Austin, Texas — As Washington and Beijing move cautiously to mend frayed relations, China is working to boost people-to-people ties, which saw a dramatic decline during the COVID pandemic.

Since last fall, China has hosted mayors from more than two dozen sister cities amid a renewed push to rebuild contacts with the 284 cities and states that Beijing says it maintains. The push kicked off with a visit by California Governor Gavin Newsom to China and began picking up steam around the time of last year’s meeting between President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.

Xi, the Chinese president, is also spearheading an effort to bring 50,000 students to China over the next five years.

Last month, a group of high school students from Muscatine, Iowa, visited China. Another group from Tacoma, Washington, will visit its sister city of Fuzhou in southern Fujian province in March.

Xi’s push for more sister-city engagement comes as the number of students studying in China dropped to just 350 in 2022 compared to around 15,000 six or seven years ago. The number increased slightly to 700 in 2023.

It also comes as foreign businesses in China are struggling with slumping confidence, a slowing economy and unpredictable official behavior including raids and the expansion of an anti-spy law.

Some worry that the push is part of an effort to regain control of the narrative and draw attention away from bigger concerns such as China’s military aggression toward Taiwan or in the South China Sea, or its human rights abuses and handling of Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.

Others see it as a necessary part of keeping the lines of communication open and building understanding.

In October of last year, Kim Norton, the mayor of Rochester, Minnesota, joined one of the first groups to visit. He told VOA that memories of the trip are still fresh in his mind, and that many sister city relationships were rekindled during the visit.

“It was a great experience. Everyone we met was very nice to us,” Norton said. “I really enjoyed meeting the Chinese people, experiencing Chinese cities, and understanding the local culture and issues related to climate change.”

Others who participated in the visit included Jim Brainard, the retired mayor of Carmel, Indiana; Barbara Buffaloe, mayor of Columbia, Missouri; Lee Harris, mayor of Shelby County, Tennessee; Chokwe Lumumba, mayor of Jackson, Mississippi; and Robyn Tannehill, mayor of Oxford, Mississippi.

During the visit, which was organized by the United States Heartland China Association, a sister city contract was signed twinning Carmel, Indiana, with Xiangyang in Hubei Province.

The mayoral delegation visited five cities: Hong Kong, Wuhan, Nanjing, Suzhou and Shanghai; test-drove electric vehicles produced by China Lantu Company; met with students from Wuhan University; watched a performance of the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra; and participated in the China International Import Expo.

Jessica Bissett, director of leadership programs at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, said local government level exchanges have become a new trend. When U.S.-China relations are tense, state and provincial governments, especially municipal governments, have more leeway to decide what kind of exchanges and cooperation are best for local economic development.”

Governors, mayors, their biggest responsibilities are to grow their economies and to make sure that their constituents have enough jobs and that they can have the best quality of life as possible,” said Bissett.

“So … if U.S.-China economic relations would benefit their constituents, their towns, their states or their cities, then they’re going to look into potential opportunities.”

She said that for Chinese local governments, last year’s economic downturn has also created incentive for such exchanges. She added that the U.S. State Department is also happy to see this kind of active exchange between local governments.

“The State Department now has a special unit that is focusing on sub-national relations,” Bissett added. “I think they would be encouraging things that are happening right now.”

VOA’s Mandarin service reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Washington for comments but did not receive a response.

Given the heightened national security concerns in both countries, pushing forward local government level cooperation has its challenges.

Li Jing, director of an investment institution in Shandong Province who requested that a pseudonym be used so he could speak more freely with VOA Mandarin, said that before the U.S.-China trade war, he often helped to invite U.S. local government officials, entrepreneurs, university scholars, and well-known young entrepreneurs visit Shandong Province.

He said he would help Chinese to make capital investments in American companies, and American companies to establish operations in China and participate in project development. Such delegations used to be held several times a year, he said.

Due to the U.S.-China trade war and the pandemic, such delegations were suspended for several years. Last year, he wanted to restart such activities but encountered many difficulties.

“Some [U.S.] companies were worried that after taking Chinese capital, their market development in the U.S. and other Western countries will be hindered, and they may even be sanctioned by the Western governments,” he said. “Some American university professors are also worried about the consequences of cooperation with China. It may affect their work in the U.S.”

He said that although most Americans he contacted were still interested in the Chinese market, they were also worried about the national security risks of cooperating with the Chinese government or accepting Chinese capital.

Gordon Chang, a distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute think tank, believes that such exchanges should be stopped.

“China’s Communist Party is determined and relentless. It uses every point of contact with America to take down our country. That means every point of contact, no matter how innocent looking, is dangerous to us,” Chang said.

Some have already responded to those concerns.

Shortly after retired Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard visited China and signed a new sister city relationship with Xiangyang, the city’s new mayor Sue Finkham announced this month that it was withdrawing its membership from the United States Heartland China Association or USHCA, citing concerns about the group’s close ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Carmel, however, has not ended its sister city relationship with Xiangyang.

USHCA declined to respond to several requests from VOA for comment.

Mayor Norton said that while international politics was not the focus of his visit to China, the delegation cooperated with the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Embassy in China, understood the matters that needed attention in international relations, and ensured that the relationship between the local governments of the two countries would not cause conflicts at the level of national interests.

Bissett said local governments should be cautious about cooperation in high-tech and intellectual property fields. However, she said the two countries shouldn’t use national security as an excuse to scrutinize everything.

“We need to give people more credit when they choose to engage with China and go on these trips and have faith in them that they can make the distinction for themselves,” she said.

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.

This story originated in VOA’s Mandarin Service.
…

ISLAMABAD — A United Nations study revealed Friday that approximately two-thirds (67%) of women in Afghanistan fear the rights crisis would intensify if the country’s Taliban government is granted formal international recognition. 

The report comes ahead of Sunday’s U.N.-convened conference in Qatar, where member states and regional organizations’ special envoys on Afghanistan will discuss the global engagement approach with the Taliban. 

De facto Afghan authorities have been invited to the event, but have linked their participation to being received as official representatives of the country by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who will host the two-day event in the Gulf state’s capital, Doha.  

