After weeks of Donald Trump’s threats to “take back” the Panama Canal, the White House has ordered the military to come up with an assortment of plans to make the president’s imperial fantasy a reality. According to NBC News, which first reported on the directive, the plans range from increasing military partnership with Panama to forcefully seizing the canal. This news came just days after…
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The recent transfer of cultural artifacts, including several Tibetan Buddhist relics, from the U.S. to China may help advance the Chinese government’s efforts to distort Tibet’s history and appropriate its religion and culture, Tibetan scholars and other critics of the transfer told RFA.
On March 3, the Manhattan district attorney’s anti-trafficking unit handed over to officials from China 41 “illegally exported” cultural artifacts, including a bronze money tree, pottery, jade pieces, Buddha statues and Tibetan Buddhist cultural relics, Chinese state-run media reports said.
The transfer was conducted as part of an agreement between the two countries to protect cultural heritage and identity and prevent Chinese cultural relics from illegally entering the U.S. Since the pact was first agreed to on Jan. 14, 2009, the U.S. has sent 594 pieces or sets of cultural relics and artworks to China.
The transfers have come as greater focus is paid to artifacts and other cultural items in Western museums and private collections obtained during colonization or other periods when the countries of origin were too weak to prevent the widespread pilfering of cultural items.
But sending Tibetan artifacts to China has raised concern that Beijing will use them to justify its rule in Tibet, which the country annexed in 1950.
“The Chinese government will certainly misuse these returned artifacts, and will use them to further promote their false historical narrative that Tibet has always been a part of China,” Vijay Kranti, director of the Center for Himalayan Asia Studies and Engagement, based in New Delhi, told RFA.
In January, Li Qun, the director of China’s National Administration of Cultural Heritage, said the country will work toward advancing “the return of key cultural relics to the motherland” and to use archaeology to “better explain Chinese civilization.”
Critics say China has already misused ancient finds to back territorial claims over both Tibet and Xinjiang, a western region that is home to Uyghurs and other Muslim communities seeking greater autonomy from Beijing.
“It is an outrageous act to return Tibetan objects in the diaspora to the People’s Republic of China, which is deliberately destroying Tibetan cultural heritage,” said Kate Fitz Gibbon, executive director of the Committee for Cultural Policy, a U.S. think tank that was established in 2011 to strengthen the public dialogue on arts policy.
“Since China occupied Tibet, U.S. authorities have accepted that Tibetan artifacts belong to the Tibetan people, not China’s government,” Fitz Gibbon said in an email. “The turnover by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit directly challenges that policy.”
An event that included Chinese and American officials was held March 3 in New York to mark the latest handover.
Chinese state-run media said the items were seized in November 2024. China’s National Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Chinese Consulate General in New York verified that the artworks were Chinese in origin.
The Manhattan district attorney’s antiquities trafficking unit previously handed over 38 antiquities – the majority of them identified as Buddhist religious objects from Tibet – during a ceremony at the Chinese Consulate General in New York on April 17, 2024.
But there’s little information about the transfers on the antiquities unit’s website, which does publicize materials that have been transferred to other countries.
The antiquities unit did not respond to at least three separate requests from Radio Free Asia for comments. The U.S. State Department and its Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Department also did not immediately respond to RFA.
According to China’s National Administration of Cultural Heritage, the latest 41 cultural artifacts include relics and artworks from the Neolithic Age (around 10,000 B.C. – 1,700 B.C.) to the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).
China had signed agreements similar to the one with the U.S. with governments of 25 other countries to promote the return of what it considers to be stolen property.
Tibetans have expressed their disappointment over the U.S.’s handover of Tibetan artifacts and relics to China.
Such handovers take away the chance for Tibetans to tell their own stories, said Dawa Tsering, director of the Tibet Policy Institute in Dharamsala, home to Tibet’s exile government.
“With every Tibetan Buddhism relic that goes to the hands of Communist China in such handovers, we Tibetans lose the opportunity to present the truth of our identity and our country to the world,” Dawa Tsering said.
Additional reporting by Youdon. Edited by Jim Snyder.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Tenzin Pema and Tenzin Norzom for RFA Tibetan.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
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The Hong Kong Journalists’ Association is appealing to journalists to preserve Facebook live video footage of 2019 protests after Meta said it will start deleting archived videos from its servers.
There are concerns that much of the online footage of those protests, most of which is banned in the city amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent, will no longer be available to the general public.
That will make it easier for the authorities to impose their own narrative on events in the city’s recent history.
Facebook notified users last month that it will be deleting archived live video streams from June 5, while newly streamed live video will be deleted after 30 days from Feb. 19, 2025.
“Since the Hong Kong news media have relied heavily on Facebook Live for reporting in the past, the Journalists Association now calls on the heads of mainstream, independent and citizen media and online editors to back up their videos as soon as possible,” the Hong Kong Journalists Association said.
“If necessary, you can follow the platform’s instructions to apply for an extension to up to six months before deletion,” it said.
In one livestream still available on YouTube from Oct. 1, 2019, an out-of-breath protester collates video feeds from several sources on the ground, commenting on what is unfolding while sounding out of breath from “running” at a protest a minute earlier.
In a Facebook Live video from the same day, a professional reporter from government broadcaster RTHK, which has since been forced to toe the ruling Chinese Communist Party line in its reporting, follows protests in Wong Tai Sin, explaining what is going on to live viewers.
While one feed is run by protesters and the other by a professional journalist, both offer a sense of boots-on-the-ground immediacy that would be crucial for anyone seeking to learn what the protests were about many years later.
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A reporter for an online media outlet who gave only the pseudonym Ken for fear of reprisals said a very large proportion of the public record of the 2019 protests was streamed live on Facebook, with more than 100 videos stored there.
While current media organizations have made backups, the footage will no longer be there for anyone to browse, making the record of that year less publicly available, Ken said.
“It’s like we’ve lost an online library,” he said. “Unless someone is willing to back it up and put it all online, there’ll be no way of finding that history any more, should you want to.”
Ken and his colleagues are concerned that online records of the 2019 could disappear entirely in a few years’ time, especially as republishing them from Hong Kong could render the user vulnerable to accusations of “glorifying” the protests, and prosecution under two national security laws.
“This is a very serious problem, because certain events or people may be completely forgotten about in a few years, maybe 10 years,” Ken said.
But there are risks attached to republishing video content — especially for residents of Hong Kong.
“You don’t know whether you will be accused of incitement if you post it again,” Ken said. “You never know what your live broadcast captured and whether there was issue … under the two national security laws.”
A fellow journalist who gave only the pseudonym Mr. G for fear of reprisals said his media organization still has access to its own live streamed footage of the 2019 protests from both Facebook and YouTube.
But he said the planned deletions could lead to “the permanent loss of some historical material.”
Facebook said that the owners of the videos will receive an email or notification in advance “and can choose to download the videos, transfer them to the cloud, or convert them into reels short videos within 90 days.”
“If users need more time to process old videos, they can apply to postpone the deadline by 6 months,” it said, adding that most live video is viewed in the first few weeks after being uploaded.
Veteran media commentator To Yiu-ming said social media platforms aren’t suited for use as a historical archive.
“There’s no point criticizing them,” To said. “Users may well encounter similar practices even … if they move to another social media platform.”
“If you want to preserve the historical record, you have to use less convenient methods, and spend a bit of time and money,” he said.
The concerns over the deletion of live video come after a report claimed that Meta was willing to go to “extreme lengths” to censor content and shut down political dissent in a failed attempt to win the approval of the Chinese Communist Party and bring Facebook to millions of internet users in China.
