Grasp the pattern, read the trend
No. 23, June/2022, 1
Brought to you by CPG
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the Asia in Review´s first June issue in 2022. The entire Asia in Review (AiR) team wishes you a pleasant read and hopes that you will enjoy our coverage. With special greetings to everyone celebrating a national day this week, I wish you a very nice day!
With best regards,
Henning Glaser
Editor in Chief
Webpage: www.cpg-online.de, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CPGTU
Main Sections
Constitutional Law and –Politics, Human Rights and National Security in East Asia
Constitutional Law and –Politics, Human Rights and National Security in South Asia
Constitutional Law and –Politics, Human Rights and National Security in Southeast Asia
International Relations, Geopolitics and Security in Asia
Announcements
Constitutional Law and –Politics, Human Rights and National Security in East Asia
China: Senior party cadre sentenced to death on corruption charges; sanctions against other senior official
(ms) A senior Communist Party official from China´s southern Hainan province, Tong Daochi, has been sentenced to death on charges of bribery and insider trading.
Tong, who was vice head of a department of China´s Securities Regulatory Commission, was accused of accepting bribes of about USD41 million between 2004 and 2020. Due to a 2-year reprieve, Tong's death sentence could also be commuted to life in prison after two years of “meritorious” prison service. [Reuters] [South China Morning Post]
In another case, Zhang Jinghua, former Communist Party Secretary of Nanjing was expelled from the Communist Party for falsifying economic figures. [Bloomberg]
Just two weeks ago, Sun Guofeng, former head of the Monetary Policy Department of the People's Bank of China was accused of leaking official economic data [see AiR No. 21, May/2022, 4].
China: Launch of Type 003 aircraft carrier delayed again?
(ms) The launch of China's largest and most advanced aircraft carrier, Type 003, which was expected by various parties to coincide with the ancient Dragon Boat Festival on June 3 [see AiR No. 22, May/2022, 5], is delayed due to unknown reasons again. It is speculated that the delay may be due to technical problems. However, the dry deck in which the Type 003 is located has been cleared, which might indicate a soon launch. [South China Morning Post]
China: Three more astronauts sent into space for a six-month mission
(ms) On June 5, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) sent three astronauts for a six-month mission into space. The astronauts are commissioned to contribute to the completion of China´s new space station, named Taingong. Its completion is scheduled for the end of this year and represents another step in China's ambition to compete with the United States in space.
China, which is not allowed to participate in the ISS due to a veto of the USA, based on security concerns, has invested large sums in space travel in recent years. China is the first country to land a probe on the dark side of the moon, i.e. the side of the moon facing away from the Earth, and last year the first Chinese rover, the Zhurong, landed on Mars. [Global Times] [Reuters]
China: Tiananmen commemorations in Hong Kong stifled
(ms/hg) Last Saturday, the 33rd anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, the Hong Government managed to prevent any significant public commemorative events in the city that used to be one of the Chinese territories where such vigils had been possible in the past. After three main organizers of last year's vigil were arrested on charges of inciting subversion and the temporarily closure of Victoria Park, where related vigils and demonstrations have been held since 1990, collective action to commemorate the crackdown was almost stifled.
Some dozens of people who switched on their mobile phone lights in an area near to the park faced warnings from a much bigger presence of security forces to turn them off.
Other people tried to express their feelings by the collective wearing of black clothes. Six people have been arrested in the vicinity of Victoria Park,
Meanwhile, China has criticized several foreign consulates, which reportedly lit candles in the consulates' windows in commemoration. [Hong Kong Free Press 1] [Hong Kong Free Press 2]
China: Former Member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council (LegCo) found guilty in absentia
(ms) Ted Hui, former LegCo member, was found guilty of contempt of court on July 2, after fleeing to Denmark in late 2020. Prior to his flight former member of the Hong Kong Democratic Party faced nine pending criminal charges for, among other things, contravening the Legislative Council and participating in protests during the Yuen Long mob attacks. Due to the probation, Hui was granted, he was prohibited from leaving the country but received a judicial permission to travel to Denmark to attend an environmental meeting which, however, was faked to allow Hui to go into exile, first in Denmark, then in the UK from where he went on to Australia. [Hong Kong Judiciary]
In 2021, charges of secession and collusion with foreign forces were added under the National Security Law. Also, under the National Security Law, an injunction prohibiting the sale of assets in Hong Kong and elsewhere was imposed on Hui [Twitter].
Hui is another case of arrest or guilty verdicts against anti-government protesters in connection with the uprisings around 2019. Almost simultaneously, for example, three protesters were sentenced to more than 40 months in prison each for participating in riots. Another one was sentenced to 4 months in prison for using a laser pointer against a police helicopter.
In total, there have been more than 10,000 arrests in connection with the 2019 protests so far. [Hong Kong Free Press 1] [Hong Kong Free Press 2] [South China Morning Post]
China: Hong Kong's large national security case with 47 defendants sent to trial
(dql) After 15 months of pre-trial procedures a large national security case against some of Hong Kong´s pro-democracy protesters went to trial based on the 2020 security law. The 47 defendants are accused of "conspiracy to subversion" for organizing an unofficial primary election. Subversion as one of the four major crimes under the law can be punished with a life sentence.
Among the defendants are elected lawmakers and district councillors, unionists, academics and others of different political leanings. [channelnewsasia.com]
Japan: Diet approves a supplementary budget to fight inflation
(nc) The Diet, Japan’s parliament, has enacted a supplementary budget worth about USD 21 billion to address fuel prices that have surged since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Since supply fears are surging up because of the war, oil prices have been increasing. Furthermore, oil’s import costs doubled in April because of the yen being weaker than the U.S. dollar. To tackle this escalation of prices, around USD 9 billion will be used for a fuel subsidy program and about USD 11 billion dollars to replenish the state's reserve funds. [Mainichi]
Japan: Birth rate accelerates its decline
(nc) Japan´s birth rate declines and decline seems to accelerate. Now, the government released new numbers according to which the number of newborns fell to a record low of 811,604 in 2021. This represents a decrease more rapid than the government’s projections, the sixth consecutive year of decrease in births with a decline of 3.5% from the previous year.
Along with this trend, the fertility rate decreased from 1.6 in 2020 to 1.3 in 2021. While the birth rate refers to the total number of births in a year per X individuals in a population, the fertility rate refers to the number of live births in a year per X women of reproductive age in a population.
These data reflect the fact that the Japanese population is a critically aging and shrinking population of which nearly 30 percent is over 65 years old.
Among the reasons for the decline seems to be a fall in women in their 20s giving birth, and a decrease of marriages in a society where it is still rare to have children outside marriage. [Nikkei Asia] [The Washington Post]
Japan: Survey on male sexual trauma to be conducted
(nc) The Japanese Ministry of Welfare is preparing for the first time a survey focusing on male victims of sexual violence. Support groups have reported that many male victims have been prevented from talking about their experiences because of shame and fear. By creating this survey, the ministry seeks to understand the situation to provide better care in the form of a support system. [Mainichi]
Japan: Safety of nuclear plants; compensation for Fukushima disaster
(nc) Court orders the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to pay USD 566,000 to residents of Tamura City, a complex hit by the disaster. The plaintiffs initially sought around USD 900,000 per person. But, as the residents received monthly compensation, the court held that most of the awarded damages have been paid already. The represents similar ones across the country in which victims accuse both the operator and the government of negligence over the plant´s safety. [Japan Today] [see AiR No. 21, May/2022, 4]
Meanwhile, the Sapporo District Court handed down a decision on the Tomari nuclear power plant’s lawsuit, situated in Hokkaido, in the north of Japan. The court ruled that the nuclear plant will remain offline for safety reasons. This marks the third district court ruling for a nuclear plant´s operations to be suspended. Reactor No.3 of Tomari has been offline since 2012 as a regular inspection took place. After the Fukushima disaster, the rules to restart reactors became tighter which resulted in the cease of activity for all three reactors of the plant. As the operator sought to restart them, more than 1,200 plaintiffs filed a lawsuit requesting the plant to be decommissioned due to safety concerns claiming that the plant’s anti-disaster measures would not consider the possibility of major earthquakes and tsunamis. The court then ruled that the power plant shall not resume its activity as the operator did not provide evidence of the safety of the spent nuclear fuel stored at the plant. The court also pointed out the lack of adequate protection against tsunamis. Nevertheless, the court rejected the request of decommissioning the plant made by the plaintiffs.
In another case, Shimane Prefecture in western Japan approved the restart of the No.2 unit of the Shimane nuclear power plant with activity expected to resume in 2023.
The reactor, which is of the same type as those at the Fukushima Daiichi plant was set offline for the same reasons as the Tomari power plant, the operator still has to complete the final safety work by February 2023. But as in Tomari’s case, the Shimane reactor could face a legal challenge from residents concerned over safety issues. The main concern is how effective the evacuation plan would be in a nuclear accident.
Court decisions against plant operatos like in the Tomari cases run counter the central government´s attempts to get as many reactors as possible in operation to reduce coal-fired energy. As of May 16, only 10 of the country's 36 reactors have resumed operation under the stricter rules. [Japan Today] [Japan Times] [Mainichi]
Taiwan: Military receives first batch of short-range drones
(ms) Taiwan will receive the first 14 of 50 domestically produced short-range drones by the end of the year. The 50 drones, worth USD 26.5 million, will be used for surveillance and will complement the 23 combined arms battalions, providing them with an early warning system against possible invasion by China.
Just last month, Taiwan's Chung-Shan Institute tested the Teng Yun 2 drone [see AiR No. 21, May/2022, 4], which will be used for surveillance as well as weaponry. [South China Morning Post]
Constitutional Law and –Politics, Human Rights and National Security in South Asia
Bangladesh: Government cancels operating license of top human rights organization
(lm) The Bangladeshi government has rejected the application of the country’s top human rights group, Odhikar, to renew its registration and accused the organization of tarnishing the country’s image. [The Straits Times]
Odhikar shared an order issued on June 5 by the NGO Affairs Bureau – a wing of the Prime Minister's Office that regulates charities – saying the government had cancelled the operating license after it found that the group had published “misleading information about various extrajudicial killings, including alleged disappearances and murders”. The order also cited financial inconsistencies in the implementation of projects on education of the Convention against Torture and while implementing activities under three projects on education of the Convention against Torture and the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture. [New Age]
Founded in 1995, the group has been operating in regulatory limbo since it sought to renew its 10-year license in 2015. No decision was made on the application until now – days before a court was to hear a petition from Odhikar seeking its intervention.
India: Supreme Court defines prostitution as profession, orders police to respect sex workers’ rights
(rk/lm) Using its special powers under the constitution to do “complete justice”, India’s Supreme Court has expanded the rights of sex workers by defining prostitution as a profession, ordering an end to police violence and affirming health and labor protections introduced during coronavirus lockdowns. [The New York Times, $] [The Washington Post, $]
In its long-awaited ruling, the apex court identified two categories: consenting adults voluntarily employed in prostitution; and minors, trafficking victims and those eager to leave the industry. For consenting adults, the court said, the police must refrain from arrests and other forms of harassment. India’s state governments were directed to develop rehabilitation programs for those in the second category based on a series of recommendations of panel set up in 2011. The court also clarified that prostitutes should not be separated from their children. [The Indian Express]
There are close to a million prostitutes in India, and, in recent years, the Supreme Court has been steadily removing barriers that deny sex workers their constitutional rights. In September 2020, the court ordered state and local governments to provide sex workers with ration cards even if they lacked formal identification. Last December, then, the judges went further and ordered state and local governments to enroll sex workers into digital systems that grant access to opportunities like voting and social welfare benefits [see AiR No. 51, December/2021, 3].
India: Government reissues new social media rules, says law needed to tackle rights violations
(lm) The Indian government on June 6 reissued new regulations on social media companies that it proposed then abruptly withdrew last week, making no changes but claiming that the law was needed because the companies had violated Indians' constitutional rights. [The Straits Times]
The information technology ministry last week released a draft of changes to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, which were notified in February 2021 and came into effect three months later [see AiR No. 9, March/2021, 1]. The IT regulations have since been challenged in various courts, and parts of them have been stayed by the high courts of Bombay and Madras [see e.g., AiR No. 10, March/2021, 2].
The ministry’s proposal would require companies to “respect the rights accorded to the citizens under the constitution of India” and setting up a government panel to hear appeals of the companies' content moderation decisions. Furthermore, the document set a deadline of 30 days for appeals against decisions by company grievance officers, while the panels themselves get a further 30 days to take up the matter. [Reuters]
India: Caste count to be held in eastern Bihar state
(rk) After getting a cold response from India’s central administration, the government of the country's eastern Bihar state has decided to hold its own caste count in the upcoming decadal census, which was supposed to be held two years ago but delayed on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. [India Today]
Caste system in India is a birth based social stratification of the Hindu community into four groups. The demand to have a caste-based census is particularly aimed at determining the exact population of the country’s Other Backward Castes (OBCs), a group of castes that lie in between the social hierarchy.
Politics in Bihar have been dominated by the OBCs, with its current chief minister, Nitish Kumar, and the leader of the opposition in the state assembly belonging to the same group.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government had opposed the idea in the Supreme Court last year citing the complex structure of caste system, the state leadership of the party has been in support of the caste count. [The Wire 1]
Supporters of the caste census argue that exact numbers of different caste groups will help governments in making better policies for the marginalised sections of the society while those who oppose the idea say that the move can divide the Hindu community on caste lines and will lead to demands from different castes to get a share in the reservation system that is aimed at ensuring adequate representation of historically discriminated castes in government owned institutions. [The Wire 2]
India: Chief of Hindu nationalist organization calls for restraint in Gyanvapi mosque dispute
(rk) The head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist volunteer organization, has called for restraint in the ongoing dispute over the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, Hinduism’s holiest city. [The Hindu]
After a controversial court survey claimed to find the relic of a Hindu deity on the mosque’s premises the area was sealed by the court and large prayer gatherings were banned. India’s Supreme Court later upheld the local court order, although mosque authorities disputed the claim and said the relic is in fact a fountain. [AiR No. 21, May/2022, 4]
The new legal momentum in the Gyanvapi case has led to fears of street violence, like the kind that engulfed the country 30 years ago after an agitation led by Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – then in opposition – culminated in violent Hindu riots that killed nearly 2,000 people in the city of Ayodhya.
India: Thousands of Hindus flee Kashmir Valley amid spate of targeted killings, allege blockade by central government
(rk/lm) Some 3,500 minority Hindus have fled from Indian-administered Kashmir, and many more are preparing to leave, after a fresh spate of targeted killings stoked tensions in the disputed Himalayan region.
On June 2, suspected rebels killed a bank manager in southern Kulgam district. Later the same day, two Hindu migrant workers were shot at in Budgam by two masked gunmen. One among them died from his injuries on the way to the hospital. Two days before that, a Hindu school teacher was killed by suspected militants, also in Kulgam. [The Guardian]
At least 19 civilians have been killed this year in similar targeted attacks in the region, including the killing of a member of the Kashmiri Pandits, a small Hindu community native to India’s Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, on May 12. The attack had caused massive demonstrations, with police responding teargas shells and baton-charges to quell the protests [see AiR No. 20, May/2022, 3].
The migration prompted by the recent spate of targeted killings is being seen by many as a start of the second exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley, the first being in the 1990s when Islamist militancy was at its peak that forced nearly 250,000 community members to flee. But many Pandits have accused authorities of barring them from leaving and allege that police and paramilitary forces have been deployed at the gates of their government provided accommodations to stop them. [Al Jazeera] [The New York Times, $]
Pakistan: Ex-Prime Minister Khan calls for protests as government increases fuel prices to revive IMF bailout
(ha/lm) Pakistan’s ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan and opposition leaders have called for a series of protests after the interim government sharply raised fuel prices for consumers twice last week, paving the way to revive a USD 6 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). [The New York Times, $]
Discussions between the IMF and the new government, led by Shehbaz Sharif, had been deadlocked for weeks over the terms of reviving the bailout, which was announced in 2019 and later suspended after Pakistan’s previous government failed to meet some loan conditions, most notably cutting energy subsidies. [AiR No. 6, February/2022, 2]
Last month, a fresh round of talks between the Washington-based and the Pakistani government in Qatar appeared to fail after fund officials declined to accept the Pakistani request to delay the ending of government subsidies [see AiR No. 21, May/2022, 4].
Against this backdrop, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said on June 2 petrol and diesel prices for consumers have been increased by 17 percent per liter. Last week, the government had already raised prices by around 20 percent, just hours after the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority approved a massive increase in power tariffs. On June 4 then, Pakistan’s gas regulator determined a 45 percent increase in the prescribed prices of natural gas for the upcoming fiscal year to meet revenue requirements of the two gas utilities. [Dawn 1] [Reuters] [The Express Tribune]
The moves have staved off concerns that Pakistan, which already faces double-digit inflation, would join a wave of global defaults. But it could prove politically perilous for Sharif’s government, which took power after Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote early in April. [AiR No. 15, April/2022, 2]
In fact, Khan called for a peaceful protest after Friday prayers while Sirajul Haq, leader of the rightwing Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party, called for protests from next week, when the government is due to unveil its national budget. Furthermore, the price hikes led to sporadic protests in several cities. [Dawn 2] [Financial Times, $] [Gulf News]
In related developments, the provincial governments announced austerity measures through reducing the fuel quota enjoyed by cabinet members, legislators and government officials. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also called on the privileged classes to make sacrifices by adopting simplicity, saying that everyone would have to make sacrifices during these challenging times. [Daily Times]
In separate developments, a working paper by the planning ministry projected slow GDP growth rate of 5 percent for the upcoming fiscal year starting from July 1, down by 0.9 percent from the current rate. According to the working paper uncertain external and local economic environment would account for this slow growth rate. It was also stated that fiscal consolidation would be pursued to bring down the deficit through a combination of expenditure management and revenue enhancement.