“Women expressed dread and anxiety when asked to consider the possibility of international recognition of the DFA (de facto authorities),” according to the report jointly prepared by U.N. Women, the International Organization for Migration, and the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

“Under the current circumstances, it could exacerbate the women’s rights crisis and increase the risk that the DFA would reinforce and expand existing restrictions targeting women and girls,” the report said. 

The findings are based on interviews the U.N. agencies conducted online and in-person with 745 women across the 34 Afghan provinces between January 27 and February 8. 

The Taliban have enforced their strict interpretation of Islamic law since they retook control of Afghanistan in August 2021, banning most Afghan women from work and girls from receiving an education beyond the sixth grade. The curbs have primarily deterred foreign governments from formally recognizing the government in Kabul. 

The U.N. report said that women requested the international community not to recognize the Taliban unless they reverse the restrictions, warning that the hardline rulers’ track record on women’s rights shows “they cannot be trusted to improve the current situation.” 

The interviewees stated that the best way for the world to improve the rights situation in Afghanistan was to link international aid “to better conditions for women, and to facilitate opportunities for women to talk directly with the Taliban.” 

The recent Taliban clampdown on women for alleged non-compliance with the Islamic dress code, or hijab, has left women feeling unsafe. 

“While most have always observed the hijab, the style of enforcement involving the use or threat of force contributed to normalizing uncertainty in their daily lives and future opportunities. …These issues have compounded [their] deteriorating mental health,” according to the U.N. study.

Amnesty International demanded Friday that the Doha meeting must mark an end to impunity for human rights abuse under the Taliban.  

The watchdog group noted in its statement that “discriminatory restrictions on the rights of women and girls, with the apparent aim of completely erasing them from public arenas” have intensified in recent months. 

Deprose Muchena, senior director at Amnesty International, said the meeting participants should insist that the Taliban immediately reverse all restrictions curtailing the rights of women and girls and release all those arbitrarily arrested and unlawfully detained. 

“The international community cannot continue to take a ‘business as usual’ approach vis-a-vis the human rights situation in Afghanistan,” Muchena said.  

The Taliban rejected criticism of their governance as Western propaganda to malign their Islamic ruling system in Afghanistan. They maintain their policies are strictly in line with local culture and Islamic law, ruling out any compromise on them.

Amnesty International and nine other organizations wrote a letter to Guterres last week, urging him to ensure Afghan civil society, including women human rights defenders, are full participants in the Doha meeting and that women’s rights are central to all discussions.

Human rights groups have documented a steady increase in the Taliban’s restrictions on women and girls and other human abuses, which they warn “may amount to the crimes against humanity of general persecution.” 
…

SINGAPORE — Singapore will play host to Asia’s biggest air show next week for the first time since the end of COVID border restrictions, with regional travel rebounding and the military side of the show bristling with defensive systems and nervous arms buyers.

An expected full return of civil demand in Asia is being tested by an industry-wide supply crunch and macroeconomic headwinds, however — especially in the world’s second-largest aviation market, China — while geopolitical tensions have put weapons in the spotlight.

“Supply chain issues are limiting the ability of many airlines to upgrade their fleets and service their aircraft,” said Association of Asia Pacific Airlines head Subhas Menon.

The biennial show will feature the first trip outside Chinese territory for China’s first homegrown passenger jet, COMAC’s narrow-body C919.

With the dominant two plane manufacturers, Airbus and Boeing, struggling to ramp up production and meet demand for new planes, and Boeing struggling with a string of crises, air show attendees will be watching how the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, or COMAC, positions itself as a viable alternative.

Many inside the industry caution that only four C919s are in service in China; the plane is only certified by Chinese regulators; and the C919 relies on international supply chains.

Nevertheless, China’s aviation authority has said it would promote the plane internationally this year and pursue European Union Aviation Safety Agency certification.

“We have also seen a growing trend where clients are including the C919 option in their fleet evaluation,” said Adam Cowburn of Alton Aviation Consultancy.

COMAC will be one of two commercial plane makers flying their planes alongside Airbus. Boeing will not send a commercial aircraft to the show this year.

It is the first major international industry event since last month’s blowout of a door plug on a 737 MAX 9 pushed Boeing into its second safety crisis in five years and sent images of a fuselage with a gaping hole whizzing across the globe.

Analyst Sash Tusa of U.K.-based Agency Partners said that in the past, the industry rarely discussed aviation safety in public, on the assumption that any mention would undermine confidence.

“But this omerta no longer seems to apply,” he added in a note.

Environmental impact

Singapore will invite industry delegates to discuss aviation’s environmental impact and will reveal a plan for making Singapore’s aviation sector sustainable. In November, the global aviation industry agreed to lower fuel carbon emissions 5% by 2030, toward a goal of “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050.

“For the industry to meet its Fly Net Zero ambitions by 2050, Asia will be a key driver given that it will continue to remain the largest aviation market,” Cowburn said.

A massive ramp-up in sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, production is the current hope for meeting these targets, but it costs three to five times more than traditional jet fuel and there are concerns about how to sustainably meet demand.

“That awareness of aviation’s climate impact has been rising, and the questions about this industry’s license to operate have been increasingly raised — without there being a credible path of tackling that problem,” said Sami Jauhiainen of refiner Neste, which started refining SAF in Singapore last year.

Defense needs

Some new freighters are also in demand, delegates said. Amid spiraling tensions over Taiwan, disputes over South China Sea sovereignty and a spike in North Korean missile tests, regional defense budgets are rising. Systems from small drones to complex sub-hunting aircraft will be on display.

The war in Ukraine, which has seen extensive use of high-end air defenses, and repeated attacks on Red Sea shipping, may also spur interest in systems that can intercept missiles and drones, as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms used to keep tabs on adversaries. No Russian companies are listed among the exhibitors at the air show.

Six air forces will stage flying demonstrations, including the United States and India.
…

NEW DELHI — Farmers blocked highways and held demonstrations in many rural areas in northern India on Friday to protest a range of grievances that also have led tens of thousands to march toward the capital in tractors and wagons.

Farmers in the northern states of Haryana and Punjab held sit-ins near toll plazas on major highways in the strike, supported by some trade unions. Authorities advised commuters to plan routes carefully to avoid blocked roads.

Tens of thousands of farmers began a protest march toward New Delhi earlier this week to demand guaranteed prices for their produce, but they were stopped by the police about 200 kilometers away from the capital. The farmers are camping on the border between Punjab and Haryana after being blocked by concrete and metal barricades. Police detained some protesters.

