U.S. President Joe Biden and the prime ministers of Japan, India, and Australia are meeting virtually Friday for a summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, where they will discuss strategies to counter China’s rising influence in the Indo-Pacific region, including an offer to match Beijing’s ambitious vaccine diplomacy.The Quad is launching a financing mechanism to ramp up production of up to a billion doses of vaccines by 2022 to address a shortage in the Indo-Pacific region, mainly in Southeast Asian countries, a Biden administration official said in a briefing call to reporters Thursday.The group has put together “complex financing vehicles” to dramatically increase vaccine production capacity the official said. A second administration official said the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation is working with companies in India and the governments of Japan and Australia to increase production of vaccines already authorized by the World Health Organization.The administration did not say whether this Quad vaccine mechanism would be separate from, or part of, COVAX, the global mechanism to distribute 2 billion doses of vaccines to 94 poorer countries by the end of the year, partly by using AstraZeneca/Oxford University-developed vaccines manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.COVAX is co-led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a public–private global health partnership funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gavi has been the dominant player in the financing and distribution of various vaccines since its founding in 2000, but it is unclear whether Gavi will be involved in the Quad vaccine mechanism.Biden has been under pressure to respond to Beijing’s vaccine diplomacy as he seeks to vaccinate all Americans first by ensuring that the U.S. vaccine stockpile is “over-supplied,” to prepare to vaccinate against new variants, and to vaccinate children. There is currently not enough data to determine which of the three vaccines authorized for emergency use in the U.S. is safe and effective for children.Chinese President Xi Jinping proclaimed in May that Chinese-made vaccines would become a “global public good”. Since then, Beijing has pledged roughly half a billion doses of its vaccine to more than 45 countries, according to a country-by-country Associated Press tally. After China’s initial failures in handling the outbreak, some see Beijing’s vaccine diplomacy as a face-saving tactic and a means to expand its influence.Countering ChinaThe Quad is not a formal military alliance but often seen as a counterweight to growing Chinese military and economic influence in Asia. The 90-minute Friday meeting would be the first leaders’ summit since the Quad’s first meeting in 2004 following the tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia.“President Biden has worked hard to bring these leaders together to make a clear statement of the importance of the Indo-Pacific region,” the administration official said. The official added that during the leaders’ meeting, there will be an “honest, open discussion about China’s role on the global stage.”Analysts say there is wide expectation that the summit will elevate the Biden administration’s agenda in the Indo-Pacific.“This is a pretty big signal that this is a high priority for the new administration,” Sheila A. Smith a senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said.Following the Quad summit, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel together to Japan and South Korea next week, followed by a solo trip by Austin to India.Without providing details on the timing, the administration also announced that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will be the first leader to visit Biden at the White House in person.The U.S. wants to return to strong U.S. alliances in the region to project strength to China, according to Bonnie Glaser, director of China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.“The Biden administration has crafted this arrangement to signal that it is engaging from a position of strength,” she said.State Department spokesperson Ned Price acknowledged Thursday that over the course of recent years these alliances “in some cases have atrophied, in some cases, they have frayed.”In November 2017, former President Donald Trump in Vietnam outlined the U.S. vision for a “free and open Indo-Pacific.”While the Trump administration’s strategy in the region focused largely on maritime security and trade, the Biden administration is seeking a more comprehensive approach, including cooperation to defeat COVID-19, combat climate change, ensure a resilient supply chain and post-pandemic economic recovery.“It’s a whole – how does the region look going forward, and how do we maintain the prosperity that has long been part of the Indo-Pacific?” Smith said.After the series of meetings with regional allies, Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan will meet their Chinese counterparts in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday.
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Britain is preparing for tens of thousands of Hong Kong citizens to apply for special visas to settle in Britain after the government launched a new plan offering fast-track citizenship to some residents of the former British colony, in response to China’s crackdown on basic freedoms.An online application process was launched last month, and Britain says it expects around 300,000 Hong Kong citizens to apply in the first five years.Among them is Finn Lau, a 27-year-old exile who is now living in London and studying part time at a university.As a student in 2014, Lau was a key player in the “umbrella” pro-democracy protests against interference from China. A new job took him to Britain in 2019, just weeks before protests reignited over Beijing’s attempt to impose an extradition bill on the territory that would allow criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China.FILE – Protesters gather with flags to mourn the loss of Hong Kong’s political freedoms, in Leicester Square, central London, Dec. 12, 2020.Lau has just submitted his application.“Some people may think that the BN(O) scheme is not a direct tool that could [be used as] leverage against the [Chinese Communist Party], because the CCP won’t be hurt by the BN(O) scheme,” Lau told VOA.“But on the other hand, some people may think that this offers a kind of lifeboat to Hong Kongers. And perhaps there is a third group of people who may think that the BN(O) scheme or lifeboats could offer people [the chance] to carry capital out of Hong Kong, which is indirectly [antagonizing] … Beijing.”While grateful, Lau and other Hong Kong exiles want Britain to do more.“We just think that maybe some more actions could be carried out by the U.K. government. For example, maybe some sort of Magnitsky-style sanctions under which the assets of some Hong Kong government officials, like Carrie Lam, could be frozen by the U.K. government.”Britain has said it is considering such sanctions. Reacting to new legislation passed Thursday by Beijing, which will effectively allow China to choose candidates in Hong Kong’s elections, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said, “This is the latest step by Beijing to hollow out the space for democratic debate in Hong Kong, contrary to the promises made by China itself.“This can only further undermine confidence and trust in China living up to its international responsibilities and legal obligations as a leading member of the international community,” Raab said, adding that Britain was assessing the legislation for a possible breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.Meanwhile, Lau and other exiles continue to fight for Hong Kong’s freedom — buoyed by Britain’s BN(O) visa. But Lau said that even on the streets of London, he does not feel safe from the long arm of China’s Communist Party.
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Thousands of Rohingya refugees live in temporary camps in India’s northwestern Jammu and Kashmir region, where they fear deportation back to Myanmar. VOA Urdu Service’s Zubair Dar visited a camp of people in Bathindi Narval who said they fled abuses and do not want to go back. Roshan Noorzai narrates the story. 
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Myanmar’s military junta has accused deposed de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi of accepting more than $500,000 in bribes, as another day of protests Thursday resulted in more deaths among the demonstrators.Naung Lin Han, Chairperson of Student Social Relief Volunteer Association, Myaing Township in Magwe Region told VOA Burmese that 8 were killed and 6 others injured when police opened fire on protesters surrounding a police station in the central town of Myaing. He said this is the first time deadly force has been used against demonstrators in Myaing.Demonstrators who demand the release of detained anti-military coup protest organizers are seen on a road in Myaing, Magway, Myanmar, March 11, 2021. (Credit: VOA Burmese Service)There were also reports of deaths in the main city of Yangon and the second-largest city of Mandalay.During a press conference in the capital, Naypyitaw, military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun accused Suu Kyi of accepting $600,000 in illegal payments plus gold bars while in office, according to a complaint filed by Phyo Min Thein, Yangon’s former chief minister.Suu Kyi is already facing four criminal charges of illegally possessing six unregistered walkie-talkie radios, operating communications equipment without a license, violating COVID-19 protocols by holding public gatherings and attempting to incite public unrest.Myanmar’s military regime is coming under growing criticism from the international community for its violent actions against anti-coup demonstrators.  Amnesty International released a report late Thursday accusing the junta of using “increasingly lethal tactics and weapons normally seen on the battlefield against peaceful protesters and bystanders across the country.”The London-based group says the security forces actions are “planned, systematic strategies including the ramped-up use of lethal force” and described many of the killings as “extrajudicial executions.”The independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says at least 60 protesters have been killed and more than 1,900 people have been arrested since the February 1 coup.People carry Chit Min Thu on a stretcher during an anti-coup protest in North Dagon, Yangon, Myanmar, March 11, 2021 in this still image obtained by Reuters.The United Nations Security Council agreed on a statement late Wednesday to condemn the military government’s use of violence against peaceful protesters, diplomats said.The council also called for the immediate release of Suu Kyi, referring to her by her formal title of state counsellor, President Win Myint and other high ranking officials of the civilian government.The agreement was the result of a rare show of unity over Myanmar among the council’s 15 members that include China.Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the Security Council “spoke with one voice to condemn the ongoing violence against peaceful protesters in Burma,” using Myanmar’s previous name. “We commend their courage and determination in the face of continued, brutal attacks by military and security forces.”Myanmar has been plagued by nonstop chaos since February 1 when the military detained Suu Kyi and Win Myint. The daily protests across the country have been coupled with a campaign of civil disobedience led by striking railway workers and other civil servants. The railway workers joined an alliance of nine trade unions in Myanmar in a general strike Monday.Military officials have claimed widespread fraud in last November’s general election, which the NLD won in a landslide, as justification for the takeover. The fraud allegations have been denied by Myanmar’s electoral commission.VOA Burmese Service contributed to this story. 
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China’s national legislature has approved a package of changes to Hong Kong’s electoral process that gives the central government in Beijing tighter control over the city’s legislature, a move critics say will further diminish the city’s pro-democracy movement.  
 
