washington — Access to independent media has been tightly restricted in Myanmar since the military coup in 2021. But now, the junta is also blocking VPNs, in what analysts say marks an escalation in censorship.

The military — also known as the Tatmadaw — is now actively blocking virtual private networks, or VPNs, which help internet users bypass restrictions to access websites, as well as social media and messaging platforms.

Analysts believe the junta may be using technology from a Chinese company to enforce the blocks.

The move “poses a major threat to press freedom, activism and the ability of people to hold their government accountable,” said Simon Migliano, head of research at Top10VPN. The London-based organization tests the security of VPNs and researches internet and tech security.

Block limits access to information

The junta has threatened to block VPNs since it overthrew the civilian-led government more than three years ago. In late 2021, the Tatmadaw drafted, but did not enact, a cybersecurity law that could punish people with three years in prison if they used a VPN without official permission.

The blocks, which began in late May, have dire consequences for internet freedom in Myanmar, where opposition to the military and its coup has largely been organized online, according to Migliano.

“The VPN crackdown in Myanmar severely restricts citizens’ access to independent and accurate information, reinforcing government control over the flow of information,” Migliano told VOA.

Several news outlets have reported that security forces are stopping people at random to inspect their phones for VPN apps. Around two dozen people were arrested and fined in early June after police found VPNs on their cell phones.

In addition, Myanmar’s Transport and Communications Ministry has blocked access to Facebook, Instagram, X and WhatsApp, according to media reports.

Myanmar’s military did not reply to VOA’s request for comment.

Myanmar’s military is seeking to control the flow of information as a way to control the country, say experts.

“They really want to control the narrative and spread their propaganda,” Wai Phyo Myint, a Myanmar analyst at the digital rights group Access Now, told VOA.

Experts say junta seeks ‘digital dictatorship’

The VPN crackdown is the latest example of what a group of United Nations experts in 2022 called the junta’s efforts to establish a “digital dictatorship.”

“There’s a battle in the digital space,” one digital rights activist told VOA. The individual, who is from Myanmar but moved to Thailand after the coup, requested anonymity for security reasons.

Part of the reason the military may have taken so long to target VPNs is because blocking is more difficult and expensive than other forms of censorship, according to Oliver Spencer, an expert on free expression in Myanmar.

The military has already consolidated control over the country’s telecommunications companies, imposed scattered internet shutdowns, revoked media licenses, and arrested dozens of journalists. The repressive environment led many independent news outlets to flee into exile.

“They basically cracked down on the internet in all the ways that they could do more easily,” Spencer said. That means blocking VPNs was the last main step the military could take to prevent the country’s people from accessing websites and platforms that the Tatmadaw would rather hide from them, according to Spencer.

Citing leaked documents, the activist group Justice for Myanmar reported in June that the military’s enhanced censorship system uses technology from the Chinese network security company Geedge Networks to block VPNs.

The Beijing-based company did not reply to VOA’s email seeking comment.

With this technology, authorities create a list of all known VPN domains and IP addresses they want blocked, according to Migliano. The simplest way to circumvent the block is to cycle through various VPNs, because some still work sporadically, Migliano added.

Demand for VPNs has on average been more than 1,000% higher than it was in the month before the crackdown, according to research by Top10VPN. The largest uptick was on May 30, when demand was 2,333% higher, Top10VPN reported.

Violence perpetrated by Myanmar’s military against those resisting the coup means that not having access to independent, accurate information can be a matter of life and death, said Washington-based Wai Phyo Myint, Asia Pacific Policy Analyst for the AccessNow.

In many cases, crucial information such as how to find safe places to avoid the military “got cut because of the VPN ban,” she said. That’s particularly concerning given the gravity of the violence perpetrated by the military, which stands accused by rights groups of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity since the coup.

Spencer estimates that the crackdown now means that there are “millions and millions” of people who have no access to any information or any way to communicate electronically.

“Instead of just attacking the media, which they’ve done until now, [the junta are] actually attacking the ways that the general public can communicate and can access information,” Spencer said. “It’s probably one of the largest attacks on freedom of expression in Myanmar since the coup.”
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SYDNEY — Australia said Thursday a $1.35 billion deal with U.S. technology giant Amazon to build three secure data centers for top-secret information will increase its military’s “war-fighting capacity.”

The data centers are to be built in secret locations in Australia and be run by an Australian subsidiary of the U.S. technology company Amazon Web Service, the government said.

The deal is part of Australia’s National Defense Strategy, outlining its commitment to Indo-Pacific security and maintaining “the global rules-based order.” The country has a long-standing military alliance with the United States and is a member, with the United Kingdom, U.S., Canada and New Zealand, of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.

Australian officials said the project would create a “state-of-the-art collaborative space” for intelligence and defense agencies to store and gain access to sensitive information in a centralized network.

Andrew Shearer, director-general of Australia’s Office of National Intelligence, said in a statement that the project would allow “greater interoperability with our most important international intelligence partners.”

Similar data clouds have been set up in the United States and Britain, allowing the sharing of information among agencies and departments.

Richard Marles, Australia’s deputy prime minister and defense minister, told reporters that highly sensitive national security data will be safely secured in the new system.

“If you consider that any sensor which is on a defense platform, which in turn feeds that data to a high tech capability, such as the Joint Strike Fighter, which will use that to engage in targeting or perhaps to defend itself from an in-coming threat, or … to defend another asset, such as a ship — all of that is top secret data,” Marles said.

The government said the Amazon Web Services storage system will use artificial intelligence to detect suspected intrusions and to retrieve data.

Richard Buckland, a professor in CyberCrime, Cyberwar and Cyberterror at the University of New South Wales, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the storage plan has risks.

“Putting more data together in a central spot and sharing it widely as people intend to do obviously increases the risk of a data breach,” he said.

In a statement, Amazon Web Services’ managing director in Australia, Iain Rouse, said the system would “enable the seamless sharing of classified data between Australia’s National Intelligence Community and the Australian Defense Force.”

The so-called top-secret cloud is scheduled to be in operation by 2027.
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Jakarta, Indonesia — Every weekday, Andika Hidayatullah weaves his motorbike through congested roads in Indonesia’s crowded capital from his home in the satellite city of Depok. He says all the traffic makes what should be a 40-minute commute almost twice as long. 

“A car should be used with four occupants,” says Hidayatullah, 26. “But most workers here drive a car to their workplace by themselves, and that causes huge traffic.” 

A report issued by the global public health organization Vital Strategies based on research by the Bandung Institute of Technology says vehicular emissions are Jakarta’s biggest source of air pollution — just one in a range of urban congestion problems that are prompting calls for better coordination between the city and its surrounding communities. 

There were days last year when Swiss company IQAir ranked Jakarta’s air as the most polluted of any major city in the world. 

Willy Sastrawijayadi, 37, says the polluted air makes him feel ill some days. “It affects the respiratory system, whether it’s coughing or feeling kind of like you have the flu.” 