Pakistan: Party of ousted Prime Minister Khan seeks permission for second protest march from Supreme Court
(fq) Pakistan’s opposition Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, led by ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan, moved the country's Supreme Court on June 1 to direct the new government and other authorities not to create hindrances in the PTUI’s second march on Islamabad, days after the first one was suspended following a series of clashes with law enforcement outside parliament.
When Khan and his supporters marched on Islamabad on May 25, the government responded with tear gas and arrests. In light of this, Khan disbanded the protest march but threatened that they would return unless an early election was called within six days. [AiR No. 22, May/2022, 5]
On June 2, then, Khan said he would announce the new date for a second long march on the capital after the Supreme Court rules on a petition filed on behalf of his PTI party, which seeks the court’s assurance that peaceful protest is a constitutional right. But later the same day, the court declined to issue a decision, referring to an earlier ruling that called on the government to leave protesters alone. [Dawn] [Geo News]
Pakistan: Special court extends interim bail in money laundering case against prime minister, son
(fq) In an USD 80 million money laundering case filed Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his son, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz, a special court has extended the interim bill of both accused until June 11. [The Hindu]
Sharif and 14 others were booked by the FIA in December 2021 and charged with alleged involvement in laundering an amount of about USD 840 million in a major sugar scam case. He spent eight months in jail for before being granted bail in April 2021 [see AiR No. 17, April/2021, 4]; in December a special court decided against pursuing the charges. [Geo News]
Pakistan: Parliament suggests approaching Supreme Court over ‘anti-state remarks’ by ex-Prime Minister Khan
(lm) The lower house of Pakistan’s parliament on June 6 recommended the government to approach the Supreme Court for legal action against the former prime minister and the leader of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, Imran Khan, for remarks it deemed ““anti-Pakistan and anti-armed forces”.
The resolution was moved after Khan in a televised interview again upped the anti on the country’s powerful military, claiming that “[i]f the establishment is not with you irrespective of your popularity […], you will not be able to come back in power.” [Daily Times]
Pakistan: Intelligence agency authorized to scrutinize public officials before appointments and promotions
(fq) Pakistan’s government, led by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, has authorized the country’s premier intelligence agency ISI to screen civil servants before their inductions, appointments, postings, and promotions. The government took the decision to improve performance of government and ensure transparency among bureaucrats and other civil servants who are often accused of malpractices for personal benefits, local media reported [The News]
Prior to this move, intelligence agencies in Pakistan used to send their reports about civil servants before their posting to an important post but the practice had always been questioned and discarded by the court that there is no legal provision regarding screening of public office holders in the Civil Servants Acts that mandate intelligence agencies to scrutinize civil servants [Dawn].
However, now that the Federal government had given legal effect to the reports issued by ISI for induction, appointment, posting and promotion of civil servants, it can be used in court as a legal document for their mandate.
Pakistan: Polio outbreak in tribal area worsens as eighth child reported paralyzed
(ha) Pakistan has reported its eights case of wild polio virus this in a tribal district bordering Afghanistan after the country had gone 15 months without any cases. In light of these developments, the health secretary directed on June 4 the Pakistan Polio Programme leadership to carry out a risk assessment across the country on the basis of current epidemiological data. [Dawn] [The News] [Voice of America]
All children confirmed with polio cases belong to North Waziristan, an area notorious for high vaccination refusal rates and instances of fake finger-marking without administering vaccine during campaigns [see AiR No. 22, May/2022, 5]. Three such campaigns have been carried out in January, March and May this year. During the March campaign, gunmen shot and killed a female polio worker. [The Guardian]
Pakistan: Taliban militants announce indefinite ceasefire with government in Islamabad
(ha/lm) The Pakistani Taliban, known by their acronym TTP, announced on June 2 an indefinite ceasefire with the federal government, saying “substantial progress” had been made at talks with a delegation of tribal elders that where hosted by the Afghan Taliban in Kabul. [Al Jazeera]
Emboldened since the Afghan Taliban last year seized power across the border in Kabul, the TTP has been stepping up attacks on Pakistani security forces in recent months, claiming responsibility for 53 attacks in March alone. In light of this, Pakistan’s military reached out to the militant group in January, in an attempt to reign in and accommodate the TTP politically in order to defuse its potential for violence [see AiR No. 9, March/2022, 1]. But the talks between the two sides remained inconclusive at the time due to seemingly incompatible demands.
In April then, newly elected Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced that he would convene grand assembly of tribal elders during a visit to the North Waziristan district of Pakistan’s remote Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. [AiR No. 17, April/2022, 4].
Against this backdrop, the Pakistani government on June 1 sent a 50-member delegation of tribal elders to Kabul. The delegation was led by Maulana Saleh Shah, a former senator who has a long history of facilitating and holding peace negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban. The team met Afghanistan’s acting interior minister and the de facto first deputy head of state, Sirajuddin Haqqani. [The Diplomat] [The News]
A truce previously agreed between the two sides for an Islamic festival expired on May 30. In the past, similar agreements have quickly broken down [see AiR No. 50, December/2021, 2]. , and it is not clear what the terms of any settlement could be. [BBC]
On June 3, Federal Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb welcomed the ceasefire announced by TTP. It was the first time that the federal government publicly acknowledged it was negotiating a peace deal with the outlawed outfit. In her statement, the minister confirmed that the talks began in 2021 and both civil and military representatives were part of the Pakistani side holding talks with the TTP. She stated that the talks were being held within the constitutional domain and would conclude with the government's approval. However, the federal minister didn’t confirm the reports related to release of some convicted TTP militants in return of extending truce. [The Express Tribune]
Pakistan: Army says seven killed in two security operations near Afghan border
(ha) Pakistan’s military claimed that that its forces killed seven militants in two different operations near the Afghan border on June 5. Security forces seized arms and ammunition from both incidents, and said the militants had been involved in attacks on security forces in recent months. [The Washington Post]
Sri Lanka: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa vows to finish term, won’t run for re-election
(lm) Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has vowed to finish the remaining two years in his term– despite mounting public demand for him to step down – but will not stand for re-election, as he wants to replicate his previous stints by focusing on fixing the economic crisis engulfing the country. “I can't go as a failed president,” Rajapaksa said on June 6 in a wide-ranging interview, his first with a foreign media organization since anti-government protests started earlier this year. [The Straits Times]
Since mid-March, thousands of demonstrators have camped outside the president's office, blaming Rajapaksa and his family for economic mismanagement and corruption pushing the country to the brink of bankruptcy [see AiR No. 11, March/2022, 3]. Last month, the economic tailspin spiralled into political turmoil with the resignation of the president's old brother – Mahinda Rajapaksa – as the nation's prime minister, after clashes between government supporters and the demonstrators at the protest village turned violent [see AiR No. 19, May/2022, 2].
Sri Lanka: Protest group rejects prime minister’s invitation to join reform committees
(lm) Sri Lankan protesters who call themselves The People's Aragalaya (the people's struggle) dismissed on June 2 an invitation by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to be included in the Parliament’s committees on political reform, calling it calling it an attempt to co-opt an anti-establishment movement.
Against the larger backdrop of monthslong street protests and a massive economic crisis, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe proposed to create 15 additional parliamentary committees, with four youth representatives appointed in each. Three of them, he said, would be chosen by activist and protest groups while one representative would be appointed by a so-called “youth parliament”. [AiR No. 22, May/2022, 5]
Some protesters saw Wickremesinghe’s invitation as an olive branch extended to demonstrators in an attempt to solve the country’s political rage. But others feared that it would drive a wedge in the diverse groups that have come together against the political establishment in a rare moment in Sri Lankan history. Furthermore, the majority of groups has made clear that they are not going anywhere until President Gotabaya Rajapaksa steps down. [see also entry above]
Sri Lanka: Urban development minister convicted of extortion
(lm) A high court in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo has found the minister for urban development, Prasanna Ranatunga, guilty of extorting money from a businessman over a land deal. Ranatunga was given a two-year suspended prison sentence and fined nearly USD 68,000. In addition, the high court ordered him to pay about USD 2,750 in compensation. [NewsWire] [The Straits Times]
Ranatunga is a major ally of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and serves as his chief government whip in parliament. Prior to his appointment as urban development minister he was responsible for tourism, before a brief spell as public security minister.
Constitutional Law and –Politics, Human Rights and National Security in Southeast Asia
Cambodia: Ruling party leading communal election, Election Committee reports
(pw) The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) is leading in the June-5 communal election where 77.91 percent of the country’s 9.2 million registered voters cast their vote, the National Election Committee (NEC) reported. Although the committee also announced that the election results will be officially released on June 26, the CPP has already declared victory. [Khmer Times]
In the period preceding the polls, political experts predicted the CPP victory as the party was able to contest in all of the country’s 1,652 communes compared to the 1,632 communes contested by the main opposition Candlelight Party (CP). Moreover, the CPP has had a deeply-entrenched grip on Cambodia since 1979. [Associated Press News 1] [Associated Press News 2]
A Cambodian analyst noted that the outcome of this election would determine how the political groups in the countries set the course for their futures. It is expected that if the CPP wins the communal elections, Prime Minister Hun Sen might accelerate his efforts to have his eldest son, Hun Manet, as his successor. Moreover, this election may affect the future composition of the Cambodian Senate as the elected commune council members have to vote in the forthcoming 2024 senatorial elections.
Meanwhile, the CP called this election “unfair, unfree, and unjust” and shared its plan to send complaints on alleged cases of electoral misconduct to the NEC. The claims come after the CPP and the Cambodian authorities have been accused of taking several measures to suppress the opposition parties, including accusations of electoral law violations, arrests, attacks, candidate delistings, and threats, especially during the campaigning period of the June-5 commune elections. In this regard, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Office has also reported the government's effort to prevent opposition candidates from campaigning in the elections. The authorities have dismissed the UN’s statement and claimed that every Cambodian political party could operate freely without interference.
After the 2017 commune elections, Prime Minister Hun Sen, his CPP, and the authorities began to clamp down on the opposition, resulting in the ban of the then main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). The CNRP’s dissolution allowed the CPP to take every seat in the lower chamber of the country’s legislature in the 2018 general election. Consequently, sanctions have been implemented by a number of Western nations against Cambodia. [AiR No. 19, May/2022, 2] [AiR No. 22, May/2022, 5] [Deutsche Welle] [Radio Free Asia]
Cambodia: Election committee rescinds decision to fine opposition member over alleged vote-buying handouts
(pw) On June 2, the National Election Committee (NEC) overturned the USD 1,250 fine imposed on Kong Raiya, a candidate of the main opposition Candlelight Party (CP), handed by the Kampong Cham Provincial Election Committee. He was fined after it was discovered that he allegedly gave money to CP candidates. The NEC stated that such actions could not be regarded as vote-buying, which was the charge leveled against him.
Previously, the CPP sent out a complaint accusing Raiya of distributing cash to voters in anticipation of the commune elections. According to Raiya, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party’s (CPP) complaint against him was made to interfere with his campaign, alongside the other CP candidates’ campaigns. [AiR No. 22, May/2022, 5] [The Phnom Penh Post]
Cambodia: Exiled opposition activist taken into custody upon return to the country
(pw) Ir Channa, a pro-opposition youth activist, has been apprehended by the Cambodian authorities for purportedly attempting to oust the Cambodian government in 2020. The arrest occurred after he traveled back to Cambodia to become the main opposition Candlelight Party’s (CP) provincial vice-president in the southern Takeo province in anticipation of the commune elections on June 5.
If found guilty, he could be jailed for five to ten years. Channa moved to Norway in 2005 and obtained Norwegian citizenship. He had endorsed the now-disbanded opposition Cambodia National Reform Party while in Norway.
After Channa’s arrest, the National Election Committee (NEC) began investigations over his potential ties with the CP announcing the intention to file a lawsuit against the man or the party in case of any electoral law breach. The NEC also noted that measures would be taken against any parties that infringed the committee’s regulations.
The CP vice-president has regarded the arrest as an effort to threaten his party during the commune election’s campaign season between May 21 and June 3. The CP had dispatched its lawyer to request bail for Channa..
The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has denied any links between Channa’s apprehension and the commune election. Recently, the CPP and the Interior Minister have accused the CP of violating election laws during the campaign period. Moreover, CP members have been subject to arrests, attacks, candidate deregistration, and threats in the past. [AiR No. 22, May/2022, 5] [Khmer Times 1] [Khmer Times 2] [Radio Free Asia]
Cambodia: Diplomat secretly holds shares in English football club
(pw) An investigation by Radio Free Asia, a news outlet financed by the United States, has uncovered that Wang Yaohui, a Chinese-born Cambodian diplomat, holds a 12.8 percent stake in the Birmingham City Football Club (Birmingham City), a British football club, despite not being identified as a major investor. Responding to this revelation, the English Football League (EFL) has announced that it will examine this matter as in adherence with its regulations, football clubs are required to publicly identify any individuals who directly or indirectly have any “Significant Interest” in their clubs.
Before becoming a diplomat, Wang had been alleged to give bribes to the Zambian authorities in relation to a copper mine and a state-owned Chinese bank vice-president. Afterward, in 2014, he traveled to Cambodia and became Prime Minister Hun Sen’s advisor. As a result, he also attained Cambodian citizenship, a diplomatic passport, and a Khmer name, Wan Sokha. He eventually held the position of minister-counselor at the Cambodian Embassy in Singapore. Meanwhile, through his British Virgins Islands company, Wang obtained 8.52 percent of the shares belonging to Birmingham Sports Holding Ltd, becoming a majority shareholder of Birmingham City, in 2017. Later on, he purchased additional shares, allowing him to gain a 12.8 percent stake in the club.
Wang is not the only Chinese entrepreneur with a tainted past to develop deep connections with the Cambodian government. For example, Chen Zhi, another Chinese businessman, also received Cambodian citizenship and has ties to Sen and the Cambodian government. Cambodia has been an attractive location for persons with such backgrounds due to the country’s endemic corruption and weak regulatory frameworks. Such entrepreneurs have also been known to prosper in areas with lax regulations in Southeast Asia, such as the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Laos and combat areas in eastern Myanmar.
According to a news reporter, Wang’s case is caused by Cambodian corruption and global capitalism in terms of offshore tax havens and shell companies. He also noted that the Cambodian elites exploit those aspects of global capitalism to facilitate their corruption. Hence, to address Cambodian corruption, the international community must undergo extensive organizational changes to resolve this issue. [Radio Free Asia 1] [Radio Free Asia 2] [The Diplomat]
Cambodia: Casino worker accuses police to cause her miscarriage in strike crackdown
(pw) While striking at the NagaWorld casino on May 11, a pregnant worker was reportedly attacked by the police.
Following the event, the medical staff informed her that the child’s chances of living were 50 percent. She then suffered from a miscarriage on May 28 with the doctor remarking that the child was possibly deceased for two days before its removal from the womb.
The woman accused the government to have ruthlessly crushed the strikes and claimed that the casino company collaborated with them in forcing the workers to cease the protests.
Commenting on the case, a pro-government rights group remarked that the government could not be assumed to be responsible for her loss and asked her to take the matter to court. On the other hand, a member of another rights group called upon the relevant public bodies to examine this incident and put those responsible on trial. He added that the use of force in labor disputes only exacerbates the conflict between workers and authorities. He suspected that the authorities’ struggles in reaching a peaceful resolution resulted in the utilization of harsher measures against the strike.
The NagaWorld workers have been striking against their employers since December 2021 calling for an increase in wages, improved working conditions, and the reinstallment of eight imprisoned union leaders, three imprisoned workers, and 365 workers, who were perceived to be arbitrarily laid off. The authorities alleged that the strike breached the law and took steps to crush it, with cases of intimidation, mass detention, sexual assault, and violence. Furthermore, they claimed that the strike was supported by foreign donors intended to oust the Cambodian government. It has been suspected that the casino’s owner, a Hong Kong-based company, is linked to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s family. [AiR No. 13, March/2022, 5] [Radio Free Asia]
Cambodia: LGBTQ+ teenagers report widespread discrimination against them
(pw) Local media have interviewed Cambodian LGBTQ+ teenagers who had allegedly been discriminated against at home and school. The youths reported that classmates ridiculed them, neighbors prevented their children from meeting with them, and mocked their families due to him. Other teens reported being rejected by their own relatives, who have also reportedly adopted harassing behaviors against the teens.
Concerning this matter, the secretary-general of the Cambodia National Council for Children, a government body, remarked that the authorities protect all LBGTQ+ children and teenagers. Furthermore, he noted that the council is attempting to get in touch with the discrimination victims. Also, the Culture and Fine Arts Ministry admitted there are some individuals who are prejudiced toward LGBTQ persons. Also, an NGO said that it is trying to contact LBGTQ+ children and teenagers and create a policy to put a stop to the discrimination and harassment of LBGTQ+ individuals. [Khmer Times]
Indonesia: Rights groups call government to amend Criminal Code on abortion and rape
(bs/dbk) Rights groups urged the Indonesian government to improve the legislation on women’s protection in the upcoming revision of the Criminal Code, expected in late June.
Following the passing of the Sexual Violence Bill on May 9, which aims at preventing all forms of sexual violence by assisting, protecting, and helping the recovery of victims, enforcing punishments, and rehabilitating perpetrators, rights groups have been pushing lawmakers to amend the criminal laws on rape and abortion as to fill the legislative gap created by the failure of the bill on sexual violence to include coerced abortion nor an expanded definition of rape. [AiR No. 20, May/2022, 3] [The Jakarta Post]
Indonesia: Potential presidential candidates began building key political ties
(bs/dbk) Ahead of the upcoming presidential elections in Indonesia, which are scheduled in 2024, party leaders began strengthening their political relations with key figures. They are also testing the waters on who might be potential allies or rivals. [The Jakarta Post]
Laos: As economic crisis worsens Prime Minister creates special economic task force
(pw) A Lao state news outlet has noted that the effects of the country’s lack of fuel and substantial increase in fuel prices have now reached its farmers who needed the fuel to conduct their agricultural activities. They are increasingly being worried about their livelihoods and survival due to this shortage. Meanwhile, inflation in Laos has caused the cost of commodities such as food and public transportation to soar. For example, egg prices have doubled since 2021. Therefore, large numbers of people began to travel to neighboring Thailand to get commodities and fuel.
