An official Chinese news report saying Vietnam will resist outside interference in its relations with Beijing represents an expression of China’s hope for resolving troubled relations but probably does not augur any softening of Hanoi’s political stance toward China, analysts in the region said Thursday.The state-run Xinhua News Agency said April 26 that “Vietnam opposes any forces’ interference in China’s internal affairs” and would “firmly resist any schemes to undermine the Vietnam-China relations.” Vietnam will never “follow other countries in opposing China,” the report added, quoting Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.Phuc and Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of Vietnam’s Communist Party’s Central Committee, had met that day with visiting Chinese National Defense Minister Wei Fenghe in Hanoi.The two sides, despite sharing a border and being ruled by communist parties, dispute sovereignty over parts of the South China Sea and fought a border war in the 1970s – following centuries of other territorial disputes. China still sends vessels to check Vietnamese oil exploration in the contested sea. Vietnam regularly, and vocally, protests.Vietnam, however, counts China as a top source of raw materials for factory work and its No. 2 export market. When disputes come up, their ruling parties often meet first, privately, to smooth things over before any government officials step in.Communist Parties Expected to Ease Latest China-Vietnam Maritime Quarrel

        China has gone back on the verbal offensive against Vietnam, its strongest adversary in the disputed South China Sea, after a year of peacemaking, but analysts believe Communist parties on both sides will meet to prevent any escalation.The abrupt end last month of a visit to Vietnam by a Chinese military official and apparent pressure from Beijing this month to make Vietnam quit an offshore oil exploration tract have put the two sides at odds. 

Vietnam now as before wants to save ideological and economic ties with China while applying pressure politically, said Stephen Nagy, senior associate professor of politics and international studies at International Christian University in Tokyo.China may have worded the English-language Xinhua statement to show the world that it still has friends despite naysayers in multiple countries, Nagy told VOA.“It’s definitely a meeting on steroids rather than reflective of the underlying current in Vietnam-China relations,” Nagy said of the April 26 encounter.The Vietnam News Agency, which is Xinhua’s counterpart in Hanoi, does not mention “interference” or “opposing China” in its report on the meeting. The Vietnamese agency quotes Phuc saying the two countries should not let “hostile forces” sabotage Vietnam-China relations.Those forces could refer to people from within China or Vietnam rather than foreign countries, said Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii.As China expands its navy, Vietnam has welcomed military support from the United States as well as Western allies such as Japan. Washington sent warships to the sea 10 times each in 2019 and 2020, moves widely seen as warnings against further Chinese military expansion.Those countries resent Chinese military expansion, especially in the South China Sea where six governments lay competing claims and accuse Beijing of violating international law to seek control of about 90% of the resource-rich waterway.Trong, the Vietnamese party committee general secretary, called on both countries to “maintain and promote their traditional friendship, and advance the relationship between the two militaries of the two countries,” Xinhua reported from the meeting last month. Both sides have expressed these ideas before.“No change in the policy,” Vuving said. “Their policy is basically they know their best weapon is international law and their best friends are in the U.S. and Japan.”Vietnam and China will “cooperate” but remain “competitors” as long as their maritime sovereignty dispute continues and the United States remains a force in the region, said Wang Wei-chieh, Taiwan-based Asia political analyst and co-founder of the FBC2E International Affairs Facebook page.“I think that they have to cooperate, but they also have to compete considering the South China Sea and also considering their geographic location – that makes them also competitors,” Wang said. 
…

The first person charged under the national security law in Hong Kong will face a trial without jury, the city’s High Court ruled on Thursday, in a landmark decision which marks a departure from the global financial hub’s common law traditions.Police say Tong Ying-kit, carried a sign reading “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” and drove his motorbike into officers during a protest on July 1, knocking several down on the narrow street before falling over and getting arrested.It was the first day on which the national security law was in force. The law punishes anything authorities deem as secession, separatism, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.Tong, 24, was among more than 300 demonstrators against the new law who were arrested that day, and was charged with inciting separatism and terrorism.In February, Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng informed the defendant’s legal team his trial will be heard by three judges appointed for national security cases, instead of a jury, citing “the personal safety of jurors and their family members.”Tong then filed for a judicial review of the decision.Judge Alex Lee at the High Court rejected the application, saying in a written judgment on Thursday “there is nothing inherently unreasonable in directing a trial by a panel of three judges sitting without a jury, when there is a perceived risk of the personal safety of jurors and their family members or that due administration of justice might be impaired”.Hong Kong’s Judiciary describes trial by jury as one of the most important features of the city’s legal system, a common law tradition designed to offer defendants additional protection against the possibility of authorities overreaching their power.Article 46 of the new law – drafted by Beijing, where courts are controlled by the Communist Party and conviction rates are close to 100% – states three instances where juries can be scrapped: protecting state secrets, cases involving foreign forces and protecting the personal safety of jurors.Tong has also been repeatedly denied bail. Hong Kong’s common law has traditionally allowed defendants to seek release unless prosecutors can show lawful grounds for their detention.In another departure from common law practices, the burden is now placed on the defendant to prove they will not break the law if released on bail.The trial is due to start on June 23. 
…

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center reports the number of people displaced inside their own countries because of conflict, violence and weather-related disasters reached an all-time high of 55 million by the end of 2020.Experts tracking these events thought sanity would prevail during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in fewer conflicts and triggering fewer forced displacements.  They also hoped global efforts against climate change to prevent disasters would protect more people.However, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, says the verdict is in and it is not good. He says last year, conflict and disasters caused more than 40 million new displacements, with some people being forced to move many times out of their homes.”Forty million times a child, a woman, or a man was displaced in 2020,” said Egeland. “That is more than one person per second, and it is continuing, so…a lot of people have been displaced also in 2021 while we speak.”The report says Syria has the highest number of internally displaced people, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia. It says sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa generated 90 percent of all new conflict-related displacements.Children displaced by the conflict play on metal railings at the elementary school where they now live with their families in the town of Abi Adi, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)The director of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, Alexandra Bilak, says escalating violence in Ethiopia and strengthening of extremist groups in Mozambique and Burkina Faso fueled some of the world’s fastest growing displacement crises.”In Ethiopia, we are looking at over half a million new displacements that were triggered by violence in the Tigray region alongside, as you know, reports of human rights violations and abuses,” said Bilak. “But across the rest of the continent, we saw how armed groups exploited simmering disputes and expanded their influence across the Sahel, as well as in Nigeria, Somalia and Mozambique.”Weather-related events, primarily storms and floods, were responsible for 98 percent of all new disaster displacements recorded last year. The report says nearly 70 percent took place in South Asia and East Asia, and the Pacific.Elsewhere, it says the Atlantic hurricane season was the most active on record, with 30 main storms. It notes hurricanes Laura, Eta and Iota alone triggered 2.7 million new displacements across 14 Central American and Caribbean countries.It adds 1.7 million displacements were recorded in the United States from devastating wildfires and hurricanes. Authors of the report cite this as an important reminder that high-income countries are just as exposed to disasters as low-and-middle-income countries.
…