The city has about 10 million residents, but the greater Jakarta region has more than 30 million. When it comes to cities with the world’s worst road traffic congestion, navigation specialist Tom Tom ranked Jakarta 30th last year. First place is considered the worst among 387 cities in 55 countries. Jakarta has commuter trains and buses available, but old habits are proving hard to break. 

“Public transport is currently much better than, let’s say, 10 or 20 years ago,” says Ahmad Gamal, associate professor in urban planning at the University of Indonesia.  “What has not happened is people starting to leave their motorbikes and their cars.” 

Gamal adds that one of the underlying reasons behind these quality-of-life issues is because Jakarta and its surrounding communities have not worked hand in hand to coordinate on a regional level.  

“Jakarta gets all of the offices, gets all of the industries; but most of the housing projects, they probably need to go a little bit farther [out] because the land is much more expensive in Jakarta,” Gamal says. “So, naturally, the adjacent areas in their best interests in promoting development [were overbuilt].” 

Gamal adds that overdevelopment in upstream communities leads to rivers overflowing downstream in Jakarta, flooding urban neighborhoods. “So much of the land upstream is overbuilt and unable to absorb much of the water.” 

After heavy storms, Zainudin, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, and his neighbors along the Ciliwung River have to clean out mud that’s 30 centimeters thick inside their homes. “We’ve gotten used to dealing with this,” says Zainudin, 58, noting that he’s lived by the river his entire life. 

Along the coast in North Jakarta, the government is extending a seawall. Just on the other side of it is the Wal Adhuna Mosque, which is no longer used because it’s always flooded. Small portions of North Jakarta have already been washed over by rising sea levels due to climate change and now it’s a race against time to prevent more of the city from being lost. About 40% of Jakarta is below sea level.

“The northern part of Jakarta is facing the biggest challenge because the sea is rising while the land is actually sinking,” Gamal says. 

Gamal points to the fact that many Jakartans get their water from illegal wells tapping the ground water which is a major reason why the city is now sinking. The government is building pipes to get more of the public water supply across the city, but Gamal says that project could take 30 years to complete. 

The national government is laying plans for an agglomeration council for Greater Jakarta to coordinate all of its local and regional governments. 

But Gamal says it’s not clear yet if this council will have the authority it needs to succeed.  

“It is going to work if it is a superseding authority on top of these regional governments, listening to their needs but capable of creating plans that are binding for them.” 

Meanwhile, people like Andika Hidayatullah say they’re just hoping the government figures it out. “I’ve had enough of all the traffic and bad air,” he said.
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MOSCOW — The Kremlin on Thursday said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia next Monday and Tuesday and hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The visit was first announced by Russian officials last month, but the dates have not been previously disclosed.

Russia has had strong ties with India since the Cold War, and New Delhi’s importance as a key trading partner for Moscow has grown since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China and India have become key buyers of Russian oil following sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies that shut most Western markets for Russian exports.

Under Modi’s leadership, India has avoided condemning Russia’s action in Ukraine while emphasizing the need for a peaceful settlement.

The partnership between Moscow and New Delhi has become fraught, however, since Russia started developing closer ties with India’s main rival, China, because of the hostilities in Ukraine.

Modi on Thursday skipped the summit of a security grouping created by Moscow and Beijing to counter Western alliances.

Modi sent his foreign minister to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at its annual meeting in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana. The meeting is being attended by Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Indian media reports speculated that the recently reelected Modi was busy with the Parliament session last week.

Modi last visited Russia in 2019 for an economic forum in the far eastern port of Vladivostok. He last traveled to Moscow in 2015. Putin last met with Modi in September 2022 at a summit of the SCO in Uzbekistan. In 2021, Putin also traveled to New Delhi and held talks with the Indian leader.

Tensions between Beijing and New Delhi have continued since a confrontation in June 2020 along the disputed China-India border in which rival troops fought with rocks, clubs and fists. At least 20 Indian troops and four Chinese soldiers were killed.

After his reelection to a third straight term. Modi attended the G7 meeting in Italy’s Apulia region last month and addressed artificial intelligence, energy, and regional issues in Africa and the Mediterranean.

In the early 1990s, the Soviet Union was the source of about 70% of Indian army weapons, 80% of its air force systems and 85% of its navy platforms.

India bought its first aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, from Russia in 2004. It had served in the former Soviet Union and later in the Russian navy.

With the Russian supply line hit by the fighting in Ukraine, India has been reducing its dependency on Russian arms and diversifying its defense procurements, buying more from the U.S., Israel, France and Italy.
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BENGALURU, India — Months of scorching temperatures sometimes over 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in parts of India this year — its worst heat wave in over a decade — left hundreds dead or ill. But the official number of deaths listed in government reports barely scratches the surface of the true toll and that’s affecting future preparations for similar swelters, according to public health experts. 

India now has a bit of respite from the intense heat, and a different set of extreme weather problems as monsoon rain lashes the northeast, but for months the extreme heat took a toll on large swaths of the country, particularly in northern India, where government officials reported at least 110 heat-related deaths. 

Public health experts say the true number of heat-related deaths is likely in the thousands but because heat is often not listed as a reason on a death certificate many heat deaths don’t get counted in official figures. The worry, they say, is that undercounting the deaths means the heat wave problem isn’t as prioritized as it should be, and officials are missing out on ways to prepare their residents for the scorching temperatures. 

All of India’s warmest years on record have been in the last decade. Studies by public health experts found that up to 1,116 people have died every year between 2008 and 2019 due to heat. 

Difficulties registering heat deaths 

As part of his work in public health, Srinath Reddy, the founder of the Public Health Foundation of India, has advised state governments on how to factor in heat when recording deaths. 

He found that as a result of “incomplete reporting, delayed reporting and misclassification of deaths,” heat-related deaths are significantly undercounted around the country. Despite national guidelines for recording deaths, many doctors — especially those in overcrowded public hospitals where resources are already strained — don’t follow it, he said. 

“Most doctors just record the immediate cause of death and attribution to environmental triggers like heat are not recorded,” Reddy said. That’s because heat deaths can be classified as exertional or non-exertional: Exertional is when a person dies due to direct exposure to high temperatures and non-exertional is when young children, older people or people with pre-existing health conditions become seriously ill or sometimes die from the heat, even if indoors. 

“The heatwave is the final straw for the second category of people,” said Dileep Mavalankar, former head of the Indian Institute of Public Health in Gandhinagar. “Most people dying during heat waves belong to this category but their deaths are not recorded as connected to the heat.” 

Mavalankar agreed the official number of heat deaths this year is an undercount. He said there were 40,000 recorded case of heat stroke, but only 110 deaths. “This is just 0.3% of the total number of heatstroke cases recorded, but usually heat deaths should be 20 to 30% of heatstroke cases,” he said. 

