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Category: China

  • China cracks down on Tibetans during holy month

    Chinese authorities have instructed Tibetan students, government workers and retirees to refrain from engaging in religious activities in Tibet’s capital Lhasa during the Buddhist holy month of Saga Dawa, four sources said.

    The Saga Dawa festival occurs during the fourth month of the Tibetan lunar calendar and runs from May 9 to June 6 this year. 

    For Tibetan Buddhists, it marks the period of Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and parinirvana — the state entered after death by someone who has attained nirvana during their lifetime.

    During the holy month, thousands of religious pilgrims visit temples and walk sacred kora routes around Lingkhor and Barkhor streets in Lhasa, encircling the revered Jokhang Temple. 

    The ritual kora — making a circumambulation around sacred sites or objects as part of a pilgrimage — holds immense significance for Tibetan Buddhists who believe that virtuous deeds performed during Saga Dawa are magnified based on their location.

    A video obtained by Radio Free Asia showed heavy police presence surrounding the Barkhor area — the heart of the capital with its famed pilgrimage circuit — on May 22, the eve of the 15th day of the fourth month of the Tibetan Lunar calendar, considered one of the holiest days during Saga Dawa. 

    Since the start of Saga Dawa, Chinese police have tightened security around key religious sites, including Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, and the Barkhor area, the sources told RFA.

    The measures illustrate the deterioration of religious freedom in Tibet under the Chinese government’s suppression and Sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism — a policy that seeks to bring the religion under the control of the Chinese Communist Party.

    Police everywhere

    While devotees were seen on pilgrimage on the other days of Saga Dawa, the 15th day on May 23 saw heightened restrictions, with police stationed along the pathways leading to the Sera, Gandhen and Drepung monasteries, said the sources who declined to be named out of fear of retribution by authorities.

    “There isn’t any place where you don’t see police and interrogation stations,” one of the sources told RFA. 

    Tibetans line up to offer prayers as they mark the day of Buddha's birth, death and enlightenment at the Tsuklakhang temple complex in Dharamshala, India, May 23, 2024. (Ashwini Bhatia/AP)
    Tibetans line up to offer prayers as they mark the day of Buddha’s birth, death and enlightenment at the Tsuklakhang temple complex in Dharamshala, India, May 23, 2024. (Ashwini Bhatia/AP)

    The Chinese government has increased the number of police checkpoints in and around Lhasa, and authorities have been interrogating Tibetans spontaneously, the person said. 

    Individuals who do not have a shenfenzhang, or Chinese resident identity card, are prohibited from visiting temples, leading to the heightened restrictions now in effect, said a second source. 

    “During our visits to circumambulate the holy sites, Chinese police regularly inspect everyone’s identity cards and engage in arguments,” said a third source. 

    “Having to engage in disputes with the Chinese police takes an emotional toll on us, and this is one of the reasons why many are afraid of engaging in religious activities as often as they’d like,” he said.

    A Nepalese monk lights a butter lamp during Saga Dawa at Swayambhunath, one of the holiest Buddhist stupas in Nepal, in Kathmandu, May 24, 2013. (Prakash Mathema/AFP)
    A Nepalese monk lights a butter lamp during Saga Dawa at Swayambhunath, one of the holiest Buddhist stupas in Nepal, in Kathmandu, May 24, 2013. (Prakash Mathema/AFP)

    Facial recognition technology is pervasive at key pilgrimage sites and authorities regularly frisk Tibetans making pilgrimages, said a fourth source.

    Flag-raising festival

    Additionally, during the Ngari Flag Raising Festival in Purang county, called Pulan in Chinese, of Ngari Prefecture in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, ​​Chinese authorities increased security  as people gathered on May 23 for the annual ceremony, and banned the use of drones during the event, according to the sources. 

    The annual tradition of hoisting a large central prayer flag pole in front of Mount Kailash in Tibet began in 1681 during the time of the 5th Dalai Lama.

    Buddhist monks and Hindu holy men sit by a roadside expecting alms as Tibetans mark the day of Buddha's birth, death and enlightenment in Dharamsala, India, May 23, 2024. (Ashwini Bhatia/AP)
    Buddhist monks and Hindu holy men sit by a roadside expecting alms as Tibetans mark the day of Buddha’s birth, death and enlightenment in Dharamsala, India, May 23, 2024. (Ashwini Bhatia/AP)

    In a government notice dated May 16, the Pulan County Public Security Bureau in Talqin said the use of drones and other aircraft during the Saga Dawa flag raising festival was prohibited and that violators would be punished. 

    Tibetans who attended the event were subjected to extensive questioning and coerced into agreeing to uphold social order and refraining from causing discord, said one of the sources.

    Police instructed people not to share photos or videos of the festival on social media, he said.

    Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan and by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Pelbar and Sonam Lhamo for RFA Tibetan.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hong Kong police arrest six people under new security law

    Six people including barrister held for social media posts before Tiananmen Square anniversary

    Hong Kong police have arrested six people, marking the first time that the city’s new national security law, known as Article 23, has been used against suspects since it was implemented in March.

    The six people, aged between 37 and 65, are accused of publishing messages with seditious intent ahead of an “upcoming sensitive date”, according to a police statement.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • The Newly Elected Leader of Taiwan Says He’s the Only Legitimate Ruler over All of China

    The newly elected leader of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te, said in his May 20 inaugural speech, that all of China is one country, which is ruled by the leader of Taiwan, himself. His argument for this was that when the forces of (the Truman-backed) Chiang Kai-shek, who were beaten by the forces of Mao Tse-tung, escaped to the Japanese-occupied island of Taiwan after Japan was defeated in WW2, they set up a Government there and proclaimed it to be the Government of China and created a ‘Constitution’ for it that asserted itself to be the Constitution for all of China.

    However, according to the “Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan)”, which was publicly announced on 1 January 1947, that narrative is simply not true: the escapees from mainland China who had set up that government in Taiwan, made no claim at that time alleging they controlled and ruled over anything but “Taiwan.” (On the other hand, the Truman Administration got Taiwan’s government appointed to the China-seats at the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly, and this remained in force until 25 October 1971 when mainland China received those seats instead.)

    Lai’s speech ignored this historical fact — that the Constitution alleged to pertain only to Taiwan — and stated the opposite, by using the following argument:

    We have a nation insofar as we have sovereignty. Right in the first chapter of our Constitution, it says that “The sovereignty of the Republic of China shall reside in the whole body of citizens,” and that “Persons possessing the nationality of the Republic of China shall be citizens of the Republic of China.” These two articles tell us clearly: The Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other. All of the people of Taiwan must come together to safeguard our nation; all our political parties ought to oppose annexation and protect sovereignty; and no one should entertain the idea of giving up our national sovereignty in exchange for political power.

    The U.S.-empire propaganda vehicle, Britain’s Financial Times, grudgingly headlined on May 21, “China has a point about Taiwan’s new leader: Lai Ching-te’s language on sovereignty has already strayed from the path taken by his more cautious predecessor”, and reported:

    China is right to say that Lai is straying from the path of his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen — a leader whom China refused to engage but who managed to keep a delicate peace. And some question the wisdom of taking such a gamble at a time of high tension.

    “Lai’s stance is a step back towards more confrontation, undoing much of Tsai’s line,” says Chao Chun-shan, a Taiwan academic who advised Tsai and her three predecessors on China policy. He argues that it puts China’s leader Xi Jinping in a difficult spot. “Xi doesn’t want a showdown now, before the result of the US election is clear.”

    Lai ran for president with a pledge to follow Tsai’s China policy and preserve the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. …

    But critics say Lai deviated from his promises this week during an inaugural address that used conspicuously different language, while also spelling out some of the facts that most jar Beijing.

    They failed to identify what ‘facts’ they were referring to there, but said only:

    He cited the ROC constitution’s language that sovereignty resides with the people, who are of ROC nationality. “This tells us clearly: the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other,” he concluded.

    While this textual analysis may verge on hair splitting, China policy experts say Lai is in danger of upending the ambiguity that has provided political space to allow Beijing’s territorial claim to sit alongside Taiwan’s de facto independence without sparking conflict.

    “He is raising the stakes by stressing a difference in sovereignty between the two countries,” says Tso Chen-dong, a professor at National Taiwan University who has advised the Kuomintang (KMT), the opposition party that embraces the notion of Taiwan being part of a greater Chinese nation. The KMT argues the ROC’s territory, under its constitution, still includes all of China; what divides it from Beijing is not a battle over sovereignty, but a question of jurisdiction.

    Even the pro U.S-empire “Course Hero” online site gets the history here right when it says:

    In 1949, China ended a long civil war. The victorious communist forces led by Mao Zedong established their capital in Beijing. About two million supporters of the losing side, known as the nationalists, retreated to Taiwan. China was divided between two governments, one on the mainland and one in Taiwan, that each considered itself China’s legitimate ruler. The government on the mainland never gave up its claim on Taiwan, and Taiwan never declared independence.

    Lai did in his inaugural speech go even beyond declaring Taiwan’s independence — he declared himself to be the ruler of all of China, including mainland China. He is demanding to reverse the fact that Mao won that civil war and that Chiang lost the civil war.

    By contrast, the Financial Times article said “Lai spoke of ‘China’ throughout. He also tackled the controversial issue of sovereignty head-on.”

    The tactics by which U.S.-and-allied propaganda-vehicles warp meanings, and warp realities, 180 degrees to their exact opposites, are instructive models for any of the sophistry professions.

    Also on May 21, the house-organ of the real China headlined “’Lai-style Taiwan independence’ agenda is a dead-end: Global Times editorial” and opened:

    On May 20, Lai Ching-te assumed the role of Taiwan region’s new leader and delivered his inaugural speech. Lai shamelessly stated in his speech that “the Republic of China Taiwan is a sovereign, independent nation” and “the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other,” spewing various “Taiwan independence” fallacies and hostile provocations against the Chinese mainland, once again exposing his stubborn nature as “a worker for Taiwan independence.” This speech can be described as a blatant “Taiwan independence manifesto” and “a declaration of harm to Taiwan.” It is extremely dangerous, and the Taiwan compatriots should be particularly vigilant and united in opposition.

    We noticed that in this speech, the term “democracy” was mentioned 31 times, and “peace” 21 times, which precisely exposes the anxiety of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities – they are well aware that what they are doing now is pushing Taiwan into a dangerous pit of war and danger, hence desperately using “democracy” as a fig leaf and talisman to cover themselves. It is clear to all discerning eyes that the so-called “democracy” is nothing but inferior makeup smeared on the face of “Taiwan independence,” unable to conceal its true face of “seeking independence by relying on foreign support and by force.”

    In the positioning of cross-Straits relations, Lai boldly defines the two sides of the Straits as “two countries,” listing “Taiwan,” “Republic of China Taiwan,” and “Republic of China” as so-called “national names,” further advancing on the “one China, one Taiwan” path of “Taiwan independence.” This blatant “two states” theory cannot change the fact that Taiwan is only a part of China, nor can it stop the historical trend of reunification of the motherland. Its only effect is to exacerbate the tension in the Taiwan Straits and make Taiwan society pay a high price for the reckless gamble of “Taiwan independence.”