New Zealand plans to rebuild its Antarctic base and spend billions more on welfare payments as part of a spending program aimed at lifting the economy out of a coronavirus slump.The government on Thursday unveiled its annual budget, which indicated the economy is doing much better than forecast after the pandemic first hit.That’s thanks in large part to the nation’s success in stopping the spread of the virus, as well as strong international demand for the nation’s milk and other agricultural exports.Treasury figures indicate the nation’s economy is expected to grow by 2.9% this year and rise to 4.4% growth by 2023. That follows a sharp plunge and quick recovery last year, which ended in an overall economic contraction of 1.7%.The budget plan includes $344 million New Zealand dollars ($247 million) to rebuild Scott Base in Antarctica, which has been used by scientists since it first built in 1957.”The outdated buildings and facilities that keep the residents alive in the coldest, driest, windiest place on earth have deteriorated,” Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said. “Doing nothing would eventually lead to the closure of the base.”The project would involve demolishing the existing 12 buildings, which were built in the early 1980s, and replacing them with three large, interconnected buildings. The rebuilt base could accommodate up to 100 people at a time.One of the new buildings would be used for accommodation and dining, one for science, and one for engineering and storage. A windfarm that produces renewable electricity would be overhauled.The project still needs final signoff from both New Zealand and its Antarctic treaty partners. Under the plan, bulldozers would be shipped to Antarctica in the first year and construction would take another six years.Due to its proximity to Antarctica, New Zealand has been a stop-off point from the days of the earliest explorers through to current U.S. missions. New Zealanders have also been involved in exploration and research for generations.Other new spending proposed in the budget includes a boost in benefits for welfare recipients and more money for health care.”Previous economic downturns have made inequality worse. We’re taking a different approach,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “By investing in those who need it the most, we are driving recovery by reducing need, at the same time as providing stimulus for our economy.”Proposed new infrastructure spending includes an overhaul of the rail network, with 60 new trains and 1,900 new wagons. Officials say the plan will create about 450 jobs and reduce emissions by moving freight from trucks to trains.Treasury figures indicate unemployment is forecast to peak at 5.2% this year before declining, much less than the 10% rate predicted last year.The government also plans to borrow less than anticipated, with net government debt reaching a peak of 48% of GDP before declining, down from last year’s forecast of 55%.”In the face of this one-in-100-year shock, the New Zealand economy has proved to be remarkably resilient,” Finance Minister Grant Robertson said.Opposition Leader Judith Collins said the budget lacked the ambition needed to grow the economy and reduce debt, and offered nothing to middle-income earners.The budget’s approval in Parliament is seen as a formality because Ardern’s Labour Party holds a majority of the seats.
…

Since the military coup in February, thousands of people in Myanmar’s ethnic states have been displaced by renewed conflict between the national army and ethnic armed organizations. With reports of daily shelling and regular airstrikes, many are fleeing to the border with Thailand where a youth group is trying to help. Tommy Walker reports from Mae Sot, Thailand.
Camera: Tommy Walker
Video editor:  Marcus Harton
…

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on May 21 will be the second world leader to meet face-to-face with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House, marking what may be his final visit to the United States and last chance to fulfill campaign pledges before his term ends.  The discussions between the two leaders arrive just a few weeks after the Biden administration finalized its monthlong review of North Korea policy, one that signals a departure from previous administrations by pursuing a “calibrated, practical approach,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.  This shift in rhetoric — one that strays from Obama-era strategic patience while refraining from making flashy deals — has yielded a “sense of calm” as Moon and Biden prepare to engage in talks, said Jean Lee, director of the Korea program at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.  “When you use that rhetoric, that fire and fury, it gives North Korea the justification to test, and when they have that, it means the arsenal gets that much stronger,” Lee said. “The steadiness being exuded consistently by the Biden administration is designed to avoid this escalation of tensions we saw in the early parts of the Trump presidency.”  Moon welcomed this open-ended approach in a nationally televised speech marking his four-year anniversary on Monday.FILE – This handout photo taken and released by the presidential Blue House on May 10, 2021 shows South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivering a special address during a press conference marking the 4th anniversary of his inauguration.Issuing a call to action to restore inter-Korean dialogue at the upcoming summit, he vowed to do everything he could to “restart the clock of peace.”  “I will consider the remaining one year of my term to be the last opportunity to move from an incomplete peace toward one that is irreversible,” Moon said.  North Korea is expected to be near the top of the meeting agenda. But while the two leaders have mutually vowed to work toward the ultimate goal of achieving a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, experts say Biden’s incremental approach may potentially frustrate Moon, who has less than a year in office to follow through with his promised goals of securing a peace regime.  Despite these slight variances in timelines though, upholding the alliance between the U.S. and Republic of Korea will unwaveringly remain the top priority, said Kim Heung-kyu, who teaches political science at Ajou University and is the director of the China Policy Institute.  Lee echoed these observations, adding that North Korea will be closely watching the summit and that the joint meeting will “send a signal to the North that Moon has Biden’s ear, which is a position of strength that Moon is keen to establish.”  The Moon-Biden summit will mark Biden’s second in-person meeting since he took office in January.FILE – Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. President Joe Biden hold a joint news conference in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, April 16, 2021.The first was also with an Asian leader, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, which serves as a strong indicator of the Biden administration’s broader commitment to forging peace and security across the Indo-Pacific region, bolstering the U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateral security alliance, and preparing to strike back at China’s growing influence.Some of Washington’s larger agenda items may have South Korea walking on a tightrope, though, and will heavily depend on “to what extent South Korea decides to participate,” said Park Won-gon, who teaches North Korea studies at Ewha University in Seoul.  FILE – A protester sits next to a statue symbolizing a wartime sex slave to demand full compensation and an apology for wartime sex slaves near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Jan. 8, 2021.”With Korea-Japan relations still deadlocked, Biden is trying to make headway with the trilateral alliance before granting Korea and Japan space to find common ground on policies,” Park added. When it comes to China, Moon and Biden will likely home in on its ability to directly sway North Korea’s policy.  Kim said that “in this sense, the two administrations will hope that China helps complete the picture instead of complicating it by conveying to North Korea messages that instill a positive influence on the regime.” Apart from getting North Korea to join the negotiating table, experts project vaccine shortage issues may also be a topic of discussion Moon may want to push for.FILE – South Korean senior citizens receive their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a vaccination center in Seoul, South Korea, Apr. 1, 2021. (Chung Sung-Jun/Pool via Reuters)The heated issue has in part caused his approval ratings to nosedive in recent months and starkly contrasts with South Korea’s acclaim as a pandemic-era paragon for its rigorous test-and-trace program.  This upcoming summit’s success, unlike that of conventional summits, might be determined by whether Moon manages to procure faster access to vaccines, a South Korean official told Reuters.    The summit may also open up a conversation on how South Korea and the U.S. can partner in the near future to play a role in global vaccine development and distribution.  But in the meantime, the more immediate challenge for Biden and Moon involves reaching a mutual decision on engaging North Korea while ensuring their timelines align.  “The challenge for Moon and Biden during this summit will be managing their differences behind closed doors while presenting a united front so that North Korea can’t drive a wedge between them,” said Lee. Juhyun Lee contributed to this report.
…