The ceremonial National People’s Congress on Thursday approved the changes by a vote of 2,895 to nothing, with just one abstention.   
 
The changes include expanding the size of Hong Kong’s electoral commission, which selects the city’s chief executive and a number of members of the Legislative Council, from 1,200 to 1,500 members, and grants more voting power to the commission’s pro-Beijing members. The plan also increases the number of seats in the Legislative Council from 70 to 90, and strips the voting rights of several lower-level district councilors, many of whom are pro-democracy supporters.  
 
The proposed reforms would ensure the Hong Kong legislature is filled strictly with “patriots,” a term used  last month by Xia Baolong, the director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council.  
 
Hong Kong was scheduled to hold elections to the Legislative Council last September, but the government postponed them for a year citing the COVID-19 pandemic. 
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A truth and justice commission — the first of its kind in Australia — will examine the impact of colonization on Aboriginal people in the state of Victoria.The commission will be modeled on a similar process established in South Africa after the collapse of apartheid, and others in New Zealand and Canada. In South Africa, a reconciliation body was set up by Nelson Mandela. It was similar to a court, where witnesses and victims could freely express their grievances and experiences during apartheid. The system of enforced racial segregation was in place in South Africa between 1948 and 1990.  Unlike other nations, Australia has never formally examined the full impact of past policies on its original inhabitants.  The Victorian state government has said now was the time for a proper examination of colonization on Aboriginal Australians. They lost their land when British settlers arrived in 1788 and have suffered injustices ever since.  During the early years of colonization, Indigenous people were massacred by Europeans, incarcerated and forcibly removed from their customary land. Today, their life expectancy is lower compared to other groups in Australia, while rates of poverty, ill-health, unemployment and imprisonment are far higher.  The commission will have broad powers and will be able to compel witnesses to give evidence. Victoria has committed to signing a treaty with its Aboriginal communities. Victoria’s deputy premier James Merlino says a truth commission is an important part in that process.  “This is long overdue. It is an acknowledgement that the pain in our past is present in the lives of people right now. It is a recognition that without truth, without justice, you cannot have a treaty. You cannot take that incredibly powerful step forward until we go through this process of truth and justice,” Merlino said.Indigenous leaders and state officials said after 233 years of violence and dispossession they are committed to telling the truth.  Aunty Geraldine Atkinson is an Aboriginal elder.  “All those truths need to be told, the truths our elders had to endure, that our ancestors endured. Genocide, massacres — a whole range of truth that needs to be told,” Atkinson said.The majority of the panel of five commissioners will be Aboriginal. Their task will be to record an accurate account of Victoria’s history of colonization and scrutinize both past and present injustices. Its report is expected next year.     Indigenous Australians make up about 3% of the population.  
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The detention of some 220 Rohingya refugees in the northern India city of Jammu, followed by a police statement that they would be deported to Myanmar, has triggered a panic among the Rohingya Muslim community who fled genocidal violence in Myanmar and took refuge in India.  Police have told Rohingya refugees living in slums in Jammu city that more Rohingyas are to be rounded up and deported. The refugees have urged the Indian government not to send them back to Myanmar where, they say, their very lives would be in danger.  “My husband has been detained although he has a UNHCR (refugee ID) card. Police said along with other Rohingya he would be deported to Myanmar. No Rohingya want to return to Myanmar now. Myanmar is still unsafe for us,” Minara Begum, a Rohingya woman living in Kiryani Talab of Jammu, said after her 28-year-old husband, Abdul Ali, was detained Saturday. “I am very worried if my husband will ever be able to return to us. He worked as a day wager and was the sole breadwinner for the family. I cannot make out how I will live alone with our two little children now.”  Minority Rohingya Muslims have for decades fled to neighboring Bangladesh and other countries, including India, largely to escape discrimination, violence and poverty. Last year it was estimated that 40,000 Rohingya refugees lived in India, scattered across different states. Around 6,500 of them live in Jammu. However, an anti-Rohingya sentiment has been surging in predominantly Hindu India after the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power in 2014. The ruling party regards the Rohingya as illegal immigrants and a security risk.  In 2017, in Jammu, local BJP leaders launched a campaign demanding all Rohingya who live in slums and eke out their living by doing menial jobs be expelled from the city.An anti-Rohingya poster in Jammu city as spotted in 2017. Several right-wing Hindu groups launched a campaign demanding the expulsion of all Rohingya refugees from the city. (VOA/Mir Imran)On Saturday, police in Jammu called some refugees saying that their biometric details would be collected. After the refugees reached the spot, they were detained. Police also arrested some other refugees from their slums in Jammu and the neighboring Samba district. The refugees are being held in a nearby detention center. Mukesh Singh, the local inspector general of police, said that after the nationality of the detained Rohingyas is ascertained, they would be deported to Myanmar. Fearing arrest, hundreds of Rohingya refugees planned to flee Jammu looking for safety. However, witnesses say police surrounded their camps and did not let them move out. “Three of my relatives have been detained. Police said that UNHCR card cannot save any Rohingya from deportation and that eventually Jammu will be free from all Rohingya. I fear my family will be arrested soon. It will be terrible if we are arrested and then pushed back to Myanmar,” Azizur Rahman, a Rohingya refugee, who lives in a Jammu slum with his three children and wife, said to VOA. “Like many other Rohingya families in Jammu we planned to set out for Delhi from where we decided to go to Bangladesh. But police stopped us. We are not being allowed to leave our camp.” Mohammad Sirajul, a Rohingya youth community leader living in a refugee camp in Delhi, said that the ongoing crackdown on the Rohingya refugees in India is unfair from a humanitarian point of view. “Since all Rohingya are stateless in Myanmar none from our community can have a Burmese passport. Police in India are asking for our passport and Indian visa. How shall we produce passport and visa when we are stateless?” asked Sirajul. “We fled Myanmar to escape a genocidal campaign against our community there. The entire world identifies us as the ‘most persecuted minority in the world’. But we are being hounded in India.”Some Rohingya children and an old woman outside a Rohingya refugee camp at a village in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.(VOA/Shaikh Azizur Rahman)Rights groups say conditions in Myanmar are still not conducive for the ethnic Rohingyas and they have called on the Indian government to halt plans to deport the refugees. Any plan to forcibly return Rohingya to Myanmar would put them back in the grip of the oppressive military junta that they fled, said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch. “Myanmar’s long-abusive military is even more lawless now that it is back in power. The Indian government should uphold its international law obligations and protect those in need of refuge within its borders. The increasingly brutal repression by Myanmar military, following the coup, puts any Rohingya returnees at serious risk of abuse,” Ganguly said. “Instead of putting more lives in harm’s way, India should join other governments in pressing the military junta to restore democratic rule.”        Hong Kong-based rights activist Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman said Rohingyas are being hounded in India because they are Muslim. “India has hosted non-Muslim refugees from many neighboring countries for decades, providing safety to them. Even refugees from the majority Buddhist community in Myanmar are living peacefully in India. But in an aggressively proactive move, India is preparing to deport the Rohingya Muslim refugees who survived genocide and lost their ancestral homes and assets in Myanmar,” Ashrafuzzaman, liaison officer of Asian Legal Resource Centre told VOA. “The actions by the Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government clearly indicate that their policies are discriminatory against Muslims.” 
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Taiwan’s classic beef noodle soup has taken on a sweet and sour twist.  Taipei chef Hung Ching Lung created a pineapple beef noodle soup at his eponymous restaurant Chef Hung, in what he says is a modest attempt to support Taiwanese pineapple farmers.  The spiky fruit became a politically charged symbol after China banned the import of Taiwan’s pineapples on March 1, citing pests. In response, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen kicked off a social media challenge called “Eat Taiwan’s pineapples until you burst,” calling on people to support the island’s farmers. The campaign has kicked off a pineapple media frenzy, as Taiwanese politicians sought to demonstrate their support for farmers as well as Taiwanese agriculture. Politicians from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the opposition Nationalist Party flocked to farms to post pictures with pineapples.  Restauranteurs like Hung rushed to make pineapple-infused dishes. Pineapple shrimp balls, a betel nut pineapple salad and classics like fried rice with pineapple are just some of the dishes being pushed out by restaurants and hotels on the island.  Hung said he and his team spent three days testing ways to incorporate pineapple into beef noodles. It took about 10 attempts.Chef Hung cooks pineapple beef noodle at his restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan, March 10, 2021.”The first time we tested it when we cooked it in the soup, it was very sweet, it was inedible and tasted completely of pineapple,” he said. The successful attempt was based on separating the juice from the fruit during cooking, which removed the sweetness that would otherwise overpower the beef flavor.  China denies its move to ban Taiwanese pineapples was politically motivated, with a spokesperson for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office saying that the decision was a “normal biosafety measure, and entirely reasonable and necessary.” Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called the move one that “flies in the face of rules-based, free and fair trade.” China has most recently leveraged its immense market in a trade war with Australia. It stopped or reduced imports of beef, coal, barley, seafood, sugar and timber from Australia after that country supported calls for a probe into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic, which is believed to have begun in China in late 2019. Despite the hubbub, the pineapple ban may not drastically impact Taiwanese farmers.  A day after the ban was enacted, Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang told local media that the amount purchased by domestic businesses and citizens exceeded the amount that would have been sold to China. The government also promised subsidies worth 1 billion New Taiwan dollars ($35 million) to help out farmers.  The government said it has also received orders from Japan, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam and Middle Eastern countries. Annually, Taiwan produces about 420,000 metric tons of pineapples, 90% of which are sold on the island itself, according to the Council of Agriculture. Some 10% of that annual production is sold abroad, and China makes up the vast majority of those purchases.  It is unclear whether the recent surge in domestic orders and orders from foreign countries will make up for China’s ban in the long run. But in the short term, it has drawn patriotic feelings out of some local residents.  “We are all trying to find a way to help the farmers,” said Alice Tsai, who stopped in Hung’s restaurant on Wednesday to try noodles that she said were surprisingly tasty.  “The other day I went to the supermarket and found that all the pineapples were sold out, and I felt very touched,” she said. “Everyone has this feeling of solidarity.” 
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VOA’s White House bureau chief, Steve Herman, a decade ago this week, quickly made his way from Seoul to catch the last commercial flight into Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, to cover a catastrophe that was becoming more serious by the hour. A magnitude-9.0 earthquake triggered a tsunami that destroyed a nuclear power plant, unleashing a radioactive crisis.
 