Authorities have also suspended mobile internet service in some areas of Haryana, blocked social media accounts of some protest leaders and used drones to drop tear gas canisters on the protesters.

The farmers’ march comes two years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government faced similar protests that continued for more than a year. At that time, farmers camped on the capital’s outskirts to demonstrate against new agriculture laws that were later withdrawn.

At the heart of the latest protests is a demand for legislation that would guarantee minimum support prices for all farm produce.

Currently, the government protects agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices by setting a minimum purchase price for certain essential crops, a system that was introduced in the 1960s to help shore up food reserves and prevent shortages. The farmers want legislation that will apply protection to all produce.

The protesting farmers are mostly from Punjab and Haryana and are relatively better-off than farmers in other Indian states. But increasing cultivation costs and rising debts have led them to overproduce rice and wheat, crops for which they get a minimum support price, or MSP. However, those water-guzzling crops have also depleted the water table in the two states and forced farmers to look for other alternatives. Farmers say a guaranteed minimum support price for other crops would stabilize their incomes.

Farmers are also pressing the government to follow through on promises to double their income, waive their loans and withdraw legal cases brought against them during the earlier 2021 protests.

Some economists say that implementation of the demands could risk food inflation. However, experts also point out that a key cause of the farmers’ frustration is the lack of implementation of policies that are already in place.

“The system of MSP is already there, but the government doesn’t follow through on what it is promising,” said Himanshu, an economist at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University who goes by his first name.

The system of guaranteed prices — which applies to 23 crops — has been in place for decades, but the government mostly pays those prices for crops like rice and wheat, he said. “For the remaining 21 crops, the government hardly buys at those prices. That’s a problem. That’s why they want a guarantee.”

Several meetings between farm leaders and government ministers have failed to end the deadlock.

Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, who met farm leaders on Thursday, said the talks were positive and the two sides will meet again Sunday.

“We believe we will all find a solution together peacefully,” Munda told reporters.

The protests come at an important time for India with elections to be held in a few months. Modi is widely expected to secure a third successive term.

In 2021, Modi’s decision to repeal the agricultural laws was seen as a move to appease farmers, an influential voting bloc, ahead of crucial state polls.
…

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — At the beginning of the year, as western Japan reeled from an earthquake that killed more than 200 people and damaged tens of thousands of homes, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida a message of “sympathy and condolences.”

Kim’s message, published in North Korea’s main newspaper, was brief and in many ways unextraordinary. However, it was also unusually conciliatory, given that the two countries have no formal ties and that North Korean state media propagandists regularly lob fiery insults at Japanese leaders.

More than a month later, North Korea is now giving more hints that it may be willing to improve relations with Japan, although many analysts are skeptical that will happen.

In a statement late Thursday, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korea’s leader, cautiously praised the “positive” statements of Kishida, who last week told Japanese lawmakers it is “extremely important” that he take the initiative to build top-level ties with Pyongyang.

“I think there would be no reason not to appreciate his recent speech as a positive one, if it was prompted by his real intention to boldly free himself from the past fetters and promote the DPRK-Japan relations,” Kim said, using an abbreviation for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.

Kim, who insisted the comments reflect only her “personal view,” also seemed to refer to Kishida’s oft-stated desire to hold a summit with her brother. However, she said, a Kishida visit to Pyongyang would only be possible if Japan stopped objecting to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and does not raise the “already settled” issue of North Korea’s abductions of Japanese nationals.

Japan may find it difficult to accept those conditions. On Friday, Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Japanese government’s top spokesperson, would not say how Tokyo views Kim’s comments, but he said Japan cannot accept that the abduction issue has been resolved.

“We remain unchanged – Japan intends to comprehensively resolve pending issues, such as nuclear and missiles and the abductions,” Hayashi told reporters.

Abductions a big obstacle

The abduction issue has for decades been a barrier to improving Japan-North Korea relations.

Japan says North Korea abducted 17 Japanese citizens as part of efforts to train its spies in Japanese language and culture in the 1970s and ‘80s.

North Korea has only ever admitted to kidnapping 13 Japanese nationals. In 2002, North Korea issued an apology and returned five of those who had been abducted, while claiming the others had already died. Many in Japan continue to believe that some of the victims of the effort are still alive.

Public opinion polls consistently suggest the abduction issue is a top priority for Japanese voters, Jeffrey J. Hall, a Japanese politics specialist at the Kanda University of International Studies, said.

“Almost every single Japanese conservative politician wears blue label pins on a daily basis to signal their belief that the abductee issue is extremely important and has not been adequately resolved,” Hall told VOA.

“Kishida cannot simply sidestep the issue and hold a bilateral summit that only focuses on other issues,” he added.

Any progress on the abductions issue could provide Kishida a much-needed boost. The approval rating for his Cabinet is just 25%, according to a recent poll by public broadcaster NHK, amid economic woes and a ruling party scandal related to political funds.

Challenges ahead

However, very few analysts predict Tokyo and Pyongyang will find a path forward – in large part because former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, father of Kim Jong Un, declared the abductions issue resolved.

“It’s very hard for the administration in North Korea to go back on that,” said Christopher Green, a Korea specialist and assistant professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

“As we can see in Kim Yo Jong’s statement, the North Koreans are already setting out their stall clearly, saying that the abductions issue must not be central, because it has already been dealt with,” Green added.

North Korea, though, may still find it worthwhile to engage Japan because it may believe it can “force open some cracks” in the recently expanded trilateral cooperation among the United States, Japan, and South Korea, according to Green.

“If by some very unlikely turn of events the long-standing issues in their bilateral relationship can be resolved, so much the better. If not, well they still caused angst between Tokyo and Seoul, and Pyongyang will find a way to blame the perfidious Japanese for the failure. It is a win-win for the North; or at least there is no chance of Pyongyang losing,” he added.

Under conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea has pursued closer relations and defense ties with Japan, Korea’s former colonial ruler.

However, the convergence among South Korea, Japan, and the United States remains fragile, reflecting lingering differences over shared history and U.S. political volatility, according to Robert Ward, senior fellow for Japanese security studies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

“Kishida will be mindful to keep both Seoul and Washington abreast of developments with Pyongyang to reduce the risk of undesirable surprises,” Ward told VOA.