Citing a whistleblower complaint by Sarah Wynn-Williams from the company’s China policy team, the Washington Post reported that Meta “so desperately wanted to enter the lucrative China market that it was willing to allow the ruling party to oversee all social media content appearing in the country and quash dissenting opinions.”
So it developed a censorship system for China in 2015 and planned to install a “chief editor” who would decide what content to remove and could shut down the entire site during times of “social unrest,” according to a copy of the 78-page complaint exclusively seen by The Washington Post.
Meta executives also “stonewalled and provided nonresponsive or misleading information” to investors and American regulators, the complaint said.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone told the paper that it was “no secret” the company was interested in operating in China.
“This was widely reported beginning a decade ago,” Stone was quoted as saying. “We ultimately opted not to go through with the ideas we’d explored, which Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2019.”
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alice Yam for RFA Cantonese.
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Indonesia is expected to ratify an agreement with Vietnam on the demarcation of their exclusive economic zones next month, settling a decade-long dispute in overlapping waters, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto said.
Jakarta and Hanoi reached an agreement on the boundaries of the zones, called EEZs, in December 2022 after 12 years of negotiations. They had been locked in disputes over overlapping claims in waters surrounding the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea.
For the agreement to take effect, it needs to be ratified by both of their parliaments.
“We hope that our parliament will ratify it in April, after Eid al-Fitr, and their legislature is also expected to ratify it soon,” Prabowo told Vietnamese leader To Lam, who visited Jakarta this week.
Vietnam and Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country by population, elevated bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Lam’s visit, reflecting their closer cooperation.
Prabowo also said that he planned a reciprocal state visit to Vietnam soon, when he would sign an implementing agreement with his Vietnamese hosts, adding that he was confident that the deal would “bring prosperity to both our peoples.”
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Clear demarcation of maritime zones
The shared waters north and east of Natuna Islands saw intense confrontations between the law enforcement agencies of both Vietnam and Indonesia over the activities of Vietnamese fishermen. Indonesia accused them of unlawful encroachment and illegal fishing, and it detained and destroyed dozens of Vietnam’s fishing boats.
The two countries began negotiating on EEZ delimitation in 2010 and were engaged in more than a dozen rounds of talks before reaching an agreement.
An EEZ gives a state exclusive access to the natural resources in the waters and seabed, and a clear demarcation would help avoid misunderstanding and mismanagement, said Vietnamese South China Sea researcher Dinh Kim Phuc.
“The promised ratification of the agreement on EEZs sends a positive signal from both security and economic perspectives,” Phuc said. “Among the latest achievements in the bilateral relations, this in my opinion is the most important one.”
“It will also serve as a valuable precedent for ASEAN countries to settle maritime disputes between them via peaceful means,” the researcher added.
I Made Andi Arsana, a maritime law specialist at Gadjah Mada University, said the agreement clarifies fishing rights in the South China Sea.
“With a clear EEZ boundary, cross-border management and law enforcement become more straightforward,” Arsana said. “Before this, both countries had their own claims, making it hard to determine whether a fishing vessel had crossed the line. Now, with a legally recognized boundary, it’s easier to enforce regulations and address violations.”
He likened the situation to dealing with a neighbor without a fence.
“It’s difficult to say whether they’ve trespassed or taken something from your property,” he said.
“But once the boundary is set, we can confidently determine whether someone is fishing illegally in our waters.”
China has yet to comment on the Indonesian president’s statement. Both Vietnam’s and Indonesia’s EEZs lie within the “nine-dash line” that Beijing prints on its maps to demarcate its “historical rights” over almost 90% of the South China Sea.
Pizaro Gozali Idrus in Jakarta contributed to this article.
Edited by Mike Firn.
BenarNews is an online news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA and BenarNews Staff.
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TAIPEI, Taiwan – The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, said his successor would be born in the “free world,” which he described as outside China. However, Beijing insisted that the selection of his successor must follow Chinese law, asserting its authority over Tibetan Buddhism and rejecting any succession outside its control.
Tibetan tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death. The current Dalai Lama, who was identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor when he was two, had previously said the line of spiritual leaders might end with him.
China took control of Tibet in 1950, leading to tensions and resistance.
Nine years later, at the age of 23, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso fled to India with thousands of other Tibetans after a failed uprising against the rule of Mao Zedong’s Communists.
China calls the Dalai Lama a “separatist” and insists it will choose his successor, but the 89-year-old has said any successor named by China would not be respected.
“Since the purpose of a reincarnation is to carry on the work of the predecessor, the new Dalai Lama will be born in the free world so that the traditional mission of the Dalai Lama – that is, to be the voice for universal compassion, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, and the symbol of Tibet embodying the aspirations of the Tibetan people – will continue,” the Dalai Lama said in his new book “Voice for the Voiceless” published on Tuesday, according to a review of it by Reuters news agency.
He added he had received numerous petitions for more than a decade from a wide spectrum of Tibetan people, asking him to ensure that the Dalai Lama lineage be continued.
He also wrote that his homeland remained “in the grip of repressive Communist Chinese rule” and that the campaign for the freedom of the Tibetan people would continue “no matter what,” even after his death.
Human rights organizations and media outlets report that China suppresses Tibetan culture, religion, and freedom through strict surveillance, forced assimilation, and crackdowns on dissent.
Tibetan children are placed in state-run boarding schools to weaken their cultural identity, while monasteries face heavy restrictions. Beijing denies these allegations, claiming it is promoting economic development, stability, and modernization in Tibet while combating separatism.
When asked about the book, China’s foreign ministry said that the Dalai Lama was a “political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion” and he “had no right to represent the people in Tibet.”
“The Dalai Lama’s lineage, formed in Xizang, China, and religious standing and title which were affirmed by the central government, date back several hundred years,” said ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Tuesday.
Xizang is the official Chinese name for Tibet, used by the Chinese government to refer to the Tibet Autonomous Region.
“The reincarnation of Living Buddhas including the Dalai Lama must comply with Chinese laws and regulations as well as religious rituals and historical conventions, and follow the process that consists of search and identification in China, lot-drawing from a golden urn, and central government approval,” Mao said.
China said last month it hoped the Dalai Lama would “return to the right path” and that it was open to discussing his future if he met such conditions as recognizing that Tibet is an inalienable part of China, whose sole legal government is that of the People’s Republic of China.
That proposal has been rejected by the Tibetan parliament-in-exile in India.
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China and the Dalai Lama’s representatives have held several rounds of talks, with key discussions occurring between 2002 and 2010, but they failed to reach an agreement.
No formal dialogue has taken place since 2010, as China insists Tibet has always been part of China, while the Dalai Lama continues advocating for Tibetan rights.
China has appointed its own Panchen Lama, a significant Tibetan Buddhist figure, to control religious affairs in Tibet. The Panchen Lama traditionally plays a key role in recognizing the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama recognized Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995, but China abducted him and replaced him with Gyaltsen Norbu, their state-approved Panchen Lama. Many Tibetans do not recognize China’s choice, and the fate of the real Panchen Lama remains unknown.
Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.
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The British government says Hong Kongers holding a British National Overseas, or BNO, passport will soon be allowed to travel to the country without completing an advance travel authorization form, allowing people to flee a political crackdown in the city more easily.
Minister for Migration and Citizenship Seema Malhotra confirmed that holders of the passport issued to eligible Hong Kongers since the 1997 handovers will no longer need to complete an Electronic Travel Authorization before traveling to the U.K.
“Having listened to evidence, we have decided that BN(O) passport holders will no longer need an ETA to travel to the UK,” Malhotra wrote in a March 5 letter to Lord Alton of Liverpool, Patron of the London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch.