According to an academic, the fact that the state media mentioned the fuel shortage reflected the severity of this issue. It might also imply that the authorities’ previous attempts to address the country’s economic woes have been unsuccessful as of yet. If this crisis keeps aggravating, it might lead to political turmoil.
In response, Lao Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh has established a task force comprising eight high-ranking government officials to solve the country’s economic troubles. This task force is assigned to take action to make sure that sufficient amounts of fuel will be imported to Laos and that the fuel prices are promptly set. Moreover, it would have to establish measures concerning exchange rate management, and the provision of foreign currency. Also, it would have to address issues with currency traders and work with other government bodies to combat currency manipulation.
The Lao fuel crisis was caused by an increase in the international cost of oil due to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Consequently, the country was only able to import one-sixth of the fuel it needed each month. Moreover, the country’s economy has been severely damaged by the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused the country to use up its foreign reserves and get bogged down in a foreign debt crisis. Also, due to the instability of government liquidity, international credit rating agencies significantly downgraded Laos’s credit ratings in 2020. [AiR No. 20, May/2022, 3] [Radio Free Asia] [The Diplomat] [The Laotian Times]
Laos: Country launches new homegrown messaging app amidst concerns over increased government surveillance
(pw) In Laos, LoudChat, the country’s first locally-made messaging app, has been launched as part of the country’s attempt to digitalize its government services. This is important as Laos is mainly covered with highlands and mountains, which hinders the furnishing of such services. The app was jointly created by Sirichalernxay, a Lao telecommunications company, and the Lao government, which possesses shares in Sirichalernxay while some of its officials hold executive positions in that company.
The app was first introduced in April with features to send messages and receive information circulated by the government. However, the introduction of this app has raised widespread concerns that it would be utilized by the government to spy on its citizens. Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific deputy regional director doubted how the data collected from the app would be employed. Moreover, she noted that the Lao authorities could apprehend its citizens for making remarks disapproving of the government online. Such worries have been rejected by Sirichalernxay’s CEO who said that the company would safeguard personal data. [Nikkei Asian Review]
Malaysia: Cabinet has no objections to anti-party-hopping law
(tp) The proposed amendments to the Malaysia Federal Constitution related to the anti-hopping law were met without objections by the Cabinet.
In early June, the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) presented to the Cabinet its anti-party hopping law. Although no objections were moved, the cabinet raised two issues advising the PSSC to refine those points in the draft. The questions will be presented to the PSSC for review on June 7.
The bill also addresses the issue of Members of the Parliament (MPs) who have been expelled by their parties; the proposal seeks to exempt them from the anti-party hopping law. It should be noted that the bill only applies to those who leave their party to join another party or become independent MPs. [The Star]
Malaysia: Former Prime Minister denies claiming to have majority support to be premier again
(tp) Malaysia’s former Prime Minister (PM) Muhyiddin Yassin denied the alleged claims that he is attempting to run for the PM office again after he met with several opposition leaders following the Johor elections in mid-March. According to Muhyiddin, the meetings merely iterated the mutual understanding ahead of the upcoming 15th general election.
However, as the contacts happened following the Johor state election, in which the ruling coalition National Front or Barisan Nasional (BN) won by a landslide earning 40 of the state legislative assembly's 56 seats, many experts believe it indicates a trend that will have an impact on the general election. Muhyiddin stated that he took the initiative to meet with the leaders of the opposition parties after receiving approval from Bersatu's political bureau and supreme council to discuss the "one-on-one formula," which proposes the formation of an electoral pact without the need for the formation of a new coalition. He added that the pact is necessary to prevent the Barisan Nasional from regaining power. [malaymail] [The Star 1] [The Star 2]
Malaysia: Cabinet agrees on the parliamentary reform proposals
(tp) The cabinet has agreed in principle on several proposals for parliamentary reforms.
One proposal is seeking to amend the Parliament (Privilege and Power) Act 1952 relating to the power of Members of the Parliament (MPs)' privileges and freedom of speech during the legislative process. This amendment aims to prevent MPs from facing court charges.
Another proposal aimed at reintroducing the Parliamentary Service Act to realize the separation of powers among the legislative, executive, and judiciary. This action will allow the establishment of the Parliamentary services commission which will have the autonomy to determine its administrative management.
In addition, the cabinet also agreed on reforming the code of ethics of the MPs, regarding how the MPs should behave outside and inside of the parliament. [The Star]
Malaysia: Prime Minister refuses to call an early election in the face of high inflation
(tp) Malaysia's Prime Minister (PM) Ismail Sabri Yaakob has refused to call for an early general election amid pressures to act in the opposite direction.
The PM stated that holding an early election during a crisis would result impossible, especially with food prices and inflation increasingly high. Despite the fact that his term in office is expected to end around the end of August 2023, several parties and experts are calling for an early election at end of 2022.
After being pressed into providing further reasons behind his decision, he only stated that the election could not be delayed too far from the timeline established by the constitution. Also, before advising the King to dissolve the parliament, the cabinet must approve the decision, he further explained. [Nikkei Asia]
Malaysia: Price ceiling for chickens and eggs extended until end of June
(tp) Malaysia’s government is determined to extend the price ceiling for chickens and eggs until the end of June amidst the rising in global food prices. The price ceiling was scheduled to end on June 5.
According to the government, the decision is based on the need for people to prepare for price changes that will inevitably occur after the ceiling scheme ends, adding that the government intends to provide subsidies to those in need, beginning with the lowest-income group. [The Star 1] [The Star 2]
Nonetheless, the move was met with widespread criticism. Several experts criticized the authorities for not being fully committed to resolving the supply chain issues implying that the problem stems from excessive food imports. Some experts suggested increasing corn and grain cultivation for chicken feeding; as a result, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Industries proposed relocating the palm oil planting area to reduce reliance on other countries for chicken feeding. [malaymail]
Malaysia: Immediate repercussion expected on those who post ‘sensitive’ comments online
(tp) The Malay government stated that those who comment online on sensitive issues such as religion, racial statements, or insulting the royal institution could face immediate repercussions.
In contrast to normal cyber security issues, actions against these cyber offenders could be taken without waiting for the report to be properly lodged, said the ministry of communication. Meanwhile, he emphasized respect for individual rights. He also urged cooperation between the Malaysia Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and related agencies to investigate the necessary issues in order to protect Malaysia's cyber security. Consequently, MCMC must play a larger role in educating the public on how to use social media ethically and not use it for scamming or spreading hatred. Finally, he stated that there should be a balance between free speech and constitutional matters. [The Star 1] [The Star 2]
Malaysia: Sabah state sets for issuance of special foreigner cards for the immigrants
(tp) The Malaysian state of Sabah is currently in the process of issuing special foreign cards to migrants ranging from refugees to stateless people. The card would be renewed annually and it aims at collecting biometrics from “inland foreigners” to protect their individual rights and prevent employers from exploiting them. With the card, inland foreigners could also enroll their children in schools or hospitals and open bank accounts in Malaysia. The move also seeks to ensure that Sabah's sovereignty is not jeopardized by the high number of foreigners in the state. [The Star 1]
Furthermore, the concept of the card is supported by the leading party coalition, such as Pakatan Harapan, which agrees to obtain the biometrics of the migrants but withholds full support for the issuance of such a card. The government can proceed with the registration process.
It should be noted that, according to the online poll, 89 percent voted in favor of issuing a special foreigner card, while 99 voted in favor of collecting biometric data from inland foreigners on Sabah. [The Star 2]
Malaysia: King praises and urges development of Air force to protect national sovereignty
(tp) As the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) held its 64th-anniversary parade on June 1, His Majesty the King of Malaysia credited the Air Force for protecting the national air space while visiting the RMAF base in Subang, Selangor. He also stated that it is critical for the airforce to be developed in order to match the advancement of technology as well as the dynamic of geopolitics and international challenges. Moreover, His Majesty added that the RMAF must also increase its capacity in engineering, logistics, training, and space management. These elements were referred to as critical for bolstering national defense as well as RMAF capability on a regional and international scale. [New Straits Times] [The Star 1] [The Star 2]
It should be noted that despite the King’s emphasis on the importance of the air force in defending national sovereignty, the Malaysian air force is criticized for its combat readiness, as the country’s defense budget declined from a peak of USD 4.6 billion in 2015 to USD 3.8 billion in 2020. The budget cut is making it difficult to maintain the RAMF at the operational level, whether by replacing outdated plans or maintaining current aircraft. [East Asia Forum]
Myanmar: Military authorities to execute five people amidst increase in death penalty cases
(cmsk) The Myanmar State Administration Council is set to execute five individuals including a Member of Parliament (MP) from the deposed National League for Democracy Party as well as a prominent democracy activist. The first was arrested in November 2021 and charged under anti-terror laws for allegedly masterminding several attacks on regime forces while the activist, who rose to prominence during Myanmar’s 1988 student uprising, was reportedly arrested for alleged incitement and unrest through his social media posts. Both men were reportedly charged under Section 49 (a) of the Anti-Terrorism Law and sentenced to death by a military tribunal on January 21; their appeals were also rejected by the court.
Additionally, two other individuals who are alleged to have been involved in the killing of a military informer will also reportedly be executed. The two men were convicted on murder charges. A fifth individual was also sentenced to death in early June for his alleged involvement in a bomb blast that left four people dead. The man was sentenced under both Section 54 of the Anti-Terrorism Law and Section 368 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Whilst Section 54 of the Anti-Terrorism Law can lead to a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life imprisonment or death, Section 368 (a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure specifies that the death penalty must be imposed exclusively by hanging.
Analysts believe the junta is handing out death sentences without fair trials or appeals to scare the public into abiding by its rule and to dissuade people from joining the resistance. Meanwhile, in reaction to news of scheduled executions of the former MP and activist, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the junta’s decision, calling it “a blatant violation to the right to life, liberty and security of person”. The Secretary-General also called on all activists to be released and all charges against them to be dropped. [The Irrawaddy 1] [Radio Free Asia]
According to Amnesty International (AI) data, at least 86 people have been sentenced to death by Myanmar junta tribunals since the February 2021 coup. Even with its lower estimate, the figure reportedly indicates an eightfold increase from 2020, according to AI. Prior to February 2021, the death sentence in Myanmar was reportedly imposed only sporadically in cases involving murder whilst others were typically commuted through mass pardons. Under the elected National League for Democracy (NLD) regime between 2017 and 2020, death penalty cases averaged fewer than ten per year. Since the military coup, however, the junta transferred civilian cases to “special” and military tribunals. Several death penalties were also imposed in the absence of defendants, according to Amnesty International. [The Irrawaddy 2]
Myanmar: Report reveals use of collective punishment against civilians my military authorities
(cmsk) An Amnesty International (AI) report revealed that in Kayah and Kayin States the Myanmar military has resorted to using its signature policy of “collective punishment” whereby civilian communities perceived to support anti-regime forces or any protest movement are targeted and attacked.
The military has pursued both air and ground attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure. It has also allegedly engaged in war crimes and likely crimes against humanity causing mass displacement of more than 150,000 from Kayah and Kayin and inducing a humanitarian crisis, according to the report. Between December 2021 and March 2022, AI reportedly documented two dozen military attacks which involved the use of artillery or mortars, as well as eight air strikes on villages and refugee camps in the first few months of 2022. The group called on the international community to significantly scale up humanitarian assistance and also called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations (UN) member states to work on resolving the crisis immediately. AI also called on the UN Security Council to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Myanmar as well as to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. [Radio Free Asia]
Myanmar: Armed conflicts increase number of deaths across the country
(cmsk) According to the Kachin Women’s Association of Thailand (KWAT), between November 2021 and April 2022, 6,000 people fled their homes while 25 were allegedly killed in Kachin and northern Shan states by Myanmar’s regime forces. There is strong evidence pointing to indiscriminate military artillery attacks on civilians' homes, which are reportedly being carried out in the absence of fighting between regime forces and resistance fighters. The KWAT report also stated that civilians were frequently used as human shields and often coerced into confessing to being members of the anti-regime Kachin Independence Army. [The Irrawaddy 1]
In the first week of June, in at least ten villages across six Sagaing townships, approximately 1,680 houses and two villages were torched. There were also reports of looting in one village and artillery shells being used in another. At least three bodies showed torture signs before being burnt, whilst another civilian was shot dead. Ten military soldiers and one resistance fighter were also allegedly killed in clashes. Separately, in Myaung and Kani townships, resistance fighters reportedly ambushed 80 soldiers and allegedly killed 30 soldiers including a captain. The resistance attack was followed by military air strikes including alleged drone attacks which reportedly left at least eleven resistance soldiers injured. Another family of three, including an 8-year-old, was allegedly killed by junta forces. [The Irrawaddy 2] [The Irrawaddy 3] [Myanmar Now 1] [Myanmar Now 2]
Meanwhile, on May 31, a blast killed one man and injured nine others in Yangon. However, the family of one of the victims was reportedly detained as the military suspected him to be the perpetrator of the blast. Meanwhile, members of anti-regime guerrilla groups said the bomb was too advanced and expensive for anti-regime fighters to purchase and use, and further suggested that the military was trying to frame the incident as the work of anti-regime guerrilla fighters. The parallel administration of the National Unity Government also denied responsibility for the blast and condemned the attack, saying it targeted civilians. [Myanmar Now 3] [Myanmar Now 4]
A second bomb went off on the same day in Shan State’s Naung Cho Township killing at least one person and injuring seven others. A May report by the Institute for Strategy and Policy said it had documented at least 5,646 civilian deaths between the February 1, 2021 coup and May 10, 2022. [Radio Free Asia]
Tensions remain also high in Rakhine and Chin states as the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed organization, continues to resist the increased military presence in the area. In the aftermath of fighting between AA and junta troops in Chin State, six residents were taken for interrogation. While two villagers were reportedly released, the rest, including a village administrator, were taken away by helicopter and have not since returned. [The Irrawaddy 4]
Myanmar: Witnesses against Aung San Suu Kyi spared from court charges
(cmsk) Despite the junta filing corruption cases against several Yangon leaders of the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government, former Yangon Chief Minister, who also testified against Aung San Suu Kyi in a corruption trial, has been spared from cases directly related to the governance of his own former constituency. The junta charged Yangon agriculture, livestock, forestry, and energy minister and Yangon mayor with “abuse of power” under Article 55 of the Anti-Corruption Law. Two secretaries were also charged under Article 55 for the abuse of power, and under Article/Section 63 for aiding and abetting corruption.
Of 14 Chief Ministers, 13 have all been charged by the junta. Kyi herself faces a slew of charges carrying all together well over 100 years in prison. At present, she has been sentenced to eleven years in prison whilst eleven corruption charges have been leveled against her by the military administration. [The Irrawaddy] [Eleven Myanmar]
Meanwhile, a leading businessman, and a key witness, in one of the several pending corruption cases against former civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi retracted an earlier statement in which he had suggested that an alleged bribe was accepted by Kyi. The businessman reportedly testified in court that the alleged bribe he paid to Kyi was a donation to her charity. The case is related to a complaint filed in early May by the junta-controlled Anti-Corruption Commission which alleged that the businessman had given Kyi USD 550,000 in illegal payments between 2018 and 2020 in an attempt to protect his businesses. [The Irrawaddy]
Myanmar: Authorities revoke publisher’s license for distributing book on Rohingya genocide
(cmsk) The Myanmar military administration has revoked the license of publishing company Lwin Oo Sarpay Publishing House on grounds that it violated Section 8 of the country’s publishing law, which dates back to 1962. The Publishing house is accused of distributing a book through social media on the Rohingya genocide by an Australian-Irish researcher, according to a state-owned media.
Section 7 of Myanmar’s Printing and Publishing Law also imposes restrictions on the content of publications and websites run by publishers. The law also bans the import or distribution of foreign publications that contain content deemed illegal. In this particular case, the content was reportedly identified as causing harm to an ethnic group or among ethnic groups, as spelled out under Section 7(a) of the Printing and Publishing Law. Meanwhile, military leader Min Aung Hlaing is known to have reportedly dismissed the term “Rohingya” as “imaginary”. Since the 2021 coup, the military has shut down media outlets that were allegedly critical of it and in recent weeks it shut down two publishing houses: Shwe Lat and Yan Aung Sarpay and Win To Aung printing press. [Radio Free Asia] [Mizzima]
Myanmar: Junta holds talks with ethnic armed organization
(cmsk) The United Wa State Party (UWSP), one of four ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) that have met with the junta as part of the military government’s offer of “peace talks,” agreed on the principle of establishing a federal democracy. On the same occasion, the national authorities agreed, in principle, to UWSP’s demand for establishing an autonomous state for the Wa people.
Unofficial reports however said the military requested UWSP’s armed wing, known as the United Wa State Army (UWSA), to not supply weapons to anti-junta resistance fighters of the People’s Defense Forces (PDF). Meanwhile, the USWP, which is based out of Shan State, reportedly suggested holding a dialogue between the current military leader Min Aung Hlaing and the ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The UWSP, however, denied that there were any discussions on Kyi or the PDF.