Taiwan, which captured world attention last year for going more than 200 consecutive days without a local COVID-19 case, is shutting things down for the first time to contain its worst coronavirus outbreak since the global pandemic began. The government’s Central Epidemic Command Center announced more than 1,200 cases from Friday through Wednesday including a record single-day count of 333 cases. Command center officials say infected cargo pilots introduced COVID-19 in mid-April followed by spread among “hostess bars” in a densely populated quarter of Taipei. More than 150 of the 260 cases reported Tuesday were linked to that district. Taipei’s mayor has targeted migrant workers, often helps staff the bars, for virus testing.   “A lot of spread is through the underground, two vectors, one of which is underground industries, which was my nightmare, and the second one was of course potential illegals or people who came in without checking,” said Sean Su, an independent political analyst in Taipei. On Saturday, the command center ordered all public spaces, including cinemas, libraries and recreation centers, to close through May 28. Most schools had closed or moved classes online by Tuesday. Shops, eateries and offices can stay open if they follow epidemic prevention rules such as social distancing. Streets that are usually packed with pedestrians, scooters and vehicular noise have taken on the quiet aura of a holiday.People wear face masks to help protect against the spread of the coronavirus as they line up at a rapid Covid testing center after the COVID-19 alert rose to level 3 in Taipei, Taiwan, May 18, 2021.If daily caseloads remain above 100 per day, the government will eventually consider a hard lockdown where everyone must stay at home except to do essential business.   Though it’s still legal to go outside, many people used social media groups over the weekend to urge relatives, colleagues and fellow school parents to stay home. “We’ve seen a lot of what could be called informal networks,” said Wu Chia-yi, associate professor in the National Taiwan University College of Medicine’s nursing faculty. “They’re actually playing the role of reminders and encouragement, and the effectiveness isn’t bad. This networking is a way for everyone to remind one another.”    About the only place sure to draw crowds are supermarkets. Panic buying resurfaced over the weekend for the first time since early 2020, when Taiwan reported lower levels of local caseloads. Shelves had emptied of toilet paper, face masks, disinfectant alcohol and some packaged foods by Monday morning.   Taiwan, one of the last developed and populous places in the world to experience a big COVID-19 spike, dodged the disease last year through quarantines, contact tracing and strict border controls.  More than 5 million doses of vaccines from U.S. pharmaceutical company Moderna are due to teach Taiwan this month, the command center said in April. Taiwanese still largely trust the government’s judgment on how to contain the virus and determine the severity of shutdowns despite inevitable losses of business in the service sector, Su said. “Our health minister is working very hard, and he has told us all along to wear face masks,” said Yang Jie, 69, who went out walking Monday in suburban Taipei with her 3-year-old grandson instead of sending him to a daycare center that would place multiple children in one room.   But people will grow angrier as the threat of COVID-19 and the inconveniences of closures, said Chen Yi-fan, an assistant diplomacy professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan. “We are forced to take care of children because the schools are all shut down right now, so a lot of working parents aren’t getting compensation from the government, and instead they have to beg their supervisors to let them stay at home,” Chen said. 
…

A U.S. warship has again sailed through the sensitive waterway that separates Taiwan from its giant neighbor China, at a time of increased tensions between Taipei and Beijing.The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” on Tuesday in accordance with international law.”The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military will continue to fly, sail, and operate anywhere international law allows,” it said.Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the ship had sailed in a southerly direction through the strait and the “situation was as normal.”The U.S. Navy has been conducting such operations every month or so, to the anger of China which always denounces them.The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is its most important international backer and a major seller of arms.Military tension between Chinese-claimed Taiwan and Beijing have spiked over the past year, with Taipei complaining of China repeatedly sending its air force into Taiwan’s air defense zone.Some of those activities can involve multiple fighters and bombers.China has said its activities around Taiwan are aimed at protecting China’s sovereignty. Taiwan’s government has denounced it as attempts at intimidation.
…

Six Hong Kong pro-democracy advocates have been remanded to custody after pleading guilty to their involvement in protests dating to October 2019. District Judge Amanda Woodcock ruled in the case of political figures Figo Chan, Avery Ng, Albert Ho, Sin Chung, Yeung Sum and Richard Tsoi on Tuesday, a day after they each admitted to one count of organizing an unauthorized assembly that took place more than 18 months ago, on China’s National Day. Overall, 10 opposition figures pleaded guilty, with four already in custody in separate cases, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai. Sentencing is due to take place on May 28.  Avery Ng, 44, among the six remanded, is secretary-general of the League of Social Democrats (LSD), Hong Kong’s most radical pro-democracy party. The politician spoke with VOA in a phone interview last week. Up until Tuesday, he was one of the few opposition leaders who had avoided substantial jail time following dozens of arrests by authorities in recent months. Following the 2019 anti-government protests, Beijing implemented a national security law in June last year in Hong Kong, limiting autonomy and making it easier for dissidents to be punished. The law carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Beijing recently approved electoral changes for the territory to ensure that “patriots” govern the city. According to Ng, it’s an attempt to “redefine democracy.” FILE – Hong Kong academic and activist Joseph Cheng observes a Kuomintang (KMT) rally ahead of the election in Taipei, Taiwan, January 9, 2020.“This raising of punishment comes rather suddenly and is very much in line with the changes in the political climate. It probably means many of the judges would like to toe the Beijing line,” he told VOA. Discussing his own party’s future, Ng admits he’s an “internal cautious optimist,” but the outlook is “uncertain.” “The only option for us is to remain on the streets and with the people,” Ng said. Cheng said he believes the LSD would like to serve as the “symbolic organization of defiance within the pro-democracy movement.” And although the trial for Ng and the remaining nine opposition figures has yet to be concluded, the activist says he is “mentally prepared” for prison and plans to spend his time by reading more. “I do not get time to read books when I’m outside protesting. Strategically you want to pick the books that are thick. You have certain quotas, six books per month,” Ng said. But once he is released, he wants to help advocate for the imprisoned protesters with fewer options in life. Australia-based Cheng endorsed Ng’s efforts. “He helps confirm the fact there are still many people with ideals, with a sense of commitment and a sense of sacrifice, even among the well-educated strata,” said Cheng. “He was a finance company director, he could earn a [high] monthly income, and he was willing to go to prison.” Ng said he believes Hong Kong’s income disparities, high housing prices and deep distrust of government will spur social unrest for “decades.” He predicts the city must develop a “democratic system” or dissolve into a “more controlled, more authoritarian, more Singapore, more Chinese, more surveillance” type of system. But for the immediate future, he believes Hong Kong will first see a “period of stagnation” after two years of political turmoil. “I think we are Chapter Two of Book 1 of a series of books,” said Ng. “We’ve got beaten down, and in the third act we will rise again, and then probably another sequel.” Whatever the future may hold for Hong Kong, Ng is content to be a part of it. “We’re in the middle of history,” he said.  
…

At the launch of this year’s Rohingya refugee donor’s conference, Bangladesh led a chorus of growing voices calling for durable solutions to resolve the ongoing crisis. New pledges have been rolling in, but U.N. agencies are expressing concern about donor fatigue. They worry they might not receive the $943 million they need to assist 1.4 million Rohingya refugees and the Bangladeshi communities hosting them in Cox’s Bazar. Bangladesh’s deputy minister of foreign affairs Shahriar Alam attends the 14th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Dec. 16, 2019 in Madrid, Spain.Last year, the U.N.’s $1 billion Joint Response Plan garnered only 60% of that amount. Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said the launch is the fourth annual appeal for the Rohingya temporarily sheltering in his country. He said he wondered how long the refugees can continue to suffer in overcrowded camps and how long the international community can sustain such massive humanitarian support. He said it is important to seek a permanent solution to the Rohingya refugee crisis to avoid repeating similar exercises every year. “All undertakings under the JRP (Joint Response Plan) or any other funding mechanism should be implemented given this overarching objective in mind,” Alam said. “The priority areas that have been identified in the JRP must be aligned with the core objective of preparing the Rohingyas for their return and any project, such as education or skill development, should be designed and implemented in ways that will help Rohingyas to integrate into their society on their return to Myanmar.”  The minister acknowledges this might not be the most propitious time for the Rohingya to return home. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi talks to the media during his visit to the Um Rakuba refugee camp on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, Sudan, Nov. 28, 2020.U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi agrees the military coup by Myanmar’s generals on February first precludes the safe and dignified return of the refugees. He said the UNHCR and other agencies are present in Rakhine State in Myanmar to create the conditions necessary for the refugees to return to their homes of origin. “Clearly this has not happened so far because besides the work that we do, more work, more action needs to be taken on the Myanmar side in terms of freedom of movement, access to services, ending the discrimination that has caused, in fact, the exodus of people into Bangladesh,” Grandi said.Meanwhile, High Commissioner Grandi said the Rohingya people must not be forgotten. He says the international community must continue to support the refugees as they have no other means of survival. He notes Rohingya continue to flee violence in Myanmar. He renews his appeal to neighboring countries, mainly India and Thailand, to keep their borders open and not to deport them back to a country where their lives are at risk.   
…

Hong Kong’s incoming Roman Catholic Bishop appealed for tolerance Tuesday to unify a Catholic community split by anti-government protests.  
 