“This decision has been made on the basis of the close ties that the BN(O) community has with the UK, the historical commitments made to them and, critically, the fact that just like for British citizens with passports, it is the UK issuing their travel documents,” Malhotra said.
Since Beijing imposed two national security laws banning public opposition and dissent in the city, blaming “hostile foreign forces” for the protests, hundreds of thousands have voted with their feet amid plummeting human rights rankings, shrinking press freedom and widespread government propaganda in schools.
Hong Kong authorities have vowed to pursue activists in exile for life, while jailing political activists at home for “subversion” and putting pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai on trial for “collusion with foreign powers” after articles in his now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper called for sanctions on Hong Kong.
More than 220,000 Hong Kongers have relocated to the United Kingdom so far under its British National Overseas lifeboat visa program, launched in January 2021.
Others have made their homes anew in the United States, Canada, Australia and Germany.
BNO passport holders without citizenship or a valid visa have needed to complete the authorization since Jan. 8, according to campaigners for the change.
The Electronic Travel Authorization isn’t generally available to people with a criminal record, meaning that thousands of people jailed for taking part in the 2019 protests or the 2014 Umbrella Movement would be effectively barred from traveling to the U.K.
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In Hong Kong, more than 10,000 people have been arrested and at least 2,800 prosecuted in a citywide crackdown in the wake of the 2019 protest movement, mostly under public order charges or colonial-era sedition laws.
According to the overseas-based Hong Kong Democracy Council, 1,920 of those defendants are classed as political prisoners, or peaceful critics of the government.
A Hong Kong resident who gave only the pseudonym C for fear of reprisals said she was released from prison a year ago after serving more than 12 months’ imprisonment for “illegal assembly,” a charge used to jail thousands of participants in the 2019 protest movement.
Under the original rules, she would have been unable to board a flight to the U.K., she told RFA Cantonese in a recent interview, something she found “deeply worrying.”
C said while she felt “relieved” at the policy change, there are still plenty of young released prisoners in Hong Kong who don’t qualify for a BNO passport, and who will still need to complete an ETA to travel to the United Kingdom.
Another Hong Konger, who gave only the pseudonym Ji for fear of reprisals, said she has also served more than 12 months in jail for “illegal assembly.”
She now plans to head to the U.K. very soon, and thanked rights groups and advocacy groups for campaigning for the change, although citing concerns for those who aren’t BNO passport holders.
A Hong Konger who gave the pseudonym Ah Tit said he also plans to leave the city with his family soon, after serving 27 months in jail in connection with the protest movement.
“[This way], if anything happens, we can go back [to Hong Kong] if we really want to,” he said. “If we take other routes, especially political asylum, the chances of ever coming back get very small.”
Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China Policy, described the rule change as “a step in the right direction,” and came after a number of organizations lobbied the government on behalf of Hong Kongers.
U.K.-based former pro-democracy councilor Daniel Kwok, who co-founded the advocacy group Hong Kong Scots, said the change showed that a democratic government could be pressured into changing its policies.
“It shows that, in a democratic society, as long as we make an effort to speak out and petition, we can actually push the government to change its policies,” Kwok said. “We would like to thank everyone for their efforts in this matter.”
“We will continue to monitor when it will be implemented, and pay attention to whether our fellow Hong Kongers are able to enter the U.K smoothly in future, without being hindered by more technical or administrative problems.”
Hong Kong Watch Research and Policy Advisor Thomas Benson said the group had received “many calls” from Hong Kongers concerned about the ETA requirement.
“We are glad to see the Home Office listening to these concerns and honoring the UK government’s commitment to British National (Overseas) passport holders, and look forward to this change being imminently implemented,” Benson said in a statement on the group’s website.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jasmine Man and Matthew Leung for RFA Cantonese.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
China’s 10-day National People Congress ended in Beijing on Tuesday amid sweeping promises from the country’s leaders to boost economic growth, support AI and to take control over democratic Taiwan.
Delegates also shed light on Beijing’s intentions for Tibet and revealed for the first time that U.S. sanctions on companies in Xinjiang using Uyghur forced labor are hurting business.
Here are five takeaways:
In his March 5 work report, Premier Li Qiang pledged to boost domestic consumption as the driving force for economic growth, which he set at 5% for the coming year — a target experts say is highly questionable and likely concocted for political reasons.
For years, exports have driven China’s growth. But leaders have tried to shift the focus to consumer spending after three years of COVID-19 restrictions and a slew of U.S. tariffs prompted manufacturers to move away from China and spooked foreign investors. And now President Donald Trump has imposed additional tariffs on Chinese exports to America.
To shore up the economy, the government plans to boost fiscal spending by 1.2 trillion yuan (US$165 billion) to 29.7 trillion yuan (US$4.16 billion), Li said — but gave few details of how that money would be spent.
He also pledged to implement “an appropriately accommodative monetary policy” in the coming year.
“The impact of this National People’s Congress on the Chinese people is that their economy is now moving from strength to weakness, and this weakness will be long term,” social economist Ji Rong told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview.
One proposal discussed by delegates to the 10-day National People’s Congress in Beijing was shortening the working week to four-and-a-half days to give people more leisure time.
The government will also further cut the personal income tax rate in a bid to boost purchasing power among middle- and low-earners.
An economic commentator who gave only the surname Hong for fear of reprisals said changes to the working week could prove effective, but that Li’s work report contained few other practical measures.
Li Qiang also vowed to “unleash the creativity of the digital economy,” particularly through the use of AI.
“We will support the extensive application of large-scale AI models and vigorously develop new-generation intelligent terminals and smart manufacturing equipment, including intelligent connected new-energy vehicles, AI-enabled phones and computers, and intelligent robots,” he told delegates.
Li was speaking weeks after China’s launched its DeepSeek AI model, in what some called a “Sputnik moment” for the country.
Li also promised increased funding for AI, biomanufacturing, quantum technology and 6G, without giving further details.
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But experts said China will continue to be hampered by U.S. export and high-tech bans, including for cutting-edge semiconductors.
China’s increasingly powerful AI surveillance systems use facial recognition and combine data streams to create sophisticated “city brains” that can track events in real time, and are increasingly being exported around the world, according to a recent report.
The technology is also raising concerns about its use to treat patients by medical professionals, as well as to aid cheating in competitions (in Chinese).
The Tibet Autonomous Region delegation vowed to strengthen efforts to fight “separatism” and prioritize “long-term stability” by expanding ideological education, as well as accelerate the Sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism, which they said was key to “changing the face of Tibet.”
The delegates emphasized their commitment to ideological education guided by the “Three Consciousnesses,” a phrase used in Chinese propaganda to refer to national — or Han Chinese — consciousness, civic duties and the rule of law.
“I believe this kind of education is highly effective,” said Karma Tseten, deputy head of the delegation and Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, or TAR. “Despite its value, it is constantly smeared and disrupted by the Dalai Lama and his group. But we will not be swayed.”
The rhetoric was a clear sign, experts said, that Beijing intends to continue to impose its repressive policies in Tibet under the guise of maintaining stability and combating separatism.
“Regardless of what policies China implements in Tibet, their stated goal of ‘maintaining stability’ fundamentally reveals that Tibetans do not trust the Chinese government,” Dawa Tsering, director at the Tibet Policy Institute, told Radio Free Asia.
Delegates said at a media briefing on Thursday that more than 90 percent of community leaders in Tibet now had basic knowledge of Mandarin.
They also emphasized that they will continue to focus on promoting in Tibet what China calls the “four major events” -– border security, environment, stability and economic and social development.
During the congress, the Chinese government acknowledged for the first time that U.S. sanctions over the use of Uyghur forced labor have affected more than 100 companies in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region, or XUAR, proving that international sanctions do have bite.