“We need to be counting deaths better,” Mavalankar said. “That is the only way we will know how severe the consequences of extreme heat are.” 
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Phnom Penh — Buddhist monks in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh chanted blessings and threw flowers on Thursday to welcome 14 trafficked artifacts repatriated from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The Angkorian artworks, which included a 10th century goddess sandstone statute and a large Buddha head from the 7th century, were stolen by antiquities trafficker Douglas Latchford before ending up in New York.  

“I am so glad and so happy to see our ancestors back home,” Cambodian Culture Minister Phoeurng Sackona said at the repatriation ceremony.  

“We have many more treasures at the Met which we also hope will be returned to Cambodia,” she added.

Sackona said more than 50 stolen artifacts would return to Cambodia from the United States in the near future.

The minister also called on private collectors and museums around the world to follow the Met and return looted artifacts.

“This return of our national treasures, held by the Met, is of utmost importance not only for Cambodia, but for all of humankind,” she said.  

Latchford, who died aged 88 at his home in Bangkok, was widely regarded as a scholar of Cambodian antiquities, winning praise for his books on Khmer Empire art.

He was charged in 2019 by prosecutors in New York with smuggling looted Cambodian relics and helping to sell them on the international art market.

The Met said in December that it would return 14 antiquities to Cambodia and two to Thailand after they were linked to Latchford.

A 900-year-old statue of the Hindu god Shiva and a bronze sculpture of a female figure were returned to Thailand by the museum in May. 

Thousands of statues and sculptures are believed to have been trafficked from Cambodia from the mid-1960s to the 1990s, while sites in neighboring Thailand were also hit by smugglers.

The return of the items comes as a growing number of museums worldwide discuss steps to repatriate looted artworks, particularly those taken during the colonial era.
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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — A gas leak Thursday at an engineering section of Kuala Lumpur’s international airport saw 39 people fall ill, a Malaysian emergency services official said.

“A total of 39 victims suffered from dizziness and nausea,” local rescue officer Muhammad Nur Khairi Samsumin said in a statement.

He said 24 victims were discharged, 14 others were at the Air Disaster Unit receiving care and one was hospitalized.

All those affected work for three companies operating at the facility.

The incident did not disrupt air travel at the country’s top airport.

Muhammad Nur said the leaked gas was identified as methyl mercaptan and the source was an “unused tank” at the facility.

“Work to cover the leak was being done by the emergency crew,” he said, adding that the tank would be dismantled and disposed of.

Muhammad Nur said methyl mercaptan is added to liquefied petroleum gas to give it a smell, alerting people to any leaks. The gas has a strong odor akin to rotten cabbages.
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HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM — Analysts cite an effort to strengthen Vietnam’s South China Sea territorial claims as a key reason Hanoi welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month, despite potential fallout from links to Moscow in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

They also say Russian investment in offshore oil and gas reserves off Vietnam’s coast in the South China shows Hanoi strengthening its territorial claims.

Vietnam and Russia signed 11 agreements during the visit. They included, according to the Kremlin, granting an investment license for a hydrocarbon block off Vietnam’s southeastern coast to Zarubezhneft, a state-owned Russian oil and gas firm with a history of joint ventures with Vietnam.

Ian Storey, senior fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute, told VOA that Vietnam wants to expand its oil and gas operations with Russia inside its exclusive economic zone for two reasons.

“First, the resources in the fields being worked by Vietsovpetro [a Russian-Vietnamese oil and gas joint venture] are running low and it’s time to start operations in new blocks,” Storey wrote over email on June 25, referring to an existing oil partnership.

“Second,” he wrote, “Vietnam wants to internationalize the energy projects in its EEZ because it adds legitimacy to its jurisdictional claims in the South China Sea.”

Storey added that although there have been reports of Hanoi making an arms purchase by using funds from the joint oil enterprise Rusvietpetro, it is unlikely that the leaders settled plans for a weapons sale during the visit.

“While there have been reports that Russia is considering providing loans to Vietnam to buy military hardware using the profits from their joint venture in Siberia, it is unclear whether the two sides have reached a final agreement,” Storey wrote. The New York Times reported on a leaked March 2023 document from Vietnam’s Finance Ministry that outlined plans for Hanoi to purchase Russian weapons using loans from Rusvietpetro.

“The absence of Russian Defence Minister [Andrei] Belousov from Putin’s entourage to Vietnam suggests they have not,” he wrote.

Protecting disputed waters

Although Vietnamese territory stretches 370 kilometers off its coast according to international law, China claims the vast majority of the South China Sea with its disputed so-called nine-dash line delineating its claims in the sea.

Ray Powell, director of the Sea Light Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford University, wrote over WhatsApp on June 27 that the block licensed to Zarubezhneft “appears to be inside” the nine-dash line.

Nguyen The Phuong, a maritime security expert and Ph.D. candidate at the University of New South Wales Canberra, told VOA during a call on June 26 that the key takeaway from Putin’s visit is Hanoi’s intention to secure its territorial integrity.

“Vietnam wants Russia to have more presence in the South China Sea because, different from the United States or Western countries, the presence of Russia will not infuriate China,” Phuong said. “It could somehow prevent China from going overboard, from being overly aggressive.”

Alexander Vuving, professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, said it is important for Hanoi to maintain strong ties with Moscow after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The Ukraine war is pushing Russia closer to China, and that is the Vietnamese nightmare,” Vuving said during a Zoom call with VOA on June 27, noting that Moscow is Hanoi’s leading partner to counter Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

“From Vietnam’s perspective, they need Russia,” he said.

Vietnam is attempting to diversify its military equipment away from Russia, which has been its primary supplier, and it is not clear whether the two sides agreed on an arms sale during this visit. Nevertheless, Russia remains Hanoi’s top option to update its aging military arsenal, Vuving said.

“[Vietnam] is still trying to buy arms from Russia for many reasons,” he said. “The price is not so high like some other alternative sources but there’s also the question of the issue of trust – Vietnam would trust Russia,” Vuving said.

That trust comes from a long history of support from the former Soviet Union and later Russia, Nguyen Hong Hai, senior lecturer at Hanoi’s Vinuniversity, told VOA. Along with military aid to support Vietnam’s fights for independence, the Soviet Union and Russia helped to bring the country out of poverty and most of Vietnam’s top leaders trained there, Hai said.

“For the generation who lived during that period of time, they still have very fond memories of the Soviet Union’s and Russian assistance to Vietnam,” Hai said June 25 by Zoom.

Some see dangers

Even with the historic connection, some point to the dangers of welcoming Putin after the invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s visits to China and North Korea.

“This trip was made right after Putin visited [Chinese President] Xi Jinping and [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un. The two most brutal dictators in East Asia,” Tran Anh Quan, a Ho Chi Minh City-based social activist wrote to VOA in Vietnamese over Telegram.

“If Putin can link up with Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, and To Lam, it will form an alliance of tyrants of the world’s major dictatorial states,” Quan said, referring to former public security minister To Lam, who became president in May.

Quan said he has not seen much response from the Vietnamese public to Putin’s Hanoi visit.