With UWSP identifying itself as ethnically different from the Bamar people, a UWSP statement stated the current conflict involved the Bamar people and that UWSP would not take sides in the conflict. UWSP vice-chairman further added that the organization wanted a self-governed Wa State but that it had no plans to secede from Myanmar. Although the agreements were signed with the union government in 2011, the UWSP is not a party to the 2015 Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). The UWSP and its armed wing are also known for their close ties to China, and for allegedly receiving weapons from China, making UWSA one of the most well-equipped and powerful armed groups in Myanmar. [The Irrawaddy 1] [Mizzima]
Following news of UWSP-Junta talks and with three other EAOs having already held discussions with the military government in recent weeks, the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) has officially denounced Hlaing’s “peace talks” as illegal. The NUG statement said the military regime had “no de jure power mandated by the people or de facto power to govern the country”. [The Irrawaddy 2]
Myanmar: Number of internally displaced people crosses one million
(cmsk) The number of internally displaced people (IDP) in Myanmar has crossed one million for the first time in the nation’s history, a United Nations (UN) report found. Whilst 700,000 people have been forced to flee conflict since the 2021 coup, the latest report includes 346,000 people displaced by conflict prior to the coup, primarily originating from Rakhine.
Since the coup, however, Sagaing Region has seen the highest number of displaced people with 336,000 IDPs, followed by Kayin at 83,300, Kayah at 91,700, Southern Shan, and Magway Region at 56,600 each, and Chin at 36,000 IDPs. Rakhine is also estimated to have the second-largest number of IDPs at 223,100, but all were displaced before the 2021 coup, according to estimates.
The UN also added that 41 percent of its target population in Myanmar received UN aid assistance, but that the inter-governmental body was still facing a shortfall of USD 740 million to fulfill its objective as part of the UN’s Humanitarian Response Plan. Meanwhile, the junta, which has been accused of blocking aid, said it was taking full responsibility for delivering aid but added that it needed to inspect all incoming aid. [Radio Free Asia]
Myanmar: International organization urges ethnic armed group to formalize ceasefire with military authorities to avoid more deaths
(cmsk) International Crisis Group (ICG), a think tank non-governmental organization on global policies, says that a resumption of conflict in Rakhine could lead to up to three million people in the state, both Rakhine and Rohingya, to get severely affected by the conflict that has engulfed the rest of the country.
Rakhine in recent weeks is showing rising tensions between the military and the state’s ethnic armed organization Arakan Army (AA). Both sides recently indulged in an exchange of public warnings and mutual threats. Although Rakhine State had experienced large-scale violence before the coup, it had arranged an informal ceasefire with the ousted civilian government in 2020. This had brought a considerable degree of stability to the state between late 2020 and the 2021 coup. Now renewed tensions are a concern.
According to ICG, the two most critical political factors increasing the chances of violence and a breakdown of the informal ceasefire are the AA's goal of establishing an independent state for ethnic Rakhines, and simultaneous attempts by Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG) to recruit the AA into its resistance efforts and as part of its broader coalition of anti-junta armed groups. ICG recommends that AA formalize the existing ceasefire with the military regime, and, at the same time, work with NUG to avoid a recurrence of conflict in the state. An ICG representative also added that peace was not going to be achieved without the military putting an end to the oppression of its own people. The ICG representative also noted that both armed and non-violent resistance remained strong across much of the country. [Radio Free Asia 1].
Yet the risk of conflict re-erupting in Rakhine continues to escalate by the day. As reports continue to emerge of the junta’s growing presence in the region, the latest reports by locals are of two ships, including at least one submarine, allegedly arriving at Kyauk Phyu township on May 31. The ship was reportedly equipped with heavy artillery and helicopter landing pads. Hundreds of soldiers were also suspected to be on board. Although it is speculated that troop reinforcements who disembarked in Kyauk Pho were sent to protect China’s business interests due to their own fears of clashes between the military and AA, increased troop presence (even if to secure Chinese businesses) could potentially lead to unintended violent consequences. [Radio Free Asia 2]
The Philippines: Court reaffirms conviction of retired general and army officers in connection to 2006 abduction
(db) The Philippines Court of Appeals confirmed the lower court’s sentence that convicted a retired general and two army officers to up to 40 years in prison with no eligibility for parole in their connection to the kidnapping of two students from the University of the Philippines in 2006. The men were also ordered to pay a total of USD 5,670 for civil indemnity and moral damages.
The court decided by citing Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) which regulates the applicability of the penalty of “reclusion perpetua to death if the kidnapping or detention lasted for more than three days and when the victims are females.” [Inquirer]
According to the trial witnesses, the two students were seen in a military cell after being abducted as suspected communist rebels. The witnesses claimed that the men tortured and sexually assaulted the two students. The military also reportedly abducted one of the witnesses under the same suspicions. [Rappler]
The Philippines: Ombudsman orders suspension of anti-red tape executives on suspicion of guilt
(db) The Office of the Ombudsman suspended Director-General Jeremiah Belgica as well as four other officials of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), a government agency formed by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017 to promote ‘ease of doing business and efficient delivery of government services. [Rappler 1] [Republic Act No. 11032]
The six-month suspension came after the ombudsman found ‘strong evidence of guilt’ during their ongoing investigation of a complaint filed by telecommunications company DITO. The complaints against ARTA officials were for alleged violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, spurring a probe for the group’s misconduct and neglect of duty. [Rappler 2]
The executives filed a joint motion for reconsideration of their suspension, maintaining their innocence. Besides the motion for reconsideration, the executives also filed a counter-affidavit explaining the reason behind their decision to favor Now Telecom Co. Inc. The complaint from DITO was spurred on by ARTA’s assignment of contingent frequencies to NOWTel, which were already assigned to DITO by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) as the country’s third telco player.
The ombudsman’s suspension order states that there are records that while NOWTel purchased bidding documents, it didn’t participate in the selection process for the country’s ‘new major player’ or third telco player, which was granted to DITO. Despite that, NOWTel was found to have filed a complaint against the NTC to seek automatic approvals for assignments that had already been assigned to DITO. ARTA then issued a ‘Resolution and Order of Automatic Approval’ on March 1, 2021, to direct the assignment frequencies in NOWTel’s favor, which is within the NTC’s jurisdiction to assign and not ARTA’s. [Philstar]
The Philippines: 122 families displaced amidst armed conflict
(db) Local families in the Philippines have been displaced in the landlocked province of Asipulo in Ifugao due to ongoing conflict between government armed forces and guerrillas from the Communist group New People’s Army (NPA). The current number of families are currently 122, up from the 37 reported on May 28.
A local elementary school is sheltering 85 of those families after residents had to evacuate due to the army operations in the forested areas nearby sparked concerns over safety. [Rappler]
An armed fight erupted on May 24 and May 29 between the government’s 54th Infantry Battalion and the NPA, which resulted in the death of an NPA rebel as well as the seizure of three high-powered guns. [Inquirer]
The Philippines: Wanted suspect arrested for kidnapping Indonesians
(db) Criminal of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group operatives arrested a man who is suspected of being a member of the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf Group for the kidnapping of ten Indonesians with a tugboat through the Malaysian seas in March 2016. [Manila Bulletin]
The suspect, identified as Jamar Ismon Julaid, is also a suspected member of the ‘Daulah Islamiyah Financial Conduit/Abu Sayyaf Kidnapping-for-Ransom Group’, the group responsible for kidnapping the Indonesian nationals and taking them to a hideout in Sulu, where they demanded a ransom from the victims’ families. He was found to have received USD 21,992.40 in his Philippines National Bank account, which is a partial payment to their ransom demand of approximately USD 472,139. [Journal News Ph]
The Philippines: Filipino tycoon to acquire gas field in South China Sea
(db) Billionaire Enrique Razon’s Prime Infra Holdings Inc. has announced the acquisition process with Udenna Corp. to acquire a controlling stake in the Malampaya gas project, a crucial energy source for the Philippines. [Bloomberg]
Razon owns several businesses in sports, casinos, and infrastructure and he intends to purchase a majority stake in the gas project. Majority stakeholder Dennis Uy, one of Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign donors, has acquired a 90 percent share in the gas field, although the amount he would be selling remains undisclosed.
Razon's interest is sparked by his oil exploration franchise in Reed Bank which is located southwest of Malampaya called Service Contract 72, which the Philippines government has been looking into as an alternative to the Malampaya gas project. Malampaya’s fixed infrastructures could be used to commercialize Service Contract 72, but the ongoing tensions between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea have slowed down the project. The deal also needs approval from the Philippines’ Department of Energy and state-owned Philippine National Oil Co-Exploration Corp, which own 10% of Malampaya. [Nikkei Asia][Offshore Engineer]
Singapore: Government appoints new deputy Prime Minister
(bs) Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s finance minister, will be promoted to deputy prime minister on June 13, the government announced. The move was not unexpected as in April, Singapore’s ruling party released a statement claiming that Wong would most likely be Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s successor. [Bangkok Post]
Wong gained popularity after he was assigned to the government’s Covid-19 task force. His work was highly praised and he quickly became a key political figure in the country. He is now promoted to be one of the two right hands of the prime minister. [Reuters]
Thailand: Draft budget law passed in its first reading while military budget faces corruption allegations
(sw) The Thai parliament has passed the Draft Budget Law for the fiscal year of 2023 at the first reading. The draft budget law was discussed between May 31 to June 2 amid scrutiny from the opposition and tensions between the governing coalition. The bill will be tabled in parliament two more times, likely in August, before being sent to the Senate and the royal administration for their final approval. However, the first approval of the bill seems to be a sign for the government to maintain its power amidst tensions, according to political observers. [see AiR No. 22, May/2022, 5] [Bangkok Post 1][Bangkok Post 2][Bangkok Post 3][CNA]
One of the issues discussed during the reading concerns the opposition Move Forward Party’s allegation that the Thai military had invested USD 217,501 to examine 757 GT200 bomb detectors after the devices were previously found to be made without any electronic components. The amount invested was reportedly not included in the official Defence Ministry's budget document.
GT200 bomb detectors have been regarded as fake. In fact, over 13 agencies, including the Royal Thai Army have supposedly been lured into purchasing the products by a British company, the Global Technical, whose owner was sentenced to imprisonment for fraud by the United Kingdom’s Court in 2013. [Bangkok Biz][Bangkok Post][Nation 1][Nation 2]
Thailand: Data protection law enters into force
(sw) Thailand’s new Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) entered into force on June 1 after a three years postponement since it was published in the Royal Gazette on May 27, 2019. This is the first national law governing the field of data protection and it aims at strengthening the online and offline safety of data collection. It also regulates privacy rights and sensitive data protection and it established the figure of the Data Protection Officer (DPO), who is in charge of ensuring that the law is effectively implemented. Violations can be punished with a fine or a jail term of up to six months.The PDPA gives citizens the rights over their personal data and imposes limits on the extent that which data acquired without consent could be used. [Bangkok Post] [Bangkok Biz, in Thai][National Law Review][Thai PBS World]
Thailand: Parties unsure about censure debate vote
(sw) The next censure debate in the Thai parliament is gaining traction with a group consisting of sixteen members of the parliament (MPs) from small parties who are unsure whether to vote in favor or against the current government.
The faction of Thammanat Prompow, former secretary-general of the Thai Economic Party, is allegedly planning to vote against Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha claiming to have the support of more than 40 MPs. On the other side, the opposition Pheu Thai Party is considering the dismissal of their 7 MPs who had gone against their plan to vote against the draft budget law. [Bangkok Post 1][Bangkok Post 2][see AiR No. 22, May/2022, 5]
Thailand: Emergency degree in the country’s deep south extended
(sw) The Thai government has extended the emergency decree in the three deep south provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, for three months. This is the 68th time in which the emergency decree is extended. This announcement came after the Barisan Nasional Revolusi (BRN), a Muslim separatist group, has claimed responsibility for the bomb attack on a marine police station in Narathiwat that injured three police officers in late May. [Bangkok Post 1][Bangkok Post 2] [Prachachat, in Thai]
The southernmost region of Thailand has been long affected by ongoing violence between local militants and Thai authorities. The Thai government has been holding talks to negotiate peace by cooperating with the Malay police. The Malaysian Defense Minister recently reiterated Malaysia's commitment to supporting Thailand in moving forwards with peace talks in the deep south of the country.
The regions are all bordering Malaysia, meaning that a great part of the population does not fully share Thai culture or religion. That has caused tensions between local groups and the Thai government which requires all citizens to follow specific Thai cultural and religious regulations. [AiR No. 22, May/2022, 5]
Thailand urged to provide refugee status to Rohingya migrants from Myanmar
(sw) Human Rights Watch urged Thailand to provide asylum to the over 50 Rohingya people the authorities found on Thai territory on June 4.
The police found and arrested 59 migrants from Myanmar who had been hiding in rubber plantations while waiting for their transfer to Malaysia. Myanmar migrants were also arrested in the northern city of Chiang Rai while waiting to be transported to Chiang Mai and Bangkok to find jobs.
According to local reports, the Thai authorities are detaining over 470 Rohingya people in immigration centers without allowing them to access refugee status determination procedures.[Bangkok Post 1][Bangkok Post 2][Human Rights Watch]
Vietnam: Industry ministry proposes draft amendment to Petroleum Law
(ntan) The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed a draft amendment to the national Petroleum Law that would facilitate access to the field for investors. The new draft, which comprises 11 chapters and 64 articles, would introduce new regulations while maintaining the continuity and stability of the current legislation on the oil and gas field. The bill was firstly introduced in 1993, then revised and supplemented in 2000 and 2008. [Vietnam Law and Legal Forum magazine]
Vietnam: Government approves national strategy towards environment-protection goals
(ntan/bs) The Vietnamese government has reiterated its commitment to achieving environmental sustainability and promoting effective mechanisms for the protection of the environment.
The government’s new Decision 450/QD-TTg, issued in April, is expected to facilitate the achievement of national environmental goals by 2030 with a longer-term vision to be carbon neutral by 2050. This new strategy also aims at promoting a circular economy to create a promising green industrial environment. The decision mentioned ecological and organic agriculture as the country’s top investments for the future along with the increased use of renewable energy such as wind power and solar energy.
The resolution also aims at strengthening regulations on waste management and encourages investment in the waste energy sector in Vietnam. Another objective is to reduce the consumption and circulation of single-use plastic products by 2025, and by 2030, to no longer produce and import products containing microplastic.
The long-term ambition of the Decision also includes monitoring and preventing pollution in the marine environment. [Vietnam Briefing]
The Decision is in line with the Vietnam Energy Outlook Report 2021 launched on June 2, which includes several potential scenarios that would allow the country to draft effective policy actions to reach Vietnam’s energy system development with a view to 2050. The document reported the urgency to reinforce transmission capacity which would allow connecting renewable energy supplies with energy demand across Vietnam. [Vietnam Plus]
Vietnam: High-profile officials laid off and investigated in corruption cases
(bs) The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the founding and only party in the country, dismissed Vietnam’s Health Minister and the mayor of Hanoi, the country’s capital, over their alleged key roles in a corruption scandal that involved overpriced Covid-19 test kits. The officials might face criminal charges in connection to the scandal.
Currently, Viet A Technologies Company’s director-general is also facing corruption charges for supposedly bribing health officials luring them into overpaying for Covid-19 test kits allocated to hospitals and provincial Centers for Disease Control. The company made USD 172 million of profit, part of which was subsequently reallocated into more bribing activities.
The move came as a part of a widespread crackdown on corruption across the country which has uncovered the involvement of a number of government and private officials in major graft cases since late 2021. [Radio Free Asia]
Vietnam began the crackdown on corruption after the country ranked 87th out of 180 in the latest global corruption perception index. The ranking caused Vietnam to fall behind in the international economic and investment market. The country is now seeking to enhance its reputation to attract foreign investors. With eight inspection teams, the government investigated over 1,200 corruption cases throughout 2022. Moreover, anti-corruption steering committees will be established in each province, the CPV announced. [Bloomberg]
International Relations, Geopolitics and Security in Asia
US report cites China, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia among violators of religious freedom
(lm) A United States report on the status of religious freedom in 200 foreign countries and territories accuses China and Myanmar of engaging in “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” violations of religious freedom for their repression of Muslim majority ethnicities in Xinjiang and Rohingya, respectively.