Ma Xingrui, the XUAR party secretary, told delegates that “the United States, relying on fabricated evidence, has imposed sanctions on Xinjiang businesses based on allegations of genocide and forced labor, affected more than 144 companies,“ according to the China Daily.
Sanctions “over accusations of ‘forced labor’ have become one of the biggest challenges in the region’s development,” Ma said during a panel discussion Friday at the NPC, according to the report.
While Ma didn’t elaborate on which companies were affected, this marks the first time the region’s highest party official admitted the sanctions were hurting businesses.
The United States and nearly a dozen Western parliaments have accused China of committing genocide and crimes against humanity against the 13 million Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples living in Xinjiang.
In 2021, the U.S. government has passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which bans U.S. companies from doing business with Chinese businesses judged to be using Uyghur forced labor. Since then, some 144 companies have been blacklisted.
These sanctions are undermining the economic development of Xinjiang, which is a chief way that Beijing “wants to extend the legitimacy of its rule,” said Raymond Kuo, a China expert at Rand Corporation, a Washington think tank.
“Ultimately, the economic benefits that come from [Beijing’s] rule are going to be the key thing to increase the legitimacy of its rule as well as win over the population,” he said. “Western sanctions inhibit that.”
The sanctions are “particularly politically important for Xinjiang,” Kuo added. “They’re clearly having some impact, right?”
China is increasing its 2025 defense budget by 7.2% to US$246 billion amid growing rivalry with the United States and tensions over Taiwan, marking the fourth consecutive year of more than 7% growth in defense spending.
Li said Beijing would continue to “resolutely oppose separatist activities” in democratic Taiwan, as well as what he termed “external interference.”
China has ramped up military activities around Taiwan, conducting frequent air and naval incursions into the island’s air defense identification zone and staging large-scale drills near its waters. Beijing views Taiwan as an inseparable part of its territory and insists on eventual unification, by force if necessary.
Yet Li also vowed a soft power charm offensive to push for what Beijing calls “peaceful unification.”
“We will improve institutions and policies for promoting economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait and advance integrated cross-Strait development,” he said. “We will firmly advance the cause of China’s unification.”
Military expert Pang Xinhua said China’s neighbors in the region are also worried about escalating military tensions.
“As China increases its military activities in the South China Sea, East China Sea and other regions, neighboring countries may worry about rising regional tensions leading to an escalating arms race,” Pang told RFA Mandarin.
“That could in turn lead to an escalation of the situation in the Taiwan Strait, as China’s continued strengthening of its military capabilities is interpreted as pressure on Taiwan,” he said.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Qian Lang for RFA Mandarin, Yitong Wu and Ha Syut for RFA Cantonese.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
Alan Lu for RFA on 5 March 2025 refers to a a new report which shows the extent of Beijing’s arbitrary detentions, with severe sentences for prisoners of conscience.
Chinese authorities have arbitrarily detained thousands of people for peacefully defending or exercising their rights over the past six years and convicted 1,545 prisoners of conscience, a rights group said on Wednesday.
Chinese Human Rights Defenders, or CHRD, a non-government organization of domestic and overseas Chinese rights activists, said the scope and scale of wrongful detention by Chinese authorities may constitute crimes against humanity.
“They were sentenced and imprisoned on charges that stem from laws that are not in conformity with the Chinese government’s domestic and international human rights obligations,” the group said in a report.
“Their cases proceeded through the full criminal justice system, with police, prosecutors, and courts arbitrarily depriving them of their liberty in violation of their human rights.”
Prisoners of conscience have faced severe penalties, with an average sentence of six years, increasing to seven for national security charges.
Three people, identified as Tashpolat Tiyip, Sattar Sawut and Yang Hengjun, were sentenced to death, while two, Rahile Dawut and Abdurazaq Sayim, received life sentences, the group said, adding that 48 were jailed for at least a decade.
Among the convicted, women activists and marginalized groups, including ethnic Tibetans and Uyghurs, were disproportionately represented among those wrongfully detained, the group said.
Out of all the prisoners of conscience aged 60 or older, two-thirds were women, it added.
“Human rights experts and international experts have raised that people over the age of 60 should generally not be held in custody due to the effects on their physical and mental health,” Angeli Datt, research consultant with CHRD, told journalists in a press briefing Wednesday.
“That two-thirds of them are women was really shocking to me,” she said.
“Worse still, the impunity Chinese government officials enjoy at home emboldens them to commit abuses abroad,” the group said.
China dismissed a Swiss report last month alleging that it pressures Tibetans and Uyghurs in Switzerland to spy on their communities.
The CHRD said that under Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the scope and scale of the use of arbitrary detention to silence critics and punish human rights personnel had grown.
The organization documented a total of 58 individuals known to have been convicted of “endangering national security.”
“The overall average prison sentence for a national security crime is 6.72 years, though this figure excludes those sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve or life imprisonment,” it said.
In Hong Kong, more people were convicted of “subversion” and “inciting subversion” — terms that the U.N. describes as “broad and imprecise, making them prone to misapplication and misuse.”
In one 2024 case, authorities convicted 45 people for participating in a primary election, an act fully protected under both domestic and international law. Subversion charges accounted for 37% of all prisoners of conscience sentenced in Hong Kong during this period.
https://www.rfa.org/english/china/2025/03/06/chia-dissent-crack-down-humgn-rights/
This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – The size of Taiwan’s military has been at the center of a public debate in recent months, with reports emerging of plans to recruit women and foreigners while extending military training.
Meanwhile, politicians from the island’s two major parties and members of the public are debating the defense budget, as the U.S. is reportedly pressuring Taiwan to strengthen its military capabilities.
Chieh Chung, a research fellow at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the island is experiencing “a rapid decline” in the number of military personnel, which is affecting front-line combat units.
Taiwan’s armed forces saw a drop in the number of active-duty personnel to 152,885 in June 2024 from 164,884 in 2021, and Chieh believes the trend will continue mainly due to Taiwan’s low birth rate.
This is a problem for Taiwan, according to Michael Hunzeker, associate director of the Center for Security Policy Studies at George Mason University, as the island is facing mounting threats from one of the world’s largest militaries: China with more than 2 million active-duty military personnel.
China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province and has increased military pressure through drills and incursions. Taiwan, meanwhile, views itself as a sovereign state and strengthens its defenses. Beijing has increased military pressure on the island in recent years through air and naval incursions, military drills and diplomatic isolation efforts.
“Besides having more troops and weapons, China’s military leadership has also put more time, energy, and resources into modernizing its military,” said Hunzeker.
“None of these trends bodes well for Taiwan. There is no question that if we compare China and Taiwan in isolation, Beijing holds all of the cards militarily,” he added.
Taiwan has responded with plans to increase military salaries and benefits, but the proposal has been met with skepticism.
Arthur Kuo, a Taiwanese retired major general, is among those who believe that military recruitment is influenced by more than just wages.
“Societal values, the image of military personnel, working conditions, and career development opportunities,” he said as he listed factors that affect Taiwanese people’s willingness to join the military.
“One worthwhile lesson to keep in mind is that most Americans take a great deal of pride in their military,” Hunzeker said. “You don’t see the same thing in Taiwan.”
A 2024 survey found that more than 50% of respondents were not confident in the Taiwanese military’s self-defense capabilities.
“I would therefore imagine that if Taiwanese society held their servicemen and women in higher regard that it would probably do more for recruiting than any financial bonus ever could,” Kuo said.
Some defense officials and analysts have proposed recruiting foreign military personnel.
“The U.S. offers a fast-track naturalization process for green-card holders who join the military, which Taiwan could consider,” Kuo said.