    While treating compatriots from the mainland as “foreigners,” Lai in his speech regards Western anti-China forces as “family members,” throughout the speech filled with servility and begging for mercy from Western anti-China forces, which is very shameful. In order to gain the support of Western anti-China forces, he claims that “the world greeting a new Taiwan,” Taiwan is “an important link in the global chain of democracies,” ” Taiwan is strategically positioned in the first island chain,” and so on. These remarks of selling out Taiwan treat the hard-earned social achievements and wealth accumulated by the Taiwan residents for decades as offerings to anti-China forces in the West, reducing Taiwan to a pawn of the US and giving it the appearance of “unworthy descendants.”

    Even more dangerous is the subtle manifestation of the arrogant ambition of “seeking independence by force” in his speech. On the one hand, Lai echoes the fallacies of certain Western countries, smearing the mainland as a “threat”; on the other hand, he attempts to indoctrinate the residents in Taiwan into cannon fodder for “Taiwan independence,” openly advocating for raising the citizens’ “defense awareness,” fully exposing the sinister intention of sacrificing innocent people on the island for the selfish desire of “Taiwan independence.” …

    The U.S. Government said, and signed with China’s Government, in 1972, the Shanghai Communique, including “The U.S. side declared: The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China.” George W. Bush’s Administration tried unsuccessfully in 2007 to outlaw internationally the phrase “Taiwan is a part of China”; and, so, the Shanghai Communique has remained the official U.S. Government policy to this day. (It hopes to get China to invade Taiwan in order for the U.S. to have a supposed pretext to then ‘defend that independent nation’ ‘against China’s aggression’, by invading China.)

    On 19 July 2023, I headlined and documented “Biden Wants to Invade/Conquer China”. It opened:

    His plan is to arm Taiwan and entice it to announce its complete independence from China — that Taiwan is no mere province of China but instead an independent country — which announcement would then immediately force China either to invade China or else to accept Taiwan’s becoming a separate and independent country.

    Taiwan’s new leader has complied with that, even in his inaugural address. Will Biden go to war against China in the months leading up to the November 5 U.S. elections if China invades Taiwan in order to make clear to Taiwan’s voters that they had been suckered by U.S.-imperial propaganda to choose as their ‘President’ someone who would declare that Taiwan is not only independent of China but ruling over China? How much international backing would the U.S. regime have if it did that?

    Taiwan’s billionaires — like Taiwan’s public — are hardly unified about whether Taiwan should concede that it is a Province of China (as it long had been), On 7 August 2023, the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post headlined “Two titans of tech are offering two very different views of Taiwan” and reported that whereas Foxconn’s leader Terry Guo was opposed to the independence movement and thought it wouldn’t win power, “Morris Chang, founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) who is often called the godfather of the island’s tech industry, said he didn’t think there was likely to be a war across the Taiwan Strait,” and,

    We all hope he is right, but of course he would say that. After all, some Washington politicians have openly declared that at the first sign of conflict, the US military would blow up all of TSMC chip foundries to deny them to the mainland Chinese.

    These billionaires are aware that the independence movement threatens them, but do nothing about it. On the other hand, Radio Taiwan International headlined on 16 August 2022, “UMC Founder: KMT needs to give up ‘one China policy’” and opened:

    United Microelectronics (UMC) Founder Robert Tsao says the Kuomintang (KMT) party needs to give up its one China policy. He made the remarks in an interview with Radio Taiwan International on Tuesday.  The UMC is the world’s second-largest contract microchip maker.

    Tsao recently announced he is donating NT$3 billion (US$100 million) for Taiwan’s defense. As China has been elevating its military threat against Taiwan, he said the people of Taiwan need to be determined to strengthen the nation’s defense abilities to deter China from attacking Taiwan.

    He criticized the opposition KMT’s 1992 Consensus policy in which Taiwan and China agree to one China, but each side has its own interpretation. He said that’s because China has never accepted another interpretation.

    On 15 January 2024, Australia’s Financial Review bannered “Billionaire urges Taiwan to ‘prepare for the worst’”, and reported:

    Billionaire Robert Tsao warns that Taiwan’s 23 million people must be prepared for an eventual war with China, even though the risk of an invasion has eased while Xi Jinping fights economic challenges at home.

    The 76-year-old founder of one of Taiwan’s first semiconductor manufacturers has retired from big business to devote his life to what he believes is protecting the island nation’s interests from its aggressive neighbour.

    So, not only is he not doing nothing about it, but he is actually encouraging what America’s Government is encouraging (by its donating U.S. weapons to Taiwan): an open public declaration of Taiwan’s independence from China.

    The only difference from Lai’s policy is that the policy of Tsao and unofficially of the current U.S. Government is that Taiwan and China are two separate countries and are at war against each other.

    That policy, of course, is exactly what the world’s biggest armaments manufacturers, which are headquartered in the United States, would want and lobby for. Whether Tsao is receiving any behind-the-scenes financial benefits from the U.S. for this isn’t yet known.

    The post The Newly Elected Leader of Taiwan Says He’s the Only Legitimate Ruler over All of China first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World


    Iri and Toshi Maruki, XV Nagasaki, 1982, from The Hiroshima Panels.

    For Prabir, who is now out of jail.

    On the evening of 14 May, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken climbed onstage at Barman Dictat in Kyiv, Ukraine, to pick up an electric guitar and join the Ukrainian punk band 19.99. Ukrainians, he said, are ‘fighting not just for a free Ukraine, but for a free world’. Blinken and 19.99 then played the chorus of Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’, entirely ignoring the implications of its lyrics – much like Donald Trump, who, to Young’s irritation, used the chorus in his 2015–2016 presidential campaign.

    In February 1989, the day after Young received the news that his band’s tour in the USSR fell through, he penned the song’s lyrics, resting on his criticisms of the Reagan years and the first month of George H. W. Bush’s presidency. While it sounds patriotic on the surface, that song – like Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’ (1984) – is deeply critical of the hierarchies and humiliations of capitalist society.

    The three verses of ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ paint a picture of despair (‘people shufflin’ their feet/ people sleepin’ in their shoes’) defined by the drug epidemic plaguing the poor (a woman ‘puts the kid away/ and she’s gone to get a hit’), the collapse of educational opportunities (‘there’s one more kid/ that will never go to school’), and a growing population that lives on the street (‘we got a thousand points of light/ for the homeless man’). Springsteen’s song, written in the shadow of the US war on Vietnam (‘so they put a rifle in my hand/ sent me off to a foreign land/ to go and kill the yellow man’), also captured the strangulation of the working class in the US, many of whom were unable to get a job after returning from a war they did not want (‘down in the shadow of the penitentiary/ out by the gas fires of the refinery/ I’m ten years burning down the road/ nowhere to run ain’t got nowhere to go’).

    These are songs of anguish, not anthems of war. To chant ‘born in the USA’ or ‘keep on rockin’ in the free world’ does not evoke a sense of pride in the Global North but a fierce criticism of its ruthless wars. ‘Keep on rockin’ in the free world’ is pickled in irony. Blinken did not get it, nor did Trump. They want the allure of rock and roll, but not the acidity of its lyrics. They do not understand that Neil Young’s 1989 song is the soundtrack of the resistance to the US wars that followed against Panama (1989–1999), Iraq (1990–1991), Yugoslavia (1999), Afghanistan (2001–2021), Iraq (2003–2011), and many more.


    Iri and Toshi Maruki, XIII Death of the American Prisoners of War, 1971, from The Hiroshima Panels.

    Blinken went to Kiev to celebrate the passing of three bills in the US House of Representatives that appropriate $95.3 billion for the militaries of Israel, Taiwan, Ukraine, and the United States. This is in addition to the more than $1.5 trillion that the US spends on its military every year. It is obscene that the US continues to supply Israel with deadly munitions for its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, including the $26.4 billion it promised to Israel in the new bills while feigning concern for the starvation and slaughter of Palestinians. It is ghastly that the US continues to prevent peace talks between Ukraine and Russia while funding the former’s demoralised military (including $60.8 billion for weapons in the new bills alone) as the US seeks to use the conflict to ‘see Russia weakened’.

    At the other end of Eurasia, the US has, similarly, used the issue of Taiwan in its efforts to see China ‘weakened’. That is why this supplemental appropriation allots $8.1 billion for ‘Indo-Pacific security’, including $3.9 billion in armaments for Taiwan and $3.3 billion for submarine construction in the US. Taiwan is not alone as a potential frontline state in this pressure campaign against China: the newly formed Squad, made up of Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and the US, uses solvable conflicts between the Philippines and China as opportunities to weaponise dangerous manoeuvres with the hope of provoking a reaction from China that would give the US an excuse to attack it.


    Iri and Toshi Maruki, XIV Crows, 1972, from The Hiroshima Panels.

    Our new dossier, The New Cold War is Sending Tremors Through Northeast Asia, published in collaboration with the International Strategy Centre (Seoul, South Korea) and No Cold War, argues that ‘the US-led New Cold War against China is destabilising Northeast Asia along the region’s historic fault lines as part of a broader militarisation campaign that extends from Japan and South Korea, through the Taiwan Strait and the Philippines, all the way to Australia and the Pacific Islands’. The bogeyman for this build-up in what the US calls the ‘Indo-Pacific’ (a term developed to draw India into the alliance to encircle China) is North Korea, whose nuclear and missile programmes are used to justify asymmetrical mobilisation along the Pacific edge of Asia. That South Korea’s military budget in 2023 ($47.9 billion) was more than twice North Korea’s GDP ($20.6 billion) in the same year is just one example that highlights this imbalance. This use of North Korea, the dossier argues, ‘has always been a fig leaf for US containment strategies – first against the Soviet Union and today against China’. (You can read the dossier in Korean here).


    Iri and Toshi Maruki, XII Floating Lanterns, 1968, from The Hiroshima Panels.

    In the early years of the US development of the ‘Indo-Pacific strategy’, Chinese scholars such as Hu Bo, Chen Jimin, and Feng Zhennan argued that the term was merely conceptual, limited by the contradictions between the countries involved in the development of the Chinese containment strategy. Over the past few years, however, a new view has developed that these shifts in the Pacific pose a serious threat to China and that the Chinese must respond with bluntness to prevent any provocation. It is this situation, characterised by the US’s creation of alliances that are designed to threaten China (the Quad, AUKUS, JAKUS, and the Squad) alongside China’s refusal to bend before the hyper-imperialism of the Global North, that creates a serious threat in Asia.

    The last section of the dossier, ‘A Path to Peace in Northeast Asia’, offers a window into the hopes of the people’s movements in Okinawa (Japan), the Korean peninsula, and China to find a pathway to peace. Five simple principles anchor this path: end the dangerous alliances, US-led war games in the region, and US intervention into the region, and support unity across struggles in the region as well as frontline struggles to end militarisation in Asia. The latter point is being fought on several fronts by those living near Okinawa’s Kadena Air Base and Henoko Bay as well as South Korea’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defence installation and Jeju Naval Base, to name a few.


    Iri and Toshi Maruki, X Petition, 1955, from The Hiroshima Panels.

    Several years ago, I visited the Maruki Gallery outside Higashi-Matsuyama city in Saitama, where I saw the remarkable murals made by Ira Maruki (1901–1995) and Toshi Maruki (1912–2000) to remember the terrible violence of the nuclear bombs that the US government dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These murals, in the traditional Japanese ink wash style sumi-e, depict the immense human toll of the ugliness of modern warfare. Thanks to the chief curator Yukinori Okamura and the international coordinator Yumi Iwasaki, we were able to include some of these murals in our dossier and in this newsletter.