Mandated by US law, the State Department has submitted Report on International Religious Freedom to Congress every year since 1999. The Office of International Religious Freedom leads the annual process of drafting the report. [Voice of America]
Myanmar, China, North Korea, Pakistan, India and Vietnam are among the 15 countries the USCIRF recommends being designated as “countries of particular concern” by the Department of State. Indonesia and Malaysia are recommended to be placed on the State Department’s “Special Watch List”, besides ten other nations. [U.S. Department of State]
China has been designated a “country of particular concern” regarding religious rights every year since 1999 and continues to be “one of the worst abusers of religious freedom in the world”, according to the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, Rashad Hussain. [South China Morning Post]
India, for its part, has routinely denounced the Commission on International Religious Freedom, an autonomous US government panel, which has repeatedly recommended New Delhi be put on a blacklist. But the State Department is highly unlikely to take action against India, identified by successive US administrations as a key strategic partner in the face of a rising China. [Al Jazeera]
Europe has to change mindset, Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar tells GLOBSEC summit
(lm) Against the larger backdrop of ongoing attempts by the United States and its allies to isolate Russia over the war in the Ukraine, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar afresh defended New Delhi’s stance on invasion, calling instead on Western governments “to get out of the mindset that [their] problems are the world’s problems”. The top diplomat also defended the Indian oil imports from Russia saying there is a need to be “even-handed.” [The Indian Express]
Earlier in March Jaishankar had defended India’s right to buy discounted oil from Russia, despite an appeal from his British counterpart, Liz Truss, for democracies to work together to counter authoritarians. Notably, the Indian diplomat remarked that there seemed to be a “campaign” to distort New Delhi’s attitude to discounted Russian oil, pointing out that Europe before the war purchased vastly more petroleum products from Russia than India. [AiR No. 14, April/2022, 1]
In April then, Jaishankar made clear that New Delhi would set its own course on foreign policy. His sharp remarks came in response to questions from some of his European counterparts during a town hall session at the annual Raisina Dialogue, India's flagship conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics. The Indian top diplomat also criticized the West for its own shortcomings in defending the “rules-based order” during crises in Asia, most notably the return of the Afghan Taliban in August last year. [AiR No. 18, May/2022, 1]
India faces backlash from Muslim countries over derogatory religious remarks made by ruling party members
(ha/rk/lm) India is facing growing international backlash from Muslim-majority countries after top officials in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made derogatory references to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, drawing accusations of blasphemy across some Arab nations that have left New Delhi struggling to contain the diplomatic fallout. [Al Jazeera] [The Express Tribune]
At least five Arab nations have lodged official protests against India, and Pakistan and Afghanistan also reacted strongly on June 6 to the comments made by two now-suspended spokespeople from the Hindu nationalist BJP. The Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation said the remarks came in a “context of intensifying hatred and abuse toward Islam in India and systematic practices against Muslims.” [Deutsche Welle] [The Straits Times]
The controversy comes as Gulf states and India look to significantly enhance their economic partnership. At present, India is involved in USD 90 billion trade with the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, whose members are key sources of India's oil and gas imports. Furthermore, India signed a signed a wide-ranging trade and investment pact with the United Arab Emirates this February, its first in more than a decade, and has eyed the rest of the Gulf states for similar agreements [see AiR No. 8, February/2022, 4]. [CNN]
Meanwhile, at home, the remarks have led to protests against Modi’s party in some parts of the country. The BJP also faced anger from some of its own supporters who comments on social media saying the government was buckling under international pressure. More recently, religious tensions have escalated after some Hindu groups went to a local court in northern Varanasi city to seek permission to pray at a 17th century mosque, claiming that it was built by demolishing a temple [see AiR No. 21, May/2022, 4]. [Associated Press]
India allows export of small amounts of wheat after ban; big stocks still stuck
(sg/lm) India has exported nearly 470,000 tons of wheat since announcing a ban on most shipments in May, but at least 1.7 million tons is lying at ports and could be damaged by looming monsoon rains, Reuters reported on June 2 citing government and industry officials. [Reuters 1] [The Times of India]
India is the world's second biggest wheat producer, but accounts for less than 1 percent of the global wheat trade. The government announced a ban on wheat exports on May 13, citing food security, rising commodity prices, and a record-breaking heatwave as reasons for the measure. But just before announcing the ban, New Delhi was aiming to boost exports by shipping a record 10 million tons of wheat this year – compared with just two million last year. [No. 20, May/2022, 3]
Since then, India has received requests to export more than 1.5 million metric tons of wheat from multiple vulnerable nations, most notably Egypt, the world's biggest wheat importer. In addition, the United Nations’ World Food Program has approached New Delhi to supply wheat to several developing countries. So far, exports of the staple crop have focused on neighboring Bangladesh, with small amounts also moving to the Philippines, Tanzania, and Malaysia, and New Delhi says it will “continue to assist neighbours in their hour of need.” [BBC] [Reuters 2]
But the Indian government must swiftly issue export permits as the monsoon season starting this month threatens to destroy at least 1.7 million metric tons of wheat stuck in Indian ports.
Australia inaugurates USD 86 million Southeast Asian infrastructure program
(pw) The Australian Embassy to Cambodia, and the Cambodian Public Works, and Transport Ministry, officially started the Partnerships for Infrastructure (P4I) project for Cambodia as part of a larger effort to assist Southeast Asia’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Under this USD 86 million initiative, Australia will work with other P4I partners, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam, on energy, telecommunications, transportation, and utilities.
Examples of what P4I is planning to do can be seen in Cambodia, where P4I collaborates with the Cambodian government on public investment management, national road standards, sewage recovery, telecommunications regulations, and the application of Cambodia’s law on public-private partnerships. [Khmer Times] [The Phnom Penh Post]
United States exempts tariffs on solar panels from Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam for 24 months
(sw) The United States administration has exempted tariffs on solar panels from Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam for two years. Solar panel imports from these countries had previously decreased due to the United State’s investigation of whether such solar panels were evading tariffs imposed on China. However, The Defense Production Act has been invoked by the United States to increase domestic production while imports from the four Southeast Asian Nations are used during the transition phase. [Al Jazeera][Bangkok Post 1][Bangkok Post 2]
Myanmar's parallel administration and allies urge international bodies to not provide aid through military government
(cmsk) The parallel National Unity Government (NUG) administration and its allied organizations, the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), Karen National Union (KNU), and Chin National Front (CNF), reportedly objected to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s decision to provide humanitarian aid through Myanmar´s military administration.
The NUG and allied organizations issued a statement calling on the United Nations (UN) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to negotiate with ASEAN and Myanmar’s neighbors, India and Thailand, to enable cross-border access in order to deliver aid to people in Myanmar. The statement comes after the NUG expressed reservations, indicating the possibility of the “weaponization” of aid by the junta. They also expressed concern about the ICRC’s exclusion from ASEAN’s Myanmar aid delivery plans whilst the junta-controlled Myanmar Red Cross was included in the plans. [The Irrawaddy]
Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam agreed to enhance their efforts against wildlife crimes
(pw) Cambodian, Lao, and Vietnamese officials, including the respective supreme court chief justices, have met with the World Wildlife Fund for Nature in Cambodia (WWF-Cambodia) to talk about improving the law enforcement, prosecution, and conviction rate of wildlife crimes in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, where such crimes appear to be systematic.
At the conference, the three countries have decided to consider wildlife crimes as offenses of severe nature and to enhance their cooperation to secure wildlife justice.
The WWF-Cambodia country director noted that transnational wildlife crimes might severely affect economic prosperity, national security, and public health. Also, to combat illegal wildlife trafficking networks, he indicated the importance of strong cooperation among neighboring countries also in the judicial area. [The Phnom Penh Post]
Bangladesh, India launch joint military exercise as part of bilateral defense cooperation
(pb) A joint military exercise between India and Bangladesh, “Ex SAMPRITI-X”, commenced on June 5 at the Jessore military station in Bangladesh, with the goal to strengthen the aspects of interoperability and cooperation between both armies. The exercise will continue till June 16. [India Today]
Bangladesh, United States discuss economic cooperation
(sg) The second US-Bangladesh High-Level Economic Consultation (HLEC) took place in Washington DC on June 2. The two countries discussed multiple topics, including strengthening business engagement, trade, and labor rights. Additionally, the US also briefed the Bangladeshi side on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), launched in Tokyo on May 23. [Dhaka Tribune] [US Department of State]
Bangladesh seeks Swedish help against climate challenges
(sg) At the Stockholm + 50 Conference in Sweden, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen highlighted the dangers of rising sea levels and the difficulties of displaced peoples. The summit in the Swedish capital took place from 1-3 June to discuss international environmental cooperation.
On the sidelines of the conference, Momen met with his Swedish counterpart Ann Linde and stressed the need for additional climate financing against losses and damages. The two top diplomats agreed to strengthen and expand cooperation to fight against climate challenges. [Stockholm+50] [United News of Bangladesh]
Chinese banks to refinance Pakistan with USD 2.3 billion funding
(sg) China has agreed to refinance USD 2.3 billion worth of funds to stock Pakistan’s foreign reserves. The refinancing of a large commercial loan marks the first significant foreign currency inflow to Pakistan in recent months. Pakistan is struggling with a shortage of foreign reserves that has prompted some analysts to warn that the country is at risk of defaulting on its foreign debts. [Business Standard] [The Express Tribune]
The loan was repaid by Pakistan in March this year, with Islamabad lobbying to get back the loan in April. The Chinese side had previously stated that Pakistan could not use the money from the loan due to the country’s weak external sector. However, after reaching an agreement on June 2, the Chinese government agreed to refinance the loan and reduce the interest rate by 1 percent to 3.8 percent. [The Nation]
Pakistan is supposed to pay USD 20-21 billion in the next fiscal year starting from July 1. It would also need another about USD 15 billion to meet the trade deficit. But the country’s foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 190 million to USD 10.308 billion during the week ending on May 6, according to the country’s state bank.
In light of this, Islamabad is heavily dependent on foreign loans, but data published last month showed that Pakistan received only USD 248 million in foreign loans in April, including USD 100 million worth of oil on deferred payments from Saudi Arabia.
India, Israel vow to strengthen defense, security cooperation, adopt “vision statement”
(sg/lm) During a visit to India by Israel’s defense minister last week to commemorate 30 years of diplomatic ties, the two countries adopted a “vision statement” that seeks to strengthen bilateral defense and security cooperation. [Business Standard]
Defense Minister Benny Gantz arrived in the Indian capital New Delhi on June 1 for meetings with his counterpart, Rajnath Singh, as well as with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Several other senior Israeli officials from the defence ministry's Directorate for Defence Research and Development, as well as the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, accompanied him on his trip, as well as representatives from Israel's arms industries. The trip was initially meant to take place in late March, but Gantz postponed it amid a series of deadly terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. [The Jerusalem Post]
Officials from both sides reviewed existing military cooperation activities and promised to strengthen the Indo-Israel Vision on Defense Cooperation. In addition, the two defense ministers exchanged a Letter of Intent on enhancing cooperation in the field of “Futuristic Defense Technologies”. The move was lauded as the “second most important step” after France agreed last December to jointly manufacture aero engines in India under New Delhi’s strategic partnership model [see AiR No. 51, December/2021, 3]. [ANI News] [The New Indian Express]
The New Delhi visit by Gantz follows an official visit to Israel by Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to in October of last year, which focused on advancing strategic relations between the two countries [see No. 42, October/2021, 3]. Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also scheduled a trip to India back in March but postponed it after contracting COVID-19. He has yet to announce a new date.
According to weapons monitors, India is the largest and possibly most dependable customer of Israeli weapons systems, spending in excess of USD 1 billion per year and embarking on several joint projects with Israeli companies. [Middle East Eye]
Indian delegation in Afghanistan for first meeting with Taliban since takeover last August
(sg) An Indian delegation travelled to Afghanistan on June 2 for talks with the country’s acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, marking the first official visit to Kabul by Indian representatives since the Taliban’s surge to power in August last year. [Al Jazeera]
Prior to the Taliban takeover last August India was the region’s largest provider of development aid, having invested around USD 3 billion in development projects in a bid to build “soft power.” But in the aftermath of the fall of Kabul, India had been mostly reluctant to engage with Kabul’s new rulers, given the insurgent group’s proximity to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, and shut its consulates and embassies.
However, there had been unconfirmed reports of backchannel talks taking place last June [see AiR No. 24, June/2021, 3]. Furthermore, the two sides meet in Doha, the capital of Qatar, in September [see AiR No. 36, September/2021, 1].
Keen to retain ties with Kabul, New Delhi allocated about USD 25 million as aid for Afghanistan in its federal budget in February. To this date, India has delivered 500 000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines and 20 000 metric tons of wheat to Afghanistan, with a further 50 000 metric tons of grain to be delivered soon. [The Wire]
In light of these developments, some analysts say that sending an official delegation to Afghanistan could be a precursor to India reopening a small mission in Kabul in coming months – a possibility that New Delhi has so far denied. [Voice of America]
India’s Vice President Venkaiah Naidu visits Gabon, Senegal, Qatar
(pb) Indian Vice President Venkaiah Naidu concluded a three-nation tour to Gabon, Senegal and Qatar on June 7, accompanied by a high-level delegation including the minister of state for health and family welfare and three members of parliament. This was the first visit from India at the level of vice president to all three countries, and the first-ever high-level visit from an Indian official to Gabon and to Senegal. [Ministry of External Affairs]
Gabon
Naidu arrived in the Gabonese Republic on May 30. His itinerary involved wide-ranging talks with the nation’s top leadership, where he called for strengthening bilateral cooperation in green energy, services, health, and agriculture among other sectors. He also addressed the central African nation’s business community, asserting that “India attaches utmost priority to its relationship with Africa”. [Free Press Journal]
Senegal
India and Senegal signed three agreements on cultural exchange, cooperation in youth matters and visa-free regime for officials during the delegation-level talks between Vice President Naidu and Senegal’s President Macky Sall. [Etemaad]
The Indian vice president assured India’s support for the West African nation’s socio-economic development through multi-modal frameworks and expressed happiness about growing Indo-Senegalese trade, currently at USD 1.5 billion dollars. Further, he highlighted New Delhi’s interest in phosphates from Senegal where India’s heavy earth moving equipment companies can offer their expertise. Naidu also conveyed that India would cooperate with Senegal, a fellow member of the International Solar Alliance and One Sun One World One Grid initiative.
Qatar
In the last leg of the three-nation tour, Naidu participated in delegation-level talks with Qatar’s deputy amir, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Thani, and review bilateral cooperation. The Indian vice president’s visit to Qatar coincides the coming of 50th anniversary of diplomatic cooperation between the two nations. [Webindia123]
During Naidu’s visit, there was the launch of the India-Qatar Startup Bridge at the India-Qatar Business Forum, which is expected to spur the startup economy of the two sides and result in new networking opportunities for trade and investment. [Inc42]
India, Egypt discuss partnership for pharma trade
(pb) Officials from India and Egypt have discussed a partnership for pharmaceutical, regulatory cooperation, AYUSH and pharmaceutical education and research. The two sides have constituted a Joint Working Group for the same, whose first meeting was held in March this year. [Mint]
While India eyes the North African nation as a gateway to secure larger pharmaceutical market in North Africa, Egypt sees this as a chance to boost its API industry and domestic drugs production. The latter also hopes to attract Indian pharmaceutical companies to set manufacturing base in the nation while catering to the African and regional markets for medicines, serum and vaccines.
A major hurdle in their trade partnership is the pending regulatory approval from Egyptian authorities to India for Good Manufacturing Practice. Currently, only 22 reference countries are accepted by Egyptian authorities, the South Asian nation not being part of them.
India to provide Sri Lanka USD 55 million loan to purchase fertilizer
(pb/lm) India has agreed to provide neighboring Sri Lanka with a USD 55 million loan for the procurement of fertilizer for the upcoming cultivation season. [The Hindu]
Last month, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe warned of a food shortage after a government ban on chemical fertilizers introduced by the previous administration drastically cut yields, leaving farmers without enough income to purchase fertilizer for the next planting season. [AiR No. 21, May/2022, 4]
Indian foreign minister on five-day visit to Czechia, Slovakia
(sg) Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar traveled to the Czech Republic and Slovakia on a five-day trip last week. As part of the trip, Jaishankar also attended the GLOBESEC Forum in Bratislava, Slovakia, on June 2.
In the first leg of his visit, Jaishankar traveled to Bratislava on invitation from the Slovakian minister of foreign and European affairs, Ivan Korcok. Jaishankar met with the prime minister of Slovakia, Eduard Heger, to discuss cooperation in the trade, investment, and defense sectors and the ongoing Ukraine crisis. The visit marked the first time an Indian foreign minister had traveled to Slovakia. [ANI News] [Business Standard]
On the sidelines of the GLOBESEC summit, Jaishankar met up with Austrian foreign minister Alexander Schallenberg. The pair discussed Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific and noted progress in bilateral relations since the Austrian’s visit to India in March of this year. Jaishankar also met the president of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic; the two agreed to expand tourism, health, and climate cooperation. [Dr. S. Jaishankar via Twitter]
On June 5, Jaishankar traveled to Prague, Czech Republic, where he met with his Czech counterpart Jan Lipavsky to discuss bilateral ties and the repercussions of the conflict in Ukraine. During his visit to the Czech capital, Jaishankar also met a delegation of Czech members of the EU parliament. The gathering discussed India-EU ties, the Indo-Pacific, food, and energy security. [The Telegraph]
Nepal starts sale of electricity to India
(sg) Nepal has started exporting electricity to India after hydroelectric dams filled up due to recent rainfalls in the mountainous country. Nepal will export 178 MW from multiple hydropower plants, including 144 MW from the Kaligandaki hydropower plant in central Nepal. [NDTV] [The Kathmandu Post]
Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif visits Turkey, vows to enhance bilateral ties with “strategic perspective”
(sg/lm) Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif completed a three-day official to Turkey last week, accompanied by a high-level delegation that included Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Defense Minister Khawaja Asif. While in Ankara, Sharif met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with the two leaders pledging to strengthen cooperation with a "strategic perspective" on both bilateral and international levels. [Xinhua]
Right at the beginning of the meeting, the Pakistani premier lauded the defense cooperation between the two nations, most notably the joint production of corvettes under the framework of Turkey’s MILGEM warship program. A contract, signed between the two countries in 2018, entails the construction of four Ada class anti-submarine warfare corvettes for Pakistan’s Navy. Last month, the third corvette was launched in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi. [Geo News] [TRT World]
Furthermore, Sharif emphasized the closeness between the two countries, which celebrate their 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year. However, he also stated that the close bond in relations did not reflect the trade volume between the two nations. In light of this, the two leaders vowed to work to expand their bilateral trade volume, stating that the volume of trade should rise to USD 5 billion over the next three years, up from around USd 1 billion this year. [Dawn 1] [Radio Pakistan 1]
Notably, the two leaders in a press conference later announced to hold the seventh meeting of their primary platform at the leadership-level, the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, in Islamabad this coming September. They also signed a total of six agreements, covering cooperation on housing, finance, and a knowledge-sharing program. [Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs] [Radio Pakistan 2]
Addressing potential investors at a joint business forum, Sharif announced that Pakistan would lift visa restrictions for Turkish citizens. He also thanked the Turkish leadership for support concerning Pakistan’s dispute with India over Jammu and Kashmir – Ankara has long supported Islamabad’s claims over the disputed region – and urged investors to invest in renewable energy in Pakistan, an area in which Turkey was far ahead, he said. [Dawn 2]
These remarks came just weeks after Sharif proposed expanding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into a trilateral arrangement between China, Pakistan, and Turkey. [No. 21, May/2022, 4]
Bangladesh, Cambodia to reinforce bilateral labor cooperation
(pw) The Cambodian Labor Minister and the Bangladeshi Ambassador to Cambodia have agreed to bolster their employment agreements with the aim of exchanging worker recruitment data, clamping down on the exploitation of workers, and handling workers’ migration. The Minister added that both countries are able to share their data and experiences in the labor and vocational training sectors due to their labor markets’ similarities as both nations manufacture and send textile products for export. Meanwhile, the Ambassador would like Cambodia to dispatch a working group to Bangladesh to collaborate with their Bangladeshi counterparts on extending the expiring Bangladesh–Cambodia labor MoU that was agreed upon in 2017. [Khmer Times] [The Phnom Penh Post]
Cambodia receives modern Chinese multiple rocket launchers, self-propelled howitzers
(pw) Cambodian military officials have informed local media that the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) has recently received a significant shipment of rocket launchers, self-propelled howitzers, and other military equipment from China.
