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Category: East Asia
Philippine President Duterte plans to meet with Chinese ‘friend’ Xi on April 8
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said he would meet next week virtually with his “friend,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as Filipino and U.S. forces conduct one of their largest joint exercises in years in the Southeast Asian nation bordering the disputed South China Sea. The presidential office in Manila announced the upcoming meeting while troops, during the Balikatan (“shoulder-to-shoulder”) exercise, participated Thursday in a drill simulating an attack response on a remote beach on the northern tip of Luzon Island that fronts China and Taiwan. “China is good,” Duterte said, according to transcripts released to the media on Friday. “April 8. Xi Jinping wants to talk to me. We are friends.” Additional details of the planned meeting were being firmed up on Friday and Duterte’s office had not yet released topics to be discussed by the two leaders. “[T]his meeting is still in the preparatory stage,” Communications Undersecretary Kristian Ablan said. “So what specific issues will be discussed by the world leaders will be known in the coming days.” Although the Xi-Duterte meeting will be virtual, it is customary for a Philippine president to visit allies before leaving office. Duterte’s single six-year term ends on June 30. The 2022 version of Balikatan is the biggest joint exercise involving Philippine and U.S. troops in seven years. About 9,000 troops are involved in the war games, which are schedule to end on April 8, the same day Duterte is to meet with Xi. The exercise began shortly after the Philippine Coast Guard reported a March 2 “close distance maneuvering” incident involving one of its ships and the China Coast Guard near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. Philippine officials said the Chinese ship sailed within 21 meters (69 feet) of the Philippine ship and accused Beijing of violating 1972 international regulations on preventing collisions at sea. Balikatan comes two months after the Biden administration in the United States introduced a new strategy to increase security engagements in the Indo-Pacific region amid growing concerns about China. Duterte’s relationships At the beginning of his term in 2016, Duterte drifted away from traditional ally Washington in favor of China and Russia. Instead of enforcing an international court ruling that invalidated China’s expansive claims to the nearly all of the South China Sea, the president pursued friendlier ties with Xi, leading to increased Chinese investments in the Philippines. While admitting in 2021 that the court ruling was binding, Duterte continued to emphasize his friendship with the Chinese leader, noting that Manila was indebted to Beijing for providing COVID-19 vaccines in the early days of the pandemic. In March 2021, Duterte said he planned to visit China, a country he traveled to six times, to personally thank Xi for the vaccines. Those visits are the most by any Philippine president while in office to a foreign country but Duterte has never visited Washington, according to officials. Duterte last traveled to China in August 2019 on a five-day official visit when he raised the landmark arbitral ruling for the Philippines on the South China Sea. China has rejected the ruling and insisted on its historical claims over virtually the entire sea region, which the court ruled as having no basis under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Aside from China and the Philippines, five other Asian governments – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam – have territorial claims. While Indonesia does not regard itself as a party to the South China Sea dispute, Beijing claims historic rights to parts of the sea overlapping Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone. Manila has grown critical of Beijing’s actions during the past year, including Chinese fishing boats swarming near the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal. In early March, the Philippines protested a Chinese navy reconnaissance ship’s “illegal incursion” in the Sulu Sea – a move that Beijing said did not break international law. In a rare move in November 2021, Duterte expressed “grave concern” after a China Coast Guard ship fired water cannon on Filipino supply boats in the disputed waters. “We abhor the recent event in the Ayungin Shoal and view with grave concern other similar developments,” Duterte said at the time. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Press freedom in Hong Kong gets lowest marks from public since handover to China
Public satisfaction with the media in Hong Kong has hit rock bottom, according to a recent public opinion survey. Satisfaction with the performance of the news media in general hit an all-time low since records began in 1993, according to a survey of 1,004 Cantonese-speaking adults carried out by the Hong Kong Public Institute Research Institute (PORI). Meanwhile, satisfaction with the freedom of the press in Hong Kong fell by 23 percentage points … its lowest point since records began after the 1997 handover to Chinese rule, PORI said in a report published on Friday. Just 28 percent of respondents expressed satisfaction with the level of press freedom in Hong Kong, a new low since this question was first asked in September 1997, while 51 percent said they were dissatisfied, the highest level since October 2020. In addition, a record 46 percent felt that the Hong Kong news media didn’t make full use of what freedom of speech it did have, while 63 percent said the media held back on criticisms of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), while 51 percent said it avoided criticizing the Hong Kong authorities. Senior journalist Chris Yeung said the figures were a reflection of an ongoing crackdown on public dissent and political opposition under the CCP’s draconian national security law, which has seen several pro-democracy news outlets forced to close and senior journalists arrested under the law. “The trend is obvious,” Yeung told journalists on Friday. “At the very least, it’s very clear that the public believes the media has reservations and self-censors when dealing with matters relating to the central government.” “Many Hong Kong matters now include the point of view of the central government, from the national security law to COVID-19 policy and even the recent [China Eastern] air crash,” Yeung said. “The media are also careful how they handle other news that isn’t ostensibly political, like the case of Peng Shuai,” he said. Yeung said the poll results were “absolutely” related to the closure of a number of media outlets including the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper and Stand News, Yeung said. “Diversity of media voices is an very important element of press freedom,” he said, adding that there is really only room for pro-government voices in the Hong Kong media now. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Italian university probes Chinese professor who singled out student from Taiwan