He said many are afraid to speak out in the current political environment and the public is more focused on the case of Thich Minh Tue – a monk who is not part of a state-sanctioned Buddhist group and became famous for walking barefoot across the country before he was detained by police in early June.

“Vietnam is increasingly suppressing critical voices, so people dare to speak out less than before,” Quan said.

Zachary Abuza, Southeast Asia expert and professor at the National War College in Washington, also noted the negative image Putin’s visit casts, adding that Russia’s war on Ukraine highlights the degradation of international laws, crucial to Vietnam, given its territorial tensions with neighboring China.

“The optics of it are terrible,” he told VOA on June 17. “This is the leader who is trying to upend the international rules-based order and change borders through the use of force. … The legal rationale that Russia and Putin have come up with for the invasion of Ukraine is really dangerous for Vietnam.”

Still, Hai said that although Vietnam and Ukraine are two small nations neighboring larger powers, it is too simplistic to compare the relationships between Vietnam and China with Ukraine and Russia.

“[Vietnam] has coexisted with China for over 4,000 years and understands its neighbor well,” he said, while noting the countries continue to have territorial disputes and had a border war in 1979.

“Since normalizing relations in 1991, the two countries have managed their relationship effectively,’’ Hai said. ‘’Both nations aim to avoid conflict.”

Further, he added that Hanoi does not “take sides” with Russia, and when leaders express their debt to the Soviet Union, that includes its former republic, Ukraine.

“In the joint statement between Vietnam and Russia during the Putin visit … Vietnam was very careful to show it does not side with Russia,” Hai said.
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WASHINGTON — NATO will roll out “concrete ways” to accelerate Ukraine’s eventual membership in the Atlantic alliance during a summit next week in Washington, according to a senior U.S. official.

Summit organizers are understood to be leaning toward language in a final declaration that would say Ukraine’s path to NATO is “irreversible,” but the official would say only that the wording is still being negotiated.

Douglas Jones, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, told VOA during an interview on Tuesday that foreign ministers from 35 non-NATO member partners are invited to attend the Washington summit.

Notable attendees include the foreign ministers of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

For the third consecutive summit, heads of state from all 32 NATO allies will engage in discussions with leaders from its Indo-Pacific partners: Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

Building the resilience of allies to confront threats and challenges from China is among the key agenda items, said Jones. But, he added, a proposal to establish a NATO liaison office in Tokyo, intended as a hub for cooperation with Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, is currently “not under active discussion.”

In celebration of NATO’s 75th anniversary, more than two dozen influencers have been invited to observe the proceedings and create social media content to commemorate the milestone.

The following excerpts from the interview have been edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Kyiv on Tuesday and urged President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to consider a cease-fire with Russia. Are you concerned that this shows a divide in NATO? What is the U.S. perspective on Orban’s visit to Ukraine?

Douglas Jones, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs:  It’s good that Prime Minister Orban visited Ukraine. On the idea of a cease-fire, these decisions are for Ukraine to make. We’ve always said, “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.” It is up to Ukraine to decide when it’s time to discuss a cease-fire and what the terms of any peace settlement might be.

VOA: Moving on to NATO: What are the key items on the agenda? Are the foreign ministers of Israel and several Arab countries invited to the NATO summit?

Jones: We will be talking about the state of NATO. This summit is really about the future, about how NATO continues to transform and adapt itself to meet future challenges.

Whether that’s supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression, working with partners to build the resilience of allies to confront the threats and challenges from the People’s Republic of China, or addressing hybrid and cyber threats, these are all issues that we’ll be focusing on at the summit.

NATO has a broad network of partnerships. There are 35 countries around the world that have a formal partnership relationship with NATO. They will all be invited at the level of foreign ministers to attend, including Israel and many countries in the Middle East.

VOA: Zelenskyy is expected to attend next week’s NATO summit. Does the U.S. view Ukraine’s path to NATO membership as irreversible? Are the U.S. and its allies working to incorporate such language into NATO’s joint statement?

Jones: The United States and all NATO allies have said that Ukraine’s future is in NATO. At this summit, we will be rolling out concrete ways in which NATO can help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression, build the future force needed to deter Russia, and implement the reforms it needs to make itself a stronger candidate for eventual NATO membership.

Together, this is what we describe as a bridge to NATO membership. The assistance that we’re going to be rolling out at the summit will really help accelerate Ukraine on its path to NATO membership.

VOA: And such a bridge is irreversible?

Jones: The wording of the declaration is still under negotiation by NATO allies. The alliance has already said that Ukraine will become a member of NATO.

VOA: Regarding NATO’s Indo-Pacific strategy, could you give us an update on the plan to open a NATO liaison office in Tokyo?

Jones: So, at the summit, the outcome with the Indo-Pacific partners is that all the heads of state and governments of NATO’s Indo-Pacific partners — Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand — will be present. There are only three main meetings of the summit, and one of them will be when the heads of state of all 32 NATO allies meet with these Indo-Pacific partners. This is going to be the third summit in a row where this has happened.

And the reason for that is because allies are increasingly recognizing that there are links between security in the Euro-Atlantic space and in the Indo-Pacific.

Ukraine is the No. 1 example where you have the biggest threat to transatlantic security, with Russia being fueled by assistance from China and the DPRK.

VOA: Is there going to be a NATO office in Tokyo, or has such a plan been postponed indefinitely?

Jones: It’s not under active discussion currently within the alliance.

VOA: What can we expect from the NATO summit regarding the implications of the Russia-North Korea mutual defense pact?

Jones: Russia is seeking weapons from the DPRK as it looks for ways to continue its assault and aggression against Ukraine. The connections are deep. That’s why we’ll have the leaders of NATO’s Indo-Pacific partners at the summit: to discuss how we can learn from each other and cooperate in addressing these common security challenges.
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ISLAMABAD — Police in Pakistan said Wednesday that a roadside bomb blast near the border with Afghanistan tore through a vehicle, killing a former senator and his four companions.

Initial police investigations concluded that suspected militants used a remote-controlled device to detonate an improvised explosive device in the troubled Bajaur district, noting that it was aimed specifically at the slain former member of the upper house of parliament, Hidayatullah Khan.

No group immediately took responsibility for the deadly bombing.

Militants affiliated with outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, and a regional Islamic State affiliate, known as IS-Khorasan, routinely target security forces and pro-government tribal elders and politicians in Bajaur and surrounding districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The TTP denied involvement in Wednesday’s attack but reiterated that its violent campaign is targeting only Pakistani security forces and those working for them.

Anti-terror drill with US

The bombing in Bajaur occurred while military personnel from Pakistan and the United States were participating in a two-week-long joint counterterrorism exercise in another part of the turbulent province, located about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Islamabad.

The bilateral drill began on June 29 at the National Counter Terrorism Center in the town of Pabbi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with infantry companies from both countries participating.

It is designed to “exchange tactical skills at combating the menace of terrorism at sub-unit level,” a Pakistani military media wing announcement said Wednesday.

“The exercise is aimed at sharing counter-terrorism experiences besides refining drill procedures vital for counter-terrorism operations,” the statement said.