The scope of one half of the disaster was apparent and appalling: Entire communities washed out to sea in a tsunami triggered by a huge earthquake.
 
The other half of the tragedy was invisible and potentially more calamitous: Nuclear radiation escaping from reactors of a crippled power plant swamped by a pair of towering waves.
 
Reporting the first part of the story was relatively easy. Thousands certainly dead and a half-million survivors on the move.
 
Accurately reporting the atomic angle was the bigger challenge. Journalists and their news outlets, Japanese and international, had an obligation to get the facts straight. Underplaying the radioactive threat could imperil lives in Japan and possibly abroad. Sensationalism, based on unconfirmed information, could trigger panic, something that would not only be irresponsible but undermine trust in the media.FILE – An aerial view of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is seen in Fukushima Prefecture, in this photo taken by Air Photo Service March 24, 2011.Trying to achieve that balance meant I did not report what would have been the biggest “scoop” of my career — that one or more reactors of the Fukushima-1 Nuclear Power Plant had melted down.
 
I got the tip in a phone call, shortly after arriving in Fukushima, from the retired executive of a Japanese utility in another part of the country that also operated nuclear plants.
 Dire scenario
 
“The core of at least one of the reactors at Fukushima is melting down,” he bluntly said without my prodding for an assessment. There was concern in his voice and hints of a coverup.
 
At that point, Japanese media relying on the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operated the two Fukushima nuclear plants, and the Japanese government, were not reporting such a dire scenario.FILE – A sign points to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. (Steve Herman/VOA)I rang a Japanese politician plugged in to the top echelon of the governing party. Certainly he would have been informed if there were indications of a meltdown. He had not, however, been told such details and seemed skeptical there was a core reactor meltdown. I had long known this lawmaker, who later was to hold cabinet positions, and trusted he was not trying to steer me in the wrong direction.
 
Without a second source to confirm the sensational information, I did not report it. A day later, it would be evident that my primary source was probably correct when the chief cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano, admitted that a partial meltdown in Unit 3 was “highly possible.” The actual situation, as we would later realize, was worse.
 
During the initial days of the disaster, details of what had really happened to the nuclear plant were sparse. The readings from local radiation monitoring stations were worrying. These were not generally being reported by the national media and correspondents stationed in Tokyo were not able to see them.FILE – Security guards are seen at one of exterior doors leading to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. (Steve Herman/VOA)However, the information was being scrolled across the screens of the Fukushima-area TV channels. My Japanese fluency was good enough that I could read the names of the towns, allowing me to instantly and accurately tweet to the world the radiation footprint.
 
While the readings were not of a level to spark immediate, serious health concerns, they did show radiation was drifting from the plant in measurable quantities to the northwest.
 