He also vowed to honor the victims of China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, who continued to protest despite the political risks.  
 
In his first public remarks since his May 17 appointment, Stephen Chow urged Catholics to respect various viewpoints as part of an effort to mend a diocese that has been divided since antigovernment protests began in Hong Kong’s in 2019.  
 
He said he did not have a comprehensive plan to unify the diocese, but he believed God wanted them to be united.
 
Chow offered prayers for the hundreds, if not thousands, of victims killed in the massacre in Tiananmen Square.
 
“I pray for all those who have passed in 1989, in all aspects, from all walks of life,” he said.
 
But Chow added that legal requirements this year would determine whether public observance of the victims is possible.
 
Chow participated in previous public events to observe the June 4 anniversary of the Tiananmen Square killings.  
 
Pope Francis named the 62-year-old Chow to head the Hong Kong diocese, replacing Bishop Michael Yeung, who died in 2019.
 
The Hong Kong native was educated in the United States and Irelan, and is a supervisor at Wah Yan College in Hong Kong.
 
About 404,000 people in Hong Kong are Catholic, representing about 5.3% of the city’s population.  
 
Chow is tasked with uniting Hong Kong’s Catholic community that is divided between those who view China’s control of Hong Kong as an assault on the city’s freedoms, and pro-establishment advocates who favor a less confrontational strategy. 
…

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday defended the freezing of pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai’s assets as a necessary move under the city’s new national security law to protect the safety of all Chinese people. Lam told reporters the move was authorized under the sweeping law that was imposed on the city by Beijing last year and empowered authorities to “freeze suspicious assets involved that would undermine national security.” “It means the Hong Kong government is very serious and rigorous when dealing with national security matters, because it involves something that endangers national security, not just the safety of Hong Kong society, but also the safety of 1.4 billion Chinese people,” Lam said. Critics say the national security law is meant to snuff out dissent in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory, while defenders say it intends to ensure those running the city are Chinese patriots committed to public order and economic development. Lam has been the face of the crackdown on dissent, although she is believed to be acting entirely on orders from Beijing, whose Communist Party leaders have long regarded Hong Kong as a potential incubator of opposition that could spread through the country.Media mogul Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily, leaves the Court of Final Appeal by prison van in Hong Kong.The freezing of Lai’s assets led the Hong Kong stock exchange to halt trading of shares in Next Digital on Monday. The company founded by Lai, who owns a 71% stake and is its controlling shareholder, publishes pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, which has seen advertisers abandon it as the government ratchets up pressure on dissenting voices in the city at the urging of leaders in Beijing. Lai has been a high-profile voice in the the territory’s pro-democracy movement and is serving a 14-month sentence for his role in two unauthorized assemblies in 2019 when Hong Kong residents were involved in mass anti-government protests. Lai was among 10 people who pleaded guilty Monday to taking part in another unlawful assembly in 2019. Last week, Apple Daily’s Taiwan version said it would move online because “pro-China forces” had blocked access to advertising for its flagship Apple Daily and other publications in Hong Kong. In recent months, police have arrested most of the city’s pro-democracy activists and have put prominent activists such as Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow behind bars. Most of the pro-democracy activists arrested are still in police custody, while others have sought asylum abroad. Lai has long been a unique figure in Hong Kong’s media landscape, overwhelmingly dominated by corporations whose outlets took a largely neutral view on politics while relentlessly chasing news about celebrities, the ultra-rich and their scandals. While his outlets also chased salacious topics, they were often critical of Beijing and its representatives in Hong Kong. That drew the ire of the city’s pro-China establishment, which has not only avoided discussing politically sensitive topics concerning the mainland and Hong Kong, but has become increasingly critical of what Beijing terms foreign interference in the city’s affairs, whether through outreach to opposition figures by the U.S. Consulate or Britain’s offer of a passage to citizenship for holders of the British National (Overseas) passport that many Hong Kongers possess. Hong Kong’s media outlets are now almost completely dominated by pro-Beijing business groups and even independent booksellers have become rare. The national security law has also given authorities broad powers to monitor speech online, making it difficult to organize opposition gatherings or even express views critical of the government or Beijing. 
…

Samoa’s high court has restored the results of last month’s parliamentary election, putting the South Pacific nation one step closer to installing its first female prime minister.
 
The court on Monday ruled against a decision by the electoral commission that gave the ruling party of Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi an extra parliamentary seat, giving it one seat advantage over the opposition led by Fiame Naomi Mata’afa. The court also ruled against efforts by Samoa’s head of state to void the results and conduct a new election.   
 
The separate rulings give Fiame’s FAST party a bare 26-25 parliamentary majority, allowing her to form a government and end Tuilaepa’s 22-year hold on power.  Fiame had served as Tuilaepa’s deputy prime minister until the two had a bitter split last year. 
…