Terrorist attacks have sharply surged in Pakistan, killing hundreds of civilians and security forces in recent months.

Pakistani military and police have stepped up counter-militancy operations in violence-hit parts of the country, killing scores of TTP and insurgents linked to other groups.

Islamabad accuses the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan of providing sanctuaries to TTP and even facilitating their cross-border attacks.

Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid reiterated Wednesday that they are not allowing anyone to use Afghan soil to threaten Pakistan or any other countries.

Mujahid said, while addressing a news conference in Kabul, that Pakistani authorities should stop pointing fingers at Afghanistan for what he described as their internal security problems.
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Despite 20 years of government treatment programs and a Taliban-imposed ban on poppy cultivation, opium addiction rates continue to rise in Afghanistan. Some Afghans who are addicted to drugs say the Taliban should crack down harder on the sales and purchase of illicit drugs. Mohammad Zaman Sohail has this report from Jalalabad, narrated by Shaista Sadat Lami. Contributors: Anne Ball and Rahim Gul Sarwan
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Seoul, South Korea — The United States, Japan and South Korea last week held what in some ways could be seen as their most important joint military exercise ever — and an indication of enhanced future cooperation.

The inaugural Freedom Edge drill involved a U.S. aircraft carrier and multiple Japanese and South Korean ships and planes, mirroring other recent trilateral exercises held since the three countries intensified defense cooperation.

But, importantly, this drill for the first time took place across multiple domains, including land, sea, air and cyber — a crucial step toward allowing the countries’ militaries to work together more seamlessly and in a wider range of warfighting scenarios.

The drill reflects a bigger effort by Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, which are trying to advance cooperation toward a more formalized stage that will be harder for future leaders to overturn.

In recent months, the three countries have not only expanded the frequency of their engagement but also taken steps to ensure that it lasts — an attempt to solidify a partnership that could reshape northeast Asian geopolitics.

The steps include establishing a regular pattern of joint military exercises, activating a channel for sharing real-time data on North Korean missile launches, and exploring the creation of a permanent office to boost coordination.

During meetings among senior officials, the countries have also increasingly emphasized shared values for the region, such as a “free and open Indo-Pacific,” in the hopes of providing a more durable foundation for cooperation.

The moves attempt to fulfill the vision laid out in August, when U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held the first standalone summit among the leaders of the three countries.

South Korea key

A primary goal of the so-called Camp David summit was to create a framework for collaboration that could withstand domestic political fluctuations in each country.

A major concern was South Korea, where commitment to the trilateral partnership has often wavered. Those efforts appear to be yielding progress, according to a growing number of South Korea-based observers.

“Cooperation is now entering a level of institutionalization that will make it considerably more difficult for future administrations in Seoul to change,” said Jeffrey Robertson, a professor of diplomatic studies at Seoul’s Yonsei University.

The depth of trilateral ties has long hinged on whatever government is in power in South Korea.

The South Korean left opposes closer cooperation with Japan without more steps by Tokyo to atone for atrocities committed during its 1910-1945 colonization of Korea.

South Korea’s leaders also have been reluctant to sign up for any multilateral efforts that anger China, the military and economic giant that lies just beyond its border.

Changing views

South Korea’s outlook toward its neighbors, however, appears to be shifting.

Opinion polls suggest that South Korean perceptions of China have declined precipitously, as Beijing becomes more authoritarian at home and more assertive in expanding its regional influence.

Meanwhile, views on Japan appear to be improving, especially among young people.

South Korea’s national security establishment has also expressed growing fears about North Korea, which has rapidly expanded its nuclear arsenal and become much more hostile toward Seoul.

For Yoon, a conservative who took office in 2022, the solution was to align his country more closely with the United States. Yoon also mended ties with Japan, quickly accelerating trilateral cooperation.

Reasons for optimism

The big question is whether Yoon’s approach will outlast his presidency, given that his predecessor, the left-leaning Moon Jae-in, reversed many of the Japan-friendly policies of previous administrations.

Peter Lee, a research fellow at the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a conservative research group, says he is optimistic. Although he concedes that South Korean public attitudes toward Japan remain generally unfavorable, he points to opinion polls conducted by his organization suggesting consistently strong support for South Korean participation in U.S.-led multilateral initiatives.

“This suggests that future ROK presidents will struggle to withdraw or terminate their participation in these partnerships, at least for populist purposes,” Lee said.

Another potential deterrent is that each step toward formalizing trilateral engagement adds a layer of commitment, making it politically riskier for any future South Korean administration to reverse, many observers say.

Not so fast

Others think that Yoon’s policies are on much shakier ground.

Moon Chung-in, a senior foreign affairs adviser in multiple left-leaning governments, rejected the notion of a permanent change in South Koreans’ views toward their neighbors.

“Yoon and Biden do not see this. But Japanese political leaders are well aware of the volatility, and that’s why they are not making major concessions,” Moon said.

Seoul-Tokyo ties can “easily degenerate,” Moon maintained, unless Japan takes further steps to address unresolved historical disputes.

Many in South Korea also worry that enhanced trilateral cooperation could provoke a counter-reaction from U.S. foes in the region, ultimately leading to increased instability.

As evidence, they cite last month’s decision by North Korea and Russia to restore a Cold War-era mutual defense treaty — a move both sides described as necessary to counter U.S. moves in Asia.

If the regional security dilemma worsens, some fear that China could eventually respond by enhancing its own security cooperation with North Korea and Russia.

For many South Korean liberals, the best way to avoid such a scenario with China is to take a more cautious approach to Japan and the United States.

“China is near and powerful,” Moon said. “What other options do we have but to maintain good relations? This is common sense.”
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Islamabad — The Taliban government in Afghanistan indicated Wednesday that it would consider releasing two U.S. prisoners in exchange for Afghans held in the United States.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief Taliban spokesman, told reporters in Kabul that the idea of a prisoner release was discussed in his meeting with U.S. officials in Doha, Qatar this week, just as the two sides brought it up it in their previous meetings.

“Afghanistan’s conditions must be met. We have our citizens who are imprisoned in the U.S. and Guantanamo,” Mujahid stated. “We should free our prisoners in exchange for them. Just as their prisoners are important to America, Afghans are equally important to us,” he added.

The spokesman did not share any details about Afghan detainees, including those being held at the U.S.-run Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.

Mujahid spoke in the Afghan capital shortly after returning from Doha, where he led a Taliban delegation at a rare two-day U.N.-hosted meeting with international envoys on Afghanistan, which ended on Monday.

U.S. officials also attended the U.N. conference in the Qatari capital.

On Tuesday, a State Department spokesperson in Washington confirmed that U.S. special envoys on Afghanistan Thomas West and Rina Amiri met Taliban representatives in Doha.

“So during these meetings, special representative West pressed for the immediate and unconditional release of U.S. citizens unjustly detained in Afghanistan, noting that these detentions impede progress in the Taliban’s own desire for international recognition,” Vedant Patel told reporters.