However, some analysts believe that might be “counterproductive.”
Chieh from the Institute for National Defense and Security Research said Taiwan’s financial systems could collapse in a war, making salary payments for foreigners uncertain.
He warned that foreign troops, often motivated by pay, might lose commitment if payments stopped.
Managing and training mercenaries from diverse backgrounds would also require significant resources, potentially outweighing the benefits, he added.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s defense ministry dismissed reports last week about a plan for the conscription of female troops.
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Some commentators question whether increasing troop numbers is the right answer. They argue that the Russia-Ukraine war has shown the impact of military modernization, with drones, long-range artillery and missiles giving a force greater advantage than mere troop numbers.
But Kuo believes addressing the manpower shortage issue is still crucial for Taiwan.
“If Taiwan’s military capability declines, it will struggle to counter gray-zone threats from China, maintain strategic deterrence, uphold regional stability, and sustain foreign investment and economic growth – posing a serious national security risk,” he said.
Chieh shares similar views, saying that regardless of how advanced Taiwan’s weapons are, it must be prepared to defend the homeland with a sufficient number of ground forces, given China’s naval and air forces continue to grow.
“The key is that while we may maintain a smaller standing force in peacetime, we must be able to rapidly expand our troop numbers through mobilization when necessary,” he said.
China doesn’t just aim to defeat Taiwan’s military, according to Chieh. The authoritarian regime also assumes that U.S. intervention is inevitable.
Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S. is committed to assisting Taiwan to defend itself, but it has long maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on whether it would intervene militarily to protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.
“So, its strategy revolves around establishing a dominant position around Taiwan before the U.S. can effectively intervene, and this is why Taiwan should maintain strong troops itself – to send signals to Washington that we’re a reliable ally and it is worthy for them to fight together with us,” Chieh said.
Edited by Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alan Lu for RFA.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
Pakistan is one of the largest countries in South Asia. Ever since its formation in 1947, it has been politically dominated by a coalition of landed and military elites who rule over millions of impoverished citizens mainly by force. Attempts to break this dominance and establish a truly popular government independent of the military establishment have mostly failed. Meanwhile, the ruling classes in Pakistan have been unable to industrialize and democratize the state. Their deep dependence on rent and the interests of the imperialists are in complete opposition to the popular aspirations and sentiments of the people.
The post Will Pakistan Remain A US Proxy Or Become A Regional Partner? appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.
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HONG KONG — The tariff wars between the United States and China could further hit Hong Kong’s status as a major international container port, where fewer ships are docking and many workers are on reduced pay, according to an investigation by RFA’s Cantonese Service.
While the effects of the Trump administration’s latest tariffs may not yet have been fully felt, people working in the industry said business has been plummeting for some time, citing the increasing shift of international container traffic to ports in mainland China.
Recently increased U.S. tariffs now target goods made in China and Hong Kong equally, further reducing the city’s usefulness as a transshipment hub for Chinese manufacturers looking to evade tariffs by using a “made in Hong Kong” label.
The volume of shipped cargo arriving at Hong Kong’s container ports fell by 0.5% year-on-year to 111.1 million tonnes, according to figures released last week by Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department.
The city’s container terminals handled 13.69 million twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, a year-on-year decrease of 5% from the year before.
Meanwhile, the number of vessels arriving under the Hong Kong flag has declined from a peak of around 3,000 before the pandemic to just 1,875 in 2024, a fall of more than 30%.
Staff on the ground said they have far less to do than just a couple of years ago, citing the shift of container traffic to ports in mainland China.
A container truck owner-driver at Hong Kong’s Kwai Chung Container Terminal who gave only the surname Chan for fear of reprisals told RFA Cantonese that he has “very little to do” these days.
“I wouldn’t say it has fallen by 30% — to me it seems as if it has fallen by 60 or 70%,” Chan said, interviewed from a parking lot at the container terminal on March 7.
He said part of the issue is that countries including the United States now no longer treat Hong Kong separately when it comes to tariffs, so Chinese manufacturers can no longer evade tariffs by shipping goods to Hong Kong and repackgaging them with a “made in Hong Kong” label.
Another driver who gave only the surname Leung for fear of reprisals said he once owned nearly 20 containers, but now only holds 6 or 7, due to the fall in the volume of traffic.
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He said he only works around 20 days a month now, compared with working nearly every day before the pandemic.
“There are fewer ships docking in Hong Kong now,” Leung said. “You can see where the crane arms are sticking up like trees — that means there are no ships in dock. The arms are lowered when there are ships in dock.”
“We used to have transshipment business, where containers were shipped to mainland China after arriving here, but now they go direct to mainland China, so there’s nothing for us to do,” he said.
Hong Kong’s flag is the eighth most-flown by ships worldwide, according to VesselsValue, a subsidiary of maritime data group Veson Nautical.
But in January, the number of newly registered ships described as ocean-going vessels fell by around 6.5%, compared with 2,173 in January 2022, suggesting a shift in emphasis to coastal and river cargo traffic.
Another driver, who gave only the surname Lui, said freight volumes, wages and the number of days he gets work are around half what they were four years ago.
“Everything has been cut in half, including wages,” Lui said. “At one point we were only shipping one container every couple of days … Before, we used to have to work every day.”
Leung also estimated that business has fallen by 60-70%.
“There are fewer containers arriving in Hong Kong … at least 70% less,” he said. “Back then, there weren’t so many ports in mainland China, so they came through Hong Kong, and we transported them [to China]. Now, they’re unloaded at mainland Chinese ports.”
The drivers’ stories were backed up by Yu Kam-keung, consultant to Hong Kong Shipping Employees’ Union.
“Put simply, if you want to know about container traffic in Hong Kong, it has been decreasing,” Yu told RFA Cantonese. “The shipping ecosystem has changed in a lot of ways, but I can’t comment much more than that right now, sorry.”
Some shipping companies are discreetly moving operations out of Hong Kong and taking vessels off its flag registry, Reuters reported on March 6, adding, “others are making contingency plans to do so.”
Hong Kong’s role in serving Chinese security interests and growing U.S. scrutiny of the importance of China’s commercial fleet in a future military conflict, possibly over Taiwan, are causing unease across the industry, the report said.
In a separate report, the agency cited a White House document as saying that the United States plans to levy fees on imports arriving on Chinese-made ships and boost its own shipbuilding industry in a bid to reduce China’s grip on the US$150 billion global ocean shipping industry.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, or USTR, last month proposed imposing heavy port fees on China-owned shipping, which it said “burdens or restricts U.S. commerce by undercutting business opportunities for and investments in the U.S. maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors.”
It said China’s share of the global shipbuilding industry has exploded. China accounted for about 5% of the total tonnage of ships manufactured in 1999. By 2023, that had surpassed 50%.
The investigation, conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, found that Beijing has pursued a policy of subsidizing its domestic shipbuilding industry to dominate the global market.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Wei Sze, Ha Syut and Dawn Yu for RFA Cantonese.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
Authorities in a single district of the southwestern megacity of Chongqing have installed 27,900 surveillance cameras and 245 sensors as part of a comprehensive “grid” surveillance plan to keep tabs on residents, officials from the district said Monday.
The move offers a rare glimpse into the running of China’s “grid” system — the close-up monitoring of every aspect of its citizens’ lives to mediate disputes, influence public opinion and minimize protests and dissent.
“We in Beibei district have fully pressed the fast-forward button to promote the construction of … a digital Chongqing [and] deepened networked governance … to build a smart grassroots governance system,” Lin Xuyang, delegate to the National People’s Congress and secretary of Chongqing’s Beibei District Committee, told delegates in Beijing on March 10.