    In 1980, the South Korean military dictatorship arrested Kim Nam-ju (1945–1994) and thirty-five other leftists on the grounds that they were involved in the National Liberation Front Preparation Committee. Kim was a poet and a translator who brought Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks and Ho Chi Minh’s writings into Korean. While in Gwangju Prison for eight years, Kim wrote a range of powerful poetry, which he was able to smuggle out for publication. One of those poems, ‘Things Have Really Changed’, is about the suffocation of the ambitions of the Korean people over their own peninsula.

    Under Japanese imperialism, if Joseon people
    shouted ‘Long Live Independence!’,
    Japanese policemen came and took them away,
    Japanese prosecutors interrogated them,
    Japanese judges put them on trial.

    Japan withdrew and the US stepped in.
    Now if Koreans
    say ‘Yankee Go Home’,
    Korean police come and take them away,
    Korean prosecutors interrogate them,
    Korean judges put them on trial.

    Things have really changed after liberation.
    Because I shouted ‘Drive out the foreign invaders!’,
    people from my own country
    arrested me, interrogated me, and put me on trial.

    The post Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent 2024 goes to: Iranian hip-hop artist, Uyghur poet and Venezuelan pianist

    Iranian hip-hop artist Toomaj Salehi, Uyghur poet and activist Tahir Hamut Izgil, and Venezuelan pianist and recording artist Gabriela Montero.

    On 22 May 2024) The Human Rights Foundation announced the recipients of the 2024 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent: Iranian hip-hop artist Toomaj Salehi, Uyghur poet and activist Tahir Hamut Izgil, and Venezuelan pianist and recording artist Gabriela Montero.

    “Their work stands as a testament to extraordinary bravery and ingenuity,” HRF Founder Thor Halvorssen said. This year’s laureates will be recognized during a ceremony on Tuesday, June 4, at the 2024 Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) in Oslo, Norway. Montero will be performing the European and Scandinavian premiere of “Canaima: A Quintet for Piano and Strings” at the Oslo Konserthus.
    The Havel Prize ceremony will also be broadcast live at oslofreedomforum.com.

    Toomaj Salehi is an Iranian hip-hop artist known for lyrics protesting the Iranian regime and calling for human rights. In September 2022, at the height of the nationwide “Women, Life, Freedom” protests, Salehi released several songs supporting women’s rights. One song, “Divination,” with the lyrics, “Someone’s crime was that her hair was flowing in the wind. Someone’s crime is that he or she was brave and…outspoken,” grew in popularity and was sung throughout the protests. Salehi was first arrested in October 2022 and was released on bail in November 2023 after the Iranian Supreme Court overturned his charges of “corruption on Earth,” “propaganda against the system,” “collaboration with a hostile government,” “inciting people to murder and riot,” and “insulting the leadership.” On November 27, 2023, he posted a YouTube video describing the torture and forced confession he experienced during his detention. Three days later, armed plain-clothes agents abducted Salehi. He was subsequently charged in two trials. On April 24, the Isfahan Revolutionary Court sentenced him to death.

    Tahir Hamut Izgil is a prominent Uyghur poet, filmmaker, and activist. He is known for his avant-garde poetry, written in Uyghur and influenced by Uyghur life. Originally from Kashgar, Izgil led the 1989 student movement at the Central Nationalities Institute in Beijing. In the late 1990s, he was arrested on charges related to the possession of sensitive literature, leading to a three-year sentence in forced labor camps. He is among the few Uyghur intellectuals who successfully escaped the region in 2017.Izgil’s new memoir, “Waiting to Be Arrested at Night: A Uyghur Poet’s Memoir of China’s Genocide,” documents his journey living in and escaping the Uyghur Region, sharing a rare testimony of the Uyghur genocide with the broader world. His book has been listed as one of the “50 notable works of nonfiction” by The Washington Post and as one of the “10 0 Must-Read Books of 2023” by Time Magazine

    Gabriela Montero is a Grammy Award-winning Venezuelan pianist and recording artist. Celebrated for her exceptional musicality and ability to improvise, Montero has garnered critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage. Montero’s recent highlights include her first orchestral composition, “Ex Patria,” a tone poem that grew from the human rights struggle in Montero’s native Venezuela. The piece powerfully illustrates and protests Venezuela’s descent into lawlessness, corruption, and violence, winning her first Latin Grammy® for Best Classical Album.Montero is a committed human rights advocate, using her gifts of composition and improvisation as tools of creative dissent. In 2015, she was named an Honorary Consul by Amnesty International. Montero was awarded the 2012 Rockefeller Award for her contribution to the arts and was a featured performer at Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Inauguration. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2018/10/15/venezuelan-pianist-gabriela-montero-wins-the-2018-beethoven-prize/]

    For more on this Havel Prize and its laureates, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/438F3F5D-2CC8-914C-E104-CE20A25F0726

    https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/announcing-the-2024-havel-prize-laureates?e=f80cec329e

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • China conducts military drills around Taiwan | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Yes, Foreign Agents Try to Shape Your Opinion about Israel

    The merging of Zionist propaganda and anti-China hysteria should embarrass its proponents, but apparently there’s a market for this conspiratorial drivel in the “post-truth” era promoted by the far right. They want us to believe the paid foreign agents we should be concerned about are students in $40 tents calling for university divestment, not those working for a foreign-focused lobby with billions of dollars.

    Last week National Post columnist John Ivison claimed the Chinese Communist Party was funding the popular uprising against Canada’s role in enabling Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Of course he supplied absolutely no evidence. The front-page article headlined “Chinese links to protests fit pattern” began: “the public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada has already established that China tried to meddle in the last two general election campaigns. But, if a new report into the funding of the anti-Israel movement in North America is to be believed, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is also linked to the protests that are disrupting cities and campuses across the continent.” Notice the hedging? If it “is to be believed”. In other words, there is absolutely no evidence that he is willing to cite.

    On X, I responded, “A well-financed foreign focused lobby has employed every tactic short of assassination to scuttle a popular uprising against genocide in Gaza and Johnny boy claims those who don’t want Canada to enable the slaughter are a Chinese Communist Party front. You are beyond ridiculous.”

    Ivison retorted, “What’s wrong, Yves? Are your paymasters unhappy at any scrutiny of their funding of Canada’s legion of useful idiots?” CBC and Globe and Mail commentator Andrew Coyne and former Toronto Sun editor Lorrie Goldstein retweeted Ivison’s idiocy to which I responded: “You haven’t a scintilla of evidence I’ve been funded by any foreign, corporate or wealthy interest. You on other hand are paid by a paper set up by Conrad Black and currently owned by a US hedge fund. Are you ashamed of promoting genocide and being such a sycophant of power?”

    Since campaigning against Canada’s role in overthrowing Haiti’s elected government 20 years ago, I’ve repeatedly been accused of receiving money from Haitian, Venezuelan, Russian, Iranian and Chinese officials. It’s common to claim that internationalists and anti-imperialists are funded by foreign enemies. In a bid to delegitimize the anti-genocide movement, especially the student divestment encampments, there’s been a burst of these claims recently. In “Hidden hand funds Jew-hating protests, rallies, encampments”, Warren Kinsella makes a mockery of himself. The Toronto Sun commentary concluded, “The rest of us know the truth: the Jew-hating protests, rallies and encampments we are seeing are funded, in whole or in part, by outside interests who do not wish to reveal themselves. They are the hidden hand. But the rest of us will not rest until the hidden hand is exposed.”

    The imaginary “hidden hand” versus documented apartheid lobby truth. It’s easy to trace at least part of the mammoth sums the apartheid lobby has used to shape Canadian opinion since all taxpayers subsidize the registered “charities” behind their propaganda. Montreal’s Jewish federation has $2 billion in assets. The other federations have hundreds of millions of dollars more. (The federations receive tens of millions of dollars in government grants and tens of millions more in subsidy through tax receipts they offer to donors).

    The federations fund a bevy of genocidal organizations and their official advocacy arm is the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. CIJA has a slew of ties to Israel with its top lobbyist, David Cooper, a long-time press officer at the Israeli Embassy. The Jewish Federations of Canada (JFC) and its United Israel Appeal (UIA) calls “the government of Israel” one of its “key strategic partners … that act as agents in the delivery of programs in Israel.” Between 1991 and 2022 UIA received over $1.5 billion in donations, which largely came from the federations.

    At a broader level, Canada’s Jewish Federations have long been formally tied to the Jewish Agency for Israel (Jewish Agency for Palestine until 1948). Its website notes, “Canadian Federations are engaged in unique alliances with the Jewish Agency for Israel” and “founded in 1929, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) is a primary agent for JFC-UIA in carrying out our mandate.”

    The Jewish Agency for Israel effectively became Israel’s government in 1948 with long-time head David Ben-Gurion its first prime minister. Israel’s first foreign minister and second prime minister, Moshe Sharett, subsequently led the Jewish Agency while current Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, stepped down as head of the Jewish Agency to take that position. Today the Jewish Agency for Israel is a parastatal organization that seeks to further Judaize Israel, especially far-flung areas.

    No corporate media ever discusses the federations’ formal ties to Israel. Nor do we hear about the huge sums spent on pro-apartheid campaigning in Canada.

    But we know one thing for certain: The paid foreign agents for Israel and its genocide aren’t sleeping in $40 tents.

    The post Yes, Foreign Agents Try to Shape Your Opinion about Israel first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Philippines demands China ‘open’ Scarborough Shoal for global, environmental audit

    The Philippines on Tuesday demanded an independent and international audit of China’s alleged environmental destruction of Scarborough Shoal, including illegal fishing for giant clams, sea turtles and other species from those disputed waters.

    The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has provided “incontrovertible proof” of such activities by Chinese fishermen in the shoal, according to National Security Council spokesman Jonathan Malaya. The shoal lies within Manila’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, but Beijing has effectively controlled it since 2012. 

    On Monday, the PCG said it had monitored Chinese fishermen illegally harvesting giant clams from the shoal, which Manila calls Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag Shoal. The agency also said it had “underwater footage” confirming harvesting activities that degraded the marine environment in the area. 

    “We call on China to open up Bajo de Masinloc to international inspection and we also call on 3rd-party inspectors from relevant United Nations bodies or respected environmental organizations to determine the true situation therein in order to protect the environment,” Malaya said in a statement Tuesday.

    He said the PCG had already presented “clear and convincing evidence” that since 2016, China had been hauling away “large quantities of giant clams, sea turtles, puffer fishes, stingrays, topshells, eels and other marine animals” from the area.

    PH-CH-SCS-environment 2.jpg
    The Philippine Coast Guard shares a photo of giant clams allegedly caught by Chinese fishermen in Scarborough Shoal, May 20, 2024. [Jay Tarriela/Philippine Coast Guard]

    “Chinese entities have been continuously engaged in large-scale harvesting of endangered species, unlawfully exploiting the vulnerable species with wild abandon,” Malaya said.

    China’s foreign ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, did not categorically deny the allegations by the PCG, but reiterated Beijing’s “indisputable” control over the South China Sea, including the shoal. 

    “If any environmental degradation appears in those waters, it is the Philippines who needs to reflect on its behavior, instead of wrongly accusing China,” he said on Monday.

    Giant clams are a declared protected species under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). 

    PH-CH-SCS-environment 3.jpg
    The Philippine Coast Guard shares a photo of giant clams allegedly caught by Chinese fishermen in Scarborough Shoal, May 20, 2024. [Jay Tarriela/Philippine Coast Guard]

    “China has no legal rights over Bajo de Masinloc and all of its expansive claims over the entire South China Sea have been invalidated and nullified by the 2016 arbitral ruling,” Malaya said. 