Reportedly, the delivery includes six 300-millimeter (mm) AR2 multiple rocket launchers (MRLs), alongside an unspecified number of 122mm Type 90B MRLs, 155mm SH1 self-propelled howitzers (SPHs), ammunition transportation vehicles, battery command post vehicles, tactical vehicles, and trucks. At present, these vehicles will be kept at the Artillery Headquarters in Kampong Speu province in anticipation of future live-firing drills with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The AR2 multiple rocket launcher is an export variation of the PHL-03 MRL manufactured by Norinco, a Chinese state arms company. The PHL-03 is based on the Soviet BM-30 Smerch MRL and purportedly came into PLA service around 2004–5. It is regarded as one of the world’s most formidable MRLs. The SH1, also produced by Norinco, is an air-transportable wheeled SPH derived from the 155mm PLL-01 towed howitzer. Its maximum firing range is reportedly 53 kilometers with the appropriate long-range shells. This system was introduced in 2007. A Western defense magazine has noted that the SH-1s would be Cambodia’s first SPHs.
The Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia remarked that this arms delivery reflected the mutual trust and deep cooperation between the two nations and was not aimed at any other country. According to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, up to 2019, his government had used USD 290 million to obtain Chinese arms. [Cambodia Daily] [Khmer Times 1] [Khmer Times 2]
Indonesia receives Australian Prime Minister
(bs) Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held talks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo while on a visit to Indonesia. Albanese began his visit in an eastern region where the population is known to have close ties with Indigenous Australians. He is now scheduled to meet with the local governor to strengthen Australian partnership with the region and increase foreign investments.
The countries also agreed to strengthen economic relationships and better the implementation of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. Australia also committed to providing Indonesia with additional funds as part of the development assistance program with the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). [Associated Press]
Moreover, Albanese pledged his support to Indonesia in leading this year’s G20 summit while committing to enhance his country’s engagement with ASEAN member states. [Radio Free Asia]
Laos, Belarus test Cold War-era Soviet surface-to-air missile
(pw) The Lao Defense Ministry and Tetraedr UE, a Belarusian defense company, have launched a Cold War-era Soviet S-125 surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as the SA-3, as part of a test. In this event, a Lao Brigadier General noted that Lao military personnel had been taught for two months on military tactics and the employment of several types of military equipment, including SAM systems and mobile command centers.
Tetradr UE is a firm whose expertise lies in developing and producing sophisticated radio-electronic weapon systems alongside radar and radio-electronic asset software. It also specializes in modernizing SAM systems. [The Laotian Times]
Laos, Thailand sign bilateral agreements on economic and infrastructure partnerships
(sw) During Laotian Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh’s visit to Thailand, both sides agreed to the Strategic Partnership for Growth and Sustainable Development and to further cooperate on setting up the Thai-Lao Friendship Centre for Social Development to combat human trafficking in Laos. Their cooperation also entails combating drug trafficking and illegal border crossings. The parties also signed an agreement on economic partnership and cooperation in the energy sector. [Bangkok Post][Thai PBS World]
Top Vietnamese officials meet Lao leaders
(pw) Between May 30 and June 1, a group of senior Vietnamese officials led by a Politburo member of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), met with the Lao leadership, including President Thongloun Sisoulith, Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh, and National Assembly Chairman Saysomphon Phomvihane, to address Laos–Vietnam relationships.
During their discussions, Vietnam reiterated its commitments to assist reform efforts in Laos while considering enhancing the efficiency of both countries’ cooperation in various fields. The Vietnamese representatives have also added that the Organization Commission of the CPV Central Committee is prepared to cooperate with its counterpart in the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party on the agreements that both countries or parties agreed upon, alongside improving the sharing of party-building information and experience between both sides. [Vientiane Times]
India will hand over patrol boats to Vietnam in upcoming diplomatic visit
(ntan) Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to visit Vietnam from June 8 to 10 to hand over 12 high-speed guard boats built in the framework of the government of India’s USD 100 million defense line of credit to Vietnam. The move comes as Southeast Asia countries are strengthening their maritime security amid an increase in China’s presence in the South China Sea. The upcoming meeting also aims at strengthening the Vietnam-India relationship and their bilateral defense ties.
Rajnath Singh will hold talks with his Vietnamese counterpart about the defense engagements, and exchange opinions as well as interests in regional and global problems. Singh will also talk via a call to Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. In the last few years, India and Vietnam have developed their security cooperation in the sea to safeguard the countries’ common interests.
The relationship between Vietnam and India began strengthening in July 2007. Until 2016, the bilateral relations were developed into a comprehensive strategic partnership when Indian Prime Minister Modi visited Vietnam. [Business Standard]
China seeks bilateral deals after large-scale agreement with Pacific nations failed, race with Western competitors
(jw) After a Chinese proposal for a wide-ranging agreement with Pacific nations on security and trade was rejected at the May 30 China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Fiji [see AiR No. 22, May/2022, 5], Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi continued his tour of pacific nations trying to limit the damage by securing bilateral deals instead. Meanwhile, Australia, New Zealand and the US continued their efforts to counter Wang’s diplomatic mission with visits, warnings of China’s ambitions and economic aid.
Right after the May 30 meeting in Fiji where China’s proposal for cooperation was rejected, Wang traveled to Tonga where he engaged in talks with Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni and King Tupou VI. Wang managed to secure agreements on disaster management, economic cooperation and the provision of police equipment for Tonga. Three days after Wang’s visit, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong arrived on the Island nation, discussing climate efforts and rebuilding efforts after the island was hit by an underwater volcano eruption and a subsequent tsunami in January. [Associated Press 1] [Government of Tonga] [Reuters 1]
Before visiting Tonga, Wong went to Samoa where she announced that Australia would provide the country with a new patrol vessel to replace another boat that was grounded in 2021. During Wong’s visit, Prime Minister of Samoa Fiame Naomi Mata’afa stated that the signing ceremony of bilateral agreements that took place during Wang’s visit to the island nation in the previous week [see AiR No. 22, May/2022, 5] was not more than a “formalising process” regarding agreements that were reached multiple years ago. Furthermore, Mataʻafa voiced concerns regarding the Chinese proposal shelved on May 30, stating that “you cannot have a regional agreement when the region hasn’t met to discuss it”. Wong praised Mataʻafa’s stance on the proposal as “wise”. [The Guardian 1]
Meanwhile, Wang continued to travel to Vanuatu where he arrived on June 1. In Vanuatu. Here, the Chinese Foreign Minister met with President Tallis Obed Moses and discussed the strengthening of “people-to-people and cultural exchanges” according to a statement released by the Chinese foreign ministry. Specific agreements reached during the meeting were not reported. [Associated Press 2] [Chinese Foreign Ministry]
The penultimate stop of Wang’s eight-nation tour was Papua New Guinea. After his June 2 arrival, Wang discussed a free-trade deal with Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape who emphasized the need for deep economic ties between the two nations as China buys a large amount of the goods produced in Papua New Guinea and is a major source of investment. Wang also signed agreements on “green development”, Covid-19 assistance, aid and health care. However, Wang’s visit was controversial in Papua New Guinea as it took place shortly before an election. Former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill who aims to win back his office in the upcoming election characterized the timing of the meetings as inappropriate and spoke out against the signing of deals. [France 24] [The Guardian 2] [The Straits Times]
The final destination of Wang’s Pacific tour was East Timor where Wang met with his counterpart Adaljiza Magno and signed agreements concerning fisheries, water and sanitation. Furthermore , Wang pledged that China would support the development of East Timor’s education, healthcare and defense sectors. Wang also met with newly elected East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta who previously indicated that he is open for Chinese investment and assistance but would not choose a side in the US-China competition or sign a security pact with China. [Associated Press 3] [Sky News Australia]
While Australia tried to retain its influence in the region by organizing visits to multiple Pacific nations, the US and New Zealand commented on the developments from afar, also voicing their concerns about China’s increased presence in the region. In a May 31 meeting between New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern and US President Joe Biden, both sides agreed on the need for closer security cooperation in the pacific to face China. Hinting at China, they warned of states that do not share mutual “values or security interests” trying to “fundamentally alter the strategic balance of the region”. [Financial Times]
Wang’s tour also provoked concerns of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) because journalists were repeatedly barred from asking questions or filming meetings even though they had all the necessary accreditation. Journalists complained about Chinese officials standing in front of their cameras, press conferences at which no questions were permitted and the revoking of media passes without any explanation. The Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI) boycotted coverage of Wang’s visit to the Solomon Islands [see AiR No. 22, May/2022, 5] altogether, in protest of the many restrictions placed on journalists. [Reporters Without Borders] [The Guardian]
Chinese planes allegedly harassed Australian and Canadian aircraft in international airspace
(jw) Canadian and Australian authorities described separate instances in which Chinese warplanes harassed their surveillance planes in international airspace, flying so close to them that the flight crews were endangered.
According to the Canadian military, Chinese warplanes were repeatedly harassing Canadian aircraft which were monitoring North Korea sanction evasions such as ship-to-ship transfers of fuel or other commodities that are not allowed to be exported to North Korea. In a statement published on June 1, the Canadian Armed Forces allege that risky behavior violating international safety norms was observed frequently with People’s Liberation Army Aircraft flying so close to the Canadian planes that the aircrews were “very clearly visible” forcing the Canadian pilots to “quickly modify their own flight path in order to increase separation and avoid a potential collision with the intercepting aircraft”.
The Canadian aircraft were participating in the "Operation NEON", Canada’s contribution to the implementation of sanctions on North Korea which were imposed by the UN Security Council. Canadian ships, aircraft and personnel take part in surveillance missions aimed at preventing the evasion of sanctions. Despite the North Korean military ramping up its missile test in 2022, China opposes further sanctions on North Korea, vetoing a pertinent US proposal to the UN Security Council on May 26 together with Russia [see AiR No. 22, May/2022, 5]. Bilateral relations between China and Canada also suffered from Canada barring Chinese corporations Huawei Technologies and ZTE from building up a 5G network in the country [see AiR No. 21, May/2022, 4]. [Canadian Armed Forces] [CNN] [Reuters] [Reuters 2]
The Australian government also accused China of threatening one of its surveillance planes. The incident taking place on May 26 in place in international airspace over the South China Sea was described as “very dangerous” by Defense Minister Richard Marles. According to Marles, the Chinese fighter maneuvered right in front of the Australian aircraft to then release flares and chaff which was partly ingested into the engine of the Australian plane. The Australian crew decided to return to their base. Chinese authorities also refrained to comment on the Australian allegations. [Associated Press]
In a first reaction to the allegations of Canada and Australia, Chinese state-owned newspaper Global Times published two pieces quoting anonymous sources who framed the allegations as “not consistent with the truth”. Both pieces alleged that the affected planes engaged in “close-in reconnaissance and provocative activities” and should not have entered the area in which they were flying. The Chinese Defense Ministry also provided similar comments on June 6, describing the actions of the Chinese aircrews as “reasonable measures” to deal with Canadian planes engaging in reconnaissance and provocative activities and threatening Chinese national security. However, the Defense Ministry refrained from commenting on the allegations of Australia. [Global Times 1] [Global Times 2] [Reuters 2]
China-Australia: Canberra complaints about Australian writer detained in China on alleged espionage
(ms) The Australian government continues to protest against the prison conditions of Cheng Lei, an Australian writer, born in China, who was detained in 2020 in China for leaking state secrets and espionage while working as a journalist for the Chinese state broadcaster China Global Television Network (CGTN). Lei is said to not have received due process rights, is reportedly struggling with serious health issues in prison.
The case is similar to those of Yang Hengjun, also an Australian citizen born in China, was detained in 2021 on similar charges. Both are considered to reflect the generally deteriorating relationship between China and Australia, which began at the latest with the ban of Huawei in the Australian 5G network, and contributed to the establishment of the security pact AUKUS. [ABC News][Associated Press][Deutsche Welle]
China continues engaging Russia but refrains from breaching western sanctions
(jw/hg) Amid the continuing Ukraine war, relations between China and Russia remain complex but rather close and constructive as China engages Russia economically but refrains from openly undermining sanctions of western countries, which it however boldly critizes.
On the economic front, China heavily increased its oil and gas exports from Russia after being reluctant in the first weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Like other Asian countries, China profits from heavy discounts on Russian oil which were introduced as many western countries are cutting back their imports of Russian natural resources or imposing complete embargoes. Chinese-Russian economic cooperation is reportedly eyed by the US which previously threatened unspecified consequences should China undermine sanctions imposed on Russia. [Associated Press 1]
Even though China views sanctions on Russia as illegal, it tries to avoid secondary sanctions and only cooperates with Russia in less critical areas. Thus, Russian airlines were reportedly barred from entering Chinese airspace with foreign-owned aircraft. This move is in line with western sanctions imposed on Russian airlines that leased many planes from western owners. Due to the sanctions, the airlines are formally required to return the aircraft to the lenders. Nevertheless, Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed the planes to be re-registered in Russia. [Associated Press 2]
According to an unreleased report of cybersecurity firm Check Point, Chinese state-sponsored hackers also targeted the Russian defense sector, attempting to steal sensitive military technological information. [Bangkok Post]
On a more fundamental level, China shares Russia´s view that with a Ukrainian defeat a decadent and declining West will further be weakened. Still however, this West is viewed by many decision-makers in Beijing as a potentially dangerously adversary in the face of present global economic and political disorder.
Against this background, the Guardian highlights both countries´ shared deep distrust of the West and China´s nevertheless prevailing interest to prevent Western sanctions as long as possible. Moreover, as the Guardian points out, there are also some voices in China more critical on brazen alignments with Russia in the ongoing conflict between Moscow and the West. But such voices are neither representing the official discourse nor public opinion which seems to be pro-Russian. Distrust of the West and a momentum for a further Eurasian integration under Sino-Russian signs, plus the possibly soon proven actual economic and military heft of the Russian partner indicate a rather increasing bipolar division. [The Guardian]
This inclination is reflected by recent remarks of China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a China-Russia think tank summit, where he has again reaffirmed the stability and endurance of Sino-Russian ties based on both countries shared vision for the global order. Wang Yi said over video-link that “China is willing to work together with Russia and the global community to promote real democracy based on nations’ own conditions,” Moreover, Wang declared that “monopolizing” the definition of democracy and human rights to influence other nations was a tactic “doomed to fail.” Furthermore,
Wang encouraged China and Russia should “continue to make important contributions” to global governance as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
Highlighting the increasingly diverging perspectives between the West and the Sino-Russian partnership, Wang Yi reiterated on global order and regional security that “China and Russia should continue to join hands with peace-loving countries in the world to safeguard the global order with the UN at its core and based on international laws.” [Bloomberg]
China – US: Washington expand and adds sanctions on Chinese companies
(jw/ms) According to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the US is investigating Chinese efforts to evade sanctions and will likely expand its Commerce Department's Entity List which is composed of companies with restricted access to US exports. The move is in reaction to China trying new ways to evade sanctions for example by setting up new companies. The Entity List has been used aggressively under the Trump administration when numerous Chinese companies such as Huawei suffered economic damage due to the US sanctions. Under the Biden administration, the entity list was continuously expanded with national security and foreign policy concerns cited as reasons. Raimondo indicated that Biden would continue targeting Chinese companies, stating that she does not see the US “relaxing sanctions any time soon”. [Reuters 1]
In reaction to Raimondo’s statement, the Commerce Ministry spokesperson Gao Feng stated that the US undermines the order of the international economy and trade by threatening the stability of global industrial and supply chains and added that China will take necessary measures to safeguard the interests of Chinese companies. Gao also commented on Amazon’s announcement that its Kindle eBook store in China will close down, stressing that China will continue to value foreign investment in its own country and promote more intensive economic cooperation with foreign companies. [Xinhua]
The development comes shortly before the US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act will be enacted on June 21. The piece of legislation is essentially a ban on imports from China's Xinjiang region implemented to protect the US market from products manufactured under conditions violating human rights. Under the law, every good coming from Xinjiang is automatically barred from the US market unless companies are able to display “clear and compelling evidence” that the product and supply chain leading up to the product are free from forced labor. [Bloomberg] [Reuters 2]
Despite hardened fronts on multiple economic issues, the US is still contemplating lowering tariffs that were imposed on China during the Trump administration [see AiR No. 21, May/2022, 4]. According to Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi, “all options” are considered in US efforts to "getting a tariff structure that really makes sense." [Reuters 3]
China – Taiwan – US: Washington updates factsheet on Taiwan again, clarifies that Taiwanese independence is not supported
(jw) The US State Department updated its online fact sheet on Taiwan, including a phrase that the US does not support Taiwanese independence. The move comes few weeks after the US State Department changed its fact sheet about Taiwan, deleting certain formulations acknowledging Beijing’s stance that Taiwan is a part of China and prompting outrage in China [see AiR No. 20, May/2022, 3]. According to the US State Department, the update was caused by US State Secretary Antony Blinken’s speech on the China strategy of the US in which Blinken stated that the US would adhere to its long-standing policy of not supporting Taiwanese independence.