“Kishida will be visiting Seoul in March and Washington in April – these would be important signalers of alignment between the three, particularly if a Kishida-Kim meeting goes ahead,” Ward added.

So far, there are no public signs of tension in the trilateral relationship.

Jung Pak, a senior U.S. State Department official, told reporters Thursday that Washington supports Japan’s attempts to engage North Korea.

South Korea and Japan are also “closely communicating” on the issue of North Korea and any future dialogue with Pyongyang, according to a South Korean official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who was quoted Friday by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

Any contact between Japan and North Korea should be made in a way that would “help promote the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula,” the South Korean official was quoted as saying.
…

islamabad, pakistan — A week after Pakistan’s general elections delivered a hung parliament, runners-up are poised to form a coalition government while the winners continue to protest the results. Observers say the election delivered surprises for all stakeholders.

In the February 8 polls, no single party succeeded in winning a simple majority in the National Assembly. The lower house of Pakistan’s bicameral parliament has 266 general seats, with another 70 reserved for women and minorities. A party or coalition needs 169 seats to form a government.

Candidates backed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf Party, or PTI, won 93 seats. They were forced to run as independents after the party lost its battle for a unified electoral symbol.

Three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), or PMLN, came second with 75 seats. The Pakistan Peoples Party or PPP, led by Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the husband and son of slain Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, finished third with 54 seats.

With Khan so far refusing to build an alliance with Zardari’s PPP, the latter has agreed to throw his weight behind a coalition government led by PMLN.

As poll results are challenged in courts and coalitions are cobbled together, here are some key takeaways from the South Asian nation’s 12th general elections:

Faith in democracy 

Data show that while turnout hovered near 48%, about 60.6 million Pakistanis, more than ever before, came out to vote.

Speculation about possible election delays, a slow start to the campaign season, a military-backed crackdown against Khan’s party, and a low level of trust in the electoral process left many questioning whether voters would show up on election day in sizable numbers.

“I think, contrary to predictions that [a] lackluster election campaign would lead to voters being disenchanted and not engaged enough with the political process … voters did come out in sufficiently large numbers, which showed their faith in the democratic process and their belief that their vote did matter,” former Pakistani diplomat Maleeha Lodhi told VOA.

Political analyst Zahid Hussain called this “a vote for democracy and against repression.”

“I think they [voters] were angry and they wanted to see a change,” he told VOA.

That anger, observers say, was primarily aimed toward the military establishment, which has a history of manipulating Pakistan’s political landscape. Both Sharif and Khan have accused the top brass of forcing them out of office.

“The kind of vote that the PTI-supported candidate got is a message to the establishment that their policies are not acceptable at the common-person level,” Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Lahore political analyst, told VOA.

Still, both Rizvi and Hussain said they believed the establishment’s meddling in politics would not end.

“I don’t think the establishment is capable of learning anything different,” Hussain said.

As results came in after a delay of nearly 15 hours amid widespread allegations of rigging, Pakistan’s Army Chief General Asim Munir issued a statement calling on all to “move on from the politics of anarchy and polarization.”

Sharif’s political career

Prior to the election, Sharif was seen as the establishment’s favorite. However, he lost to a PTI-backed candidate in one of two constituencies where he was a candidate, and his win in his stronghold of Lahore against another PTI stalwart was controversial.

Sharif has nominated his younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, to lead a coalition government in the center and his daughter Maryam Nawaz as the chief minister of Punjab, the largest province.

Sharif’s party rejected any suggestion that after his defeat in one constituency, the 74-year-old leader’s political career was over, saying he would lead decision-making. 

But Hussain said Sharif was damaged by the election result.

“His political career may not have ended, but his legacy will not survive for a very long time. … His party is completely dependent on the military support,” said Hussain, adding that this election marked the beginning of the decline of Sharif’s party, which now “completely revolves around the Sharif family.”

Lesson for Khan 

After losing the vote of no-confidence in 2022, Khan’s party quit parliament instead of sitting on opposition benches. While his street agitation won public support, he failed to force early elections as his rift with the powerful military grew.

“I think the lesson that they [Khan’s party members] have learned is not to walk out of parliament … which may be a good thing. Maybe that begins to moderate the very extreme position that PTI has taken in the past,” said Lodhi, who believes forming the opposition in the next parliament may not be a setback for the party.

“If they are willing to work inside parliament, and they are willing to work as part of the democratic process, I think that might help this party also return to mainstream politics,” Lodhi said.

Stability not in sight 

Protests continue across Pakistan, with PTI and several other parties claiming their mandates were stolen. 

Pakistan’s interim government has rejected international calls for investigating allegations of rigging, saying the electoral process was a sovereign internal affair.

Caretaker of Information Minister Murtaza Solangi told local media that weather and security issues led to delays in tallying the votes. 

In its report, the Free and Fair Election Network, or FAFEN, an Islamabad  observer group, said many election officials failed to follow rules or make necessary arrangements to gather results in a timely manner.

More than a dozen people have died in postelection violence.

The newly elected parliament will be sworn in in the next two weeks. The house will then elect its leader, who will serve as the prime minister.

Both Lodhi and Hussain worry that a coalition of runners-up may not bring the political stability that this nation of 241 million people needs to tackle its deepening economic crisis and soaring terrorism threat.

“A minority government with no legitimacy will not survive for a very long time, despite the backing of the establishment,” Hussain said.
…

Can the United States make a return to the surface of the moon? NASA and a private U.S. spaceflight company hope so. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space.
…

…

…

Shambhu, India — Protesting Indian farmers relaxed inside their tractors Thursday as they awaited orders from leaders to advance on the capital, vowing they’d last longer than the police currently blocking their route.

“We are here for the long haul,” said Mela Singh, a 70-year-old from Punjab state’s Mansa district, one of the thousands of farmers setting up camp on the highway after their column was stalled by roadblocks about 200 kilometers north of New Delhi.

“A month, six months, a year, it does not matter, we will only retreat when we win this battle.”

Community kitchens and makeshift medical clinics have been established, while other farmers snooze beneath tarpaulins stretched over their tractor trailers.