The Taliban say the two Americans are among “several foreign nationals” currently imprisoned in Afghanistan for allegedly violating local immigration and other laws.

U.S. officials and relatives have identified one of the detainees as Ryan Corbett, while the identity of the second person has not been disclosed.

Corbett was taken into custody in August 2022, a year after the fundamentalist Taliban returned to power in Kabul following the withdrawal of U.S.-led Western troops after nearly 20 years of involvement in the Afghan war.

Corbett’s family and U.S. lawmakers have repeatedly urged U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to do more to secure his safe and early release. Since his detention, Corbett has been able to call his wife and their three children.

Corbett and his family had lived in Afghanistan for years before being evacuated during the August 2021 Taliban takeover. He ran and supervised humanitarian projects for nongovernmental organizations, focusing on health and education.

Corbett returned to Afghanistan twice in 2022 and was detained by the Taliban on his second trip but has not been charged with any crimes, according to his family.

Relatives and activists say a third U.S. national, Mahmood Habibi, is also among foreigners in custody, but the Taliban refuse to acknowledge that they are holding him.

In March, a resolution was submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives calling for Habibi’s immediate release. The resolution, which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, stated that Habibi was arrested in August 2022 outside his home while in the country for business.

He was detained by the Taliban intelligence agency on suspicion of being involved in a U.S. drone strike that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the fugitive al-Qaida network chief, in Kabul.

The Taliban protested the strike, saying it was a breach of the 2020 Doha agreement they signed with the U.S., which paved the way for Washington to withdraw from the longest U.S. war in history.

The former insurgent group also pledged in line with the terms of the agreement not to harbor transnational militant groups, including al-Qaida, seeking to attack America and its allies.

No country has recognized the Taliban government, citing human rights concerns and bans on Afghan women’s access to education and work.

The U.N. meeting in Doha was aimed at increasing, facilitating, and coordinating the world’s engagement with the Taliban in the wake of deepening economic and humanitarian troubles facing war-torn, impoverished Afghanistan.

The two-day session ended without the Taliban making any pledges to remove their restrictions on women or winning concessions from the international community.

“Afghanistan cannot return to the international fold or fully develop economically and socially if it is deprived of the contributions and potential of half its population,” Rosemary DiCarlo, U.N. undersecretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, told reporters at the end of the meeting on Monday. She presided over the gathering on behalf of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Mujahid, while speaking in Kabul Wednesday, reiterated that their rules about women are an internal Afghan matter and said foreign nations or organizations have nothing to do with it.
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Astana — Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping are due to meet on Wednesday at a summit of a Eurasian security and defense club seen by Moscow and Beijing as an instrument to counter the influence of the United States and its allies.

Putin and the Chinese president have expanded the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a club founded in 2001 with Russia, China and Central Asian powers, to include India, Iran and Pakistan as a counterweight to the West.

Putin will hold a series of bilateral meetings on Wednesday on the sidelines of the July 3-4 SCO summit in the Kazakh capital, Astana, the Kremlin said.

He is due to meet Xi, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and the leaders of Azerbaijan, Mongolia and Pakistan before an informal dinner hosted by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

India said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is expected in Moscow later this month, will not attend. He is sending Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar instead.

Russia and China regard the SCO, which promotes common approaches to external security threats such as drug trafficking and focuses on countering any domestic instability, as a means to project their influence across Asia.

“The leaders of the SCO member countries will discuss the current state and prospects for further deepening multifaceted cooperation within the organization and improving its activities,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

At last year’s virtual summit, the group issued a statement critical of what it called the negative impact of “unilateral and unlimited expansion of global missile defense systems by certain countries or groups of countries”, without directly referring to NATO expansion and Western military assistance to Ukraine.

‘No limits’ partnership

China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing, days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. Since then, Xi and Putin have deepened their partnership.

Xi and Putin believe the U.S.-dominated post-Cold War era is crumbling. 

The United States casts China as its biggest competitor and Russia as its biggest nation-state threat. U.S. President Joe Biden says this century will be defined by an existential contest between democracies and autocracies.

The U.S. views Xi and Putin as authoritarian rulers who have quashed free speech and exerted tight control at home over the media and courts. Biden has referred to Xi as a “dictator” and said Putin is a “killer” and a “crazy SOB.” Beijing and Moscow have scolded Biden over the comments.

The SCO traces its history back to 1996 when its forerunner was founded as a way to coordinate efforts against external threats such as drug trafficking and has traditionally focused on combating any internal instability.

Belarus will attend the summit for the first time as a full member of the organization, the Kremlin said.

Other states engage in discussions with the group including Bahrain, Cambodia, Egypt, Kuwait, Myanmar, Nepal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected in Astana for the summit. 
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Washington — New satellite images of Cuba show signs the country is installing improved intelligence capabilities at four military bases with suspected links to China, potentially providing Beijing with a network of facilities that could be used to spy on the United States.

The imagery, presented in a report Tuesday by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, was taken in March and April. It indicated new or recent construction at three sites near the capital, Havana, as well as work on a previously unreported site not far from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.

“Without access to classified materials, pinpointing the specific targets of these assets is nearly impossible,” the report said. “Nonetheless, the growth of space-monitoring equipment at sites like Bejucal and Calabazar is notable given that Cuba lacks its own satellites or space program.”

Bejucal is the largest of the four sites, according to CSIS analysts and first came to prominence during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when the base was used to store nuclear weapons for the Soviet Union.

More recently, it has gained prominence as a major signals intelligence monitoring station, suspected to be tracking electronic communications for China.

The new satellite pictures show evidence that Bejucal has seen expansive updates, including a new electronic antenna enclosure.

Two other sites near Havana — Wajay and Calabazar — have seen growth as well, with CSIS analysts citing evidence of an expanding and evolving mission, including the installation of antennae, radar dishes and other equipment that could help those using it to monitor satellites.

The final site, El Salao, appears to be still under construction. But its location, not far from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay near the city of Santiago de Cuba, and the structures themselves, could be cause for concern for the U.S.

The imagery collected by CSIS shows progress on what appears to be an antenna array with a diameter of 130 to 200 meters (425 to 655 feet). Similar arrays, according to the analysts, have shown the ability to track signals up to 15,000 kilometers (9,300 miles).

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the CSIS report. But it follows a report last year by The Wall Street Journal that China was paying Cuba several billion dollars to build a spy facility.

U.S. officials later said that China had upgraded its intelligence facilities in Cuba in 2019 but that U.S. pushback had prevented Beijing from achieving its goals.

“We’re confident that we can continue to meet our security commitments,” said Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder while briefing reporters Tuesday.

“We know that the PRC [People’s Republic of China] is going to continue to try to enhance its presence in Cuba, and we will continue to keep working to disrupt that,” he said in response to a question from VOA. “We’re continuing to monitor this closely, taking steps to counter it.”

China on Tuesday rejected the findings of the CSIS report, with the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Washington calling them “nothing but slander.”