A week after the tsunami hit the power plant, milk and water from the Fukushima area were found to have excessively high levels of radioactive iodine. Tap water in Tokyo, 225 kilometers from Fukushima, also carried elevated levels of radiation.
 Expressed concern
 
Colleagues and family members expressed concern and even alarm that I decided to remain in what they regarded as an unsafe perimeter amid the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. I replied I was being prudent, but not reckless.FILE – VOA’s Steve Herman records video on the perimeter of the 20km radiation exclusion zone in Fukushima prefecture, Kawauchi, Japan.My experience with nuclear-related issues went back to the late 1970s when as a local radio news reporter in Las Vegas, I regularly covered activities at the Nevada Test Site, where underground nuclear bombs were set off by the government. I had also been in the courtroom for a highly technical federal trial stemming from the accidental release of radiation into the atmosphere from the U.S. government’s 1970 Baneberry nuclear test.
 
This background gave me a basic education in nuclear physics and radiation. All radioactive isotopes are not alike, I knew. Plutonium, even in the most minute quantity, if inhaled, is deadly. However, it is very heavy and once it falls to the ground is likely to stay in that spot.
 
The noble gases, by contrast, take flight and can be detected far away. Of particular health concern was Iodine-131. I almost certainly had some exposure and consulted a physician friend in California.A picture taken on March 1, 2021, shows the main street of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture. The town was part of an exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant since the 2011 accident but has since partially reopened.“Don’t worry. You’ll be dead of something else in old age before you’ll get thyroid cancer from this,” he said, trying to be reassuring.
 
This all played into my calculations for deciding whether to enter the 20-kilometer radiation exclusion zone a month after the March 11 tsunami.
 On the ground
 
John Glionna of the Los Angeles Times and I teamed up to become the first American reporters to reach the grounds of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plants.
 
Police, who were at that time legally powerless to bar us entry to the exclusion zone, instructed us not to open our vehicle windows and to report to a radiation screening center in the town of Tamura afterwards, where we should wash our vehicle.
 
As we moved toward “ground zero,” we passed kilometers of fields from which farmers had fled. For most of the 20-kilometer journey, we spotted only police, military and other official vehicles. Even those we could count on one hand.FILE – VOA’s Steve Herman reporting from Namie, near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011.Not a single person was seen outside in the villages of Futaba and Okuma, which until a month prior had a combined population of about 18,500. The doors of some businesses remained open through which people hastily fled when the ground shook with unprecedented fury.
 
Some roads could not be traversed by car — pavement in places split by the quake. A railroad overpass lay crumpled next to one road. Power poles leaned at sharp angles.
 
After a drive up the slope to the main gate of Fukushima Daiichi, we were warily greeted by two guards outfitted in hazmat suits, helmets and dual-intake respirator masks.
 
Our attempts to ask questions were rebuffed. The only return communication was the hand signal to make a U-turn. The license plate of our vehicle was noted. It was manifestly clear we could not proceed farther and were not encouraged to loiter.
 
In the parking lot, I spotted a panel with one of those messages typically seen at industrial or construction sites. It was a billboard erected by the “TEPCO Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant Safety Committee.”
 
The message, obviously unchanged since the catastrophe, made what could only be read in retrospect as an extremely ironic proclamation: “This month’s safety slogan: Be sure to check everything and do a risk assessment. Zero disasters for this year.” 
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A small village in Indonesia is sending less and less of their household waste to landfills. VOA’s Rendy Wicaksana reports on how they’re making environmental waves.Camera: Rendy Wicaksana  
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Myanmar security forces raided a Yangon neighborhood Wednesday where striking railway workers have been demonstrating as the protests against the country’s military regime entered its 36th consecutive day.   The striking workers have led a campaign of civil disobedience with other civil servants against the junta, which took power on February 1 after overthrowing the civilian government and detaining de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other high-ranking officials.  The railway workers joined an alliance of nine trade unions in Myanmar in a general strike Monday to back the anti-coup movement and pressure the junta. Military officials have claimed widespread fraud in last November’s general election, which the NLD won in a landslide, as justification for the takeover.  The allegations of fraud have been denied by Myanmar’s electoral commission.   More victims The anti-coup demonstrations have been staged across Myanmar despite the increasingly violent actions by security forces.  The independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says at least 60 protesters have been killed and more than 1,900 people have been arrested since the coup.Anti-coup protesters use fire extinguishers to reduce the impact of teargas fired by riot policemen in Yangon, Myanmar, March 9, 2021.Among the dead are two members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, Zaw Myat Lin and Khin Maung Latt, both of whom died while in police custody.  Zaw Myat Lin died Tuesday after being arrested while trying to escape from a police raid in Yangon, according to reports from the Voice of Myanmar and other news outlets. Ba Myo Thein, a member of the upper house of parliament, which has been dissolved by the junta, said Zaw Myat Lin had been “participating continuously in the protests.” Zaw Myat Lin’s family was told to recover his body Tuesday but was not informed how he died, according to his friend and fellow activist Maung Saungkha. The first NLD official to die in custody was Khin Maung Latt, who had worked as a campaign manager for an NLD lawmaker, party lawmaker Sithu Maung confirmed to VOA’s Burmese service. He died after his arrest on Saturday night. People flash three-finger salutes as they attend a funeral of U Khin Maung Latt, 58, a National League for Democracy (NLD)’s ward chairman, in Yangon, Myanmar, March 7, 2021. Tun Kyi, spokesperson of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), told VOA Burmese that he accompanied the bereaved family to claim Khin Maung Latt’s body on Sunday and witnessed blood on his head, his fingers blackened and wounds on his back.   
 
Human Rights Watch said Khin Maung Latt’s injuries were consistent with torture. The deaths of the two NLD officials while in custody raise questions about whether the government is torturing and murdering detained protesters. 
 
The police and military have not responded to media requests for comment on the deaths. Bloody crackdownDuring the protests in Yangon, a standoff between coup protesters and security forces in Myanmar’s largest city ended without further bloodshed. 
 
Witnesses in Yangon said as many as 200 young people were cornered in the Sanchaung neighborhood Monday night as they escaped the clutches of security forces that have carried out an increasingly bloody crackdown against the demonstrations. A resident looks at a burning barricade, erected by protesters then set on fire by soldiers, during a crackdown on demonstrations against the military coup in Insein township in Yangon on March 10, 2021. (Photo by STR / AFP)The army fired guns and stun grenades as the students fled into buildings and homes in the district and threatened to launch a door-to-door search for the youths.   
 
News of the youths spread quickly on social media, prompting thousands of people to fill the streets of Yangon in defiance of a nighttime curfew to demand that security forces end the siege, chanting “Free the students in Sanchaung.” 
 
