircraft industry signing deals with several countries and the oil companies also signing deals,” said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, senior researcher at Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency.

Despite these agreements, Anwar said she’s “not sure whether the $35 billion target will be realized,” largely because of the lack of procedures to track the various deals and ensure they are developed and concluded in the years ahead.

Announcements from the summit include an agreement between Indonesia’s Energi Mega Persada and Guma Africa Group for a gas project in South Africa that could be worth up to $900 million.

The project is aimed at increasing gas supplies to South Africa and Mozambique, with the two companies also agreeing to develop a new gas power plant.

Such eye-catching deals generate a lot of attention, but, according to Noor, much of the business at this summit comes in the form of smaller agreements.

“On the Indonesian side, a lot of the businesses in the country comprise micro, small and medium enterprises,” Noor told VOA. ”I think it’s particularly important that we keep this in mind, because a lot of the headlines tend to just focus on the large corporations.”

Though deal-making at this summit presents Indonesia opportunities to expand its export markets, the country is also looking to secure import deals with African nations to boost lithium supplies.

The Southeast Asian nation has a booming nickel industry but needs lithium as another key component for assembling and producing batteries for electric vehicles.

“Africa is an ideal partner due to its wealth of critical minerals, which Indonesia seeks to access. Indonesia’s rapid industrialization also creates a growing demand for African commodities,” said Sharyn Davies, director of the Herb Feith Indonesia Centre at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

Opening new trade avenues with Africa also provides Indonesia with a chance to diversify away from traditional trading partners including the US and China.

As tensions continue to simmer between the world’s two biggest economies, Davies believes that Africa could be “a way for Indonesia to sidestep from picking sides between China and the US.”

While the main focus of the Bali forum was business, politics was also at play.

President Widodo has looked to enhance Indonesia’s standing on the international stage, promoting his country as a voice of the Global South.

“Indonesia is not a follower in the Global South movement; it’s been very much one of the founding members,” Anwar, the researcher in Indonesia, told VOA. “The difference is that Indonesia also stresses the importance of, not just South-South cooperation, but also North-South cooperation. Indonesia sees itself as a bridge builder.”
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Seoul, South Korea — Lee Jang-mi, a 34-year-old Seoul office worker, laughs with a hint of embarrassment as she acknowledges fitting the stereotype of a single, childless South Korean woman.

“I’m one of those people who doesn’t want kids,” says Lee with an exaggerated grin, rolling her eyes and gesturing toward herself.

Though she’s currently in a relationship, Lee is unmarried and hesitant to start a family, citing financial stress as a major concern.

“Raising a child well seems like an enormous burden,” she adds.

But Lee’s perspective changed after stumbling into a pop-up store in Seoul’s trendy Seongsu district, where she learned more about egg-freezing, a medical procedure meant to preserve a woman’s fertility.

“It actually sounds like a good idea,” says Lee, after exploring the exhibits. “Because if you someday regret your decision [to not have kids], then it’s too late to change your mind.”

Egg-freezing is gaining popularity among South Korean women who want to keep their family planning options open.

At Maria Hospital, the Seoul fertility clinic behind the pop-up store, the number of egg-freezing procedures more than tripled from 2019 to 2023 — a trend that mirrors a nationwide surge, according to South Korea’s health ministry.

Birth rate crisis

This rise in demand may be partly because of government subsidies, with the Seoul city government covering about half of egg-freezing costs for women aged 20-49.

It’s one of several steps South Korean officials are taking to address the country’s rapidly declining birth rate, which they have labeled a national emergency.

South Korea’s fertility rate, already the world’s lowest, fell to a record 0.72 last year. This means the average woman is expected to have far fewer children than the 2.1 required to sustain the population.

On its current track, South Korea’s population will be reduced by half by the end of the century. Among other challenges, officials fear the country will not have enough workers to pay for rising health care costs as society rapidly ages.

Preserving fertility

Lim Tae-won, vice president of Maria Hospital, says he hopes egg-freezing becomes part of the solution to South Korea’s demographic crisis.