The annual gathering of delegates from across the country ends Tuesday.
“There is certainly no single way to govern, but precision is definitely one of them,” Lin said, likening the local grid monitoring and surveillance systems to “fine needlework.”
“The key to governance lies in people,” he said, adding that interconnected grids have now been extended from district to residential compound level, employing a “grid leader,” full- and part-time grid members to coordinate “more than 10,000 party member volunteers” and other volunteers.
In July 2021, China empowered local officials at township, village and neighborhood level to enforce the law, as well as operating a vastly extended “grid management” system of social control in rural and urban areas alike.
According to directives sent out in 2018, the grid system carves up neighborhoods into a grid pattern with 15-20 households per square. Each grid has a monitor who reports back on residents’ affairs to local committees.
China’s “red armband” brigade of state-sanctioned busybodies have been dubbed the biggest intelligence network on the planet by social media users, and have supplied information that has also led police to crack major organized crime, according to state media.
Neighborhood committees in China have long been tasked with monitoring the activities of ordinary people in urban areas, while its grid management system turbo-charges the capacity of officials even in rural areas to monitor what local people are doing, saying and thinking.
These local forms of surveillance and social control are known in Chinese political jargon as the “Fengqiao Experience.”
They have also been used to target potential trouble before it emerges, with officials told to use big data to pinpoint people with marital difficulties or other grievances in the wake of the Zhuhai car killings.
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A former employee of a residential compound in Chongqing who gave only the surname Yang for fear of reprisals said the cameras are mostly used to monitor the activities of local residents.
“This kind of surveillance has existed for a long time — its official name is SkyNet,” Yang said. “In rural areas, it’s known as Project Xueliang.”
“Its purpose is to monitor what’s going on in every corner of a district,” Yang said. “People’s every move takes place under their watchful gaze.”
A resident of the central province of Henan who gave only the nickname Lao Wan said local governments are struggling to afford the staffing costs of the “grid” surveillance system, so are installing automated, digital equipment to monitor people instead.
“There are two main reasons for [these cameras],” Lao Wan said. “One is they can’t afford to pay their grid workers, and on the other, they want to reduce administrative costs.”
“That’s why they have mobilized civilians and volunteers to do this work, such as older men and women who have nothing else to do,” he said. “They seem to be just being friendly towards their neighbors, but in fact, they’re monitoring your every word and deed.”
The revelations about Beibei district come after the ruling Communist Party’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily, reported that authorities in the southeastern port city of Xiamen have set up “neighborhood supervision” stations in 11 streets and 144 residential communities in Tong’an district, in a bid to improve “grassroots governance.”
Legal affairs commentator Lu Chenyuan said local governments are struggling to pay wages, so are coordinating older people as volunteers to implement the government’s “stability maintenance” system.
“It’s a way to reduce administrative expenditures and maintain stability amid a sharp fall in tax revenues,” Lu said.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Qian Lang for RFA Mandarin.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
Taiwan’s defense ministry is proposing a law that could bring a lengthy prison term for anyone deemed disloyal to its military, it said on Monday, adding the Chinese Communist Party tried to lure officers while its spying was becoming “rampant.”
“Any active military personnel who express loyalty to the enemy through words, actions, texts, pictures, electromagnetic records, scientific and technological methods, etc., which is sufficient to cause military disadvantages, will be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 1 year and not more than 7 years,” the ministry said.
In recent years, the Taiwanese military, in cooperation with national security units, has cracked many espionage cases, it said in a statement.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s intelligence gathering and espionage activities are becoming increasingly rampant,” it said.
The Chinese side “uses money, investment, gambling and other methods to lure and recruit active-duty military personnel to sign written documents, shoot videos and other methods to swear allegiance to the enemy, which has seriously damaged national security,” the ministry said.
A small number of officers and soldiers had “committed treason and crimes” and should be strictly punished, it said.
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The ministry was working on a draft amendment to Article 24 of the Criminal Law of the Army, Navy and Air Force that would help “strengthen countermeasures against the Chinese Communist Party’s infiltration and sabotage activities against the national military.”
The amendment will be submitted to the island’s government for review after completing the notice and legal procedures.
The National Security Bureau said in a recent report that the number of Taiwanese citizens charged with attempted espionage for China rose “significantly” to 64 last year from 10 in 2022 and 48 in 2022.
Seven retired military officials were prosecuted last year for activities such as giving China the coordinates and details of military bases and the de facto U.S. embassy in Taipei.
Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
In February, a bizarre and grotesque claim began circulating among Chinese social media users.
According to the claim, several young Americans who supported the Democratic Party had castrated themselves in protest against U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
Many social media users appeared to be in shock and to believe the claim, especially since it was accompanied by what looked like a news article.
“It was reported by the U.S. media!” one user insisted, arguing that media coverage lent the claim credibility.
But what many social media users didn’t realize was that the “U.S. media” they had seen was not a news provider – it was a satirical website.
Keyword searches revealed that the website cited by Chinese social media users was “Genesis Times,” a U.S. political satire site that describes itself as “The Most Reliable Source of Fake News on the Planet.”
This is not an isolated incident. Chinese social media users frequently find themselves caught up in misinformation originating from U.S. satirical websites.
But what makes them so vulnerable?
Summer Chen, former editor-in-chief of the Taiwan FactCheck Center, pointed to a “cultural difference” between the U.S. and other countries, including China, where people don’t have a tradition of such political parody.
China lacks a strong political satire culture due to strict government censorship, harsh penalties for dissent and a political system that discourages public criticism of leaders.
The Chinese government controls media and online discourse, making satire risky. Historically, satirists have faced severe consequences, leading to self-censorship and a lack of mainstream satirical traditions.
Chen also cited the fact that U.S. satirical websites tend to mimic the design of established media outlets, contributing to the confusion of readers.
Darren Chan, a doctoral student researching political satire at Temple University, told AFCL that the term “satirical news” was often used interchangeably with “fake news” but since the mid-2010s, “fake news” has more often been used to refer specifically to intentionally false or misleading information.
“The biggest difference between ‘satirical news’ and ‘fake news’ lies in the intention of the fabricated news content,” he explained.
“Satire is a form of entertainment social critique that aims to point out injustice or unethical behavior in society. By making its audience laugh and think, satirical news has the potential to foster civic engagement and political participation.
“Fake news refers to content that deliberately spreads false information with the aim of harming the reputation of the people involved in the story.”
Satire can serve as an independent check on the media, and is a highly context-dependent genre that one only truly understands if one is familiar with the context of the events being lampooned, he said.
In a country like China that lacks such a context or tradition of political satire, he said that this type of parody may become another way to confirm rising nationalist and anti-American sentiment, he added.
Wei-Ping Li, a postdoctoral researcher at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, said that many Chinese social media users are unfamiliar with parody and may just repost sensational stories that confirm their beliefs and attract views.
Chen said a website’s information should be checked to determine whether the news was genuine.
For instance, satirical news sites or their X accounts often say they publish fake news to avoid legal liability. Genuine news organizations usually publish information about their offices and staff.
Another reliable indicator of the credibility of news is to search for other mainstream media reports on the same topic, she added.
“Media is a very competitive industry. There won’t be any big event that only one covers and others don’t. You can therefore easily compare different reports on the same event from several credible news organizations.”
Chan also pointed out the importance of asking the same question about news on social media as one would of traditional mainstream outlets: “How did the platform obtain this information, where is the evidence and has the poster made mistakes in the past?”
“Think before you interact. In this age of eye-grabbing headlines, pause and think about the content and potential reaction of your post, rather than just impulsively sharing,” he said.
Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Taejun Kang.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alan Lu for Asia Fact Check Lab.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is a self-declared “crusader” who believes the United States is in a “holy war” against the left, China, and Islam.
In his 2020 book American Crusade: Our Fight to Stay Free, Hegseth vowed that, if Trump could return to the White House and Republicans could take power, “Communist China will fall—and lick its wounds for another two hundred years”.
Hegseth declared that the Chinese “are literally the villains of our generation”, and warned, “If we don’t stand up to communist China now, we will be standing for the Chinese anthem someday”.
In Hegseth’s conspiratorial worldview, Chinese communists and the international left are conspiring with Islamists against the United States and Israel, which are sacred countries blessed by God.
The post Defense Secretary Hegseth Wants To Overthrow China’s Government appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.
This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.
The year 2024 saw profound changes in the international landscape as well as remarkable progress in China’s reform and development. Under the stewardship of General Secretary Xi Jinping, China made important progress in its diplomacy. We fostered a good external environment for China’s high-quality development, brought much-needed stability to a changing and turbulent world, and made new and solid strides in building a community with a shared future for mankind. This year, the international situation is still full of challenges. But the mission of China’s diplomacy remains unchanged.
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BANGKOK — Air force aerobatic and demonstration teams from China, India and the United States streaked through Bangkok’s overcast skies Friday in a rare joint-showcase marking the 88th anniversary of the Royal Thai Air Force.
China’s August 1st Aerobatic Team of People’s Liberation Army Air Force, the U.S. Air Force’s F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team and India’s Air Force Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team each performed separately, entertaining crowds at Bangkok’s Don Mueang air base.
Also present was Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, a former F-5 fighter jet pilot.
“We did not have special conditions to have both the U.S. and Chinese aircraft to join. Politics is set aside and mutual respect is there,” Thailand’s air force chief Air Marshal Punpakdee Pattanakul told reporters.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Pimuk Rakkanam for RFA.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
As far as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is concerned, each person in the Global North is worth nine people in the Global South. We get that calculation from IMF data on voting power in the organisation relative to the population of the Global North and Global South states. Each country, based on its ‘relative economic position’, as the IMF suggests, is given voting rights to elect delegates to the IMF’s executive board, which makes all of the organisation’s important decisions. A brief glance at the board shows that the Global North is vastly overrepresented in this crucial multilateral institution for indebted countries.
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This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
Chinese authorities raided a Protestant “house church” in the eastern province of Anhui amid a nationwide security clampdown during the annual National People’s Congress in Beijing, according to a U.S.-based rights group and local Christians.
Police and local officials raided the Xinyi Village Church in Anhui’s Huainan city, detaining nine members including pastor Zhao Hongliang, the Christian rights group China Aid reported on March 5.
Four men including Zhao are now being held under “criminal detention,” while the remaining five were released on bail, the group said.
Local officials from the neighborhood committee and the bureau of religious affairs have taken control of the church premises, which police continue to harass its congregation, the report said.
The church is a member of the ruling Communist Party’s Three-Self Patriotic Association of approved organizations, but had refused to comply with official demands, according to China Aid (in Chinese).
Under President Xi Jinping, officials have engaged in a nationwide crackdown on Muslim, Christian and Tibetan Buddhist religious activities and venues since 2017.
Protestant churches are allowed to function if they are part of the government-backed Three-Self Patriotic Association. The three “selfs” refer to self-governance, self-support and self-propagation –- essentially rejecting any foreign influence –- and the “patriotic” refers to loyalty to the Chinese government.
China has many unauthorized “house churches” across the country, which are frequently raided by authorities, and some “Three-Self” churches have also been targeted at times, too.
A Protestant pastor surnamed Chen who is familiar with the Anhui case said the move was part of heightened security measures during the National People’s Congress in Beijing.
“The parliamentary sessions started on March 5, so controls are much tighter,” Chen said. “Things are pretty strict with churches … with the state security police frequently harassing them and issuing warnings.”
According to a Feb. 26 directive from Huainan’s Panji district religious affairs bureau, the government have assigned officials to a task force to manage Xinyi Village Church, as part of a move to “strengthen the standardized management of religious sites.”
“They will enter the church to carry out relevant work until the church’s internal management is on track,” the notice said.
It threatened severe punishment for Christians who violated laws and regulations, saying, “Christian believers must participate in normal religious activities within the scope permitted by the constitution, laws, and regulations, in accordance with Christian doctrines and canons.”
“Violations of laws and regulations will be severely punished in accordance with the law and regulations,” the notice warned.
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Repeated calls to the Panji district government, its Tianji sub-district office and the district ethnic and religious affairs bureau rang unanswered during office hours on Friday.
A Protestant pastor at a “house church” in Huainan who gave only the surname Zhou for fear of reprisals said the area has a high proportion of Christians, with a church in every village.
“The local government may be looking to win approval [from higher up],” Zhou said. “Whenever a new leader takes office, he will crack down on churches.”
The Xinyi Village Church raid came after police in the southwestern region of Guangxi raided a house church in Baise city, taking away nine members including children, ChinaAid reported.
While most were released, three church members — Qin Tao, Cui Tiande, and Chen Shaofeng — have yet to be released, it said.
A pastor from Guangdong’s Jiangmen city who gave only the surname Sun for fear of reprisals said there have been reports of similar raids across China in recent weeks, particularly targeting Christians who bring their children to church events.
“Churches in Henan, Anhui, Shenzhen and other inland areas have been threatened and intimidated,” Sun said. “[The authorities are] saying that they shouldn’t allow minors to attend gathering, or that these are illegal gatherings.”
A house church member from the southwestern province of Yunnan who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals told RFA Mandarin that authorities in Shangri-La have imposed a limit of eight people per gathering on churches in the area.
“No adults can’t gather in groups of more than seven or eight,” the person said. “The have installed surveillance cameras at their front doors.”
“There are also surveillance cameras in the church, but we don’t go there now.”
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Qian Lang for RFA Mandarin.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – No country should expect to suppress China and maintain good relations with it, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday, as he warned of a reaction if the United States tried to contain his country.
But in response to questions about U.S. relations as President Donald Trump begins his second term, Wang also held out the prospect of a successful partnership between the world’s two biggest economies.
“No country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain a good relationship with China at the same time,” Wang told a news conference on the sidelines of China’s annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing.
“Such two-faced acts are not good for the stability of bilateral relations or for building mutual trust.”
The United States has imposed tariffs of 20% on Chinese goods since Trump took office – 10% last month and a further 10% coming into effect on Tuesday.
Trump imposed the tariffs in retaliation for what he says is China’s refusal to stop the outflow of precursors for the synthetic opioid fentanyl. U.S. officials blame fentanyl for tens of thousands of deaths each year.
China moved swiftly to retaliate with tariffs of its own on American agricultural and food products while accusing the United States of “bullying.”
Wang said the U.S. should reassess its policies, particularly on tariffs. He also dismissed U.S. criticism over fentanyl, describing it as a domestic issue that the U.S. must confront internally.
The U.S. “should not repay kindness with grievances, let alone impose tariffs without reason,” he said, adding that China had provided the United States with “various assistance” to tackle the flow of fentanyl precursor drugs into the U.S.
“If one side blindly exerts pressure, China will resolutely counter that,” Wang said.
Wang warned of the “law of the jungle” in international relations if powerful countries bullied smaller ones.
“Small and weak countries will get burned first, and the international order and rules will be under severe shock,” he said. “Major countries should undertake their international obligations … and not seek to profit from and bully the weak.”
He said China welcomed more countries into a “community of a shared future.”
“History proves that the only way to be a real winner is to care for everyone,” he added.