The students were able to leave shortly before dawn just hours after security forces left the area, but not before anywhere between 25 and 50 people had been arrested in Sanchaung after a house-to-house search. VOA Burmese Service contributed to this report. 
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North Korea will receive nearly two-million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine through the World Health Organization’s COVAX program. Despite the country’s limited resources, some medical professionals are confident that the North’s doctors can successfully carry-out a vaccination campaign. But, human rights advocates say Pyongyang’s yearlong border closure has caused a humanitarian disaster. The COVAX Facility, a multinational program that delivers coronavirus vaccines to middle- and low-income countries, says it will supply North Korea with one point seven million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.  Kee Park, director of the Korean American Medical Association’s North Korea program, says doctors there have a lot of experience carrying out nationwide vaccination campaigns.  Park explains that AstraZeneca’s version is a good option, because it only needs to be stored at two to eight degrees Celsius, standard refrigeration temperatures that the North has in its medical infrastructure.  Park spoke with VOA News over the phone from Utah.   “They should be able to distribute AstraZeneca vaccine nationwide, and then maintain the cold chain that’s required to protect the vaccine from what we call denaturing or just inactivated. So they have the cold chain. So they have the technical know how and the capacity to distribute at least the AstraZeneca vaccine in a nationwide vaccination campaign,” Park said.Park, a neurosurgeon, says he has worked side by side with North Korean doctors on more than 20 trips to the country.  He says despite the North’s limited resources, medical professionals do the best they can with what they have available.   But Park says international sanctions against Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons program create setbacks for the country’s hospitals.  Even though medical supplies are technically exempt from import bans, Park explains that many aid groups still go through the process of vetting shipments. And, he says, that slows down public health campaigns.  “These UN agencies just they don’t take any chances. They don’t want to run afoul of any problems. And they get the exemptions to be fair. But, it creates additional layer of administrative hurdles, work that they get that it has to be put in to get these things delivered,” Park continued.Pyongyang credits its strict border closure with keeping out the coronavirus. North Korea says it has no COVID-19 infections – a claim that most outside observers do not believe.A staff member, left, of the Pongnam Noodle House checks the body temperature of a woman coming into its restaurant in Pyongyang, North Korea, Feb. 5, 2021.Sokeel Park, who heads the Seoul office of the human rights group Liberty in North Korea, says that during the pandemic, the regime has also enforced new limitations on domestic travel in the name of public health.    “Maybe actually, they’ve been able to control the pandemic itself with this level of draconian measures, both contact with the outside world and movement inside the country,” Sokeel said. Sokeel says he is worried Pyongyang will not lift these restrictions even after the pandemic is over.  The border closure has also prevented international aid workers from entering the country and has nearly halted trade with China. Park says this hurts the poorest North Koreans the most.    “This is creating a massive shortage in all sorts of goods, including basic necessities, we hear from some contacts inside the country that things like soap and toothpaste, and even foodstuffs are in shortage. And so we’re very worried about hunger. From what we hear, the last year has been a disaster,” Sokeel explained. Sokeel adds that without international monitors inside North Korea, he is concerned the COVID-19 vaccine will not be distributed fairly.   
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Vietnam has placed military hardware over the past two years on islets that it controls in what some experts on the region say is an intention to deter any attacks from China, the dominant nation in disputes over the waterway.  The government in Hanoi, one of six claimants to all or parts of the resource-endowed South China Sea, has bulked up bunkers, coastal defenses and communications, according to a report by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative under the Washington D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.  “I think Vietnam wants to make sure it has some kind of second-strike capability, so make sure that it’s got at least some missile platforms on the islands that can range China’s bases,” initiative director Gregory Poling said.   Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam claim all or parts of the sea that stretches from Hong Kong to the island of Borneo. The 3.5 million-square-kilometer waterway is prized for fisheries, shipping lanes and undersea fossil fuel reserves. Each nation holds features in the Spratly Island archipelago where the Vietnamese installations have been built.   China claims 90% of the sea based, it says, on historical usage records. The Beijing government, backed by the world’s third strongest armed forces, took a lead in the dispute about a decade ago by landfilling tiny islets and placing military equipment on some. Chinese naval drills and passage of vessels through the claims of other countries have prompted the United States to send warships. Vietnam would take a No. 2 spot in defense of its islets after China following the latest fortifications. It has reclaimed about 1/20th of some 1,200 hectares of reclaimed land that China used in bulking up islets under its control. Vietnam does not expect to win any conflict with China, nor is it considered likely to attack anyone else. It wants China to know that it could defend itself if attacked first, analysts in the region believe.  “It’s signaling to China that there’s a cost if you attack, (that) it’s not so easy as it was yesterday when the henhouse was unguarded, now we’ve got an ability to defend it a bit,” said Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia. The two sides that have weathered centuries of border disputes, clashed at sea in 1974 and 1988, killing people both times. A boat ramming incident in 2014 sparked by placement of a Chinese oil rig in disputed waters led to deadly anti-China rioting in Vietnam.   Vietnam-held West Reef in the Spratly archipelago has seen “significant new construction,” the initiative website says. The website that cites satellite photos notes several coastal defense installations, administrative buildings, concrete pads and bunkers plus a tower structure that may be used for communications.  Another feature, Sin Cowe Island, received its own “significant upgrades” over the past two years, the website says. It points to construction of defensive installations along the coast and says the work began in 2019.FILE – An aerial view of Southwest Cay, also known as Pugad Island, controlled by Vietnam and part of the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea, April 21, 2017.All 10 Vietnam-controlled islets have some kind of military facility, Poling said. Newer installations improve coastal artillery to stop any amphibious landing by China, he said, and Vietnam hopes also to stop China from interfering with resupplies to Vietnamese-held islets as it has done with features claimed by the Philippines.  Vietnam’s other Spratly features support radars as well, and the country hopes its missile platforms there could “range China’s bases” if needed, Poling said.  “The Vietnamese government is worried about artificial reclamation by the Chinese government, so they also want to do something to beef up the defense capability at these islands,” said Nguyen Thanh Trung, Center for International Studies director at University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnamese officials have not commented publicly on the new island hardware and the nation’s mass media say little about the subject, Nguyen said. Hanoi wants to maintain a low-profile and emphasize self-defense, he added. If it builds up the islets to the levels that China has done, he said, other Southeast Asian claimants would reduce their support for Vietnam.  In China, the state-controlled Huanqiu.com news website said March 1 in response to the initiative’s findings that China’s “sovereignty” over the sea was “undisputed.”   “The Chinese side urges any nearby country with an existing dispute to use friendly bilateral dialogue in search of a solution,” the report says, citing the foreign ministry in Beijing. 
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U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan, India and Australia will meet virtually later this week for the first summit of the “Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.” The group of countries, also known as “the Quad,” will likely discuss China’s vaccine diplomacy and other regional issues. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this story.
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China’s top legislative body has formally announced plans to change Hong Kong’s electoral system to ensure that only “patriots” will govern the island. No other details of the plans have been made public.  Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi last week said the move is “necessary for a brighter future” in the city, while Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the city’s postponed legislative elections could be delayed even further due to the electoral changes. The proposed changes are expected to grant more voting power to pro-Beijing members of the 1,200-member electoral commission that selects Hong Kong’s chief executive. The changes would strip the voting rights of several lower-level district councilors, many of whom are pro-democracy supporters. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks during a news conference over planned changes to the electoral system, in Hong Kong, China, March 8, 2021.The changes would ensure the Hong Kong legislature is filled strictly with “patriots,” FILE – Protesters against the new national security law gesture with five fingers, signifying the “Five demands – not one less” on the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China from Britain in Hong Kong, July 1, 2020.Article 31 sets up Hong Kong as a special administrative region and makes it clear that the Basic Law holds sway in the territory. “This is tyranny of the majority. Dissidents will have no avenues to voice their opinions,” he continued, “I believe this will only provoke a backlash, letting anyone with a different opinion with Beijing to gather together and form a political power, which might impact the island’s long-term stability.”   Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai, told VOA that since the passing of the National Security Law, Hong Kong has been under “One Country, One System.” “The current Chinese authorities believe that no matter (if) it’s ‘One Country, Two Systems’ or ‘One Country, One System,’ the essence is CCP (Chinese Communist Party) leadership,” he said. “Only by following the CCP can one be called a patriot. So, love your country equals to love the party equals to obey the orders by the party.”   Thousands of Hong Kongers have left the island since Beijing imposed the National Security Law last July.Thousands Flee Hong Kong for UK, Fearing China Crackdown The moves are expected to accelerate now that 5 million Hong Kongers are eligible to apply for visas to Britain, allowing them to live, work and study there and eventually apply to become British citizensNewly released figures from Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency show that 10,813 Hong Kongers were granted residency permits in 2020, almost double the previous year’s total.Australia, Canada and the United States have opened new immigration routes for Hong Kong residents. Britain, the island’s former colonial overlord, has invited holders of British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) passports to apply for a new type of visa that establishes a path to citizenship.  Official estimates say that within five years, as many as 1 million Hong Kongers will leave, according to The Guardian newspaper. “Hong Kong is now the same as China,” Shen said. “But I hope once day, people at both places can enjoy freedom.”  VOA’s Lin Yang contributed to this report.
 