“The U.S. side has repeatedly hyped-up China’s establishment of spy bases or conducting surveillance activities in Cuba,” Liu Pengyu told VOA in an email.

“The U.S. should immediately stop its malicious smearing of China,” Liu said, adding, “The U.S. is no doubt the leading power in terms of eavesdropping and does not even spare its Allies [sic].”

Cuba also pushed back against the CSIS report, singling out a write-up in The Wall Street Journal.

“Without citing a verifiable source or showing evidence, it seeks to scare the public with legends about Chinese military bases that do not exist and no one has seen,” according to a post by Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio on the X social media platform.

The CSIS report says monitoring stations in Cuba could help China to acquire needed capabilities and insights as it tries to militarily surpass the United States.

“Collecting data on activities like military exercises, missile tests, rocket launches, and submarine maneuvers would allow China to develop a more sophisticated picture of U.S. military practices,” the report said.

“Cuban facilities would also provide the ability to monitor radio traffic and potentially intercept data delivered by U.S. satellites as they pass over highly sensitive military sites across the southern United States,” the report said.

Such monitoring stations could also help China gain access to what the report describes as a “treasure trove of data” from commercial communications transiting the southeastern U.S.
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Washington — It has been more than a month since Lai Ching-te took office as Taiwan’s newly elected president. Since the people of the self-governing island elected Lai in January, China has been increasing its pressure on Taiwan. Beijing considers Taiwan a part of its territory and views Lai as a “separatist.”

China’s ambassador to the U.S, Xie Feng, did not respond to VOA’s request for an interview last year when he arrived in Washington.  VOA sat down with Taiwan’s top envoy to the U.S., Alexander Tah-Ray Yui, to talk about Lai’s foreign policy vision, China’s policies in the South China sea and new Chinese guidelines advocating for the punishment of those strongly supporting Taiwan independence. Also discussed was artificial intelligence and Taiwan’s influence in the Caribbean, where five countries have diplomatic ties with the island.  

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: As a representative of Taiwan in the U.S., what is the single most important thing you hope to accomplish here?

Alexander Tah-Ray Yui, Taiwan’s top envoy to the U.S.: Be it security, defense, be it technology, culture, education, etc. — and it’s been steadily growing — obviously, my wish to accomplish here is to reach out, not only to the government, to Congress, but also to the American people to show that Taiwan-U.S. relations are relevant and are important for both of us. It’s reciprocal, beneficial for both peoples, and we’ll continue to promote that.

VOA: There’s been mounting pressure from China, especially since the new [Taiwan] president started his office. What are some of the most challenging aspects of your diplomatic work here in the U.S., especially during an election year? And do you feel that pressure from China?

Yui: After President Lai Ching-te’s assumption on May 20th, things have gotten even more aggressive — [China] conducted military maneuvers around the island, and the presence of military airplanes and ships, near and around our territorial waters is constant. At the same time, PRC [People’s Republic of China] has been conducting what we call “lawfare” — law warfare — lately. [On] June 15th, they [China] implemented the Coast Guard Law number three, which in that law, again, I’m just loosely interpreting, [the] Chinese Coast Guard, using that law, can arrest and detain all within their territorial waters, which includes the whole South China Sea, East China Sea, etc., detain foreigners, seamen, if they deem that they’re in unlawful activities. They can detain them [for] up to 60 days without due process.

[On June 21] they [China] announced the 22 suggestions on penalizing Taiwan independence. Any Taiwanese — or actually any person, even foreigners — who are aiding, abetting, promoting Taiwan independence could be under these penal sanctions. They can be arrested, put under judicial process — if even in absentia — and the most it could be, [is] under death penalty sanctions if [they are] deemed extreme pro-independence movement supporters. Again, they’re using [the] law to justify that everything they claim is theirs. My government announced that we are elevating the travel warnings to orange, which is second highest level of warning to our citizens to not make unnecessary travel to mainland China, Hong [Kong] and Macao because of this.

You mentioned it is election season for the United States. Obviously, we all watch it with a lot of interest, a lot of attention… But we’re certain that no matter what the outcome of the elections, the relationship between Taiwan and the United States will continue to grow.

VOA: On to technology, Taiwan has been a world leader in semiconductors. China has been trying to be the global leader in artificial intelligence. How does Taiwan plan to compete with China?  

Yui: Taiwan has a lot of relevance in terms of the AI revolution. China has been trying to, doing a lot of work, to advance AI … on microchips, semiconductors. They’ve devoted a lot of resources, a lot of money, a lot of manpower to try to replicate — I’m not saying overcome — just to replicate what Taiwan is doing. And so far, they have not been able to do so. So, it’s important for us to maintain this superiority over mainland China. Because technology has to be used for good. It has to be used for exploring, expanding human imagination and benefits instead of being used to control its own people.

VOA: China has been active in the Caribbean with its infrastructure and investments. Some analysts even call it a key battleground for China to isolate Taiwan in the Caribbean. What is Taiwan’s position?  

Yui: PRC has been utilizing the Road and Belt Initiative to try to bring Chinese state-owned companies to build this large and often unnecessary infrastructure, through Chinese financing at high costs. What we are doing and what other countries — the United States and Europe — is that we offer a different alternative to these kind(s) of developments, which is more humanistic. We’ve always been allies offering through our technical commission the necessary cooperation that they need in terms of medical assistance, education, technology, agriculture, etc. [This] is what they really need and not all these humongous, unnecessary projects that cost a lot of money.
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islamabad — A new study has revealed that recent floods in Pakistan have substantially weakened its societal resilience in coping with and recovering from such disasters as the threat from climate change continues to grow.

The London-headquartered independent global charity Lloyd’s Register Foundation said Tuesday the findings are part of the latest edition of their flagship World Risk Poll Resilience Index.

The study also highlighted that the number of Pakistanis who have experienced a disaster in the past five years has more than doubled since 2021, increasing from 11% to 27%.

“This increase has been driven primarily by the extensive floods that hit the country in 2022, affecting regions containing around 15% of the population,” the study said.

The report noted that community and society resilience scores declined sharply in the regions most affected by the floods, particularly in the southern Sindh province.

“These scores declined because people reported losing confidence in the support of the government, community and infrastructure — at a national level, those who said their government cared ‘not at all’ about them and their well-being rose from 60% in 2021 to almost three-quarters [72%] in 2023.”

Meanwhile, the country’s already low individual and household resilience levels failed to improve, with Pakistan ranking in the bottom 10 globally for both resilience scores, according to the report.

Nancy Hey, the director of evidence and insight at Lloyd’s Register Foundation, urged policymakers in Pakistan to prioritize rebuilding and strengthening the resilience of the most affected communities.

She said this would better prepare them to face natural hazards and other potential causes of disasters in the wake of the growing threat of climate change.

“For residents of Pakistan, catastrophic flooding is largely responsible for the doubling in disaster experience since 2021. This may have led to a ‘reality check’ for residents in terms of how prepared they feel for such events, with community and societal resilience particularly negatively affected,” Hey said.