On broader U.S.-China relations, Wang denounced “unjustified external suppression” of China’s technology sector and reiterated Beijing’s opposition to Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
Wang called on the U.S. to foster “positive and pragmatic cooperation and dialogue,” while emphasizing that mutual respect remained the foundation of U.S.-China ties, and their economic and trade ties were interdependent.
“The two countries can be partners that contribute to each other’s success,” he said.
Wang held out the prospect of good ties with the European Union as well, noting that annual China-EU trade has grown to US$780 billion.
“We also believe that Europe can be a reliable partner. Both sides have the ability and wisdom to properly handle existing issues through friendly consultations,” he said.
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Wang reaffirmed Beijing’s position on self-ruled Taiwan and accused outside powers of fueling instability, adding that anyone supporting Taiwan’s independence would get burned.
“Taiwan has never been a country; it was not in the past, and it will never be in the future,” he said, warning that “allowing Taiwan independence undermines stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Wang further criticized “external support” for the island’s independence.
“Supporting Taiwan independence is playing with fire,” he said.
On the war in Ukraine, Wang repeated China’s stance of support for political negotiations to end a conflict that he said “could have been avoided.”
“China has been advocating for peace talks since the first day of the crisis,” he said.
“All parties should learn something from the crisis,” he said. “Among many other things, security should be mutual and equal, and no country should build its security on the insecurity of another,” he said.
Edited by Mike Firn
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang and Alan Lu for RFA.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
As political leaders from across China convene at the annual Two Sessions summit, alternative proteins have received another significant boost in documents released ahead of the meetings.
Over 10 days, the Two Sessions – so named for the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – will see decision-makers ratify legislation, review government work, and set an economic agenda for the forthcoming year.
Already the global leader in renewable energy, China has been expanding its support for alternative proteins like plant-based or cultivated meat, with experts suggesting that if the country wants to decarbonise, half of its protein consumption must come from alternative sources by 2060.
Leaders in the US have already highlighted fears of being overtaken by China’s biotech prowess. The government’s current five-year agriculture plan encourages research in cultivated meat and recombinant proteins, while the bioeconomy development plan aims to advance novel foods too. And President Xi Jinping has called for a Grand Food Vision that includes plant-based and microbial protein sources.
Building on this, one of the new documents is an official notice from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, which outlines key areas for national agricultural science and tech innovation through to 2028.
The second document came just over a week later. Dubbed the No. 1 Central Document, it is published every February as the year’s first policy statement released by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council.
According to alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) APAC, this is the single most influential document signposting what China considers its top policy goals for agriculture.
We spoke to Mirte Gosker, managing director of GFI APAC, to break down what the new documents mean for the alternative protein sector in China and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and concision.
Mirte Gosker: Shortly before the kickoff of last year’s Two Sessions conference, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) convened the first meeting of its new Science and Technology Innovation Strategic Advisory Committee, which has been tasked with supercharging food innovation nationwide.
A few days later, National People’s Congress deputy Xiong Tao, who is also chairman of the publicly traded Angel Yeast Co., submitted a formal proposal to accelerate the development of microbial proteins – an emerging category that harnesses the power of fermentation to create everything from Quorn nuggets to animal-free dairy. His proposal is now under review at MARA.
MG: This can be interpreted as a blueprint from the highest ranks of China’s agricultural authorities about what they believe are top domestic priorities.
Among the priority areas identified were:
These explicit mentions of novel foods are expected to drive more R&D funding towards alternative proteins. Reading the full document in context, analysts anticipate a special emphasis on the development of technologies like microbiomics and AI, which can optimise food production processes, identify new protein formulations and raw materials, and reduce costs.
MG: Among this year’s goals outlined in the No. 1 Central Document is “building a diversified food supply system” including efforts “to cultivate and develop biological agriculture and explore novel food resources.”
(“Biological agriculture” in this context can be interpreted as agriculture enhanced by biotechnology, rather than conventional farming methods.)
The document’s authors specifically mention a need for “expanding food sources through multiple channels”, including fungal and algae-based protein extraction techniques used in the development of many plant-based and fermentation-derived products.
Additionally, the No. 1 Central Document calls for strengthening “supervision” of food safety and agricultural product quality – a step seen as important to establishing broad consumer trust and market adoption of new protein sources.
The fact that food safety was specifically referenced in both documents sends a clear message to national regulators: Now is the time to develop comprehensive approval frameworks that can enable emerging food categories to thrive.
MG: As the world’s single largest meat market, China has huge incentives to transition towards smarter ways of satisfying soaring protein demand. Conventional methods are highly inefficient: feeding up to 100 calories of crops to a cow produces just one calorie of beef.
This squandering of resources also creates an uneasy dependence on the West, as millions of tonnes of soybeans and corn are imported to satisfy the demand for animal feed.
In other words, by mastering the art of making delicious and affordable protein from plants, microbes, and other novel sources, China can produce a whole lot more of it, while bolstering its self-sufficiency.
MG: While there is currently no regulatory process through which Chinese companies can apply for the market approval of novel proteins like cultivated meat, representatives from the corresponding regulatory body, the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, have mentioned at recent conferences that they are paying close attention to international developments and working to create a robust framework for cultivated meat safety assessment.
In the meantime, the development of cultivated meat has continued to accelerate across the country. Last August, GFI APAC worked with Chinese partners to co-organise the first-ever China-Singapore scientific symposium, which brought together dozens of experts from academia, industry, and government.
At the closed-door event, Chinese and Singaporean scientists exchanged insights on techniques to scale up alternative meat industrialisation, including layering flavour pockets from cultivated animal cells into plant-based protein sheets to make hybrid products, and designing innovative bioreactors that reduce cultivated meat production costs by leveraging computer simulations to test for optimal growth conditions.
MG: Across Asia, countries are investing in R&D and manufacturing infrastructure that could thrust the alt protein sector into commercial viability – pulling from the proven playbook used to scale up solar energy and electric vehicles.
South Korea is expected to issue its first cultivated meat approvals this year, and Thailand is hot on its heels. China just opened its first alt-protein innovation centre in Beijing; Malaysia’s prime minister commissioned a cultivated-meat industry feasibility study; and GFI is leading efforts to coordinate regional regulatory frameworks, so that startups can simultaneously roll out products in multiple markets.
Just as renewables are central to satisfying soaring energy demand, there is enormous economic opportunity in producing protein more efficiently. As our planet warms, countries will need innovative ways to make more meat with fewer resources – and Asia is once again laying the groundwork to sell the world what it needs.
The post Two Sessions: Why China is Betting on Alternative Proteins in Its Annual Political Summit appeared first on Green Queen.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
Trump’s trade war against the US’s neighbors Mexico and Canada, as well as China, continues with sweeping tariffs on the three countries going into effect just after midnight on Tuesday, March 4. A 25% tariff was added on all imports from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on imports from China.
On March 5, Trump granted a one-month exemption on imports from Mexico and Canada for US automakers, following a conversation with the three largest auto manufacturers in the country: Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, according to an announcement by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Other levies remain in place.
The post Trump’s Trade War Escalates, Canada Responds With Retaliatory Tariffs appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.
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The Donald Trump administration has made it clear that the top two priorities of the US government are to weaken China and to strengthen Wall Street.
The small Central American nation of Panama has found itself at the center of Trump’s strategy.
In his inauguration speech on January 20, the US president falsely claimed that “China is operating the [Panama] canal”, and he insisted “we’re taking it back”. In a press conference two weeks before, Trump implied that he was willing to use military force to take over the canal if Panama refused to give the United States effective control.
The post Trump Helps BlackRock Buy Panama Canal Ports To Weaken China appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.
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