Thousands of farmers this week launched what they have dubbed “Delhi Chalo”, or “March to Delhi,” to demand a law to fix a minimum price for their crops, in addition to other concessions including the waiving of loans.

The demonstrations come ahead of national elections likely to start in April.

They echo ones in January 2021, when farmers used their tractors to smash through barriers and rolled into New Delhi on Republic Day during their then year-long protest.

This time around, their hundreds of tractors have been halted by fearsome police barricades of concrete blocks, rolls of razor wire and barrages of tear gas when the farmers come too close.

But the tense initial energy of the protest — marked by sloganeering and farmers using kites to ward off police drones dropping tear gas from the air — has given way to a more languid wait.

‘Everyone’s fight’

The protesting farmers are in no hurry to head back home.

Kamaljit Singh, 35, insisted everyone had a cup of the super-sweet milk tea he had on offer.

“We have 100 liters of milk,” said Kamaljit, a farmer from Punjab’s Patiala district, saying his village had gifted the milk to support the protest.

“Another 200 liters are on their way. We have enough for everyone.”

The milk is a symbol that all are behind the protest, he said.

“Every person from the village has contributed,” said Kamaljit. “This is everyone’s fight.”

Two-thirds of India’s 1.4 billion people draw their livelihood from agriculture, accounting for nearly a fifth of the country’s GDP, according to government figures.

Nearby villages are making sure the protesters are well fed, drawing from the Sikh tradition of “langar”, or community kitchen, and coordinated from village gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship.

“In every village in the vicinity, gurdwaras have set up community kitchens where food is prepared round the clock for the farmers,” said Sukhpal Singh, 63, also from Patiala.

Makhan Singh, a 60-year-old wheat farmer, used a roti to scoop up his breakfast of curry and pickled chilies — food donated by a village close to the camp.

The scent of fresh curry wafts towards the thick lines of baton-wielding riot police, who watch the camp from barricades across the highway.

“The women in our village woke up at 3:00 am to prepare the food,” said Mukhiya Singh, 32, who offered a curry of spiced tomatoes and potatoes.

Earlier this week, police alternated between raking the crowds with water cannon and dropping tear gas.

That prompted medic Mandeep Singh, from Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district, to lend his support at a makeshift medical clinic.

“The tear gas is causing people respiratory troubles,” he said, noting his supplies of antihistamines had already run out.

For now, the farmers await the outcome of another round of talks between union leaders and the authorities in Delhi.

Government efforts to pacify the protesters have met with little success so far.

“What happens next will depend on the meeting,” said Mela Singh.
…

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan on Thursday defended the actions of its coast guard after two people on a Chinese speedboat, which got too close to a frontline Taiwan island, died when their boat overturned while trying to flee a coast guard ship.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Taiwan had for some time been treating Chinese fishermen in a “rough and dangerous” manner, which was the main reason for the “wicked” incident.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained in recent years about Chinese fishing boats and other vessels operating in Taiwan-controlled waters, especially around the Kinmen and Matsu islands which sit a short distance from China’s coast.

On Wednesday, two out of four people on a Chinese speedboat which entered prohibited waters near Kinmen’s Beiding islet, home to a military garrison, died when their boat overturned after it tried to flee from a Taiwan coast guard vessel, the coast guard said.

Taiwan’s Chinese-policy making Mainland Affairs Council said that according to a preliminary investigation, the coast guard performed their duties in accordance with the law and did nothing improper.

It is China which has failed to stop Chinese ships illegally dredging for sand, using explosives and poison to fish and dump garbage in Taiwan waters and the situation has not improved despite complaints, the council said.

“We deeply regret that the mainland crew members refused to cooperate with our law enforcement work this time and an unfortunate incident occurred,” it said in a statement.

“We also hope that the relevant mainland authorities can restrain similar behavior by people on the other side” of the Taiwan Strait, the council added.

Kinmen was the site of frequent fighting during the height of the Cold War but is today a popular tourist destination, though many of the islets which are part of the island group are heavily fortified by Taiwan’s military and off limits to civilians.

Taiwan, whose government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, says China has been using so-called gray-zone warfare, which entails using irregular tactics to exhaust a foe without actually resorting to open combat, including sending civilian ships into or close by Taiwan waters. 
…

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — China and Russia have doubled down on their “no-limits partnership” in recent weeks, with leaders from both countries vowing to maintain “close personal interaction” and the Chinese ambassador to Russia revealing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan to visit China this year. 

During a Feb. 8 call, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin celebrated the deepened bilateral engagement and cooperation between China and Russia in various sectors and criticized what they called “U.S. interference in other countries’ affairs.” 

In addition to the call between Xi and Putin, China’s ambassador to Russia, Zhang Hanhui, told Russian state media Sputnik Feb. 10 that Putin will visit China this year and that the two leaders are expected to hold several meetings during the year.

“Putin’s visit to China [this year] will definitely take place [and] China looks forward to his arrival,” Zhang said in the interview. 

Some analysts say Beijing and Moscow hope to use their recent interactions to show the world they are “strongly aligned with each other.” 

They want to show “that they have each other’s back because they both feel pressure from the U.S.,” Ian Chong, a political scientist at National Singapore University, told VOA by phone.

Since Russia and China share the goal of replacing the U.S. and weakening coordination between Washington and its allies, other experts say Beijing and Moscow believe that it is in their interests to further deepen bilateral ties. 

“While there are frictions between Russia and China, they have been fairly successful in weakening democracies and exploiting their systems,” Sari Arho Havrén, an associate fellow at London’s Royal United Services Institute, told VOA in a written response, adding that the relationship between China and Russia brings more positives than negatives to both countries. 

Despite the mutual commitment to deepen ties, some recent developments may limit the degree of cooperation. Several media outlets reported that the EU is preparing to propose sanctions on three Chinese companies and four companies in Hong Kong for supporting the Russian military. 

The sanctions would be part of EU efforts to close loopholes that may allow Russia to obtain military technologies required for its weapons manufacturing. In response to the news, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it considers the sanctions imposed by the EU “unacceptable.” 

“China strongly opposes the application of illegal sanctions or ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ against China because of China-Russia cooperation,” the ministry said in a statement shared with some media outlets, adding that Beijing “will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.” 