Veiled heads in grey, white and black dotted the steps of Myeongdong Cathedral Monday night. Hushed voices spoke as one in prayer while evening commuters and shouting street vendors of Seoul rushed past in a blur. Throughout Korea’s history, the cathedral has served as a refuge for society’s most vulnerable — from female workers of a textile company demanding equal treatment, to pro-democracy fugitives during Korea’s military dictatorship in the 1980s, and journalists fighting for press freedom. Today, people are again gathering in the same spot, but this time it’s to demonstrate their support for Myanmar. Each year on May 18, South Korea revisits transformative but painful memories of the bloody Gwangju Uprising, during which student activists protesting military rule were ruthlessly slaughtered in the southwestern city. FILE – Women whose families were killed, wounded, or arrested during the Gwangju Uprising sing songs at the May Mothers House community center in Gwangju, South Korea. May 20, 2020. (William Gallo/VOA)The nation marks the 41st anniversary of the pivotal demonstrations with a more pressing agenda this year: Koreans are reflecting on their own painful fight for democracy to offer support for Myanmar citizens experiencing a violent and relentless crackdown by the military that seized power in a February coup.  South Korean President Moon Jae-in condemned the suppression of civilian protests by Myanmar’s military in a post on March 6, reaffirming South Korea’s solidarity with Myanmar “for a quick, peaceful restoration of democracy.” Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-sup along with 17 mayors and governors representing all high-level local governments in South Korea have also demanded democracy be restored immediately. Myanmar and South Korea, which formally established diplomatic ties in 1975, “experienced closely overlapping instances of political turbulence,” said Eunhui Eom, a research fellow specializing in Southeast Asian studies at the Seoul National University Asia Center. On May 16, 1961, former South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee instigated a carefully devised military coup and overthrew the Second Republic — an event followed by the Burmese coup d’état just a year later that marked the beginning of socialist rule for 26 years. But their paths eventually diverged when South Korea signed a treaty of mutual defense with the United States and transitioned from authoritarianism to democracy, while the military regime tightened its grip on Myanmar, previously known as Burma, under an isolated, socialist economy.  ‘Visible violence’  It was only through word of mouth from older Burmese that Shun Lei Wutyee of Yangon learned about the so-called “8888” movement — the nationwide democracy uprising led by student activists who took to the streets on August 8, 1988, to protest the military regime under the ruthless dictatorship of Ne Win. Now a college student studying digital communications in Seoul, 24-year-old Wutyee said that when she first read news of the Myanmar coup in the beginning of February, she thought it was baseless and things would quiet down in a few days. She had never seen bloodshed and thought this would end peacefully. “But when someone died, I realized it was not a joke,” Wutyee said in Korean. “My generation has never been exposed to this kind of visible violence and it’s scary.”  Wutyee now stands in front of large groups, leveraging her fluent Korean to speak to people about what is happening in Myanmar, while also relearning her own country’s history. This year, even amid the pandemic, FILE – Former S. Korean presidents Chun Doo Hwan (R) and Roh Tae Woo (L) face a panel of judges at the Seoul Criminal Courthouse, Aug. 26, 1996. Chun received the death sentence while Roh received 22 years and six months in prison.“At the time, Gwangju was painted as a failure,” said Professor Choi Jin-bong, who teaches political communications at Sungkonghoe University. “But history has unfolded to show that Korea’s road to fulfilling democracy would be incomplete without experiencing Gwangju. It’s why memories of the uprising are often summoned up as living proof of the people’s power.” The 8888 uprisings were met with a similar fate — violently shut down by the military junta, leaving thousands dead. However, Wutyee said she believes the revolution is also what eventually fueled momentum for Aung San Suu Kyi to rise to power after a democratic landslide election victory.  “The more I learn about the resistance efforts of both Gwangju and Myanmar, I find the strength to continue organizing,” Wutyee said. “Sometimes I’m overcome by guilt while living in Korea because I don’t know if it’s okay for me to live well here while Myanmar people are suffering, but I’ve realized through this battle that I do, in fact, love my country.” Despite the broader similarities Gwangju and Myanmar share, Eom said this comparison should not sweep over the sociohistorical circumstances specific to a country that many oversimplify the narrative. FILE – South Korean lawmaker Choi Hye Young holds a sign during a news conference indicating support for Myanmar’s democracy, in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Seoul, March 10, 2021.“The solidarity we are seeing from Koreans has never been so fervent,” Eom said. “But Gwangju is only one dot we can connect Myanmar to. We can also look to the Philippines’ People Power Revolution in 1986 or the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in China. Ultimately, Koreans must stand in the position of supporters, so that Myanmar citizens themselves can muster the strength to fight back and reclaim their narrative.” Juhyun Lee contributed to this report.
…

The Philippine government took another step this month in opposing China by telling its vast fishing fleet to ignore Beijing’s annual fishing ban in the South China Sea, where the two countries are locked in a sovereignty dispute.
 
This year’s fishing moratorium “does not apply to our fishermen,” the Philippines’ South China Sea task force said on May 4, as reported by domestic media. Officials have “encouraged” fishing boats to trawl the sea, news website Philstar.com reported.
 
China’s moratorium from May 1 to August 16, imposed unilaterally since 1999 in the northern part of the sea, is intended to improve marine ecology, the official Xinhua News Agency in Beijing said last month. More than 50,000 Chinese vessels would suspend operations, it said.
 Growing anti-China sentiment
   
Mounting public pressure against China in the Philippines prompted the government to reject the moratorium publicly, a potential boon to a domestic fishing industry that employs some 2 million people, experts say.  
 
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte forged a new friendship with China in 2016 by laying aside the sovereignty dispute, but Chinese vessels continue to appear in waters claimed by Manila. Duterte’s political allies, who plan to seek office next year after he steps down due to term limits, are expected to follow public opinion on China.  FILE – Filipino activists march to protest against the presence of Chinese vessels in disputed parts of the South China Sea, at the Chinese Embassy in Makati City, Philippines, April 9, 2019.“There’s a lot of political heat, so the Philippine government cannot be seen to be acquiescing to Chinese pressure,” said Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s public policy school.
 
Fishing vessel operators want the government to take a “much stronger posture” toward the South China Sea, said Jay Batongbacal, international maritime affairs professor at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City. They complain they seldom see their own country’s navy or coast guard, he said. Four Philippine Navy ships set off this week to support fishing vessels in the Spratly Islands.
 
“Because of the more intense public pressure, they’re responding by sending ships to show some visibility and also encouraging the fishermen to fish,” Batongbacal said.
 
China claims about 90% of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea that’s prized for fisheries and fossil fuel reserves. It’s the most militarily advanced of the six governments that dispute sovereignty over the sea. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam call all or parts of the South China Sea their own, as well. Claimants prize the waterway for its fishing stocks and fossil fuel reserves.
 
The moratorium zone covers waters used by Taiwan and Malaysia as well as the Philippines.
 Thinning relationship  
 
Duterte visited Beijing in 2016 to set aside the sovereignty issue. China then pledged $24 billion in aid and investment for the developing Southeast Asian country. But Duterte has angered Filipinos since that visit by saying China was too strong at sea for the Philippines to resist.  
 
Officials in Manila said little about previous Chinese fishing bans. Philippine fishing boats know where it’s safe and unsafe after so many years of bans, Araral said.
 
China has stoked public hostility by letting hundreds of its fishing vessels pass at least twice near Philippine-controlled islets in the disputed sea. A flotilla that peaked at 220 vessels moored at Whitsun Reef in the sea’s Spratly Islands in March. Philippine officials demanded that those vessels leave the unoccupied feature.FILE – In this handout photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, members of the Philippine Coast Guard use rubber boats as they patrol beside Chinese vessels moored at Whitsun Reef, South China Sea, April 14, 2021.Filipinos had never regarded China as a friend before 2016, allying instead with the United States militarily since the 1950s. Officials in Manila aim now to retain their Visiting Forces Agreement with Washington this year, even though Duterte had once vowed to scrap it.  
 
“For Duterte, this is an opportunity to demonstrate that he is keen to resist China in the way he deems fit,” said Collin Koh, maritime security research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
 China expected to be low key
 
China has not publicly rebutted the Philippine government for urging fishing boats to ignore the moratorium. It will probably just ask that any boats leave the no-fishing zone rather than impounding them, lest Philippine officials get even angrier, Araral said.
 
A frayed Sino-Philippine relationship risks pushing Manila closer to Washington. Beijing resents U.S. presence in the South China Sea, although the U.S. has no territorial claims there.
 
China might tell its fishing boats to leave Whitsun Reef as well as letting Philippine fishermen fish in the moratorium zone, said Aaron Rabena, research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation in Metro Manila
 
“There can be relative stability if the fishing vessels withdraw and they don’t enforce that fishing ban on us,” he said. 
…

The decision by India and the European Union to restart stalled talks on a free trade pact comes amid growing unease on both sides about China’s rise, according to analysts.   
 
The decision was announced following a summit of EU leaders in Portugal last week, which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined via video conference.    
   
The meeting was held days after the EU suspended efforts to ratify an ambitious investment agreement with China following tensions that have grown between the 27-member bloc and Beijing about its treatment of the Uyghur population in Xinjiang province.   
 