Chinese investors halt acquisition of Welsh graphene firm
(jw) In May 2022, the UK government launched a national security investigation to monitor the planned acquisition of Perpetuus, a Welsh company specializing in cutting-edge graphene technology, by Chinese company Shanghai Kington Technology. The deal prompted concerns due to the strategic relevance of graphene which is a robust but light material that could for example be used in aviation. However, Perpetuus alerted British authorities that the deal has been called off. In a tweet reacting to the development, UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng stated that “the UK government monitors the market at all times to identify acquisitions of potential national security interest” and will “intervene where necessary.” [BBC] [Reuters]
China to deepen ties with Zambia
(jw) In a phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Zambian counterpart Hakainde Hichilema, Xi emphasized China’s willingness to enhance cooperation between the two nations, for example by opening the Chinese market for more agricultural goods from Zambia. According to Hichilema, the two heads of state discussed “the potential for greater cooperation and win-win partnerships” as well as “abundant investment opportunities that Zambia offers”. Zambia is especially reliant on financial support after it defaulted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The African nation is still facing overwhelming amounts of outstanding loans with China being one of the largest creditors [see AiR No. 17, April/2022, 4]. [Reuters]
Japanese Prime Minister to be first Japanese leader to join NATO summit?
(nc) According to government sources, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio might attend the NATO summit on June 29 and 30 in Madrid, which will be centered on the Russia-Ukraine war. He would be the first Japanese leader to attend a NATO summit.
Given recent flaring territorial disputes between Japan and Russia, and after Kishida has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, attending the NATO summit could further deteriorate bi-lateral relations. [Reuters] [Devdiscourse]
Japan sets a strategy team to coordinate diplomatic policies on China
(nc) Japan’s foreign ministry has launched a new strategy team for longer-term diplomacy with China. This team will oversee coordinating policies on China and researching its legal system to prepare for the signing of possible agreements between the two countries. Even though the Japanese government has reiterated its partnership with the U.S. during the recent ‘Quad’ summit, it is looking for a “constructive relationship” with China with a focus on economic ties. [Japan Times]
Japan to send defense attaché to Taipei
(nc) The Japanese government will send an active defense attaché to the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association (JTEA) in Taipei which functions as Japan’s de-facto diplomatic mission in Taiwan.
The attaché will be dispatched due to the intensification of Chinese military operations around Taiwan and the growing tension in the Taiwan Strait. This territory is of concern for Japan’s national security since it is a trade route for most of its natural resources. Currently, a retired officer is stationed in Taiwan but to boost information-gathering capabilities, the government will send an active officer who would be a civil servant rather than a military official. The attache would enhance communication between Taiwan and Japan as well as stability and peace. [Focus Taiwan]
Japan deletes part of a document on promoting economic cooperation with Russia
(nc) In a document on its strategy to expand infrastructure exports, Japan has deleted sentences regarding a plan for cooperation with Russia which was proposed in 2016. The move reiterates toughening relations between the contries.
The eight-point plan was initially meant to break the deadlock over the territorial dispute between the two countries on the islets off Hokkaido, called Northern Territories in Japan and Southern Kurils in Russia. This plan included projects related to airports and seaports in Russia, oil and gas development, health care, tourism, and academic exchanges. But the invasion of Ukraine makes it difficult for Japan to deepen economic ties, the government says. [Mainichi]
Japan - U.A.E.: Visit of Arab energy minister
(nc) The United Arab Emirates’ Industry and Advanced Technology Minister and CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Sultan Al-Jaber started his visit to Japan on June 6, meeting first Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Seiji. Purpose of the visit is to further strengthen the between the countries on occasion of the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.
Both sides expressed their will to work more closely together and increase the oil supply to Japan. [Arab News] [Arab News Japan]
Taiwan - EU agree on further economic cooperation
(ms) After talks between Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua and EU Director-General for Trade Sabine Weyand on June 2, both sides have agreed to intensify the already existing trade, especially in semiconductors, and to stabilize the trade chains that have been faltered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting bottlenecks.
In the future, there will be an exchange of information on supply chains between Taiwan and the EU, and working groups will be set up to deal with the issue of stabilizing supply chains against exogenous shocks.
Covered by the talks was also the construction of semiconductor factories in Europe. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the largest producer of advanced semiconductors, said however, that it is only at a very early stage of possible planning for the construction of factories in Europe.
Moreover, Taiwan committed to the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, discussed better access of EU agricultural products to the Taiwanese market, and talked about improving investment opportunities for the EU in offshore wind power. [Reuters] [Taipei Times]
Taiwan – US: KMT delegation departs for visit
(ms) A delegation of the oppositional Kuomintang (KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party) led by its Chairman Eric Chu departed to a U.S. trip on July 2, which is scheduled to last until July 12. On the occasion, the KMT stressed the importance of bilateral relations, calling themselves an ally of the US in efforts to "safeguard democracy and freedom" and setting as a goal to refute the rumor that the KTM is “anti-American”. [Taipei Times 1]
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the strongest party in the current ruling Pan-Green Coalition, accused the KMT of pro-Chinese policies that would defend Chinese aggression against Taiwan and of spreading false information. According to DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan, the KTM´s statements would be an attempt to mislead the global community. [Taipei Times 2]
Taiwan donates USD 2 million to Ukraine
(ms) In a phone call between Kharkiv's (city in northeastern Ukraine) Mayor Ihor Terekhov and Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, which took place on July 2, Wu donated USD 2 million to Terekhov. Wu also promised further donations of USD 500,000 each to the local governments of Chernihiv, Mykolaiev, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia, other cities in Ukraine. [Focus Taiwan]
Taiwan to receive Slovak delegation for 6-day visit
(ms) A Slovak delegation led by Deputy Speaker of the Slovak National Council Milan Laurenčík arrived in Taiwan on July 5 and was welcomed by Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Minister Harry Tseng. Meetings with, among others, President Tsai Ing-wen and Premier Su Tseng-chang are also scheduled for the visit.
This is the second visit of a Slovak delegation in the last six months, after a delegation under country's deputy economic minister Richard Sulík visited Taiwan last December. [Focus Taiwan]
Taiwan-US to announce Initiative on 21st Century Trade
(jw/ms) On June 1, the US and Taiwan announced the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade as the start of negotiations for a free trade agreement between the two countries.
Taiwan's trade representative John Deng specified that the initiative presented will cover eleven areas, namely: trade facilitation, regulatory practices, agriculture, anti-corruption, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, harnessing the benefits of digital trade, labor rights, supporting the environment and climate action, establishing economic standards, state-owned enterprises and non-market practices and policies. The initiative is scheduled to begin in late June with a trip by Deng to Washington. [Office of the United States Trade Representative]
The negotiations take place in the context of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), concluded during U.S. President Joe Biden's trip to Japan, which aims to strengthen economic ties among the 13 countries involved [see AiR No.21 May/2022,4]. Taiwan was excluded from the treaty negotiations and the final framework due to fears of Chinese sanctions by some participating countries. However, both the U.S. and Taiwan are communicating further interest in integrating Taiwan into IPEF. In the meantime, the deepening of bilateral economic ties between the US and Taiwan might well outpace the developments within the IPEF, according to Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi who emphasized Washington’s and Taipei’s interest to increase cooperation. [CNN] [Reuters]
As China is against any diplomatic contact between the Taiwanese government, which is not recognized in Beijing and foreign governments, the Chinese foreign ministry protested the initiative, accusing Washington of threatening peace and stability and warned the US to not further encourage Taiwanese efforts to gain independence. [Associated Press]
Vietnamese citizen extradited from Czech Republic to Germany over oil executive kidnapping
(ntan) The Czech Republic extradited a Vietnamese national to Germany to be prosecuted for allegedly participating in the kidnapping of an oil executive in 2017. According to the public prosecutor general at the German federal court of justice, the crime was committed by members of the Vietnamese secret service, officials at the Vietnamese embassy in Germany, and a number of Vietnamese citizens.
The group kidnapped the oil executive and his partner in Berlin’s Tiergarten park and smuggled them to Vietnam, where the man, a senior Communist Party functionary who back then lived in Germany seeking political asylum, was sentenced to two life terms in jail for corruption.
A German court convicted another suspect in the case in 2018. The Czech-Vietnamese national confessed his participation in the kidnapping activity and received 3 years and 10 months in prison.
Germany, moreover, expelled two Vietnamese diplomats and summoned the ambassador several times. [The Guardian]
Announcements
Upcoming Online Events
8 June 2021 @ 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (GMT+8), S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Rising US-China Competition: Economic Implications for Malaysia
This webinar will discuss the impacts of the intensifying strategic competition between the US and China on Malaysia, with special focus on the country’s Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and the question how political instability and an uncertain policy environment in the country give MNCs some cause for concern, amidst developments in Malaysia’s regional peers, namely Vietnam and Indonesia.
Visit [RSIS] for more event details.
8 June 2022 @ 1:00 p.m. (GMT-4), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (United States)
Carnegie Connects: Trouble on the Homefront with Mary B. McCord
America still faces challenges even as the Biden administration continues to focus on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Problems such as inflation, active shooters and mass killings, the rise of white nationalist extremism, and pernicious polarization on issues from gun control to voting rights to abortion seem to burden the political system’s capacity to address these challenges. Join this discussion with Mary B. McCord to find solutions to these problems and to look at the way forward.
For more information, check out the [Carnegie Endowment] website.
8 June 2022, 3:30 p.m. (GMT-4,) Heritage Foundation (United States)
Congressman Lamborn on Maintaining American Nuclear Deterrence
Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-CO) joins Heritage expert Patty-Jane Geller to discuss several critical issues, ranging from the Biden administration’s controversial decisions to cancel key nuclear programs to Russia’s nuclear threats and addressing the rise of China as a nuclear peer.
See [here] for more details about this event.
8 June 2022, 12:30 p.m. (GMT-4), Atlantic Council (United States)
Strengthening Black Sea security and Defense in a New Era
The Russian war in Ukraine has fundamentally changed transatlantic security and has renewed the need for enhanced defense and deterrence of NATO’s Eastern Flank. In particular, the Black Sea region, which has proven to be a crossroads of vulnerability in the conflict, requires a renewed strategic approach and strengthened cooperation. To craft this new approach, strategic partnerships, such as that between United States and Romania, which celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary this year, are uniquely positioned to enhance security in the Black Sea and reinforce defense as the region grapples with a new strategic reality. This public event will explore the role of Black Sea security in the broader quest for stability in the Euro-Atlantic area in the face of Russia’s war in Ukraine and will discuss how NATO and its members can address the complex threats to the region.
See [here] for more details about this event.
8 June 2022, 7:00 p.m. (GMT+2), Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) (Germany)
“Truth is our weapon” – (dis)information and Russia's war against Ukraine
Against many observers’ expectations, Ukraine successfully resisted the initial Russian onslaught and ever since fiercely fights for its independence. And not only in the actual battle zones: the equally important communicative battlefield is a field in which the Zelensky-Administration sets new standards in keeping Ukrainians motivated and Ukraine’s allies committed. What are current developments here? How can Ukraine’s information policies be characterized? How are Russia’s disinformation efforts countered? And what are we to expect in the coming weeks? These and more would be discussed at this event.
See [Konrad] for additional information about this event.
8 June 2022 @ 3:00 p.m. (GMT+2), German Development Institute (DIE), Germany
The Policy Implications of Recent Globalization Research: Bank Credit and International Trade
The online seminar series aims to encourage the exchange and discussion of empirical research on trade and investment and its effects on developing and emerging countries. This seminar series aims for academic researchers to share innovative empirical work and policy insights. Instead of focusing on papers, the seminar series invites presenters to present on a particular topic and present their accumulated and broader research findings and agenda.
For more information, see this [webpage].
8 June 2022 @ 6:00 p.m. (GMT-3), Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales (CARI), Argentina
Possible Future Scenarios in the Persian Gulf
This event marks the third and last meeting of the seminar “The Russo-Ukrainian War: the consequences in the Middle East”, organized by the CARI Middle East Committee.
To find out more about this event, follow this [link].
8 June 2022 @ 3:30 p.m. (GMT+2), Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB), Spain
VI International Conference of Development Studies (VI CIED)
This conference will be structured around six general sessions – an opening session, four plenary sessions and a closing session – as well as fourteen thematic lines. The peace-security-development nexus is the focus of the opening session and the plenary sessions. Coverage will be given to topics such as the role of international cooperation and the 2030 Agenda; the current state of human security in Latin America; health, care and poverty; and cybersecurity and digital human rights. The closing session will create a space for discussion with the participation of policymakers in the areas of international cooperation and development.
For more details, check out this [website].
8 June 2022 @ 10:00 a.m. (GMT-4), Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), USA
Trust: The Key to Social Cohesion and Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean
This event will discuss the imperative of social cohesion to generating economic growth, the importance of trust to effective public policy, and the power of information and transparency. To restore trust and make information accessible, the Inter-American Development Bank is generating key paths to strengthening education and regulatory institutions, reducing barriers to entry in the private sector, and at a broader level, encouraging governments to fulfill promises.
Get more details [here].
8 June 2022 @ 3:45 p.m. (GMT-4), Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), USA
Book Event: Getting China Wrong
The Freeman Chair in China Studies of CSIS discusses Aaron L. Friedberg’s new book titled “Getting China Wrong”. Friedberg, a professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University and co-director of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs’ Center for International Security Studies, argues in his book that the U.S. and its allies have miscalculated the resilience and strategic objectives of the Chinese Communist Party and adding that a new approach to managing the bilateral relationship should be adopted.
This [webpage] has more details about the event.
8 June 2022 @ 9:00 a.m. (GMT+2), French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), France
How to Implement the “Change of Era” in the Field of Defence?
The Russian invasion in Ukraine prompted the announcement: “change of era" ("Zeitenwende") by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The main objective is to adapt German foreign and security policy to the new geostrategic context. In the field of defence, the declared objective is to make the Bundeswehr the most efficient army in Europe. To this end, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the creation of a special fund of 100 billion euros for the purchase of equipment, as well as an increase in the defense budget to 2% of GDP. How to evaluate the impact of this important financial investment for the Bundeswehr in the light of the political discussion in the federal parliament? Beyond the question of resources, what are the other areas in which efforts will be necessary, to guarantee an effective modernization process over time?
Get more information about this event by visiting [IFRI].
8 June 2022, 12:30 p.m. (GMT-4) Wilson Center, FKA Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, USA
Safeguarding Democracy in the Americas: How to Strengthen the Inter-American Democratic Charter, 20 Years After Its Adoption
This event will assemble experts and senior leaders to discuss ways to strengthen the collective defense of democracy in the Americas. This regional democracy dialogue, taking place on the margins of the Summit of the Americas, is designed to generate and advance realistic policy recommendations to improve the charter’s application by OAS member states and adopt other measures to strengthen democratic governance in the region.
To find out more, visit this [page].
8 June 2022, 12:00 p.m. (GMT-4), Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Canada
Competition Policy Series: What Steps Must Canada Take to Address the Challenges from Digital Technologies?
The digital economy has upended competition policy and presents complex new challenges for policy makers. What challenges have been witnessed over the past few years, and what have been the implications for innovation and for society more generally? What is the role of competition policy to address these issues? Do we need greater emphasis on antitrust or on regulations to address these issues? Is greater coordination required across regulatory bodies and, if so, what mechanisms can be used to achieve it? These and other questions will be addressed at this event by a panel of experts.
To know more, see [CIGI].
8 June 2022, 5:00 p.m. (GMT+2), Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), Italy
The Future of Political Islam in North Africa
The Islamists' political engagement has been successful throughout the years, and, to some extent, it contributed to enhancing general discourses on democracy in the region even though Islamist leaders have often failed on inclusivity. Yet, since 2011 Islamists have had some difficulties in preserving and consolidating the consensus gained over time. For several reasons, on some occasions their involvement in state dynamics proved disappointing for their supporters in North Africa. Join the ISPI on June 8th to have this educative discussion.
Follow this [link] for more details.
8-10 June 2022 @ 3:00 p.m. (GMT+2), German Development Institute (DIE), Germany
Global Climate Governance in the Face of Obstruction
A first-of-its-kind conference will bring together leading social scientists to explore obstruction of global climate action. Co-hosted by the Climate Social Science Network headquartered at Brown University and the German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), the conference held virtually on 8-10 June will coincide with the Subsidiary Bodies sessions “SB-56” of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Bonn, 6-16 June.
More information about this event can be accessed [here].
9 June 2021 @ 9:00 a.m. (GMT-5), The Chicago Council on Globa Affairs, USA
Ukraine and Cities on the Frontlines
At this webinar, experts will discuss how cities are playing a key role in responding to the war in Ukraine, both on the battlegrounds in Ukraine as well as abroad. The discussion will also address the cities’ role as diplomatic actors, movement builders, and voices of humanity on the global stage.
Find more information about the event at [The Chicago Council].
9 June 2022 @ 09:00-10:30 a.m. (GMT+2), Norwegian Institute of international Affairs (NUPI), Norway
What can we do to ensure peace and security in a new era of complex risk?
At this livestreamed seminar State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Henrik Thune and former Swedish Foreign Minister and European Commissioner for the Environment Margot Wallström will introduce the new Environment of Peace report, the most comprehensive account to date on the relationship between environmental crises and today’s darkening security horizon and phenomena. The experts will also provide governments and other decision-making bodies with recommendations for action, and principles to guide them.
For more information, visit [NUPI].