In addition to the proposed sanctions, some Chinese banks have reportedly either ceased operations with Russian or Belarusian companies or tightened regulations around transactions with Russia to comply with Western sanctions on Russia.

In response to the development, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said Moscow is confident that payment issues with China will be solved, adding that trade between China and Russia is expanding successfully.

Despite the closeness of their political relationship, some experts say the EU sanctions on Chinese companies and some Chinese banks’ reluctance to deal with Russian entities show that the commercial relationship between Beijing and Moscow is quite complex. 

“Chinese businesses and the Chinese government are very careful about not getting punished by international sanctions imposed by the U.S. and EU,” Philipp Ivanov, a senior fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute, told VOA in a video interview. 

He said that while diplomatic visits between the two countries will continue, Beijing will try to carefully manage the commercial activities between China and Russia.

“At the moment, it’s hard to see [recent developments] having a huge impact on trade [between China and Russia], but China may adjust its approach [to manage its trade relationship with Russia] in the mid- to long-term,” Ivanov said. 

Since this month marks two years since Putin and Xi declared the “no-limits partnership” between China and Russia, Ivanov said the close bilateral relationship may have reached its peak. “Russia and China are politically and diplomatically very close and their economic and trade ties are growing,” he told VOA. 

However, “since Russia can’t offer anything else to China apart from what’s already offering in terms of energy and commodities, there’s not a lot else that they can do together,” Ivanov said, adding that one area to observe is how Beijing and Moscow coordinate their strategic interests. 

As Switzerland prepares to facilitate possible peace talks on the Ukraine war, all sides are looking at how China positions itself in the process. Following his visit to Beijing earlier this month, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said he hopes China can contribute to the potential peace process by leveraging its close relationship with Russia.

Despite the aspirations expressed by Switzerland, Chong in Singapore said China may prefer to maintain its vague position on Ukraine, which is that all parties will strive to “create favorable conditions for the political settlement of the crisis.” 

“Both Beijing and Moscow may be betting on the possibility of former U.S. President Donald Trump returning to office [in November,] which could reshuffle things to the advantage of China and Russia,” he told VOA. 
…

NEW DELHI — India’s Supreme Court Thursday scrapped a seven-year-old election funding system that allows individuals and companies to donate money to political parties anonymously and without any limits.

The decision is seen as a setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been the largest beneficiary of the system it introduced in 2017.

The system, called “Electoral Bonds,” was challenged by opposition members and a civil society group on grounds that it hindered the public’s right to know who had given money to political parties.

Under the system, a person or company can buy these bonds from the state-run State Bank of India and donate them to a political party of their choice.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said that the system is “unconstitutional.”

The court directed SBI to not issue any more of these bonds.
…

TOKYO — Japan unexpectedly slipped into a recession at the end of last year, losing its title as the world’s third-biggest economy to Germany and raising doubts about when the central bank would begin to exit its decade-long ultra-loose monetary policy.

Some analysts are warning of another contraction in the current quarter as weak demand in China, sluggish consumption and production halts at a unit of Toyota Motor Corp all point to a challenging path to an economic recovery.

“What’s particularly striking is the sluggishness in consumption and capital expenditure that are key pillars of domestic demand,” said Yoshiki Shinke, senior executive economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.

“The economy will continue to lack momentum for the time being with no key drivers of growth.”

Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell an annualized 0.4% in the October-December period after a 3.3% slump in the previous quarter, government data showed on Thursday, confounding market forecasts for a 1.4% increase.

Two consecutive quarters of contraction are typically considered the definition of a technical recession.

While many analysts still expect the Bank of Japan to phase out its massive monetary stimulus this year, the weak data may cast doubt on its forecast that rising wages will underpin consumption and keep inflation durably around its 2% target.

“Two consecutive declines in GDP and three consecutive declines in domestic demand are bad news, even if revisions may change the final numbers at the margin,” said Stephan Angrick, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics.

“This makes it harder for the central bank to justify a rate hike, let alone a series of hikes.”

Economy minister Yoshitaka Shindo stressed the need to achieve solid wage growth to underpin consumption, which he described as “lacking momentum” due to rising prices.

“Our understanding is that the BOJ looks comprehensively at various data, including consumption, and risks to the economy in guiding monetary policy,” he told a news conference after the data’s release, when asked about the impact on BOJ policy.

The yen JPY was steady following the release of the data and last stood at 150.22 per dollar, pinned near a three-month low hit earlier in the week.

The Nikkei N225 rose 0.8%, reversing some of its losses made from the previous session, possibly on expectations the BOJ may continue with its massive easing program for longer than expected.

On a quarterly basis, GDP slid 0.1% against median forecasts of a 0.3% gain, and compared with a 0.8% contraction in the previous quarter.

Consumption, capital expenditure weak

Private consumption, which makes up more than half of economic activity, fell 0.2%, weaker than a market forecast for a 0.1% gain, as rising living costs and warm weather discouraged households from dining out and buying winter clothes.

Capital expenditure, another key private-sector growth engine, fell 0.1%, compared with forecasts of a 0.3% gain, as supply constraints delayed construction projects.

External demand, or exports minus imports, contributed 0.2 percentage point to GDP as exports rose 2.6% from the previous quarter, the data showed.

The BOJ has been laying the groundwork to end negative rates by April and overhaul other parts of its ultra-loose monetary framework but is likely to go slow on any subsequent policy tightening amid lingering risks, sources have told Reuters.

While BOJ officials have not offered clues on when exactly they could end negative rates, many market players expect such an action to happen either in March or April. A Reuters poll taken in January showed April as the top choice among economists for the negative rate policy to be abandoned.

Some analysts say Japan’s tight labor market and robust corporate spending plans are keeping alive the chance of an early exit from ultra-loose policy.

“While the second consecutive contraction in GDP in Q4 would suggest that Japan’s economy is now in recession, business surveys and the labor market tell a different story. Either way, growth is set to remain sluggish this year as the household savings rate has turned negative,” said Marcel Thieliant, head of Asia-Pacific at Capital Economics.

“The (BOJ) has been arguing that private consumption has ‘continued to increase moderately’ and we suspect that it will continue to strike an optimistic tone at its upcoming meeting in March,” Thieliant said, sticking to his projection the bank will end its negative interest rate policy in April.
…

WASHINGTON — Last year, VPN usage in China nearly doubled, according to data from IT education news outlet Techopedia, this despite the country’s strict regime of internet controls of everything from overseas websites to online games.