    He was referring to a landmark decision by an international court that nullified China’s claims to most of the South China Sea on historical grounds, after Manila took Beijing to court over their territorial dispute at Scarborough Shoal. 

    “The Tribunal… found that Chinese fishermen have engaged in the harvesting of endangered sea turtles, coral, and giant clams on a substantial scale in the South China Sea, using methods that inflict severe damage on the coral reef environment. The Tribunal found that Chinese authorities were aware of these activities and failed to fulfill their due diligence obligations under the Convention to stop them,” according to an excerpt from the arbitration ruling.

    Beijing rejected the ruling and launched a building spree in territories it controls in the sea.

    Commodore Jay Tarriela, the Philippine coast guard spokesman for the South China Sea, said suspected Chinese maritime militia had been harvesting giant clams from the shoal since 2016.

    “On top of China’s consistent harvesting activities, underwater footage as early as 2017 confirm that their presence and ecological footprint has led to the degradation of the marine environment in Bajo de Masinloc,” Tarriela told reporters on Monday.

    BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • China censors clip of children dancing to Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick in the Wall’

    China’s internet censors have deleted a video in which children at a private performing arts school in the southwestern province of Sichuan dance to British rock band Pink Floyd’s 1979 hit “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2” which featured a choir of schoolchildren protesting overbearing authority and “thought control” in education.

    In the video posted by the Let’s Music arts school in Sichuan’s Leshan city, a line of children in matching black T-shirts march robotically in front of hundreds of spectators on a busy shopping street, singing “We don’t need no education. We don’t need no thought control,” before breaking into a tightly choreographed dance to the Pink Floyd track.

    “No dark sarcasm in the classroom — hey, teacher! Leave those kids alone,” the song goes. “All in all, you’re just another brick in the wall.”

    The clip, posted to X by current affairs tweeter Byron Wan on May 16, is still visible outside the Great Firewall of Chinese internet censorship, but was no longer available on the video-sharing platforms Douyin and Bilibili on Tuesday.

    The Douyin link to the clip returned the message “That video does not exist,” while the Let’s Music channel on Bilibili showed links to other songs performed in the same location, but not “Another Brick in the Wall.”

    Let’s Music said in a statement on May 7 that the performance was deliberately intended to be a comment on “the current situation,” without giving further details.

    Patriotic education

    The ruling Chinese Communist Party under Xi Jinping is currently stepping up its program of “patriotic education” in schools and universities across the country, in a move that many outside China have criticized as “brainwashing,” a term first used in English by U.S. journalist Edward Hunter in 1950 to describe how the Chinese government got people to support China’s efforts during the Korean War. 

    Last October, China passed the Patriotic Education Law with the aim of “enhancing identification with our great motherland, the Chinese nation, Chinese culture and the Communist Party,” amid an ongoing nationwide campaign under Xi to boost ruling party involvement in cultural output at every level, in a manner some have likened to Mao Zedong’s 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution.

    ENG_CHN_THOUGHT CONTROL_05212024.2.JPG
    A Young Pioneer salutes during the weekly flag-raising ceremony at the East Experimental School in Shanghai November 5, 2012. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

    Pink Floyd’s original song sold more than four million copies worldwide and topped singles charts, making Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was penned by Pink Floyd’s bass player Roger Waters as a protest over rigid and abusive schooling, particularly in British boarding schools.

    According to Wan, the video disappeared from Douyin and Bilibili more than a week after being posted there. 

    “Censors in China have been keeping an eye on X,” he commented after followers reported that the clip was no longer available.

    Artistic resistance

    France-based film director Hu Xueyang said he was happy to see some form of artistic resistance still alive in China.

    “When politics is uptight, then there’s a lot of political satire,” Hu said. “In dark times, all we have left is artistic ridicule and black humor.”

    “China’s younger generation is making its voice heard, and using various forms of resistance,” he said. 

    Paris-based artist Jiang Bu agreed, saying the song epitomized saying “no” to totalitarian control.

    “There was a kind of resistance or opposition to totalitarianism in a lot of the music from that time, including Pink Floyd’s stuff,” Jiang said. “It was about saying no.”

    “Let’s Music may not have intended direct resistance, but it still chose this song … that has resistance at its core, so there was a point to it.”

    ENG_CHN_THOUGHT CONTROL_05212024.4.jpg
    Students attend a flag raising ceremony during the morning assembly, ahead of National Security Education Day at a secondary school, in Hong Kong, China, April 12, 2021. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

    He said the removal of the track had attracted more views to the Let’s Music channel than it would normally have gotten, ironically alerting more people to the song’s meaning.

    He likened the backlash to the authorities pulling the plug on a live stream by beauty influencer Austin Li on the eve of the anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre because it showed an ice-cream cake in the shape of a tank.

    That piece of censorship had ensured that more people found out what happened on the night of June 4, 1989 — something that has been largely erased from the public record in China — than might otherwise have done, Jiang said.

    ENG_CHN_THOUGHT CONTROL_05212024.3.jpg
    Roger Waters, co-founder of the British rock band Pink Floyd performs during his The Wall Live show in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013, with graffiti reading “Fear builds walls”. (Vadim Ghirda/AP)

    When Pink Floyd went to record children from London’s Islington Green School singing the refrain of the song, they hid the lyrics from the headteacher for fear she would pull the plug on the project, according to the band’s Wikipedia page, citing media reports.

    Late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was said to have “hated” the song, according to the school’s former director of music, while the Inner London Education Authority criticized it as “scandalous.” The song was banned by the South African government of the time.

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Eugene Whong.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Yitong Wu and Kit Sung for RFA Cantonese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • China Weaponizing Fashion As Part Of Ambition To Eradicate Tibetan Identity

    China Weaponizing Fashion As Part Of Ambition To Eradicate Tibetan Identity

    Image: researched/acquired by @tibettruth

    What do you notice about the scene pictured above? Perhaps you’ve wondered if the Chinese slogans in the background identify this as being an event in China? It took place in Southern Tibet, part of a recent propaganda drive imposed by the occupying Chinese regime exhorting, the same Tibetans who they’re oppressing and terrorizing, to take more exercise!

    But there’s something else, hidden in plain sight, which reveals another strand in the calculated policy to eradicate Tibetan cultural identity. See it?

    Not one of these Tibetans wearing any item of traditional clothing, and that’s not accidental, or simply a reflection of ‘modernity’ (although the Chinese authorities would be happy if you reached such a conclusion). Increasingly occupied Tibet’s been flooded with Chinese made clothing, it’s a profitable business; but it also conveniently serves a purpose of diluting and replacing Tibetan traditions and culture.

    While it’s still possible to see Tibetans in traditional garb, the beautifully tailored jackets, dresses and finery, so uniquely identifying that cultural aspect, are being swamped by mass-produced items. At the same time the costumes of Tibet have been re-imagined, misappropriated; again for propaganda and political purposes, and increasingly appear as performance outfits.

    A gaudy, ersatz version of Tibet’s dress-sense has been imposed for such public events, often featuring the colors of the Chinese flag. It’s not fashion, but politics and deception!

    This post was originally published on Digital Activism In Support Of Tibetan Independence.

  • Strengthening Asia’s military and defence teams with COMINT and Counter-UAS and Tactical Data Links

    By Jackson White, Business Development Director of Tactical Data Links and VP Marketing at SPX Communication Technologies. Nations across Asia are experiencing growing tensions and an increasingly complex threat landscape. For example, the heightened dispute between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea, and China’s combat drones circumnavigating Taiwan in ongoing sea and […]

    The post Strengthening Asia’s military and defence teams with COMINT and Counter-UAS and Tactical Data Links appeared first on Asian Military Review.

    This post was originally published on Asian Military Review.

  • Japan and US commit to hypersonic weapon co-development

    Japan and the United States signed an agreement on 15 May to jointly develop the Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI), a next-generation missile defence system capable of defeating hypersonic missiles that are deployed by China and Russia and being developed by North Korea. The GPI Cooperative Development Project Arrangement was initially agreed between Japan’s Prime Minister […]

    The post Japan and US commit to hypersonic weapon co-development appeared first on Asian Military Review.

    This post was originally published on Asian Military Review.

  • South China Sea Drama Unfolds

    A Filipino civilian convoy called “Atin Ito” claims to have breached China’s blockade around the Huangyan Dao, also known as Scarborough Shoal, in the South China Sea. The convoy reportedly aimed to resupply Filipino fishermen but stopped 50 nautical miles from the shoal. The Philippine Coast Guard and Navy monitored the mission. What are the real goals behind it? Are the fishermen being exploited, and are there other forces at play? Join us as we uncover the real story behind this high-stakes maritime drama.

    The post South China Sea Drama Unfolds first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Putin in China — Seeking partnerships in industries, tech, energy | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


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  • China shows off robot ‘dogs of war’ at joint military exercise with Cambodia | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


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  • China shows off robot ‘dogs of war’ at joint military exercise with Cambodia | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


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  • Is the U.S. blackmailing India over assassination allegations to be more hostile toward China and Russia?

    The United States and its Western allies have stepped up a media campaign to accuse India of running an assassination policy targeting expatriate dissidents.

    The government of Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, has furiously denied the allegations, saying there is no such policy.

    Nevertheless, the American Biden administration as well as Canada, Britain and Australia continue to demand accountability over claims that  New Delhi is engaging in “transnational repression” of spying, harassing and killing Indian opponents living in Western states.

    The accusations have severely stained political relations. The most fractious example is Canada. After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly accused Indian state agents of involvement in the murder of an Indian-born Canadian citizen last year, New Delhi expelled dozens of Canadian diplomats.

    Relations became further strained this month when The Washington Post published a long article purporting to substantiate claims that Indian security services were organizing assassinations of U.S. and Canadian citizens. The Post named high-level Indian intelligence chiefs in the inner circle of Prime Minister Modi. The implication is a policy of political killings is sanctioned at the very top of the Indian government.

    The targets of the alleged murder program are members of the Sikh diaspora. There are large expatriate populations of Sikhs in the U.S., Canada and Britain. In recent years, there has been a renewed campaign among Sikhs for the secession of their homeland of Punjab from India. The New Delhi government views the separatist calls for a new state called Khalistan as a threat to Indian territorial integrity. The Modi government has labeled Sikh separatists as terrorists.

    The Indian authorities have carried out repression of Sikhs for decades including political assassination in the Punjab territory of northern India. Many Sikhs fled to the United States and other Western states for safety and to continue their agitation for a separate nation. The Modi government has accused Western states of coddling “Sikh terrorists” and undermining Indian sovereignty.

    Last June, a prominent Sikh leader was gunned down in a suburb of Vancouver in what appeared to be a professional hit-style execution. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was murdered by three assailants outside a religious temple. Indian state media described him as a terrorist, but Nijjar’s family denied he had any involvement in terrorism. They claim that he was targeted simply because he promoted Punjabi separatism.

    At the same time, according to The Post report, the U.S. authorities thwarted a murder plot against a well-known American-Sikh citizen who was a colleague of the Canadian victim. Both men were coordinating efforts to hold an unofficial referendum among the Sikh diaspora in North America calling for the establishment of a new independent state of Khalistan in the Punjab region of northern India.