Although reviving trade negotiations that were abandoned by India and Europe in 2013 will not be easy, the move is being seen as part of efforts by both sides to build closer ties in what analysts call a new “geopolitical and geo-economic environment.”   
 
“The kind of questions that have been raised recently about China have propelled Europe and India to look at each other with a different set of priorities,” according to Harsh Pant, head of Strategic Studies at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi and Professor of International Relations at King’s College, London.   
   
“Also post the pandemic, many countries are looking closely at the issue of overreliance on China in trade and Europe, in particular, has been over dependent on China. And from India’s perspective, the West is going to be a very important partner as it re-evaluates every aspect of its foreign policy from the standpoint of the China equation,” says Pant.   
 
India has been moving to build deeper partnerships with countries like the United States, Japan and Australia following an eight-month military standoff with China along their disputed Himalayan borders. Although the standoff eased in March, tensions are still running high over several undemarcated stretches where both countries have deployed tens of thousands of troops.   
 
Both India and the European Union struck an optimistic note after the summit. Indian foreign ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said there was a strong economic rationale for relaunching trade talks as the European Union was India’s largest trading partner in 2019-20 with bilateral trade of about $ 90 billion. President of the European Council Charles Michel called it a “new important chapter” in ties.  
 
“We agreed to resume negotiations for a balanced, ambitious, comprehensive and mutually beneficial trade agreement which would respond to the current challenges,” according to a joint statement by both sides.   
 
A study by the European Parliament last year before Britain’s departure from the bloc had estimated the potential benefits of a trade deal with India for the EU at around 10 billion dollars. India is also due to start trade negotiations with Britain later this year.    
 
The bid to deepen ties with Europe goes beyond trade – a “connectivity partnership” launched by the two sides that aims at building joint infrastructure projects in third countries including Africa, Central Asia and the Indo-Pacific is also seen as a pushback against China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.    
 
However, hammering out a trade deal will be challenging with some analysts warning that India has turned even more protectionist in recent years.   
 
India and the EU had halted seven years of negotiations in 2013 after hitting a roadblock over key differences – Europe wanted India to lower levies on its major exports, such as wines, spirits and auto components, while New Delhi wanted greater access for Indian professionals to work in Europe.   
 
“India is in a worse situation than in 2013 when trade talks were abandoned. Last year the government’s signal to industry was that they will be protected if they ramp up domestic production,” points out Biswajit Dhar, a professor at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and an expert on international trade relations. “Now the question is whether they can accommodate Europe’s demands to open up the market. It’s going to be a tall ask – for example the Indian automobile industry which is one of the country’s important industries will resist any suggestion of tariff cuts.”   
 
But navigating the trade deal with Europe will be a key test for New Delhi as it seeks alternatives to China. In 2019 it abandoned a China-led regional trade pact – the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, after it failed to address Delhi’s concerns over market access.  
 
“For India it is a moment to underscore its credentials as a credible economic player because there are lots of questions about India’s ability to finalize trade deals,” points out Pant. “It has to show that it can walk the talk and can move forward on trade and economic matters with countries with which it has a strategic convergence.”  
 
…

Australia plans to add an area of the Indian Ocean bigger than France or the U.S. state of Texas to its network of marine parks.A reserve would be set up around Christmas Island, which is about 1,500 kilometers west of the Australian mainland. The island houses a high-profile Australian offshore immigration center for asylum seekers and is also well known for a spectacular annual migration of millions of red crabs.The region is the only known spawning ground for the critically endangered southern bluefin tuna.The other marine sanctuary would encompass the Cocos Keeling Islands. The coral archipelago is another Australian external territory and is home to about 600 residents. The islands lie about halfway between the city of Perth and the South Asian island nation of Sri Lanka.Christmas Island and the Cocos Keeling Islands are considered by experts to be biodiversity hot spots in the Indian Ocean, which is under pressure from industrial fishing, climate change and pollution.The proposed marine parks would cover a combined area up to 740,000 square kilometers of ocean. It has the support of many environmental groups.Christabel Mitchell, the national director of the Save Our Marine Life Alliance, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. the group welcomes the plan.“This is a very exciting opportunity,” Mitchell said. “This commitment by the Morrison government is of global significance. These are the world’s next big marine parks. This could cover an area twice the size of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and be a huge step forward towards protecting our national marine treasures.”Australian authorities are starting talks with the island communities and the commercial fishing sector.Australia has established 60 marine parks around the country. Officials say they help conserve habitats and the various species that rely on them.
…

Thailand recorded its highest number of coronavirus infections Thursday since the pandemic began after Bangkok prisons were found riddled with COVID-19, threatening an extension of a partial lockdown of the country that is hammering the economy.The latest wave of the virus emerged in April, dynamized by clusters at nightspots popular with Bangkok’s rich.It has forced the government of Prayuth Chan-ocha to order restaurants and bars to close and urge people to stay at home, leaving Thailand’s tourist and services economy on the brink. The country reported 4,887 infections Thursday, a record daily high after 2,835 prisoners tested positive at two jails in Bangkok.The current outbreak has left more than 400 dead so far, with hospital beds full and the government scrambling to roll out vaccines to a public that is increasingly anxious about the double hit of a health and economic crisis just as the country was preparing to reopen to foreign tourists. This handout from the Royal Thai Government taken and released on March 16, 2021, shows Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha receiving the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine in Bangkok.Prayuth this week promised to vaccinate everyone, insisting “herd immunity” through inoculation was the only way through the pandemic.But health authorities say just 640,000 people out of a population of nearly 70 million have received two vaccine jabs.Thailand has approved vaccines from Moderna, Sinovac, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. The kingdom will produce the AstraZeneca vaccine under a long-term license.But for now, it is racing to secure tens of millions of emergency doses to begin mass vaccinations in June, after going slow at the start of the year in its procurement when the virus appeared to be beaten back.Airport worker Sarayut Jumpa said he is one of the lucky ones to have received a second dose — in his case, the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine — administered at Bangkok’s main airport, Suvarnabhumi, where check-ins have been adapted to process inoculations.”The vaccine might not protect us 100%, but studies show the sickness will now be less severe if I contract the virus,” Sarayut said, adding that his next task was to convince his parents the vaccine is safe. The slow rollout in the kingdom has been matched by internet misinformation about the efficacy of vaccines.With upward of 4,000 airport workers vaccinated and travelers few and far between, the airport is now ready to be used by the public as soon as the government gives the order.”Before the pandemic, we used to receive 200,000 international travelers a day, now only about a thousand a day,” said Kittipong Kittikachorn, the airport’s deputy general manager.”The airport already has all the necessary amenities ready to turn into a vaccination station.”Muslim worshippers perform the morning Eid al-Fitr prayers on the street after authorities closed mosques in Thailand to prevent the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus, May 13, 2021.Thailand thought it had escaped the worst of the public health crisis posed by the coronavirus through border closures and strict 14-day quarantines.Those measures instead crippled an economy that counts between a fifth and a quarter of its revenue from tourism.Thailand’s GDP withered by more than 6% last year. Hopes of a third-quarter rebound this year appear to be in jeopardy after the latest outbreak.Thai authorities are insisting on an October reopening date to vaccinated tourists, with Phuket Island aiming to reopen July 1 after a privately driven vaccination campaign. But the new wave has cast that into doubt. Hotels that have staggered on through a year of lost income have been forced to close again, while bars, restaurants and nightclubs in a country renowned for its wild nightlife have had to let staff go. The crisis is now fast becoming a serious political problem for Prayuth, an unpopular ex-army chief who seized power in a 2014 coup and has since been reinvented as an elected premier.  ”Whether or not the economy can recover will depend on the number of people vaccinated,” Krid Kanjanakit, 36, a hotel owner in the resort town of Pattaya, told VOA News. ”But the problem is, this government moves slowly with everything.”Opposition MPs Thursday urged the Office of National Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate Prayuth for allegedly failing to procure vaccines on time, resulting in unnecessary fatalities.
…