China’s “Great Firewall” is one of the world’s most comprehensive internet censorship regimes, preventing citizens from accessing websites like Instagram, Wikipedia and YouTube, as well most major news organizations including VOA.

VPNs are outlawed in China because they allow users to jump the “Great Firewall” and securely connect to the internet outside the country while blocking their IP address.

Rob Binns, a journalist with Techopedia, said China’s increasingly strict censorship policies may explain the rise in VPN usage there.

“Looking at VPN usage versus what it’s combating, which is online censorship, we are seeing online censorship in a range of countries, particularly China, becoming more strategic and more surgical,” Binns told VOA in an interview. 

In 2021, Chinese regulators limited teenagers’ access to video games to three hours per week — from 8 to 9 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays — before unveiling more severe restrictions last December which set spending limits on video game platforms and banned incentives for daily logins.

Binns said these regulations on minors may particularly motivate Chinese usage of VPNs.

“With that younger demographic, which is traditionally, extremely, highly tech-literate demographic, they’re always going to be looking for ways to kind of circumvent that top-down pressure from governments and find ways to get around that,” Binns said. “And if that means turning to VPNs to circumvent that, then that’s certainly what we’re seeing.”

Analysts say VPNs empower Chinese internet users to discuss major political issues on the internet without facing governmental blowback.

“Circumvention tools like VPNs can enable people in China to access the global internet, including spaces where they can express themselves freely without fear of censorship,” Kian Vesteinsson, a senior research analyst for technology and democracy at the nonprofit Freedom House, which advocates for political freedom, told VOA in an emailed response. “During unprecedented nationwide protests in late 2022, many Chinese people used VPNs to sidestep the Great Firewall and share their views on otherwise-inaccessible social media platforms.”

Vesteinsson said access to a free, open internet potentially threatens the ruling Chinese Communist Party — hence the government’s crackdowns on internet usage.

“Circumvention technology helped produce one of the most open challenges to CCP rule in decades,” Vesteinsson told VOA. “CCP authorities responded to the 2022 protests in part by scrubbing references to VPNs from the Chinese internet.”

“People face severe consequences for using prohibited VPNs, particularly if they belong to a marginalized ethnic or religious minority or try to access content censored by the authorities,” Vesteinsson added. “The government even removes discussion of VPNs from China-based social media platforms, preventing people from learning about circumvention technology.”

Analysts expect further crackdowns could lead either to additional upticks in VPN usage or a reluctance to use VPNs, depending on how China chooses to further enhance its censorship regime.

“The exact nature of the crackdown, as well as accompanying measures are what decides which effects it is likely to have,” Antonia Hmaidi, a senior analyst at the Berlin-based think tank Mercator Institute for China Studies, told VOA in an email. “China has been so successful in managing its internet partly through making the Great Firewall work not only with fear, but also friction and flooding.”

Hmaidi adds that instead of cracking down, China could also slow the speed of all connections outside the country, which would make it more inconvenient to use VPNs, and maintain an approved list of fast connections for companies.
…

…

ABU MUREIKHA, United Arab Emirates — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Middle East’s first traditional, stone-built Hindu temple on Wednesday, internationalizing his reelection campaign and his effort to push secular India into a Hindu state. 

The trip to the BAPS Hindu Mandir just north of the city of Abu Dhabi capped Modi’s whistlestop tour of the United Arab Emirates during which the Indian leader embraced the UAE’s president, describing him as a brother, and spoke before global leaders at a Dubai summit. 

Modi is widely expected to win a third term as prime minister in the upcoming elections in India, the world’s largest democracy. But Modi’s policies and his governing Bharatiya Janata Party have raised concerns over India’s future, particularly for members of its Muslim minority as they have come under attack in recent years by Hindu nationalist groups. 

That has made warming Indian relations with the Muslim-led Gulf Arab states crucial not only for India’s energy security and for millions of its expatriate workers in the region, but also its international standing. 

Modi visited the temple in Abu Mureikha, built by the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, or BAPS, a worldwide religious and civic organization within the Swaminarayan sect. Modi has close ties to the organization. 

Modi walked past the temple’s seven spires, a nod to the autocratic UAE’s seven sheikhdoms. He looked inside the temple, where earlier Wednesday a priest had consecrated the statues of deities, each worshipped by different Hindu denominations across India. 

The prime minister waved at a crowd of thousands gathered for the event, described as a Festival of Harmony, some spilling out into overflow seating outside. Children greeted Modi, and others cheered his movements through the temple with priests. 

The temple effort extends back home for Modi. In January, he opened a Hindu temple built on the ruins of a historic mosque in the northern city of Ayodhya. 

That temple is dedicated to Hinduism’s Lord Ram and had been wanted by Hindus who describe it as restoring a religion suppressed by centuries of Mughal and British colonial rule. But the 1992 demolition of the mosque at the site trigged riots across India that killed 2,000 people, mostly Muslims.

Earlier Wednesday, Modi spoke before the World Governments Summit in Dubai, hosted by the city-state’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Much of the speech could be seen as a stump speech on the global stage.

“Over the years, the trust of the people of the country on the government of India has become stronger,” Modi said. “People have full faith in both the intentions and commitments of our government.

“It is as a friend to the world that India is moving forward,” he said.

Modi’s personal touch on the trip, including embracing Emirati President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, seems aimed at further cementing ties with the UAE, an oil-rich country that supplies India’s energy needs while also serving as a home for some 3.5 million Indians.

The relationship also underscores the Emirates’ realpolitik foreign policy. Modi received the Emirates’ top civilian honor in 2019 even as he stripped statehood from the disputed Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.
…

Many, especially those with young children are relocating to the western coastal city of Goa
…

…

…

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Wednesday fired multiple cruise missiles into the sea in its fifth test of such weapons since January, South Korea’s military said, extending a streak in weapons demonstrations that’s elevating tensions in the region.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the South Korean and U.S. militaries were analyzing the launches from an area in North Korea’s northeastern coast. The South Korean military didn’t immediately provide the exact numbers of missiles fired or how far they flew.