    The Post article names Vikram Yadav, an officer in India’s state spy agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), as orchestrating the murder plots against the Sikh leaders. The Post claims that interviews with US and former Indian intelligence officials attest that the killings could not have been carried out without the sanction of Modi’s inner circle.

    A seemingly curious coincidence is that within days of the murder of the Canadian Sikh leader and the attempted killing of the American colleague, President Biden was hosting Narendra Modi at the White House in a lavish state reception.

    Since the summer of last year, the Biden administration has repeatedly pressured the Modi government to investigate the allegations. President Biden has personally contacted Modi about the alleged assassination policy as have his senior officials, including White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA director William Burns. Despite New Delhi’s denial of such a policy, the Modi government has acceded to American requests to hold an internal investigation, suggesting a tacit admission of its agents having some involvement.

    But here is where an anomaly indicates an ulterior agenda. Even U.S. media have remarked on how lenient the Biden administration has been towards India over what are grave allegations. It is inconceivable that Washington would tolerate the presence of Russian or Chinese agents and diplomats on its territory if Moscow and Beijing were implicated in killing dissidents on American soil.

    As The Washington Post report noted: “Last July, White House officials began holding high-level meetings to discuss ways to respond without risking a wider rupture with India, officials said. CIA Director William J. Burns and others have been deployed to confront officials in the Modi government and demand accountability. But the United States has so far imposed no expulsions, sanctions or other penalties.”

    What appears to be going on is a calculated form of coercion by the United States and its Western allies. The allegations of contract killings and “transnational repression” against Sikhs in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Australia and Germany are aimed at intimidating the Indian government with further embarrassing media disclosures and Western sanctions. The U.S. State Department and the Congress have both recently highlighted claims of human rights violations by the Modi government and calls for political sanctions.

    The objective, it can averred, is for Washington and its Western allies to pressure India into toeing a geopolitical line of hostility towards China and Russia.

    During the Biden administration, the United States has assiduously courted India as a partner in the Asia-Pacific to confront China. India has been welcomed as a member of the U.S.-led Quad of powers, including Japan and Australia. The Quad overlaps with the U.S. security interests of the AUKUS military partnership with Britain and Australia.

    Another major geopolitical prize for Washington and its allies is to drive a wedge between India and Russia.

    Since the NATO proxy war blew up in Ukraine in February 2022, the United States has been continually cajoling India to condemn Russia and to abide by Western sanctions against Moscow. Despite the relentless pressure, the Modi government has spurned Western attempts to isolate Russia. Indeed, India has increased its purchase of Russian crude oil and is importing record more quantities than ever before the Ukraine conflict.

    Furthermore, India is a key member of the BRICS forum and a proponent of an emerging multipolar world order that undermines U.S.-led Western hegemony.

    From the viewpoint of the United States and its Western allies, India represents a tantalizing strategic prospect. With a foot in both geopolitical camps, New Delhi is sought by the West to weaken the China-Russia-BRICS axis.

    This is the geopolitical context for understanding the interest of Western powers in making an issue out of allegations of political assassination by the Modi government. Washington and its Western allies want to use the allegations as a form of leverage – or blackmail – on India to comply with geopolitical objectives to confront China and Russia.

    It can be anticipated that the Western powers will amplify the media campaign against India in line with exerting more hostility toward China and Russia.

    • First published in Strategic Culture Foundation

    The post Is the U.S. blackmailing India over assassination allegations to be more hostile toward China and Russia? first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Nestlé Brings Plant-Based & Upcycled RTD Coffee Products to China

    nescafe china
    5 Mins Read

    Nestlé has introduced six new coffee lines to China, which include plant-based beverages and a first-of-its-kind upcycled innovation.

    Already a market leader for 36 years now, global CPG giant Nestlé has invigorated its coffee portfolio in China to meet the growing demand for sustainable, plant-based bottled drinks.

    Part of the new range are two vegan ready-to-drink offerings (Coconut Americano and Oatmeal Latte) and an upcycled coffee offering (Guoran Light Coffee) that is new to the Chinese market. The shake-up, which sees all sub-brands integrated into the Nescafé lineup, comes as Nestlé aims to consolidate its position in the country’s evolving coffee sector.

    “Consumers’ coffee consumption is increasing, from initially one cup a day to possibly two to three cups a day. For us, this is an opportunity,” Alfonso Troisi, senior VP for coffee at Nestlé Greater China, said in a press chat at the Food & Beverage Innovation Forum (FBIF) last month. “As consumers enjoy coffee in more scenarios, we also need to expand more applicable products.”

    Keying into consumer preferences

    nescafe cascara
    Courtesy: Nestlé China

    The Coconut Americano contains over 20% coconut water and is low in sugar and fat content, while the oat-based Oatmeal Latte has 7g of dietary fibre (which is why it’s positioned as a breakfast option).

    This will speak to the increasingly health-conscious Chinese consumer. A 2023 report by Asymmetrics Research noted how milk alternative brands are highlighting attributes like ‘no sugar/cholesterol/trans fat’, ‘good for brains/eyes’, and ‘high protein/calcium’ on product packaging, alongside cleaner labels.

    “China is promoting healthier and more nutritious food options in response to the Healthy China policy,” said David J Ettinger, chief representative officer at law firm Keller and Heckman Shanghai. “Therefore, foods offering health benefits and high nutritional value are going to likely lead the way. Chinese consumers will look to healthier options, like alt-proteins, so it will be up to the alt-protein industry to demonstrate that these novel foods provide another nutritious option for consumers.”

    Moreover, the use of coconut and oat is a shrewd move from Nestlé, as Chinese consumers have indicated their preference for these flavours. There are more oat milk options in China than any other plant-based alternatives, thanks to its dominance in coffee. In tier 1 and 2 cities, oat and coconut have become common milk choices in lattes.

    As for the upcycled beverage, this makes use of cascara, the outer husk of coffee cherries that are typically discarded. In many cultures and countries, this red ‘coffee fruit’ is used to make hot and iced teas, and it’s something increasingly being adopted by specialty coffee companies.

    Cascara has a slightly sweet and fruity flavour, and while it does contain caffeine, it’s present in much smaller amounts than the seeds enclosed within, Troiso explained. “In Yunnan, people will make coffee peels into coffee fruit tea for drinking. Therefore, we use it as the main ingredient to make it a drinkable drink every day,” he added.

    The Nestlé executive suggested that this product – the result of 10 years of work – was launched with the circular economy and the regenerative food system in mind. “The use of the same coffee bean has expanded from the conventional method of making coffee to the use of the entire coffee fruit, including the peel, and its value has been fully explored,” he said.

    “Chinese consumers still like fruit tea flavours, whether it is fruit juice, or other flavoured and tea-based beverages. Therefore, we hope that in addition to coffee lovers, we will also want some other users to try this new product.”

    Taking on the Chinese coffee boom

    nescafe plant based
    Courtesy: Nestlé China

    Coffee consumption in China is increasing, with people drinking two to three cups a day. The market reached 617.8 billion yuan ($85.5B) in 2023, and is slated to surpass the trillion-yuan mark ($138B) by next year. It has resulted in increased competition between coffee companies like Luckin, Costa, Starbucks, as well as Nestlé. While it dominates the instant coffee realm, the latter’s targeted move into bottled drinks represents its need – and willingness – to adapt.

    “China has a highly dynamic coffee market and growth, and tends to form its own unique and constantly evolving coffee consumption trends,” Troiso told FoodNavigator-Asia.​ “Based on insights into the local coffee market, we have rearranged our product lines based on consumption scenarios and target groups to ensure better and more targeted product innovation based on consumer needs.”

    In fact, last year, Nestlé appointed its first local R&D head for Greater China to identify emerging market trends and preferences of younger consumers. The conglomerate has also shortened its product launch cycle from 12-18 months to eight to 10 months, and is now aiming to bring that down to six months. Nescafé, meanwhile, will soon launch a coffee innovation centre in Shanghai to capitalise on the coffee opportunity.

    “We pay close attention to the various stages of consumers’ lives and what kind of coffee needs they have in those stages,” Troiso said at FBIF. “We found that the majority of Chinese users were exposed to coffee for the first time during the gaokao [the national college entrance exam]… As they enter the workforce, their needs change, and we adapt our products to those changes.”

    He added: “Our goal is to be a brand that can stay close to the needs of consumers, such as providing products that lift spirits and meet the needs of different user groups. We want to create a brand image that is close to the minds of consumers. In recent years, we have also worked to promote the sustainability of coffee, which has also resonated more with young people.”

    Troiso suggested sustainability is the joint responsibility of the entire industry, reiterating Nescafé’s 2030 plan of cutting emissions in half and sourcing 50% of its coffee through regenerative agriculture by the year. “We have clear targets to reduce carbon emissions, so we have taken different measures at all levels,” he said.

    “In addition, consumer awareness is also very important. We strive to educate consumers about the sustainability of coffee and share information about sustainable coffee, because consumer choices drive progress on sustainable projects.”

    The post Nestlé Brings Plant-Based & Upcycled RTD Coffee Products to China appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • China shows off robot ‘dogs of war’ at joint military exercise with Cambodia | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


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  • Putin’s First State Visit to China After New Term Begins| Radio Free Asia (RFA)


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  • Taiwan steps up police protection for pundits denounced by China

    Democratic Taiwan has stepped up security protections for five prominent political pundits sanctioned by China for spreading “false information,” criticizing the move as a violation of the island’s democracy ahead of the inauguration of President-Elect Lai Ching-te, Beijing’s least-favored candidate in January’s elections.

    China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Wednesday said it would “punish” Wang I-chuan, who holds a high-ranking position in the island’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, Taoyuan city councilor Yu Pei-chen, New Taipei city council election candidate Lee Zheng-hao, TV talk show host Liu Bao-jie and political commentator Edward Huang.

    Chinese officials accused the five, all of whom make regular appearances in Taiwanese media, of “spreading falsehoods and negative information” about China and creating division, but without giving specific examples of their alleged comments.

    The move signals that tensions in the region are unlikely to abate with the inauguration of Lai, whose platform is highly similar to that of outgoing Democratic Progressive Party President Tsai Ing-wen.

    The commentators’ remarks had “deceived some people on the island, incited hostility and confrontation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and hurt the feelings of compatriots on both sides,” Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua told a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

    While the threatened sanctions — which will likely mean entry bans for the pundits and their families and bans on doing business with any company associated with them — are largely symbolic, Chen also took aim at Lai, calling on him to choose between peace with China or “the evil path of provocation and confrontation.”

    He said the sanctions would be similar to those applied to Taiwan’s premier, foreign minister and parliamentary speaker in 2021.

    Propaganda and economic pressures

    China has refused to deal with Tsai after she rejected the idea that Taiwan is part of China following a landslide election victory in 2016. She was re-elected in another strong victory in 2020, while remaining resistant to Beijing’s insistence on “unification.”

    While Beijing has never ruled out a military invasion to enforce its territorial claim on Taiwan, it has more recently vowed to achieve “peaceful unification” with the island through propaganda and economic pressures.

    Last week, it emerged that Taiwanese artists working in China – a highly lucrative market for actors, celebrities and musicians fluent in Mandarin – are routinely required to sign agreements pledging not to oppose China’s claim on the island if they want their work to be publicly accessible.

    Taiwan has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, nor formed part of the 74-year-old People’s Republic of China, and most of its 23 million people have no wish to give up their sovereignty or democratic way of life to be ruled by China, according to multiple public opinion polls in recent years.