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The nightly internet shutdowns in Myanmar are part of a strategy employed by many governments worldwide in times of crisis. But they come with costs. VOA’s Michelle Quinn reports.   
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A Malaysian court on Tuesday agreed to let rights groups challenge the government’s plans to send detained Myanmar nationals home, where the United Nations says at least 50 people have been shot and killed in recent protests against a military coup.Malaysia sent 1,086 Myanmar nationals home on February 23, hours after the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered a stay on deporting a group of 1,200.Rights groups Amnesty International and Asylum Access asked for the stay the day before, concerned that refugees and asylum-seekers may be among the group and that sending them back would put their lives at risk.Tuesday’s new ruling by the High Court grants an indefinite reprieve for the 114 Myanmar nationals among the original 1,200 who have yet to be deported.Brian Yap, a research consultant for Amnesty International Malaysia, said Tuesday’s decision means the 114 will stay in Malaysia at least until a judicial review of the government’s deportation plans runs its course.“In other words the government cannot deport these Myanmar nationals until the KL High Court has decided on this judicial review, which can take a few months or more,” he said. “There’s no exact date.”Malaysia Rights Groups Demand Explanation for Deportation of Myanmar Migrants More than 1,000 Myanmar nationals sent back home hours after high court ordered a stay pending appeal by human rights groups  The rights groups are not sure who the 114 people are, or even whether that’s the right number, as the Malaysian government has not granted the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees access to its immigration depots since August 2019. But they believe at least six refugees registered with the U.N. and dozens more asylum-seekers may be among them, based on names they’ve been provided by the Myanmar community in Malaysia.Yap said the rights groups will be asking for the full name and age of each of the 1,200, along with details on exactly why each of them was detained and where the 114 still in Malaysia are being held.Malaysia’s Ministry of Home Affairs referred questions about the case to an assistant director in the immigration department who could not be reached. An email to the department requesting comment went unanswered.Asylum Access Malaysia Director Tham Hui Ying welcomed the court decision and said it could also prove a watershed for the country, which does not officially recognize refugees but lumps them together with illegal immigrants.“What’s really important for us was that … the judge acknowledged that this was a matter of public interest and that this is not a frivolous case and that NGOs have standing in situations such as this to … challenge the actions of the government,” she said.“This decision allows us to challenge other potential deportations or attempts by the government to deport people,” she added.Tham said rights groups believe Malaysia is holding at least 3,000 more Myanmar nationals across the country and worry there may also be refugees and asylum-seekers among them at risk of being deported to a country in the grips of a bloody military takeover.Myanmar’s military toppled the country’s democratically elected government on February 1 after rounding up the top ranks of the ruling National League for Democracy, including de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The military claims, without evidence, that a 2020 general election the NLD won was riddled with fraud.Since the putsch, hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets and gone on strike across Myanmar to demand that the military restore the country’s elected government. Police and soldiers have met the protests with tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds. A local rights group says authorities have also arrested hundreds of additional protesters, activists and journalists both during the day and on nightly home raids.Yap said Malaysia should take humanitarian and other conditions into account when deciding who to deport and hoped that Tuesday’s court decision will nudge the government to do so.“This decision, it doesn’t mean that the government cannot deport anyone at all,” said Yap.“It simply means that if there are grounds that this person cannot be deported then the government should not deport, and I think that’s really the whole basis of this challenge. It’s not a blanket challenge against all government authority to deport people,” he added. “But there are very specific circumstances where you shouldn’t deport.”A spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Malaysia said the agency also welcomed Tuesday’s court ruling and was still urging the government to let it meet with detainees.“We remain concerned that there may be refugees and individuals in need of international protection among those detained and facing possible deportation, and are currently seeking clarification from Malaysian authorities on the matter,” said Yante Ismail.“As a matter of urgency we have asked the authorities that all individuals in need of international protection should not be deported to a situation where their lives or freedoms may be at risk.”While Malaysia does not officially recognize refugees, it has typically allowed the U.N. to issue them cards meant to grant them some protection from being arbitrarily deported.Of the nearly 179,000 refugees the UNHCR had registered in Malaysia as of December, 154,000 were from Myanmar.
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A second official from ousted Myanmar de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy has died in custody as protests in defiance of the country’s new military government continue.Zaw Myat Lin died Tuesday after being arrested when trying to escape from a police raid in Yangon, according to reports from the Voice of Myanmar and other news outlets.A member of the upper house of parliament, which has been dissolved by the junta, Ba Myo Thein, said Zaw Myat Lin had been “participating continuously in the protests.”Zaw Myat Lin’s family was told to recover his body Tuesday but was not informed how he died, according to his friend and fellow activist Maung Saungkha.The first NLD official to die in custody was Khin Maung Latt, who had worked as a campaign manager for an NLD lawmaker, party lawmaker Sithu Maung confirmed to VOA’s Burmese service. He died after his arrest on Saturday night.Anti-coup protesters with makeshift shields walk to take positions in Mandalay, Myanmar, March 9, 2021.Tun Kyi, spokesperson of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), told VOA Burmese that he accompanied the bereaved family to claim Khin Maung Latt’s body on Sunday and witnessed blood on his head, his fingers blackened and wounds on his back.Human Rights Watch said Khin Maung Latt’s injuries were consistent with torture. The deaths of the two NLD officials while in custody raises questions about whether the government is torturing and murdering detained protesters.The police and military have not responded to media requests for comment on the deaths.During the protests in Yangon, a standoff between coup protesters and security forces in Myanmar’s largest city ended without further bloodshed.Witnesses in Yangon said as many as 200 young people were cornered in the Sanchaung neighborhood Monday night as they escaped the clutches of security forces that have carried out an increasingly bloody crackdown against the demonstrations.The army fired guns and stun grenades as the students fled into buildings and homes in the district and threatened to launch a door-to-door search for the youths.News of the youths spread quickly on social media, prompting thousands of people to fill the streets of Yangon in defiance of a nighttime curfew to demand that security forces end the siege, chanting “Free the students in Sanchaung.”The news also spread quickly outside of Myanmar’s borders, with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “maximum restraint” and “the safe release of all without violence or arrests,” according to his spokesman.People carry an injured resident, who was shot with rubber bullets, as security force destroyed barricades erected by protesters against the military coup, in Yangon on March 9, 2021.The United Nations noted that many of those trapped were women who were peacefully marching in commemoration of International Women’s Day.The U.S. Embassy said in a statement, “We call on those security forces to withdraw and allow people to go home safely.”The students were able to leave shortly before dawn just hours after security forces left the area, but not before anywhere between 25 and 50 people had been arrested in Sanchaung after a house-to-house searchThe standoff happened as the junta revoked the licenses of five independent broadcasters – Mizzima News, the Democratic Voice of Burma, Khit Thit, Myanmar Now and 7Day News – that had been offering extensive coverage of the protests, especially through livestreaming video.Two journalists with independent Kamayut Media were arrested in Yangon as the military raided the offices of Mizzima News, witnesses said. Live video on social media also showed a nighttime raid on the offices of the Democratic Voice of BurmaIn addition to breaking up multiple protests in Yangon, police also fired stun grenades and tear gas at demonstrators in other towns across Myanmar.Myanmar has been consumed by chaos and violence since February 1, when the military overthrew the civilian government and detained de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other high-ranking NLD officials. Military officials say widespread fraud occurred in last November’s election, which the NLD won in a landslide, a claim denied by Myanmar’s electoral commission.At least 50 people have been killed across Myanmar since the protests began, including at least two demonstrators Monday in the city of Myitkyina, the capital of northern Kachin State.VOA Burmese Service contributed to this report.
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It has been more than five weeks since Myanmar’s military took full control of the Southeast Asia nation, removing the democratically elected government, in a move that has sparked nationwide anti-coup protests.Tens of thousands of citizens have taken to the streets in demonstrations that have included widespread strikes from the professional class aiming to stifle the rule of the junta government, officially the State Administrative Council (SAC).But despite street rallies that have become a daily occurrence, the military has ramped up efforts to silence demonstrators by aggressively responding with live ammunition to quell protests. Dozens have died, including members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of ousted de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.Anti-coup demonstrators sprays fire extinguishers over a barricade during a protests in Yangon, Myanmar, March 9, 2021.“Myanmar’s junta runs the security forces and can quickly find out who killed Khin Maung Latt if they want to. If they want to show they believe in the rule of law, all those responsible should be held account,” Brian Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch said.In response to the coup last month, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) was formed, representing the elected lawmakers of the ousted NLD party. After refusing to recognize the military, they have since notified diplomats and international parliaments they should liaise with the committee on government matters.  Arkar Myo Htet admitted as the brutal crackdown continues in Myanmar, like many other NLD members, he could be next.“I stay hiding already. I have to move every three days. Over 100 NLD MP’s are already in jail,” he said.But despite the risk he faces, he believes the people of Myanmar are not afraid to protest the military, unlike previous revolutions.“When they threat in 1988 and 2007, the people did not have, did not feel the freedom. After five years of NLD government, people feel what the meaning is of democracy, why we need democracy,” he added.But the military has stepped up their efforts to detain opposition members, legislator Sithu Maung added, saying that on Sunday evening his father had also been arrested.”My father Peter (from) Hlaing Township, NLD party member has been arrested by soldiers and police,” part of his post on Facebook read.He now waits anxiously on the fate of his father, just like many families who have had loved ones detained with little update on their condition. The AAPPB reported that 1,857 have been detained with 1,538 still in detention or have faced charges since the coup began.Protesters in Myanmar Demand Security Forces Release Trapped YouthsUN and US urge restraint against youths barricaded inside residential apartmentsMyanmar, also known as Burma, was ruled by armed forces from 1962 until 2011 when democratic reforms led by Aung San Suu Kyi ended the military rule. In 2015, her NLD party won the country’s first open democratic election.In the general elections in November 2020, the military-backed opposition lost heavily to Suu Kyi’s democracy party. The opposition contested the results, claiming there was widespread electoral fraud.On February 1, the Myanmar military, also known as Tatmadaw, removed the NLD government.NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained and additionally charged. The military announced a one-year-long state of emergency with commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing taking power. He later announced a “free and fair general election” would be held.Zin Thu Aung contributed to this report.
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As a recent college graduate, Lee Geon-hyung found himself in the same situation facing countless other young South Koreans.  “There was only part-time work in this job market. And the job that I had at the time just didn’t provide enough income,” says Lee.  Despite having a business degree, Lee worked as an office assistant at a semiconductor manufacturer. The company had just cut his pay, leaving him struggling to afford basic expenses in Suwon, a city on the southern outskirts of Seoul.  “At a certain age, no one wants to ask your parents for help,” Lee says.  His story is common. A stunning 27% of South Koreans aged 15-29 are either unemployed or under-employed, according to government data.  But on Lee’s 24th birthday, things got a little easier. That’s when he became eligible to receive a quarterly check from the government for about $220.  It’s part of a bold economic project in South Korea’s most populous province, which is finding more and more ways to give cash to its residents.  Besides giving regular checks to 24-year-olds, Gyeonggi Province has also sent cash to all its residents during the coronavirus pandemic — on top of the stimulus payments the central government has given South Koreans.  Those kinds of direct cash payments are becoming more popular globally, especially during the pandemic, as governments try to stimulate their economies and assist those unable to work.  The trend is encouraging to supporters of universal basic income, or UBI, who say all citizens should receive a regular amount of money from the government.  FILE – Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung speaks during an interview with Reuters in Suwon, South Korea, Dec. 16, 2020.For decades, UBI was dismissed as a fringe economic idea — “just a theory in the textbooks,” according to Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, the driving force behind his province’s UBI project.  “But I think this belief is now gaining momentum,” he told VOA in a recent interview.  UBI explained Lee is a longtime proponent of UBI. He frequently mentions the “fourth industrial revolution,” which refers to how automation and other technologies are reshaping the way humans manufacture products and interact with each other.  No longer is it necessary to visit a bank, shopping mall, movie theater, or restaurant. For many, even physically going to a workplace is a thing of the past. FILE – A part of park is taped off with a sign which reads “Access restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19” for the social distancing measures and a precaution against the coronavirus at a park in Seoul, Dec. 23, 2020.The pandemic has dramatically accelerated that dynamic, with social distancing measures ensuring as many tasks as possible are conducted digitally, without human interaction. In South Korea, one of the world’s most technologically advanced societies, it’s referred to as the “untact” environment.  “Since the pandemic began, we’ve seen the digital untact environment that was created, and how you don’t need as much human labor to produce things anymore,” says Governor Lee. “Without UBI, I believe many feel the very capitalist system itself is in crisis.”  To help prevent what they predict is a coming jobs apocalypse, UBI supporters say governments should provide a living wage to all citizens, regardless of their income level or job status. Not only would it protect jobs and reduce poverty, they argue, it would also stimulate the economy.  A surprisingly wide range of figures have supported some form of guaranteed income — from political philosopher Thomas Paine and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. to Silicon Valley executives, such as tech magnate Elon Musk and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Dozens of countries have adopted limited forms of UBI, including Finland, Kenya, Iran, and even the U.S. state of Alaska, which gives a yearly payment to citizens thanks to a state-owned investment fund financed by oil revenues.  Local currency In Gyeonggi, universal basic income takes the form of a local currency, meaning the money is deposited into an account and must be spent at registered local businesses within a certain amount of time.  “Setting an expiration date on the funds has a huge impact,” says Lee Chung-hwan, who operates a traditional outdoor market in Suwon. People wearing face masks walk through a market in Seoul, South Korea, March 4, 2021.On a recent brisk weekday morning, the market was vibrant, with many shoppers using their local currency cards to buy fresh cuts of beef or bags of kimchi, Korea’s ubiquitous side dish. “The relief funds have been a huge help to our market,” says Lee. “We have people coming here who would ordinarily never shop at a local market.”  “And they also buy more,” he adds.  Yu Chang-geun, who runs a Suwon coffee shop, says more customers use the local currency than a regular credit or debit card. “It helps a lot, especially for small and medium sized businesses,” he adds.  Criticism But UBI has plenty of critics. They say the idea amounts to populism that would strain existing welfare programs. “What proponents of basic income overlook is that individuals need money and public services. And the state must provide those services. But they’ll collapse if UBI is adopted,” says Woo Seok-jin, economic professor at Seoul’s Myongji University. Woo endorses more targeted government assistance programs. He argues that de-linking employment and income is far too drastic. “Pre-empting future risks is good, but changing the system because of a future that hasn’t even arrived yet is just not realistic,” he says.  Many economists also reject the premise that technological advancements will lead to catastrophic job loss.  “Yes, technology eliminates jobs, but it also creates jobs,” says Alejandra Grindal, who researches global economic trends at Ned Davis Research, an investment strategy organization. Perhaps the biggest argument against universal basic income is that the theory is largely untested. Many of the global experiments discussed as UBI in reality have amounted to more targeted forms of government assistance.  Even in South Korea, the so-called UBI programs for now are meant to address the very specific problems of youth unemployment and the coronavirus pandemic. Neither plan amounts to a “basic income,” if that is defined as a living wage. That uncertainty could lead to many unintended consequences. For instance, employers might pay employees less because they know they will be subsidized by the government, Grindal says. “A lot of interesting things could happen along the way that weren’t intended,” she adds. Political impact Whether or not his policies are true UBI, the initiative seems to be helping Governor Lee’s political prospects. The trim, silver-haired 56-year-old has soaring approval ratings. He is widely expected to soon announce a run for the presidency in 2022. Several recent opinion polls show him as the frontrunner, easily beating other candidates in his left-leaning Democratic Party.  He’s been compared to former U.S. President Donald Trump and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders — comments he says are only partly justified.  “I do believe that in a new era, we need a new order and new policies,” says Lee, who believes UBI could gradually be expanded to the national level.  Lee’s office doesn’t shy away from the transformational aspects of his proposals. 
 