Hungary has announced plans to open a branch of a Chinese University in Budapest. Critics fear the development — the first of its kind in Europe — will be used by Beijing to spread Chinese Communist Party propaganda and could pose a threat to national security.   The so-called “Student City” will be built on the site of a former wholesale market outside the nation’s capital, with its centerpiece a branch of the prestigious Shanghai-based Fudan University.   Hungary said it will raise the standard of higher education, offer courses to 6,000 students from Hungary, China and further afield, while bringing Chinese investment and research to the country.
For China, it’s a significant milestone, said professor Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London. “Until relatively recently, China was importing foreign universities onto Chinese soil, having branches in China. Now, they are exporting a Chinese university branch on European soil, a member of the European Union. This is, I think, tremendously important from their perspective in how it shows that China has risen,” Tsang told VOA.  
   FILE – A view of the site where the construction of a top Chinese university, the Fudan’s campus, is planned, in the 9th district of Budapest, Hungary, Apr. 23, 2021.Two years ago, Hungary’s famous Central European University, which is backed by Hungarian-born, U.S.-based financier George Soros, was effectively forced out of the country through changes to education law and has since relocated to Vienna.Hungary’s government accuses Soros of political interference in the country, which he denies.
Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony, a member of the opposition Dialogue for Hungary Party, said Hungarians are being betrayed.   “Let’s put the two [universities] next to each other,” he said. “There was something which has offered an open education, did not cost a penny for Hungarian taxpayers, was a well-established university in Hungary and was exiled. And now, the government brings in another one which represents the ideology of the [Chinese] Communist Party and costs the Hungarian taxpayers billions,” he told The Associated Press.   Leaked government documents published by the Hungarian investigative journalism organization Direkt36 estimate the cost at $1.8 billion, which is more than Hungary spent on its entire higher education system in 2019. The documents suggest most of the funding will come from a Chinese bank loan, and construction will be carried out using mostly Chinese materials and labor.   FILE – A man sits front of the building of the Central European University, a school founded by U.S. financier George Soros, in Budapest, Hungary, Apr. 9, 2018.Fudan ranks among the top 100 universities in the world. Its expansion into Europe is part of Beijing’s efforts to control the narrative on China, Tsang said.   “When we are dealing with the humanities and social sciences side of the curriculum, it is clear that the Communist Party will keep control of it. It was only in the last two years that Fudan University changed clearly its instructions on its relationship with the [Chinese] party state, now clearly declaring that its first mission is not to uphold academic integrity but to follow the leadership of the party,” Tsang said.   Hungary’s government has pursued a strategy it calls “Eastern Opening,” seeking increased cooperation and trade with countries such as China and Russia. It has taken a $2 billion loan from China’s Exim Bank to build a railway line between Budapest and Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, as part of China’s global Belt and Road initiative.   Hungary is also the only country in the European Union to have approved the Chinese-made “Sinopharm” COVID-19 vaccine.   Karacsony is among many who fear the Fudan University development could pose a threat to national security through Chinese espionage. “While the Hungarian government visibly enjoys the benefits of European Union membership — since, for example, it will receive an astronomical amount of EU support in the coming months — it is meanwhile a kind of advanced bastion of eastern great powers,” he said. FILE – Local district mayor Krisztina Baranyi walks across the site where the construction of a top Chinese university, the Fudan’s campus, is planned, in the 9th district of Budapest, Hungary, April 23, 2021.In an email to VOA, a Hungarian government spokesperson said, “According to the prestigious QS World University Ranking, Fudan is the 34th best university in the world. … The Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary and the Chinese Ministry of Education concluded an interministerial agreement finalized in February this year to support Fudan University in establishing a world-class, research-oriented, multidisciplinary university in Budapest. “From George Soros to President Obama, a lot of people have given lectures at Fudan University, and it is one of the best universities in the world that will not be engaged in ideological education but will provide economic courses,” the spokesperson said.   The EU has yet to officially respond to the university plans. Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas criticized Hungary Monday for what he called an “absolutely incomprehensible” decision to block an EU statement criticizing Beijing for the crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.   “I think everybody can work out for themselves what the reasons are, because there are good relations between China and Hungary,” Maas told reporters, following a meeting of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council. In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Budapest expressed concerns over the plans to open a branch of Fudan University in Hungary, “given Beijing’s proven track record of using academic institutions to advance a malign influence agenda and stifle intellectual freedom.”  The Fudan University branch is expected to be completed by 2024. 
 
…

Hundreds of Christians attended a mass funeral in a remote village of Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province Wednesday to mourn four people killed by militants linked to the Islamic State group.Indonesian police told VOA that five militants attacked coffee farmers during harvest Tuesday and killed four of them in Kalemago village in Poso regency.”These five people, one of whom is recognized by the witness, are in the Wanted List [for their membership] in the East Indonesian Mujahedeen,” said Didik Supranoto, a senior commissioner and spokesperson for Central Sulawesi Regional Police.The East Indonesian Mujahedeen, also known as Mujahedeen Indonesia Timur (MIT), has been active in mountainous Poso district since 2010. The United Nations, Indonesia and the United States have labeled MIT a terrorist organization.The group’s founder, Abu Wardah Santoso, pledged allegiance to IS in 2014.Indonesian forces killed Santoso during a jungle gunbattle in July 2016. Ali Kalora replaced him to keep MIT active in Poso district, an area that has been a hotbed for religious conflict for years.Residents of Kalemago village in Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province mourn for four farmers killed May 11, 2021, by East Indonesia Mujahedeen. (Yoanes Litha/VOA)While there are no official data on the number of MIT members, the group is known to operate with a small group of recruited fighters. In 2015, the U.S. State Department described the group as becoming “increasingly bold” in its explosives and shooting attacks against security forces.Last November, local media reported that MIT militants burned several houses and killed four people in an attack on a village in Sigi district.Tuesday’s assault prevented the farmers of Kalemago from attending to their coffee and coco plantations because of fear of more violence from MIT, according to the village’s secretary, Otniel Papunde.”Our hope for the government, the president, is to resolve this. If not, we will no longer be able to go out to earn a living,” Papunde told VOA, adding that the remote village, home to 735 people, has been a victim of militant violence for years.“Frankly, we feel that no one is paying attention to us,” said Papunde.
…

A 51-year-old reporter for a now-banned online and broadcast news agency in Myanmar was sentenced Wednesday by a military court to three years in prison for his reporting, his employer said.
 
Min Nyo, a correspondent for the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) is apparently the country’s first journalist since the army’s February takeover to be convicted under a recently revised provision in the Penal Code that critics charge criminalizes free speech.  
 
It makes punishable by up to three years in prison any attempt to “hinder, disturb, damage the motivation, discipline, health and conduct” of soldiers and civil servants and cause their hatred, disobedience or disloyalty toward the military and the government.
 
Three DVB journalists who fled Myanmar were arrested earlier this week in northern Thailand for illegal entry. Rights groups and journalists’ associations are urging Thai authorities not to send them back to Myanmar, where it is feared their safety would be at risk from the authorities.
 
Myanmar’s junta has tried to smother all independent news media, and on March 8 revoked DVB’s TV license and banned it from broadcasting on any platform. Like many other banned media outlets, it has continued operating.
 