    “[Taiwan] is a democratic country where people’s freedom of expression is clearly protected by the Constitution, and China has no right to interfere in that,” Olivia Lin, spokesperson for the Presidential Office, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

    Lin said the Chinese Communist Party has always dealt with disagreement by using “threats and suppression.”

    “They’re now trying to extend that to Taiwan in violation of our democracy and freedoms, naming and threatening media commentators and their families,” Lin said, adding that the move would only fuel distrust of China among Taiwan’s 23 million people.

    “The government will make every effort to ensure the safety of everyone concerned,” Lin said. Interior Minister Lin Yu-chang said in a Facebook post that he had instructed the National Police Agency to ensure the safety of the five media personalities and their families, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.

    Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said freedom of speech is protected in Taiwan, and challenged Beijing to deal more confidently with the island’s “free, democratic and diverse society.”

    ‘Highest medal of honor’

    Lee Cheng-hao laughed off the sanctions at the start of his show on Wednesday, saying, “My phone exploded with messages when I was on my way into the studio this morning. This is unbelievable!”

    Meanwhile, Yu described China’s sanctions in a Facebook post as “the highest medal of honor.” 

    “The ‘commie’ Taiwan Affairs Office finally put me on its blacklist!” he wrote, thanking the “enemy forces” for the validation, and vowing to continue to “fight communism and love Taiwan forever.”

    China’s sanctions come after the Mainland Affairs Council warned Taiwanese to reconsider non-essential travel to China in the wake of a slew of national security legislation that it said could put them at risk of detention, interrogation and imprisonment.

    “Taiwanese citizens are constantly at high risk of mainland Chinese authorities determining that they have crossed a national security red line,” it said in a May 9 statement on its website.

    “There have been several instances in recent years in which Taiwanese citizens were falsely accused of offenses against national security during their visits to China,” the statement warned. “They were subsequently tried, imprisoned, and some of them were even sentenced to ‘deprivation of political rights,’ a punishment that prevents Taiwanese citizens from returning to Taiwan despite the completion of their prison sentence.”

    Since amendments to the Counter-Espionage Law took effect last July, some Taiwanese citizens traveling to China for religious, academic or business purposes have “experienced prolonged interrogations or inspections of their electronic devices such as cellphones and computers at the airport; some of them were subjected to detention or interrogation after entering mainland China,” the statement said.

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Joshua Lipes.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Huang Chun-mei for RFA Mandarin.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Taiwan lawmakers to visit disputed South China Sea island

    A group of 20 Taiwanese lawmakers is set to arrive at disputed Taiping island in the South China Sea on Saturday on a visit likely to provoke protests from some of Taiwan’s neighbors.

    Taiwan has occupied the island, also known as Itu Aba since 1956, but it is also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and China.

    The group of legislators from the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party plans to spend a morning on the island to declare sovereignty, inspect newly developed facilities such as a harbor and typhoon shelter, and greet troops stationed there, according to the head of the delegation, Ma Wen-chun.

    Ma, who co-chairs the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee, wrote on her Facebook page on Thursday that the Republic of China (Taiwan) “has always stood firm in protecting Taiping island” and that its sovereignty was irrevocable.

    She criticized the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for failing to support calls for President Tsai Ing-wen to visit Taiping island before she leaves office.

    No DPP legislator has registered to join Saturday’s trip.

    Message to DPP

    The Taiping visit takes place just two days before Tsai’s successor, Lai Ching-te, is sworn in as president on May 20.

    The trip is aimed at sending a defiant message about Taiwan’s sovereignty to the DPP, said Lin Ying-yu, an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies.

    “The opposition wants to convey the criticism that the DPP’s stance is too weak in defending the sovereignty over our islands,” Lin told Radio Free Asia.

    Taiping island map.jpg
    (Google Maps)

    Taiping – the largest of the naturally formed features within the Spratly archipelago – is 1,600 km (994 miles) from Taiwan’s Kaohsiung city, 380 km (205 miles) from Palawan island in the Philippines and 580 km (360 miles) from Vietnam’s central coast.

    As both Vietnam and the Philippines also claim the island, they are likely to protest the visit, Lin said.

    Vietnam’s ministry of foreign affairs did not immediately respond to RFA’s inquiries.  

    A Vietnamese political scientist, Huynh Tam Sang from Vietnam National University, said that the KMT was trying to put pressure on the DPP and incoming President Lai.

    “The fact that the DPP has remained muted over this contentious territorial issue opens the door for the KMT to boost its profile at home,” Sang told RFA.

    The visit by Taiwanese lawmakers would “undoubtedly be met with some protests from Vietnam,” the analyst said, adding that it would be more symbolic and diplomatic rather than an angry resolute response as Hanoi “has no interest in fueling this issue”.

    “Due to the mutual benefits of strong economic ties, increasing investments from Taiwan, and an influx of Vietnamese migrant workers to Taiwan, Hanoi has a vested interest in keeping relations amicable with Taipei,” Sang added.

    The Philippines may adopt a similar approach amid China’s increased aggression in the South China Sea, analysts said. There are 155,000 Filipino migrant workers in Taiwan, accounting for 21% of the total foreign workforce.

    Ma Ying-jeou Taiping.jpg
    Taiwan’s then-president Ma Ying-jeou visited Taiping island on Jan. 28, 2016. (Taiwan Presidential Office)

    President Tsai has not been to Taiping during her two terms in office but Presidents Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-jeou visited the island in 2008 and 2016, respectively. Vietnam protested strongly both times, calling the visits “serious violations of Vietnam’s sovereignty” and demanding Taiwan “immediately stop its wrongful actions”.

    Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.





    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Filipino civilian convoy departs for Scarborough Shoal, demands ‘China leave’

    A convoy of Filipino civilian boats set sail on Wednesday in a show of defiance to assert Manila’s claim over a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, amid reports that Beijing had deployed dozens of ships to the area.

    More than 100 small wooden boats accompanied the convoy of several slightly larger boats, which were loaded with fuel and food as they departed for Scarborough Shoal, a rock within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that China has effectively controlled since 2012.

    The voyage is being led by Atin Ito! (This Is Ours!), a broad coalition of nationalist and civilian organizations. 

    “The Philippines is ours, China leave,” some volunteers chanted as they carried posters with the same message. Catholic volunteers brought figurines of the Virgin Mary aboard the boats.

    The flotilla set sail after 7 a.m. from a port in Masinloc, a town on the west coast of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines. Later in the day, the small boats returned to shore while four of the main boats continued with their voyage to Scarborough Shoal, known as Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines.

    A few hours after their morning departure, the flotilla conducted what organizers called “a peace and solidarity regatta” about 20 nautical miles off Masinloc.

    At around 11 a.m., participants placed 12 symbolic buoys to assert Manila’s sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea, Manila’s name for South China Sea waters within its EEZ. They also distributed food and fuel supplies to some fishers in the area before the small boats returned to shore and the larger ones continued with their journey.

    “At least, we are now showing the world that Filipinos are fighting back,” Agustin Bustillo, 55, captain of one of the bigger fishing boats, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated news service. “But I hope the problem will be settled through peaceful means.”

    PH-CH-SCS-civilian-flotilla 2.JPG
    One of the five main fishing boats used in the Filipino civilian convoy prepares to depart for Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, May 15, 2024. (Jojo Riñoza/BenarNews)

    A BenarNews reporter was among a group of journalists aboard one of the civilian boats heading to the shoal.

    At around 6 p.m., two China Coast Guard (CCG) ships were seen shadowing and trying to block the civilian boats, which were still hundreds of miles from their destination.

    The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), which had sent three ships to protect the civilians, said one of the CCG ships was about 1,800 yards (1,650 meters) from the convoy, while the other was a mile away as of early evening. 

    The two coast guards exchanged radio challenges, both insisting their countries’ jurisdiction over the area even as the civilian convoy decided to continue its course to the shoal.

    “They are trying to divide the contingent. Our boats are exercising evasive maneuvers while the PCG continues to maintain its close distance to the convoy to thwart any further attempt from CCG vessels,” Emman Hizon, one of the convoy’s organizers, told reporters.

    Volunteer Aira Villamil, 21, said she felt mixed emotions while witnessing China’s actions at sea. While defiant, she said she feared what might happen.

    “It’s scary because they are deliberately trying to block us while we are passing. It is super scary because we don’t know what they’ll do to us,” she told BenarNews in an interview aboard one of the fishing boats.

    Asked about the civilian convoy on Wednesday, China asserted its sovereignty over the shoal, which it calls Huangyan Dao. It also warned the Philippines against violating Beijing’s jurisdiction.

    “If the Philippines abuses China’s goodwill and infringes upon China’s territorial sovereignty and jurisdiction, we will defend our rights and take countermeasures in accordance with the law. Relevant responsibilities and consequences shall be borne solely by the Philippines,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters in Beijing.

    Expected standoff

    The resource-rich Scarborough Shoal lies within Manila’s 200-nautical mile EEZ, as mandated under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). But it has been under Beijing’s de facto control since 2012, when China wrested control from the Philippines after a weeks-long standoff.

    China claims almost the entire South China Sea. In 2016, after Manila sued Beijing, an international court invalidated China’s expansive claims and ruled that the shoal is a traditional fishing ground for the Philippines, Vietnam, and China. Beijing has refused to acknowledge the ruling, asserting what it calls historical claims over the waters.

    Wednesday’s voyage is Atin Ito!’s second supply mission to the West Philippine Sea. In December 2023, it set out to deliver supplies and Christmas gifts to Filipino troops stationed aboard the BRP Sierra Madre at Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal, but the convoy was forced to turn back after consistent shadowing by Chinese ships.

    PH-CH-SCS-civilian-flotilla 3.jpeg
    Filipino fishermen place symbolic buoys carrying the message ‘WPS, Atin Ito!’ (‘West Philippine Sea, this is ours!’) in waters within the nation’s 200 nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, May 15, 2024. (Jojo Riñoza/BenarNews)

    The convoy is expected to arrive near the shoal early Thursday to distribute supplies to Filipino fishermen operating in waters around the shoal. Because of the expected presence of Chinese ships, organizers do not know if they will be able to reach their destination.

    Days before the convoy set sail, Beijing sent ships to the area, with Chinese state media reporting on Monday that the CCG was conducting training in Huangyan Dao. This was on top of the constant presence of two or three Chinese ships.  

    In a post on X (formerly Twitter) Ray Powell, who heads Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation and monitors activities in the South China Sea, said a Chinese force of 43 ships was stationed near the shoal, seemingly ready to face the civilian flotilla.

    Two weeks ago, on April 30, CCG ships fired water cannon at Manila’s government ships near the shoal, causing damage. 

    The Philippine government summoned Zhou Zhiyong, the deputy chief of mission at the Chinese embassy in Manila, and “demanded that Chinese vessels leave Bajo de Masinloc and its vicinity immediately.” 

    China claimed those operations were “professional, standardized and legal,” saying the Philippines’ actions infringed on Beijing’s sovereignty over the area and violated “international law and basic norms of international relations.”

    The Philippine civilians remained unfazed despite the risks. Rafaela David, one of the Atin Ito! organizers, said the convoy was seeking to “normalize” access to the West Philippine Sea.

    “If China is militarizing our own EEZ, we’re there to civilianize our own seas because at the end of the day, we stand by the belief that the West Philippine Sea should be accessible to ordinary citizens,” David told reporters in Botolan, a town in Zambales province, on the even of the trip.