In 2022, Pakistan’s southern and southwestern regions experienced devastating floods triggered by climate change-induced unusually heavy monsoon rains, killing more than 1,700 people, affecting 33 million others, and submerging approximately one-third of Pakistan.

The South Asian nation of about 245 million contributes less than 1% to global carbon emissions but bears the brunt of climate change.

The country’s weather patterns have changed dramatically in recent years, and it officially “ranks fifth among the countries most affected by global warming.”

April was recorded as the wettest month in Pakistan since 1961, with more than double the usual monthly rainfall, killing scores of people and destroying property as well as farmland.

In May and June, Pakistan experienced relatively hotter heat waves, with temperatures in some districts rising to more than 52 degrees Celsius for days. The hot weather prompted authorities in May to temporarily shut down education for half of Pakistan’s schoolchildren to protect them from heatstroke and dehydration.

The United Nations has warned that an estimated 200,000 Pakistanis could be affected by the coming monsoon season and flash floods, as national weather forecasters project above-normal rainfall.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reviewed preparations for the monsoon season at a special meeting Tuesday and formed “a high-level committee” to handle potential emergencies, his office said in a statement.

National Disaster Management Authority officials told the meeting that all relevant institutions and Pakistani troops remain on “high alert” in vulnerable districts. They were quoted as saying that “adequate stocks” of boats, tents, drainage pumps, medicines and other essential items were available for people in areas prone to rain-related disasters.”
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Colombo, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka will save $5 billion following the restructure of its bilateral debt, much of which is owed to China, through slashed interest rates and longer repayment schedules, the president said Tuesday.

The island nation defaulted on its foreign borrowings in 2022 during an unprecedented economic crisis that precipitated months of food, fuel and medicine shortages.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe said a deal struck last week had secured a moratorium on debt payments until 2028, extending the tenure of loans by eight years and cutting interest rates to an average of 2.1%.

Wickremesinghe said bilateral lenders led by China, the government’s largest single creditor, did not agree to take a haircut on their loans, but the terms agreed would nonetheless help Sri Lanka.

“With the restructure measures we have agreed, we will make a saving of $5.0 billion,” Wickremesinghe told parliament in his first address to the legislature since the debt deal.

Some of Sri Lanka’s loans from China are at high interest rates, going up to nearly 8.0% compared to borrowings from Japan, the second largest lender, at less than 1.0%.

Sri Lanka struck separate deals with China and the rest of the bilateral creditors, including Japan, France and India.

Bilateral creditors account for 28.5% of Sri Lanka’s outstanding foreign debt of $37 billion, according to treasury data from March. This excludes government-guaranteed external loans.

China accounts for $4.66 billion of the $10.58 billion that Sri Lanka has borrowed from other countries.

Wickremesinghe said he expected to complete shortly the restructure of a further $14.7 billion in external commercial loans, including $2.18 billion from the China Development Bank.

Sri Lanka’s 2022 crisis sparked months of public protests that eventually forced the resignation of then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa after an angry mob stormed his compound.

Wickremesinghe said the nation was bankrupt when he took over and he hoped the $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund bailout he secured last year would be the island’s last.

Colombo had gone to the IMF, the international lender of last resort, on 16 previous occasions and the debt restructuring is a condition of the IMF bailout.
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Västernorrland, Sweden — Björn Alexander Düben, a German assistant professor at Jilin University’s School of Public Diplomacy, was mysteriously dismissed and instructed to leave China after a nine-year tenure, following his participation in an interview with Voice of America (VOA). This dismissal highlights the severe restrictions on free speech imposed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Düben’s troubles began shortly after he commented on Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to Europe in an article published by VOA Mandarin on May 11. The next day, he received a WeChat message from the university’s international secretary, which stated, “It is well known that colleges and universities must be responsible for any form of interviews with domestic and foreign media.” This message hinted at the sensitive nature of his comments regarding the Chinese leadership.

On May 15, Düben was informed that his classes for the day were suspended due to all classrooms being occupied. Shortly after, a colleague informed him that not only were his classes canceled indefinitely, but his employment was also being terminated, citing decisions made by “unspecified higher-level authorities.” Düben was also told that his China Talent visa, which was valid until 2033, would be canceled unless he chose to resign or face a disciplinary inquiry, both of which would likely lead to his dismissal.

Feeling cornered and fearing repercussions from contesting the decision, Düben chose to resign. Following his resignation, he was told he could retain his visa but had to leave China by May 30 and would be barred from re-entering the country. The university administrator indicated that these were instructions from “above,” allowing no room for negotiation.

This incident wasn’t Düben’s first foray into media commentary. Over the years, he had frequently provided insights on sensitive topics related to China’s foreign policy for various international outlets, including Reuters and The Diplomat, a current affairs magazine. However, his comments on Xi Jinping’s visit, despite being similar in nature to his previous commentary, triggered unprecedented consequences, possibly due to the current heightened political sensitivities in China.

Eric, who did not provide a last name, is a former agent of the Political Security Bureau of China’s Ministry of Public Security who has since fled to Australia. He shed light on the possible internal reactions to Düben’s comments. He suggested that such statements could be seen as offensive by Chinese authorities, particularly if they perceive them as undermining the image of the CCP or its leaders. Eric explained, “After your report came out, anyone who sees it, such as Chinese media correspondents stationed abroad or other officials, may report the public opinion involving the number one leader to their superiors… The senior leaders of the superior department will think the situation is serious and initiate countermeasures, such as deciding to expel the person mentioned in the article from the country.”

Furthermore, Düben commented on the Russia-Ukraine war in the VOA story, noting that “Russia has long been short of basic ammunition, but now many supply loopholes have been plugged,” and “Russia currently needs the most parts that China can provide but is difficult to track specific dual-use parts.” Eric said the comment on the loopholes needs fact-checking. “If it’s not true, the Chinese government will think it is a frame-up and smear, and the anger of being wronged can easily lead to retaliation. If true, how can an ordinary assistant professor come to this conclusion?”

The conditions of Düben’s employment contract at Jilin University, which mandated adherence to China’s sovereignty and social order and prohibited any activities that could disrupt academic or ideological norms, were also noted. These vague clauses could have been weaponized against him, impacting his legal standing and complicating any defense he might mount in a legal challenge against his dismissal.

Erika Staffas Edström, an analyst at the Swedish National China Center at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, commented on the broader implications of such incidents. She told VOA, “It is clear that the Chinese Communist Party has stepped up its efforts to strengthen its control on global discourse and information in recent years. However, it is too early to say whether this specific incident represents another step by the Chinese Communist Party to strengthen its control over free speech.”

Overall, Düben’s case exemplifies the increasing challenges that foreign academics face in China, where political sensitivities can trigger harsh reactions from authorities, leading to censorship and suppression of academic freedom. This incident not only affects Düben but also serves as a warning to the international academic and diplomatic communities about the risks of engaging in sensitive discussions related to China’s political landscape.

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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