“Basically, we think that many people would like to have children, just not right now,” says Lim, who says he understands why many young women prioritize their own lives over having kids.

South Korean women often cite high child care costs, demanding work hours, and workplace gender discrimination as barriers to starting families.

“In the end, [women] de-prioritize marriage and childbirth,” says Lim. “And later, when they do want to have children, they’ve become less fertile.”

By freezing eggs at or near peak fertility, women can then use them, at least in theory, to become pregnant later via in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

Lee Chae-rin, a 31-year-old Seoul resident, froze her eggs two years ago and says it has given her greater freedom to enjoy life as a single person.

“Maybe it’s just because I really enjoy my life right now. But I think people naturally want to follow their passions — whether it’s studying, working more, or pursuing hobbies. For me, it’s surfing,” Lee says.

Lee works at Maria Hospital, most recently at the pop-up store, where she provided fertility-related consultations.

Broad appeal

Single women like Lee were the target audience for the pop-up store, which was located in a neighborhood known for its stylish cafes, art galleries, and clothing boutiques.

According to organizers, upwards of 10,000 people visited the store over a two-week period, though many were initially unaware it was run by a fertility clinic.

The store attracted visitors with the appeal of free, customizable ice cream. Visitors could create their own flavors and mix-ins through a multi-station interactive process that highlighted different lifestyle choices.

Only after getting the ice cream were visitors made aware of the egg-freezing sales pitch. Many passersby appeared interested, though some expressed concerns that the procedure was still too expensive.

“I’m not ruling out the possibility of having a baby later, so I would consider doing it — but only if the government provided more support,” said Goh Bo-min, a 32-year-old academic researcher.

Drawbacks

Many experts say egg-freezing alone, however, is unlikely to significantly affect South Korea’s demographic decline.

Jeong Yeon-bo, an associate professor of social sciences at Seoul’s Sungkonghoe University, argues this is because the approach does not address broader, systemic issues in South Korean society.

“The cause of the low birth rate is that young people are experiencing challenges including wealth inequality, sexism, long working hours, and insufficient child care support. But [egg-freezing] doesn’t tackle these underlying problems — it merely offers a medical solution to the problem,” Jeong says.

Additionally, egg-freezing in South Korea is likely only useful for women who eventually marry, as most fertility clinics require a marriage certificate before initiating procedures like IVF.

And since South Korea does not allow sperm donation or surrogate mothers, as Jeong points out, only heterosexual couples may be able to benefit from egg-freezing.

But many women say it can make a difference on an individual level, at least temporarily relieving the pressure to marry and have children.

“I don’t know when I’ll get married, but I can’t turn back the clock on aging,” says Lee, who chose to freeze her eggs. “So, I invested for the future and froze my eggs.”
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NEW YORK — Parisa Imanirad, a scientist and cancer researcher from San Francisco, is married and has a wide circle of friends. But once or twice a week, she goes to a restaurant by herself.

Imanirad said dining alone gives her time to think or read. She tries not to touch her phone and relishes the silence. “It’s like a spa, but a different type,” Imanirad said during a recent solo lunch at Spruce, an upscale restaurant in San Francisco.

Imanirad isn’t alone in her desire to be alone. In the United States, solo dining reservations have risen 29% over the last two years, according to OpenTable, the restaurant reservation site. They’re up 18% this year in Germany and 14% in the United Kingdom.

Japan even has a special term for solo dining: “ohitorisama,” which means “alone” but with honorifics spoken before and after the word to make parties of one feel less hesitant. In a recent survey, Japan’s Hot Pepper Gourmet Eating Out Research Institute found that 23% of Japanese people eat out alone, up from 18% in 2018.

As a result, many restaurants in Japan and elsewhere are redoing their seating, changing their menus and adding other special touches to appeal to solo diners.

“Even so-called family restaurants are increasing counter seats for solitary diners, and restaurants are offering courses with smaller servings so a person eating alone gets a variety of dishes,” said Masahiro Inagaki, a senior researcher at the institute.