Outside the provincial government building, an advertisement depicts a cartoon superhero with the motto “New Gyeonggi, Fair Gyeonggi” emblazoned across his chest. He soars through the air, one arm punching the sky, the other delivering a cash handout card. “Boost local businesses with the Gyeonggi local voucher,” the sign reads. Nearby, multi-colored banners wave from a row of streetlights, announcing: “All Gyeonggi Residents Receive 100,000 won.”  Lee did not tell VOA whether he will run for president. Instead, he insists he’s only trying to find big solutions to big problems.  “When the situation changes, we have to find new ways to move forward,” he says. “And I believe politicians need to be the ones to find new ways.”  
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Three Tibetan teenagers are missing and one is hospitalized with two broken legs after reportedly failing to register a WeChat text group chat with local authorities, according to a Tibetan advocacy group.   The teens, who have been named as Dadul, Sangye Tso and Kansi, live in the eastern area of Tibet governed as the Qinghai Province of China, according to Tibet Watch, a British charity that documents human rights abuses in Tibet.Images show a male teenager alleged to be Dadul in a Xining, China hospital with his legs in splints, over 1,000 kilometers away from his hometown of Kyegudo. Tibet Watch told VOA the teenagers were arrested February 17, and were unable to say where Kansi and Sangye Tso were.   Chinese authorities have not commented on the matter.    Occupied by China since 1959, Tibet requires citizens to register all group chats with local authorities so text conversations may be monitored.   The three teens are said to have started a WeChat group named White Rocky Mountain Club, a reference to a local Buddhist deity. The group chat was created to mark the Tibetan new year, which ran from February 12-14. The group had around 240 members, according to Tibet Watch.   “These young people have been brutalized for exercising a right that most of them take for granted on a daily basis,” said John Jones, campaigns and advocacy manager at Free Tibet, a UK non-profit aiming to end China’s occupation of Tibet that works with Tibet Watch. “I’d ask everyone to imagine if they had to invite a government official to every one of their chat groups or face imprisonment and broken limbs.”  “Next week, 10th March, marks Tibetan Uprising Day, the anniversary of the brutally put-down resistance to the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959,” Jones said. “We call on every government around the world to take concrete action to remind the Chinese Communist Party that, try as they might to hide their atrocities, we have not forgotten the Tibetan people.” Tibet Watch alleges that Dadul’s family was summoned by police to the hospital where he is being treated, and asked to bring approximately $6,000, to pay for Dadul’s surgery. Authorities told the family to keep these affairs secret, according to Tibet Watch’s source. “We are aware of reports that several Tibetan teenagers in Qinghai province were detained and beaten by police for participating in a WeChat group,” according to a Department of State spokesperson in an email. “We are concerned by continued reports that Tibetans are detained, imprisoned, and mistreated for infractions as minor as sending text messages.”   
 