About 80 journalists have been arrested since the army seized power on February 1, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Roughly half are still detained and most of them are being held under the same charge for which Min Nyo was convicted, as are many activists opposed to the military regime.
 
A statement issued by DVB said Min Nyo had been covering a March 3 anti-junta protest in the town of Pyay, 260 kilometers (160 miles) northwest of Yangon when he was arrested and severely beaten by police. It said he had been allowed to see a lawyer, but not his wife and two children.
 
Min Nyo had previously served seven years in prison under a previous military government after his arrest in 1996 for alleged ties to a militant student opposition group.
 
Min Nyo’s wife, Nyomee Moe, told The Associated Press that both then and now, he was unjustly imprisoned.
 
“It is inhumane to be beaten and arrested. He never violated journalistic ethics. That is why I want to say that there is no justice in Myanmar,” she said, adding that she is consulting with lawyers about appealing the verdict.
 
Rights group Amnesty International said Min Nyo’s case showed the ruthlessness of the junta and the risks faced by journalists exposing the junta’s abuses.
 
“Min Nyo’s conviction must be quashed, and he should be released immediately – along with all other journalists, activists and human rights defenders imprisoned and detained solely for their peaceful opposition to the military coup,” Amnesty Deputy Regional Director Emerlynne Gil said in a statement.
…

Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr in a subdued mood for a second year Thursday as the COVID-19 pandemic again forced mosque closings and family separations on the holiday marking the end of Islam’s holiest month of Ramadan.Worshippers wearing masks joined communal prayers in the streets of Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. The world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation allowed mosque prayers in low-risk areas, but mosques in areas where there was more risk of the virus spreading closed their doors, including Jakarta’s Istiqlal Grand Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia.Indonesians and Malaysians were banned for a second year from traveling to visit relatives in the traditional Eid homecoming.”I understand that we all miss our relatives at times like this, especially in the momentum of Eid,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in televised remarks. “But let’s prioritize safety together by not going back to our hometowns.”Despite the similar ban a year ago, the number of daily cases in Indonesia had picked up by 37% three weeks after the holiday. Similar patterns followed other holidays in the country that has counted 1.7 million infections and more than 47,600 fatalities from COVID-19.The Jakarta governor also ordered malls, restaurants and leisure destinations usually packed during the holiday period to shut.With no congregational prayers at mosques, no family reunions, no relatives bearing gifts and cookies for children, “Eid is not a grand event anymore,” Jakarta resident Maysa Andriana said. “The pandemic has changed everything… this is too sad!” she said.While police set up highway checkpoints and domestic flights and other modes of transportation were suspended, anxiety lingers that people will defy the prohibition. Television reports showed city dwellers hiding on disguised trucks or fishing boats and officers at roadblocks being overwhelmed by desperate motorists.Muslims pray spaced apart to help curb the spread of coronavirus outbreak during an Eid al-Fitr prayer marking the end of Ramadan at Al Akbar mosque in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, May 13, 2021.”We followed the government decision that banned us visiting my parents for Eid last year, it’s enough! Nothing can stop me now,” said factory worker Askari Anam, who used alleys and shortcuts to avoid being stopped from visiting his hometown.”Of course I’m worried,” he said when asked about possibly contracting the virus. “But I leave it to God.”Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin expressed concern of a virus spike and feared people would travel despite the ban.In the southern Philippines, coronavirus outbreaks and new fighting between government forces and Muslim insurgents in one province prevented people from holding large public prayers. Instead, most hunkered down in their homes, while in Maguindanao province, many families displaced by recent fighting marked the holiday in evacuation camps.In Malaysia, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin unexpectedly announced another nationwide lockdown from Wednesday until June 7 to curb a spike in cases. Inter-state travel and all social activities are banned, which means that like in Indonesia, Muslims cannot visit each other or family graves.Muhyiddin acknowledged that many are angry with the lockdown but defended the need for drastic measures, saying hospitals have almost reached their capacity.Malaysia reported 4,765 cases on Wednesday, pushing its tally to 453,222, nearly fourfold from the start of the year. Deaths also rose to 1,761.”Is this government tyrannical? But I am not a tyrant,” Muhyiddin said, “Imagine if you have guests over, then the virus will spread. … If the guest visits 10 homes, then 10 families will be infected with COVID-19 and in the end as soon as (Eid) ends, the number of positive cases in the country could jump to tens of thousands daily.”
…

Secretary of State Antony Blinken released the State Department’s annual international religious freedom report, singling out Iran, Myanmar, Russia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and China as some of the world’s worst violators of what Blinken termed a core human right.  VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine has the story. 
…

The United States has sanctioned a Chinese Communist Party official for involvement “in gross violations of human rights, namely the arbitrary detention of Falun Gong practitioners for their spiritual beliefs.”The sanctions against Yu Hui, former office director of the Central Leading Group on Preventing and Dealing with Heretical Religions, of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, were announced as Secretary of State Antony Blinken unveiled the State Department’s 2020 annual report on International Religious Freedom.
 
“Yu Hui and his family are now ineligible for entry into the United States,” Blinken said at a Wednesday press conference.
 
The top U.S. diplomat added that China “broadly criminalizes religious expression, and continues to commit crimes against humanity and genocide against Muslim Uyghurs and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups.”A senior U.S. official said the designation against a Chinese official for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners is unprecedented.  
 
“Today’s designation is the first time that we have named a specific official for abuses against Falun Gong practitioners,” Daniel Nadel, director of the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom, told VOA Wednesday. 
 
“The (Beijing) government shows blatant disregard for religious freedom, and exercises extreme hostility toward adherents of all faiths, including Uyghurs, Tibetan Buddhists, Protestants, Catholics and Falun Gong practitioners. It’s an issue that we are deeply concerned about,” Nadel said, citing religious freedom as a universal value.  
 
The report said China continues to deny religious freedom, particularly to Falun Gong members.It also said that according to a report on the Falun Gong by the China-based Church of Almighty God (CAG) — a group whose millions of followers believe Jesus Christ has been reincarnated as a woman from central China, and has long been banned by Beijing — “authorities arrested more than 7,000 of its members and subjected them to physical abuse, including beatings, sleep deprivation and being forced into stress positions.””CAG reported some individuals died in custody or as a result of police harassment,” said the State Department report.It added that the Chinese Communist Party continues to “harass adherents of both registered and unregistered religious groups for activities related to their religious beliefs and practices.”The report also criticizes Myanmar for its treatment of the ethnic Rohingya minority.“Rohingya remaining in Burma continued to face an environment of severe repression and restrictions on freedom of movement and access to education, health care, and livelihoods based on their ethnicity, religion and citizenship status, according to the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations,” the report said.Russia was also cited for persecution of its citizens based on religion.“Religious groups and nongovernmental organizations reported authorities continued to investigate, detain, imprison, torture and and/or physically abuse persons, or seize their property because of their religious faith, including members of groups the government classified as extremist and banned, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Tablighi Jamaat, and followers of Muslim theologian Said Nursi,” the report said.Turkey, ostensibly a secular state, was also mentioned for its treatment of religious minorities.“The government continued to restrict efforts of minority religious groups to train their clergy, and the Greek Orthodox Halki seminary remained closed,” the report said. “Religious minorities again reported difficulties opening or operating houses of worship; resolving land and property disputes and legal challenges of churches whose lands the government previously expropriated; holding governing board elections for their religious foundations; and obtaining exemptions from mandatory religion classes in schools.” 
…