Experts say North Korea is ramping up pressure on its rivals in an election year in South Korea and the United States, with a long-term focus of forcing Washington to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and extract security and economic concessions from a position of strength.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has also been issuing belligerent statements toward South Korea, including a declaration that he would abandon the North’s long-term objective of reconciliation with its war-divided rival and threatening to annihilate the South with nukes if provoked.

Cruise missiles, which are designed to be highly maneuverable in flight like small airplanes, are among a growing number of weapons North Korea is developing to overwhelm missile defenses, supplementing the country’s vast number of ballistic missiles designed to be fired from land and sea.

The latest launches were North Korea’s sixth missile-launch event this year, including a January 14 test of the country’s first solid-fuel intermediate range missile, which demonstrated its efforts to advance its weaponry targeting remote U.S. targets in the Pacific, including the military hub of Guam.

The North earlier this year tested new cruise missiles designed to be fired from submarines and also long-range cruise missiles with potential range of reaching U.S. military bases in Japan.

United States, South Korea and Japan have been strengthening their combined military exercises and sharpening their nuclear deterrence strategies to cope with the North’s evolving threats.
…

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Millions of Indonesians were choosing a new president Wednesday as the world’s third-largest democracy aspires to become a global economic powerhouse just over 25 years since emerging from a brutal authoritarian era.

The incumbent Indonesian defense minister, who has been accused of human rights atrocities as an ex-general, and two former governors are vying to succeed the still-widely popular President Joko Widodo.

Widodo’s rise from a riverside slum to his country’s presidency has showcased the vibrancy of his Southeast Asian nation’s democracy in a region rife with authoritarian regimes.

The voting in a vast archipelago of 17,000 islands sprawled across three time zones, with a population of 270 million, is a logistical nightmare, with white ballot boxes and ballots being brought by donkeys and on foot in some of the more remote locations. 

Aside from the presidency, about 20,000 national, provincial and district parliamentary posts are being contested by tens of thousands of candidates. About 10,000 hopefuls from 18 political parties are eyeing the national parliament’s 580 seats alone.

The presidency is being contested by Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and two former provincial governors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo.

Subianto, who is the front-runner based on several independent surveys, has picked Widodo’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as his vice-presidential running mate.

Subianto is the only candidate with links to the 1967-98 Suharto dictatorship, when he was a lieutenant general. A longtime commander in the Kopassus special forces, he was dishonorably discharged in 1998 after Kopassus soldiers kidnapped and tortured political opponents of Suharto, his then-father-in-law.

Subianto never faced trial, although several of his men were tried and convicted.

Polls show the 72-year-old Subianto well ahead of his two rivals. While he is the oldest candidate, his running mate is the youngest: 36-year-old Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Widodo’s son.

Raka is below the statutory minimum age of 40 but was allowed to run under an exception created by the Constitutional Court. 

Baswedan, the former head of an Islamic university, served as governor of Jakarta until last year. A former Fulbright scholar, Baswedan had been education and culture minister from 2014 to 2016, when Widodo removed him from the Cabinet.

Pranowo is the governing party candidate but does not have the support of Widodo. He was a national legislator for the governing Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle for 10 years before being elected in 2013 for the first of two terms as Central Java governor.

 
…

islamabad — Pakistan’s former prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, was nominated as the country’s next chief executive Tuesday after a key political party pledged support for his candidacy to end uncertainty stemming from the country’s disputed elections last week that left no clear winner.

Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) made the announcement after emerging as the single largest party with 80 seats in Thursday’s vote but not enough for a simple majority in the 266-seat National Assembly or lower house of Parliament.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is second with 54 seats, while smaller regional parties secured the rest.

Zardari told reporters in Islamabad that his party would provide the needed votes in parliament to elect Sharif as prime minister in order to restore political stability in the country.

“This is why I will not be putting myself forward for the candidacy of the prime minister of Pakistan,” said the 35-year-old son of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. “We don’t want to see a perpetual crisis in our country.”

But Zardari said his party would not participate in the Cabinet, and analysts said that could lead to a weak and unstable government in the nuclear-armed South Asian nation of about 241 million people.

Imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan warned PML-N and PPP against forming a government with “stolen votes,” renewing claims that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won a “resounding 2/3rd [two-thirds] majority” in Thursday’s elections.

Independent candidates affiliated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of Khan have won 92 seats, making them the largest group. However, they have not won enough to form a simple majority, and because they ran as individuals, they cannot form a government on their own.

Khan issued a statement from prison through his family in response to the announcement by the two bitter PTI rivals that they would join forces to form the future political setup.

“As the people of Pakistan have clearly pronounced their verdict, there is a dire need for democracy and fairness in Pakistan’s elections,” the 71-year-old politician stated.

“I warn against the misadventure of forming a government with stolen votes. Such daylight robbery will not only be a disrespect to the citizens but will also push the country’s economy further into a downward spiral,” Khan added.

The PTI has alleged that the vote was rigged and has legally challenged some results. The caretaker Pakistani government and the election commission have rejected those allegations.

On Tuesday, the PTI announced that it had decided to form a coalition with a smaller party called Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Pakistan so it could claim reserved seats in the lower house.

Khan, a cricket star turned prime minister, was ousted from power in 2022 through an opposition parliamentary vote of no confidence, a move he said was orchestrated by Pakistan’s powerful military, plunging the country into political turmoil.

The deposed leader is in jail after being convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms on controversial charges of corruption, violating a marriage law and revealing state secrets while in office. Khan denies any wrongdoing and accuses the military of orchestrating the convictions and scores of other charges against him to keep him from returning to power.

The election commission barred the PTI from contesting the polls as a unified political entity in the lead-up to the vote, forcing its nominees to run as independents.

Political uncertainty comes as Pakistan grapples with an economic crisis, slow growth and record inflation. The country’s security forces have also been struggling to tackle a spike in militant attacks nationwide.

A $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund helped Pakistan narrowly avert bankruptcy last year. The program is set to end in April.

The new government will need to negotiate a fresh financial package with the IMF as cash-strapped Islamabad faces $25 billion of external debt payments in the fiscal year that begins in July.

Pakistani President Arif Alvi will convene the inaugural National Assembly session by the end of this month, in accordance with the constitution. The session will allow newly elected members to be sworn in before the house elects the new prime minister.
…

…