9 June 2022 @ 1:00 p.m. (GMT-4), Heritage Foundation, USA
Senator Mike Lee on Saving the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is under attack by Leftists in Congress and President Biden, who have assembled a committee to examine so-called reforms to the court in the hopes of packing it for their own political gain. Court packing would irrevocably alter the Supreme Court and the fabric of our country, turning the nation’s highest court into a partisan weapon.
Get more details on this event [here].
9 June 2022 @ 9:30 a.m. (GMT-4), Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Canada
Rightscon Session: Beyond Content Moderation: Ensuring Transparency Measures Address Global Challenges
This session will aim to refocus the conversation through a set of open dialogues with RightsCon attendees. It will recognize the importance of creating opportunities for civil society, Global South, and marginalized communities to meaningfully engage in global conversations about transparency that are currently underway and to avoid the impact of decisions being made in individual states that affect all of the digital world. Each conversation will be led by an expert involved in these global discussion spaces, including the Action Coalition on Meaningful Transparency, the Christchurch Call, and the GIFCT’s Transparency Working Group.
This [page] has more details.
9 June 2022 @ 6:00 p.m. (GMT+2), Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB), Spain
Hybrid Threats: The Erosion of Democracy from Within
Disinformation and online manipulation are effective tools to fuel polarization and erode institutional trust. Why are they considered hybrid threats? What strategies are there in the United States and the European Union to deal with this? How can you gain resilience and strengthen your ability to detect fake content? A debate between Laura Thornton,senior fellow and director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy at The German Marshall Fund (online), Carme Colomina, research fellow on Disinformation, EU and Global Politics at CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs), Nereida Carrillo,journalist and founder of learntocheck.org and Jean Wyllys, former MP and LGBTIQ+ activist, Brazil.
Further information can be found [here].
9 June 2022 @ 9:00 a.m. (GMT+2), French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), France
The American Strategy to “Slow Down the Chinese Adversary"”: What Consequences for The Allies of the United States?
The policy of firmness towards China adopted by the Trump and Biden administrations has – and will increasingly – have important consequences for Washington's allies on the technological level, both in their choices in terms of infrastructure (5G, cables under -sailors...) and in their trade with China. The Biden administration should not fail to continue to deploy the coercive and incentive tools at its disposal to prevent the adoption of certain Chinese technologies and the transfer of technologies to China. At the same time, the war in Ukraine leads to very heavy sanctions against Russia. What are the consequences of this dual dynamic for Europeans?
Find out more [here].
9 June 2022 @ 12:30 p.m. (GMT+2), French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), France
Towards A New European Security Order? The Evolution of Foreign Policy in the Face of the War in Ukraine
Ifri and the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) are organizing together with Chatham House, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and Open Society Foundations, a virtual event on the evolution of foreign policies in the face of the war in Ukraine.
Join this event and get more details [here].
9 June 2022 @ 7:30 a.m. (GMT+3), Chatham House, UK
Towards Just Transition in Africa: Green Financing for Urban Energy Solutions and Job Creation
This event will discuss the major openings and potential impediments to the development of a credible ‘just transition’ policy in Africa towards net zero goals, with a particular focus on establishing and enhancing links between green financing innovation, employment creation, sustainable power supply and generation, and sustainable energy usage and consumption in an urban environment.
Visit this [Chatham House]for further information about this event.
9 June 2022 @ 1:00 p.m. (GMT+2), Bruegel, Belgium
Through Crises Towards Stability: Reflections on 10 Years of the ESM with Klaus Regling
On June 9th, Bruegel will host Klaus Regling to discuss how the European Stability Mechanism has handled various crises throughout the last decade, and how it can best face the crises of the future.
Visit [Bruegel] for more details.
9 June 2022 @ 9:00 a.m. (GMT-4), Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), USA
China’s Financial Stability Under the COVID-19 Stress Test
The combination of China's zero-COVID-19 policy and the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus have recently brought renewed stress to the Chinese economy and financial system. What do three years of the pandemic teach about China's governance, economy, and financial risks? Join the PIIE for an insightful discussion on the raised topic.
For further details, follow this [link].
9 June 2022 @ 2:00 p.m. (GMT+8), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), China
Lessons from Climate Change Communication: Talk Back Better Webinar Series
There are substantive research initiatives on the communication of climate change and both advocates and scientists have demonstrably changed their approach over the years, taking the science of science communication and empirical lessons on board. What are the takeaways for other sectors and other disciplines?
Join [CASS] for answers and further details about this event.
9-10 June 2022 @ 9:30 a.m. (GMT-4), Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), USA
CSIS-Chey Conference: Cooperation on Scientific Innovation, Supply Chains, and Geopolitical Risk in Northeast Asia
The CSIS Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group will be hosting the public keynote and expert discussion sessions at the CSIS-Chey Conference on the topic: Cooperation on Scientific Innovation, Supply Chains, and Geopolitical Risk in Northeast Asia. This high-level discussion will aim at delving into how the United States and South Korea can jointly address concerns regarding the specific supply chains raised in U.S. Executive Order 14017 and the May 2021 U.S.-ROK Leader’s Joint Statement.
See [here] for further information.
10 June 2022 @ 09:00 a.m. (GMT+2), Norwegian Institute of international Affairs (NUPI), Norway
Constructing China’s Belt and Road amidst Pandemic and War
This livestreamed event will offer insight into the latest development in China’s Belt and Road initiative. Among the questions discussed are: What is now the status of the BRI today and how is it affected by the pandemic and the war? How are actors inside China, in neighboring regions and other parts of the world responding?
Learn more about the event at [NUPI].
10 June 2021 @ 10:00-11:30 a.m. (GMT+8), ISEAS, Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore
Post Covid-19 Economic Recovery and the Future of APEC
In this webinar, speakers will shed light on the Asia-Pacific’s focus on collaborative economic advancement through digitalization and innovation, sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as effective COVID-19 management measures. The experts will also address key challenges and the way forward amidst increasing uncertainty for APEC economies.
Read more about the event at [ISEAS].
10 June 2022 @ 11:00 a.m. (GMT-4), Atlantic Council, USA
Are Sanctions on Russia Working?
While Moscow’s forces regroup for the next phase of the war, policymakers are discussing new sanctions options to weaken the Russian military in the medium term. The West has employed export controls, sanctioned Kremlin elites, cut off Russia’s access to $400 billion in foreign reserves, and sanctioned some Russian energy exports – what’s next?
More details about this event can be found [here].
10 June 2022 @ 9:00 a.m. (GMT+2), Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB), Spain
Transatlantic Discussions on Democratic Interferences: A Common Response to Hybrid Threats
Information warfare and social media manipulation have proven to be a very powerful tool to feed polarization and to erode institutional trust. This seminar wants to foster an open dialogue among experts about how to better build resilience to hybrid activities. Building transatlantic alliances and common approaches to these challenges increases the capacity to understand and confront such threats.
For further details see this [webpage].
10 June 2022 @ 7:00 p.m. (GMT-4) Atlantic Council, USA
The Joint Future of the Caribbean Working with Latin America
The discussion of this event will focus on challenges the Caribbean faces alongside the rest of the region such as risks of climate change and the imperative of human capital development. These topics emerged from an Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center campaign over the past eight months in partnership with the US Department of State to align and highlight regional priorities through public and private discussions.
Get further details here on this [page].
13 June 2022 @ 3:00 p.m. (GMT+2), Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), Italy
The Systemic Rival of the XXI Century: What Relationship with China after the Ukraine War?
A long-term face-off is emerging between China and the United States that will define international relations over the next decade. Is this an inevitable path? Are there any pre-defined blocs or alliances? Is the emergence of a non-aligned bloc possible? What role for the economic dimension of this clash?
To find answers and more, join this event by following this [link].
13 June 2022 @ 5:00 p.m. (GMT+1), LSE IDEAS, UK
Geography is Destiny – Britain's Complex Relationship with Europe
In this online public event, Ian Morris discusses with Michael Cox how geography, migration, government, and new technologies interacted to produce regional inequalities that still affect us today.
For more information, visit this [webpage].
13-14 June 2022, German Development Institute (DIE), Germany
Up-Scaling Co-Benefits of Sustainable Consumption for Development
Researchers and policymakers will discuss innovative insights on sustainable consumption and the role of the demand-side in the green transformation of economic systems. The conference also marks the end of the 5-year research project “Sustainable Middle Classes in Middle Income Countries: Transformation of Carbon Consumption Patterns (SMMICC)”. Scientific contributions to the conference are welcome.
See [here] for more information.
13-16 June 2022, Urban Institute, USA
Geopolitica Della Transizione Energetica – Hybrid Training Course
The specialization course in “Geopolitica della Transizione Energetica” aims at providing participants with the analytical tools to understand the political and economic dynamics of energy and environmental development. Furthermore, during the course, the geopolitics aspects and regional impacts of the global energy transition will also be analyzed. The course integrates the theoretical and analytical tools of International Relations with the critical sensitivity of studies of the sector. It will provide an analysis of economic and political scenarios, the role of global players and private entities, and the drivers of the sector policies’ development and change. Do note that this course will be held in Italian.
To register and find out more about the program schedule, visit this [page].
14 June 2021 @ 3:00-4:30 p.m. (GMT+8), ISEAS, Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore
Whither Myanmar’s Rakhine State?
This hybrid seminar will offer insights into the implications of unfolding realities in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, taking into account both to national politics and international interest in the state as well as local communities’ efforts to cope with the return of military rule, Covid-19, and the humanitarian challenges of protracted warfare.
See [ISEAS] for more details about the event.
14 June 2022 @ 2:00 p.m. (GMT-4), Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), USA
Business and Trade are in Our National Interest
The Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) will in this event welcome key insights from Chubb Chairman and CEO, Evan Greenberg. With Chubb’s extensive global operations including throughout Asia, Greenberg will provide the case in defense of the economic benefits to America of international trade and investment, including with China.
Find more about this event [here].
14 June 2022 @ 2:00 (GMT+2), Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Belgium
Implementing the National Recovery and Resilience Plans
While funds are being distributed to the Member States at central level, typically to the ministry of finance, the implementation of the plans will see the involvement of different national actors, e.g., public administrations, regions and other local authorities, national promotional banks and institutions. Who are the actors involved in the implementation of the plans and what is their role? How will regulatory (e.g., competences and mandates), financial and time constraints affect their action? Which margin of discretion do they have? How can they contribute to the absorption of the funds and the success of the plans?
For more information on this event, check out the webpage of [CEPS].
14 June 2022 @9:30 a.m. (GMT-4), Atlantic Council, USA
Seventh Annual Central and Eastern European Energy Security Conference
This event is held in cooperation with the Visegrád Group and brings together key decision-makers in the US administration, members of Congress, important stakeholders in the business community, embassies of the Central and Eastern European regions, the Delegation of the European Union, and experts from the think tank community to explore how Central and Eastern Europe can advance energy security and climate action by diversifying oil and gas imports, investing in critical energy infrastructure, accelerating decarbonization, and rebuilding Ukraine’s energy system.
Visit this [page] for further information.
14-15 June 2022 @ 7:30 a.m. & 3:30 p.m. (GMT+8) Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), China
ISC Members Session on the UNESCO Open Science Recommendation
The UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in November 2021, marking an important step towards the advancement of Open Science. Through this move, Member States have committed to promoting open science as defined in the Recommendation and agreed to report back every four years on the progress made.
This [webpage] offers more information about the event.
Recent Book Releases
Isaac Stone Fish, America Second: How America’s Elites Are Making China Stronger, Knopf, 288 pages, published on February 15, 2022. A brief review is available at [KIRKUS].
Carolyn Pedwell, Revolutionary Routines: The Habits of Social Transformation, McGill-Queen's University Press, 233 pages, published on May 1, 2021, reviewed in [LSE].
Troy Vettese and Drew Pendergrass, Half-Earth Socialism: A Plan to Save the Future from Extinction, Climate Change and Pandemics, published April 12, 2022, with a review in [LSE].
Serhii Plokhy, Atoms and Ashes: From Bikini Atoll to Fukushima, Penguin, 355 pages, published on May 17, 2022. For a review, see [The Guardian].
Elora Halim Chowdhury, Ethical Encounters: Transnational Feminism, Human Rights, and War Cinema in Bangladesh, Temple University Press, 241 pages, published May 6, 2022. A brief description is available at [Asian Review of Books].
David Hackett, African Founders: How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals, Simon & Schuster, 960 pages published May 31, 2022. Visit [The New York Times].
Calls for Papers
Swinburne Vietnam, a partnership between FPT University and Swinburne University of Technology, invites paper proposals for the Global Citizenship Education (GCED) conference “Exploring Boundaries of Global Citizenship” to be held on July 29-30, 2022. Deadline for abstract submission is June 13, 2022. For more information, visit [GCEDR].
The Society for Global Nineteenth-Century Studies (SGNCS) welcomes paper proposals for its conference “Comparative Empire: Conflict, Competition, and Cooperation, 1750-1914” scheduled for June 19-22, 2023. Closing date for submission is July 23, 2022. See [SGNCS].
Jobs and Positions
David Rockefeller Studies Program at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) welcomes applications for the position of a Research Associate, India, Pakistan, and South Asia. The position is based in Washington, DC, USA. For more information, visit [CFR].
Princeton University and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace are looking for a Postdoctoral Research Associate. Further details are provided at [Princeton University].
The Asia Society Policy Institute is hiring Junior Fellow for research on China in a dedicated China research center focused on the full range of China’s economic, political, technological, and other policies and trends. The position is based in New York, USA. If you are interested, find more information at [Asia Society].
McLarty Associates is offering an Associate position to support its China practice. The position is based in Washington, DC, USA. For more details, see [McLarty].
The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) is recruiting a Research Associate: Intelligence Analysis Division – China Focus at its Intelligence Analyses Division. The position is based in Alexandria, VA, USA. Closing date for applications is July 31, 2022. Visit [IDA] for more information.
The Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, is offering two Associate Professor positions in Political Science. Deadline for applications is August 22, 2022. Details of the job offer are available at [University of Oslo].
The Atlantic Council seeks applications for the position of an associate director of the of the Asia Security Initiative (ASI) in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. The position is based in Washington, DC, USA. For more information, visit [Atlantic Council].
The United Nations (UN) is hiring a Political Affairs Officer at the Department of Political Affairs and Peace-building. The position is based in New York, USA. Deadline for submission of application is June 14, 2022. Visit [UN] for more information.
The United Nations’ Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) is offering the position of a Chief of Unit – Strategic Partnerships and Policy Unit. The Position is based in New York, USA. Closing date for applications is June 19, 2022. Learn more about the job offer at [UN].
Lirim, a public relations firm which specializes in the management of culturally-shifting media campaigns and strategies for global influencers, is looking for a Global Policy Analyst. The position is based in Beverly Hills, California, USA. For further details of the vacancy, see [LIRIM].
The Department of Political Science and International Relations at Knox College welcomes applications for the position of a Visiting Assistant Professor of International Relations with regional expertise focus on Asia. The position is open until filled. Review of applications has started on March 1, 2022. More information can be found at [Know College].
The College of Public Health at Taipei Medical University is offering a Full Professor position in its Master Program in Global Health and Development. Closing date for the submission of applications is June 15, 2022. Details of the job offer are provided at [Times Higher Education].
The United Nations (UN) invites applications for the position of Deputy Secretary-General of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The position is at the Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) level. Deadline for applications June 30, 2022. Find more details about the vacancy at [UN].
The United Nations (UN) is looking for an Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services. This Under-Secretary-General level position is based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Candidates must be submitted by June 20, 2022. See [UN] for more information.
The United Nations (UN) seeks applications for the position of an Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Based in Bonn, Germany, this position is at the Under-Secretary-General Level. Closing date for applications is June 24, 2022. If you are interested, visit [UN].
The United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) is seeking a National Consultant – Review of national legislation against CEDAW. The position is based in Vientiane, Lao PDR. Candidates can submit their applications until June 12, 2022. For more information, visit [UNDP].
The United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) is recruiting a Project Manager to be based at the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean in Brasilia, Brazil. Closing date for applications is June 18, 2022. Further details can be accessed via [UNDP].
The United Nations University (UNU) is hiring an Associate Academic Officer. The position is based in Bonn, Germany. Applications must be submitted before June 10, 2022. See [UNU] for more information.
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) invites applications for the position of a Regional Security Adviser in Multiple Regional Offices. The position is based in Washington, DC, USA. Deadline for applications is June 17, 2022. For more details, see [UNICEF].
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) welcomes applications for the position of a
Senior Protection Cluster Coordination Officer to be based in Yangon, Myanmar. Closing date for the position June 14, 2022. In you are interested, access more information via [UNHCR].
The European Commission (EC) is recruiting a Project Adviser for the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund. Deadline for applications is June 17, 2022. Learn more about the job offer at [EC].
The European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) invites applications for the position of an Executive Director. Key responsibilities include managing the Agency, being the legal representative of the Agency and implementing the tasks assigned to the Agency by the establishing Regulation. Closing date for application is June 23, 2022. Visit [eu-LISA] to find more details.
The European Union’s European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) seeks applications for the position of a Head of Department (Resources). This position is based in Paris, France. Applications must be submitted by July 4, 2022. See [ESMA] for further details.
Team:
Beatrice Siviero (bs), Charisma M S Kundan (cmsk), Chithra Madhusudhanan (cm), Dana Lane Batac (db), Daniela Bozoski (dbk), Duc Quang Ly (dql), Faryal Qazi (fq), Henning Glaser (hg), Hira Akram (ha), Julian Wendt (jw), Lucas Meier (lm), Nguyen Thi An Nhan (ntan), Nitia Carttigueane (nc), Peer Morten Strantzen (ms), Peeranat Wongbandit (pw), Poonam Behura (pb), Rakshit Kumar (rk), Sebastian Gräff (sg), Shilpa Ramachandran (sr), Supakorn Wilartratsami (sw), Tarapoom Panpin (tp), Venus Phuangkom
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