The spokesperson noted “repeated reports of abuse of Tibetan prisoners by People’s Republic of China security officials,” citing Tenzin Nyima, 19, who died in detention in January, and Kunchock Jinpa, a tour guide who died in January while serving a 21-year sentence for protesting. The cases “further illustrate that the abuse of Tibetans does not stop at being arrested,” the spokesperson stated.  “The United States stands with the many Tibetans oppressed and imprisoned by the PRC for the peaceful exercise of their human rights,” the spokesperson stated. “We urge PRC authorities to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” Tibet has been under the control of China since 1959, when the country was annexed and its ethnic government and leadership dissolved. Tibetan leaders and others have demanded that China extract itself from the Tibetan Autonomous Region and return its leadership to Tibetans.  The U.S. Department of States cites “reports of forced disappearances, arrests, torture, physical abuse, including sexual abuse, and prolonged detentions without trial of individuals due to their religious practices,” by the Chinese. Cindy Saine  contributed to this report.
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Myanmar’s Military Council announced it has revoked the licenses of five independent media companies in the nation amid reports of armed men ransacking the offices of one of the outlets and the arrest of an editor covering anti-coup protests.Myanmar’s state media reported that the five media companies were Myanmar Now, Khit Thit media, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Mizzima, and 7 Day.  DVB, Mizzima and 7 Day are VOA affiliates. The bans affected conventional publications and television, as well as digital platforms. All of the outlets had been extensively covering the ongoing anti-coup protests.From his Facebook page Monday, Mizzima Editor-in-Chief Soe Myint condemned the action and said Mizzima would continue to fight against the military coup and for the restoration of democracy by publishing and broadcasting through a variety of media platforms, including Facebook.Latest Anti-Coup Demonstrations in Myanmar Turn DeadlyBlood runs in the streets of the northern city of Myitkyina as people heed call of general strike to pressure military juntaMeanwhile, the VOA Burmese service reports armed men in five military trucks raided the offices of Myanmar Now on Monday. No staff members were in the offices, as they were working remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Witnesses say the men took documents with them when they left. The Burmese service also confirmed reports that Sai Zin DD Zon, chief editor of the Eastern Review, was arrested Monday in the capital of Shan State, Taunggyi, while covering protests there. He reported he was released after signing a statement promising not to take photos of the protests again. His camera equipment was returned, but he said the memory cards were missing.Large protests and strikes have been held daily across Myanmar since the military seized control of the government February 1. The military’s security forces have responded to the protests with mass arrests and increasingly with violence. The United Nations said the security forces have killed more than 50 people since the protests began.
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When the coronavirus first emerged, many East Asian countries were hailed as global examples due to their impressive containment efforts. But as the one-year anniversary of the pandemic approaches, some of those countries are falling behind in their vaccine campaigns, as VOA’s Bill Gallo reports from Seoul.Camera: Kim Hyungjin, William Gallo
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The National Bank of Cambodia is aiming to reduce the country’s dependency on the U.S. dollar with the introduction of digital currencies and the phasing out of small-denomination U.S. dollar bills — $1, $2 and $5 notes — in favor of Cambodia’s local currency, the riel.Camera: David Potter, Luke Hunt 
Producer: Luke Hunt 
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