    Days before the mission, Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party’s official mouthpiece, accused the group of being funded by the United States and planning to provoke China. The group denied it.

    “We have our own minds,” Edicio dela Torre, 80, a former priest turned activist and one of the coalition’s leaders, said during the same briefing on Tuesday. “China does not believe in civilian actions because they think all these are part of the government.”

    David said China’s reaction shows it was rattled by the civilian movement.

    “Ordinary Filipinos are coming hand-in-hand in peaceful means, showing they are not intimidated by someone as big as China,” he said.

    BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Jojo Riñoza and Camille Elemia for BenarNews.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Concerns grow for Chinese citizen journalist after supposed jail release

    Zhang Zhan, jailed for reporting on Covid in Wuhan, has made no contact with outside world

    Concerns are growing about the wellbeing of one of China’s most prominent citizen journalists who has failed to make contact with the outside world after she was supposed to have been released from prison.

    Zhang Zhan, 40, a lawyer turned citizen journalist, was detained in May 2020 after she travelled to Wuhan to report on the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her videos and social media posts drew attention to the government’s stifling of information about the spread of the disease and the harsh lockdowns that were being imposed.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Tibetan singer arrested for song criticizing China | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Violate, Violations, and Violence

    No end to the twists and turns in the genocide of the Palestinian people. Violate the ground they possess, commit violations against the body they possess, and provoke them into violence. The coordination of using the “V” words to prevent victory applies to the suppression of those who fight for the sanctity of life, against oppression, and for the peace and comfort of everyone.

    Images and reports of the campus protests against those assisting and abetting in the genocide of the Palestinian people did not show violence by the campus campers — no bloody faces, no prostrate corpses, no images of broken windows, no sticks and stones to break bones — not until police arrived to unsettle and beat the protestors, and counter-demonstrators violated their rest, committed violations against the barriers that politely separated them from the public, and impolitely provoked the protestors into countering the violence committed upon them.

    Faulty strategy by the counter-protestors. Marches, congregations, and protests generally aren’t “big news” after the first day. Front-page news needs thrills, excitement, sensation. Front page news adores violence. The violence provoked by counter-protestors gave the campus protestors a space on the front page and an introduction to a wider audience.

    Who are the protestors? They are dedicated people who want those who enable genocide to disinvest from their investment in the slaughter of innocents.

    Who are the counter-protestors? They are unlawful people who defend Israel’s genocide.

    Who should government and law favor and protect? In the hypocritical American democratic system, genocide is selective, those who seek the contemporary genocide are favored and those who combat the genocide are thwarted. The genocide of the Palestinian people, certified by United Nations (UN) Human Rights officials as genocide, is selected by US government officials as not genocide, not even to be regarded as a serious oppression of innocent people. One difference between UN Human Rights officials and US government officials — the former does not follow the Zionist agenda and the latter promotes it.

    Rather than call in the National Guard to shoot up the campus, as was done at the 1970 Kent State protest, where the Ohio National Guard fired on students and ended the Vietnam War demonstrations, a propped-up Joe Biden read from a Zionist-prepared script.

    Not a peaceful process and against the law… People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across the campus safely without fear of being attacked… No place for anti-Semitism or threats of violence against Jewish students, no place for islamophobia, no place for racism in America.

    President Biden indirectly said, “We will allow the police and counter-demonstrators to forcibly remove those against the genocide and return the campuses to the control of the genocide perpetrators and those assisting in the genocide.” By changing the nature of the campus protests from being against genocide to harboring racism, the US president informed all citizens that we should disregard the genocide and bring contemporary genocidal maniacs and contemporary genocide victims together and this will do away with the racism that has caused the genocide. Biden should read the New York Times observations of the violence at UCLA, which shows all violence committed by counter-protestors while the police stand by and permit the violence. His attitude and the speed with which police have attempted to squash the campus protests has a comparison — student protest at Tiananmen Square.

    Tiananmen Square

    On April 22, 1989, the day of former CCP general secretary Hu Yaobang’s funeral, tens of thousands of students gathered in Tiananmen Square to mourn his death. From this assembly merged a petition for a meeting between student representatives and government officials to discuss government corruption and more freedom of assembly and speech for the masses. Three meetings were held between the demonstrators and government officials and no agreement was obtained. One of these was a nationally televised meeting between Prime Minister (PM) Li Peng and leaders of the students’ movement. I recall viewing the televised broadcast and remember student leaders were confusing and contradictory in their demands and Li Peng was confused at what he was hearing.

    In a gesture of conciliation, PM Li Peng and Communist Party leader, Zhao Ziyang, went to Tiananmen Square and talked with hunger strikers. According to the official New China News Agency, Communist Party leader Zhao told the students, ”You have good intentions. You want our country to become better. The problems you have raised will eventually be resolved. But things are complicated, and there must be a process to resolve these problems.” Prime Minister Li Peng concluded that chaos in Beijing was spreading all over the country and demanded that the students refrain from further demonstrations.

    For 44 days, up to one million students and citizens, some from Taiwan, occupied the Square and its surroundings, slept in tents, littered China’s most important Plaza with refuse and rubble, prevented tourists from exploring, and detoured Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev to “an obscure back entrance into China’s Great Hall of the People for what was planned as a solemn ceremony marking the first Sino-Soviet summit in three decades.” During that time, no police interfered within the Square, no protestor was arrested, and no violence occurred.

    Several times, unarmed Chinese troops (PLA) tried to reach Tiananmen Square and convince the demonstrators to leave. From television reports of those days, which were before the Internet and are difficult to reestablish today, I remember unarmed Chinese soldiers in buses being attacked as they moved toward Tiananmen Square. The buses were set on fire with soldiers unable to evacuate; other unarmed soldiers were badly beaten. An infamous photo of an incinerated PLA soldier was an unpleasant image. Rather than publish the disturbing image I have given it a link.

    On June 4, 1989, with martial law in effect and no other means to dislodge the crowd from Tiananmen Square, Chinese troops entered Beijing and fought their way to the Square. The rest is history, severely distorted by Western media, which claimed thousands were killed at Tiananmen Square when no students were killed in the Square. The few hundred fatalities were civilians on the avenue leading to Tiananmen Square, shot by PLA forces who retaliated against those who attacked them and blocked their passage, and soldiers killed by anti-government citizens.

    Comparison of China’s (PRC) response to the Tiananmen Square protest and US response to campus protests reveals the hypocrisy of US democratic action.

    • Student protestors exercised freedom of assembly and camped out in China’s main square for 44 days. Chinese police did not interfere. US police arrived on US campuses only a few days after the protestors camped out on university grounds. Freedom of assembly is fruitless without a place to assemble. Where else can students assemble other than on their campus?
    • Top officials of the PRC met and dialogued with the students, one time at Tiananmen Square and three times in Beijing. No American government official met with any of the students. Without the voice receiving a response from those to whom the speech is directed, free speech is only a word. It is a voice in the wilderness when controlled media masks the expressions.
    • Student protestors at Tiananmen faulted their government’s domestic policies; they wanted more freedoms for themselves ─ a subjective petition. Student protestors at US campuses faulted their government’s foreign policy; they wanted their government not to assist in denying the ultimate freedom to a human being, the freedom to live ─ an objective petition
    • Tiananmen had other dissidents, who had grievances against the government and supported the students’ demands. Students may have disagreed on tactics but no counter-demonstrators or provocateurs appeared in the square. The Chinese respected the student demands and their right to protest. The US protests featured counter-demonstrators supporting a foreign government and eager to provoke. Elements of the US public did not respect the student demands and their right to protest. Videos show many of the counter-protesters wearing pro-Israel slogans on their clothing, playing Israel’s national anthem, and singing an Israeli song about the Israel Defense Forces’ campaign in Gaza. The media promoted a ridiculous assertion that Hamas influenced the students and did not publicize Israelis’ role in the counter-demonstrations.
    • The PLA performed brutally in its objective of clearing Tiananmen Square of all inhabitants. Considering martial law had been declared and resistance to their march to the square caused the casualties, the troops’ brutality was proportioned by the wounds inflicted upon them. In the US colleges, police were brutal and that brutality was not proportional to the wounds inflicted upon them.

    Conclusion

    Government and public response to the protests reveal much about the nation where the protests occur. The campus protests showed the courage of America’s new generation, the apathy of the US public, and the treachery of the US government ─ the downfall of America.

    The encounter between the campus protestors and the counter-protestors at the UCLA campus tells the story. A protest against genocide can solicit questions, and maybe arguments, but no sane human being forcibly counters those who demonstrate against a genocide. A deceptive treachery of dismantling a most valid demonstration by considering it anti-Semitic because it prevented a few students from attending class is incredulous. Observing LA Police standing aside while counter-demonstrators representing a foreign nation, beat, intimidate, and provoke American youth indicates the US has no leadership; it is influenced by a foreign power.

    The Zionists saw the WWII massacre of Jews as their most opportune moment ─ use the genocide to convince the world that Jews were not safe without their own nation. Anytime, anyone complains about Israel’s deceptions and oppressions, bring in media stooges to publicize the WWII genocide and use the opportunity to denigrate the complaint as anti-Semitic. The next step has the ADL raise an alarm of redundant and manipulated statistics showing a rapid growth in anti-Semitism ─ Jews are in trouble and need protection. Attention to Israeli Jews’ oppression of the Palestinians is sidetracked by attention to spurious anti-Semitism.

    The hundreds murdered each day by Israeli Jews are considered less significant than the one or two Jewish persons who have received rude remarks from American youth. The deaths of the Palestinians, similar to the deaths of the WWII European Jews, have been perverted and used to reinforce the belief in a Zionist mission of helping well-educated, well-positioned, and well-established Jews escape spurious anti-Semitism. This hides the truth of the Zionist mission ─ seizing all Palestinian land and resources and expelling and murdering the Palestinian community.

    As soon as the campus demonstrations started, the Zionists did what they always do, turned a negative into an opportunity. The demonstrations have been shadowed by false charges of a spontaneous hatred of Jews, the same Jews who are responsible for the genocide. The Jews who deserve animosity for their participation in the genocide are now the victims of those rallying against the genocide. Growing hatred of innocent Jews is now the topic.

    The campus demonstrations have stirred the world but have been prevented from accomplishing their purpose of changing US foreign policy ─ stop aiding and abetting Israel in the genocide. Just the opposite, with false charges of massive “anti-Semitism” promoted by Israel’s stooges and invading the conscience of the Western world, Israel has its green light to commit genocide of the Palestinians.

    I am against my country’s revolutionaries
    Wounding a sheath of wheat

    Against the child
    Any child
    Carrying a hand grenade

    I am against my sister
    Feeling the muscle of a gun
    Against it all
    And yet

    What can a prophet do to a prophetess
    When their eyes
    Are mad to drink
    The sight of the raiders’ hordes?

    I am against boys becoming
    Heroes at ten

    Against the tree flowering Explosives
    Against branches becoming scaffolds
    Against the rose-beds turning to trenches
    Against it all

    And yet When fire cremates my friends My youth And country
    How can I Stop a poem from becoming a gun?

    “Opposition” by Rashid Hussain

    The post Violate, Violations, and Violence first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Manila accuses Beijing of island building in South China Sea

    The Philippine coast guard has sent ships to monitor what Manila suspects to be China’s illegal island building in the South China Sea, the Presidential Office said.