OpenTable CEO Debby Soo thinks remote work is one reason for the increase, with diners seeking respites from their home offices. But she thinks there are deeper reasons, too.

“I think there’s a broader movement of self-love and self-care and really … enjoying your own company,” Soo said.

The pandemic also made social interactions less feasible and therefore less important while eating out, said Anna Mattila, a professor of lodging management at Penn State University who has studied solo dining. And smartphones help some restaurant patrons feel connected to others even when they’re by themselves, she said.

“The social norms have changed. People don’t look at solo diners anymore and think, ‘You must be a loner,’” Mattila said.

More people live and travel solo

The growth comes as more people are living alone. In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that 38% of U.S. adults ages 25 to 54 were living without a partner, up from 29% in 1990. In Japan, single households now make up one-third of the total; that’s expected to climb to 40% by 2040, according to government data.

Increasing interest in solo travel — particularly among travelers ages 55 and over — is also leading to more meals alone.

On a recent solo trip to Lucerne, Switzerland, Carolyn Ray was stunned when the hostess led her to a beautiful lake-view table set for one, complete with a small vase of flowers. Ray, the CEO and editor of JourneyWoman, a website for solo women travelers over 50, said other restaurants have tried to seat her toward the back or pointedly asked if someone will be joining her.

Ray counsels women planning to dine alone to go somewhere else if they’re treated rudely or given a bad table.

“It’s almost like the world hasn’t caught up with this idea that we are on our own because we want to be on our own and we’re independent and empowered,” she said. “We can go into any restaurant we want and have a table for one and feel good about it.”

Shawn Singh, a Houston-based content creator and restaurant reviewer, said he eats alone about 70% of the time. If the idea of venturing out for a solitary meal is intimidating, he suggests going to lunch instead of dinner — when tables are usually more crowded with groups — or going early on a weekday.

“The best way to see a restaurant you’ve been wanting to see for a long time is definitely going solo,” Singh said. “If I go at 5 p.m. and alone, I haven’t been denied at one place ever.”

Restaurants aren’t always thrilled to seat a single diner at a table that could fit more. A Michelin-starred London restaurant, Alex Dilling at Hotel Cafe Royal, caused a stir last year when it started charging solo patrons the same price as two customers. Its eight-course dinner tasting menu, which includes caviar and Cornish squid, costs 215 pounds ($280) per person.

The restaurant, which has only 34 seats, didn’t respond to a request for comment. But its website doesn’t allow reservations for fewer than two people.

‘Playing the long game’

Other restaurants say it’s worth seating one person at a table made for two because solo diners tend to be loyal, repeat customers.

“While there may be a short-term loss there, I think we’re kind of playing the long game and establishing ourselves as a place that’s truly special,” said Drew Brady, chief operating officer at Overthrow Hospitality, which operates 11 vegan restaurants in New York.

Brady has seen an increase in solo diners since the pandemic, and says they’re evenly split between men and women. At the company’s flagship restaurant, Avant Garden, they make up as much as 8% of patrons.

In response, the restaurant teamed up with Lightspeed, a restaurant tech and consulting company, to develop a solo dining program. Avant Garden now has a spacious table designed for solo diners, with a $65 four-course menu fashioned like a passport to enhance the sense of adventure. If solo diners order a cocktail, a bartender mixes it tableside.

Mattila, at Penn State, said restaurants might want to consider additional changes. Her research has found that solo diners prefer angular shapes — in lights, tables or plates, for example — to round ones, which are more associated with the connectedness of groups. They also prefer slow-tempo music.

Jill Weber, the founder of Sojourn Philly, a Philadelphia company that owns two restaurants and a wine bar, said she adds a communal table at special events such as wine tastings so individuals have a place to gather. She also doesn’t offer specials designed for two.

Weber, who is also an archaeologist, loves dining alone when she’s traveling.

“There’s something about not having to agree on where to go and everything that goes with that. You have the freedom to stay as long as you want, order what you want and sit with those things,” she said. “It also feels brave sometimes.”
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