    The office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a statement that since April, the coast guard vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua had been operating near Sabina Shoal, known in the Philippines as Escoda Shoal, to keep a watch on China’s “supposed illegal activities.”

    Sabina Shoal is a low-tide elevation in the Spratly Islands, well inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) but also claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam. It is only 75 nautical miles (140km) from the Philippine island of Palawan.

    An EEZ gives the coastal state exclusive access to natural resources in the waters and in the seabed.

    Philippine coast guard spokesman Jay Tarriela said in the statement that crushed corals had been dumped on the reef – an indication of land reclamation. However, the suspected island building appeared to be at an initial stage, he said.

    Tarriela also said that besides the BRP Teresa Magbanua, two more coast guard vessels had been deployed on a rotating basis to monitor the area.

    “We are alarmed by this,” said Jonathan Malaya, assistant director general of the Philippine National Security Council.

    Malaya told a press conference on Monday that similar “crushed corals” were detected earlier on Sandy Cay, another group of low-lying reefs near Philippines-occupied Thitu island, also known as Pag-asa island.

    “These were crushed corals and it was obvious that they came from another place,” Malaya said.

    Sabrina 2.jpeg
    Suspected dumped corals on Sabina Shoal (Philippine Coast Guard)

    The Philippines in March launched a scientific research mission on Sandy Cay, prompting China to protest.

    Beijing has yet to respond to the latest allegations regarding Sabina Shoal.

    Monitoring procedure

    Tarriela explained in a post on the social platform X, formerly Twitter, that the Philippine coast guard had implemented a “standard operating procedure” to inspect Sabina Shoal for any dumped crushed corals. 

    After more than three weeks of monitoring, the coast guard discovered that “crushed corals were dumped and it is highly likely that the maritime features were altered.” The force has released some photo evidence of the damaged corals.

    “We must stay vigilant and not lose sight of the illegal activities and aggressive behavior exhibited by China in Escoda (Sabina) Shoal,” Tarriela wrote in his post.

    “Not only does this pose a threat to our sovereignty, but it also causes significant damage to our marine environment,” the coast guard spokesman wrote.

    Sabina shoal.jpg
    Sabina Shoal. (Google Maps)

    In a report released last December, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) and the China Ocean Institute – both based in the United States – said that competing states in the South China Sea had caused “the largest active man-made reef destruction in human history.”

    The organizations named China as the most egregious actor by far, having wiped out roughly 4,648 acres (19km2) of reefs in four years between 2013 and 2017. Most destruction was due to dredging and landfill to construct infrastructure on artificial islands.

    Beijing carried out most of its island building activities during that period and by 2022 had fully militarized the three largest reefs – Subi, Mischief and Fiery Cross.

    Jason Gutierrez in Manila contributed to this report.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Western Media Ignites War on China in Sports

    Western accusations of doping by Chinese swimmers threaten to exacerbate China-US tensions, undermine the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) and seriously harm the upcoming Paris Olympics.

    The controversy was ignited by investigation reports at the New York Times and  German TV broadcaster ARD.  These media outlets suggest there has been a cover-up of a mass doping incident among Chinese top swimmers with connivance of  the Chinese Anti Doping Agency (CHINADA) and complicity from the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA).  This story served as red meat to the hyper aggressive leader of the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart.  It has prompted western swimming competitors to loudly complain. For example, the NY Times reports that US team swimmer Paige Madden thinks medals from the Tokyo Olympics should be reallocated. “I feel that Team USA was cheated.”  British swimmer James Guy says, “Ban them all and never compete again.” What might be considered whining and poor sportsmanship is effectively being encouraged by western media.

    The NY Times and ARD are the same two media that precipitated the accusations of “state sponsored doping” in Russia. It did enormous damage to thousands of Russian athletes and resulted in different levels of banning starting with the Rio Olympics in 2016.  Although widely accepted as “truth” in the West, the claims of widespread Russian doping were weak when evidence was required.  Most Russian athletes who challenged their banning were exonerated. The major accusers, the Stepanovs and Grigory Rodchenkov, were themselves guilty of doping and profiting from doping. Despite this, the banning has continued and escalated after the Russian intervention in Ukraine.  The accusations and banning were useful in propelling the “new cold war” and “new McCarthyism”.

    NYT and ARD, and their anonymous informants, may be seeking to do something similar to China.  USADA has issued a response in which they say China may be engaging in “systematic doping” under a  “coordinated doping regime”. On May 6 USADA’s Tygart escalated his attacks. He implies the Paris Olympics will be a “train wreck” because of WADA complicity in China’s “cheating”. He hopes the US government will “step in and help lead and fix this.”  Surely a recipe for success.

    What happened

    On Jan 1  – 3 in 2021, the Chinese swim team was having a domestic swim meet. It was in the midst of covid lockdown.  As usual, the team was drug tested but this time a strange thing happened: many swimmers tested positive for a trace amount of the banned medication trimetazadine (TMZ).

    The China Anti Doping Agency (CHINADA) investigated and reported the facts to the World Anti Doping Agency as required.  They found:

    * 23 swimmers tested positive for a very small amount of trimetazadine (TMZ)

    * the swimmers were from different regions of China with different coaches and trainers

    * all 23 were staying at the same hotel eating in the same dining room

    * none of the swimmers staying at a different hotel tested positive

    * some of the swimmers tested positive one day, negative the next

    * tests in the hotel kitchen showed the presence of  TMZ on the air vent and counters

    CHINADA concluded the positive TMZ tests were from hotel food and the athletes were not at fault.

    They reported the incident and investigation to the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) and the international swimming federation now known as World Aquatics (formerly FINA). Both organizations examined the facts and agreed with the findings.

    Because the athletes were deemed to have no fault, the incident and names of the athletes were not publicized. WADA regulations indicate that there should be no publicity or naming of athletes deemed innocent and without an “Anti Doping Rule Violation” (ADRV).

    How it has been reported

     Approximately a year later, in 2022,  anonymous sources reported this incident to the NY Times and ARD.  Since then, the two media outlets have done further investigation but kept the story secret until two weeks ago.

    They suggest something shady happened back in early 2021. They suggest WADA may be complicit in covering up anti doping violations. They almost encourage western athletes to challenge the Chinese swimming accomplishments and be “angry”. On April 20 the story was “Top Chinese Swimmers Tested Positive for Banned Drug, Then Won Olympic Gold“. On April 21 the story was “‘Team USA Was Cheated’: Chinese Doping Case Exposes Rift in Swimming“. On April 22 the story was “Top Biden Official Calls for Inquiry Into Chinese Doping Case.”

    These reports ignited a flood of other sensational and accusatory reports and editorials. The Guardian report is titled “Poison in the pool: why the latest Chinese doping row is proving so toxic.” Sports Yahoo says, “Extremely concerned Olympians will not let the Chinese doping allegations die.” The PBS News Hour had a video report titled, “Chinese doping ‘swept under the carpet’: US anti-doping chief says.” Sports Illustrated said the news may alter the distribution of medals from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

    The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the situation.

    The NY Times and ARD say they have been investigating this story for two years. The release appears timed to have maximum impact and possible damage, just months before the Paris Olympics.   

    USADA accuses WADA  

    The US Anti Doping Agency (USADA) is led by the hyper-aggressive Travis Tyler. He has used the reports to claim that WADA is complicit in a Chinese “cover-up”.  In a TV interview before a large national audience Tygart said, “China didn’t follow the rules. They effectively swept this under the carpet because they didn’t find a violation. They didn’t announce a violation. They didn’t disqualify the athletes from the event at which they tested positive. And this is absolutely mandatory under the world anti-doping code that all nations are required to follow.”

    WADA has responded that Tygart’s comments seem “politically motivated”.  They say CHINADA followed the rules, investigated and reported as required.  They say China did NOT have to announce it to the world, or name the individual athletes for the very good reason that false accusations of doping can destroy a career. WADA regulations say the names of athletes should NOT be publicized until or unless it is confirmed they have an Anti Doping Rule Violation. 

    WADA appoints independent investigator

    WADA is the international organization charged with supervising global anti-doping in sports. With its headquarters in Canada and most of its leaders from NATO countries, it is a largely western organization.

    They are highly sensitive to criticism from the West. It has pushed back against some of the most extreme criticism, for example from the USADA head. They have also appointed an independent investigator to review what happened in China and whether WADA was correct to accept the Chinese investigation and report.

    WADA appointed Eric Cottier, the prosecutor general of a Swiss region. WADA headquarters are in Canada but the organization is registered in Switzerland. USADA has criticized the appointment suggesting that Cottier is not sufficiently “independent”.

    Thoms Bach, head of the International Olympic Committee, has voiced support for WADA.

    WADA has defended their actions in a press conference and fact sheet about the case.

    The controversy may quiet down. But a lot of poison has been spread around. Encouraged by the NY Times and other media,  numerous western athletes now claim they feel “cheated” out of medals at the Tokyo Olympics since 5 medals were won by Chinese swimmers involved in the  TMZ “doping scandal”.

    It is also possible the controversy will continue. Will the “Sports Czar” of the Biden Administration get involved? Will the FBI be designated to investigate?  These are now possible in the wake of the Rodchenkov Anti Doping Act which passed Congress in 2020.

    Reader comments following articles indicate there is a wellspring of anti-China hostility encouraged by the accusations. The most popular comment on this article says, “When will democracies learn that authoritarian regimes play dirty, and should be viewed as suspect not deserving of good faith.”  Another says,”No one knows doping like China knows doping, China knows doping best.”  Another one says, “China cheats. Russia cheats. Just like the East Germans did before them. Their governments will meet the same fate as they did.”

    Pushback  

    There has been some pushback to the sensational anti-China accusations. For example, Denis Cotterell is a world class coach who has trained both  Australian and Chinese Olympic swimmers. He has spoken out strongly in support of the Chinese swimmers. He says, “I can see what they (the swimmers) go through. I see the measures… The suggestion that it’s systemic is so far from anything I have seen here the whole time. They are so adamant on having clean sport.”

    An insightful article from an Australian academic sports authority and popular sports commentator suggests there are political forces at work: “WADA – like the United Nations and other organizations – finds itself in the cross hairs of the great power struggle of our time: a rising China and its challenge to US dominance.” 

    Geopolitical Consequences

    According to the “2024 Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community”, China is “challenging longstanding rules of the international system as well as U.S. primacy within it.” China’s positive “international image” is a challenge to U.S. leadership. By this logic, it is in the US interests to damage China’s international reputation and standing.

    This raises the question: How did the TMZ get into the hotel kitchen and into the food being served to these Chinese athletes?

    In February 2022, accusations of intentional doping were heaped on the Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva. A trace amount of trimetazadine (TMZ) was detected in a drug test taken seven weeks before the Beijing Olympics.  There are similarities to the Chinese case: same drug, same trace amount detected, same mystery as to how it was ingested.

    Because she could not explain how it got there, Valieva was condemned in the West and ultimately had her international career destroyed. The Russian figure skating sweep was prevented and the Russian team lost their gold medals.  The controversy distracted and partially ruined the Beijing Olympics. The “intelligence community” undoubtedly considers this a success.

    How did the TMZ get in the hotel kitchen in China?  Who are the “whistle blowers” who informed the New York Times and ARD and supplied the names of the athletes who tested positive for the trace amount of TMZ?

    The anti doping crusade is being manipulated  by powerful forces with ignoble intentions.

    The post Western Media Ignites War on China in Sports first appeared on Dissident Voice.


    This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Rick Sterling.

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