A university in Italy is investigating allegations of bullying by a Chinese lecturer following a classroom dispute about the status of Taiwan, local media reported. Complaints were made after Politecnico di Milano architecture lecturer and Chinese national Chen Zhen admonished a student from the democratic island of Taiwan, which has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) nor formed part of the People’s Republic of China, for failing to register as “Chinese.” “I will talk something to Wang, but this is nothing related to the other two Iranian students, so I’m going to speak in Chinese with him, OK?” Chen is seen saying in English at the start of a video clip that he initially posted to his own account on the Chinese social media account WeChat. The clip was later picked up by Australia-based asylum-seeker Wang Lebao and amplified on Twitter. Chen continues in Chinese: “So, Wang, it’s not about your thesis. This has nothing to do with the other two students, so I’m going to say this in Chinese … I gave everyone a thesis template, asking them to fill out which city and which country they’re from. You wrote Taipei, Taiwan.” “The first thing I want to say is, the whole European Union, including Italy, sees Taiwan as a part of China,” he said. “You should know that not a single EU government, nor many others, officially recognizes Taiwan as a country.” “Your government may like to play word games to fool the people, but they’ve never amended the constitution,” he said. Taiwan was part of Japanese territory for the first half of the 20th century, before being handed over the 1911 Republic of China under Chiang Kai-shek at the end of World War II. The islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu are still governed as a sovereign state under its constitution. Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy. Credit: Politecnico di Milano ‘Unification’ widely rejected Recent opinion polls have shown that the majority of its 23 million population don’t identify as Chinese, and have no wish to be governed by Beijing, which has threatened to annex Taiwan by military force to achieve its idea of “unification.” The “paternalistic and aggressive tone” of Chen’s comments prompted the university investigate, the Today.it news website reported. Taiwan’s foreign affairs ministry condemned the treatment of Wang as “an abuse of power,” and said it had asked its representative office in Italy to follow up on the matter. University rector Ferruccio Resta confirmed to the office that the university’s disciplinary committee has begun an investigation into the incident to determine whether Chen’s actions had violated the school’s code of ethics and conduct. Lee Hsin-ying, Taiwan’s representative in Italy, told Taiwanese students in the country that what had happened was “very wrong,” and a bid to quash any sense of national identity among them. Article 2 of the code requires the university to “prevent and combat all kinds of discrimination, both direct and indirect,” banning words, actions and procedures that discriminates against people based on gender, ethnic or national origin, sexual orientation, religion, personal or political views, abilities, social background or age,” the website said. “The Polytechnic should consider it of primary importance not to allow the promotion of the Chinese Communist Party’s world view or propaganda in an Italian university,” the Today.it website said in the commentary article. “Pending further developments, we ask ourselves: will this lecturer continue to teach at the university, and promote [CCP leader] Xi Jinping thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era?” the article said. Chinese ‘bullying’ blasted Italian politicians also hit out at the incident, saying it was “bullying.” “The Polytechnic of Milan should suspend this teacher should suspend this teacher who attacks and bullies a Taiwanese student by imposing on him a geopolitical lesson using the worst of Chinese propaganda-speak,” Gianni Vernetti, a former senator and deputy minister from the center-left Democratic Party, said via his Twitter account. And far-right Brothers of Italy senator Lucio Malan accused Chen of trying to “re-educate” the Taiwanese student, saying he would demand an explanation from the relevant government minister. Milan’s il Giornale newspaper also weighed in with an editorial on Monday noting that Taiwan still has formal diplomatic ties with the Vatican, and is for all practical purposes a sovereign state. The row came after the 59th Bologna Children’s Book Fair succumbed to pressure from the Chinese government to change the country of origin of Taiwanese artist Pei-Hsin Cho to “Taiwan, China.” Taiwan’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou condemned the move, and accused China of trying to smear the island for political reasons. Cho had been holding a solo exhibition at the book fair after winning an award there last year. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan reiterates that Taiwan is a sovereign state of the Republic of China and is not subordinate to the People’s Republic of China,” Ou said. “The Chinese government has never ruled Taiwan for a day, and naturally has no right to claim to represent Taiwan in the international arena or to devalue the name of the country used by the people of Taiwan to participate in activities.” “Taiwan and Italy share universal values such as democracy, freedom, and human rights; Taiwan solemnly calls on relevant Italian departments to show courage and reject China’s inappropriate bullying,” she said. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
With an eye on China, Japan plans 2 + 2 talks with Philippines, India
Japan plans to hold so-called “two-plus-two” meetings with the Philippines and India to discuss maritime security including in the South China Sea, a move analysts say could send a message to Beijing about Tokyo’s determination to foster ties with like-minded partners. “Two-plus-two” are ministerial-level meetings that involve both foreign and defense ministers of participating countries. Unnamed diplomatic sources were quoted by Kyodo News Agency as saying that arrangements are being made for Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi to meet with their Philippine counterparts in early April, and their Indian counterparts in mid-April in Tokyo. China’s growing maritime assertiveness is expected to be high on the agenda, and ministers are expected to renew their pledge to promote a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region. Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana are expected to travel to Tokyo for the talks. The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to RFA that Japan and the Philippines are considering the launch of a two-plus-two meeting but maintained that “the timing has not been decided yet.” Neither the Philippine nor Indian foreign ministries responded to requests for comment. The talks are being planned amid a complex geopolitical backdrop. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, said Friday that he would meet with his “friend” Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss territorial disputes in the South China Sea on April 8. Duterte has had limited success in forging a more cooperative relationship with Beijing during his six-year term which ends in June. China and the Philippines are both claimants in the South China Sea alongside four other parties: Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan. Beijing holds the most expansive claim. While Japan is not a claimant, it is a strategic rival of China, and the two powers have competing claims in the East China Sea. Huynh Tam Sang, an analyst at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Vietnam, said Tokyo’s plans for the two-plus-two talks “could send a nuanced message to Beijing about Japan’s determination to foster security ties with like-minded partners.” “If Japan could bring the Philippines and India on board for maritime deterrence, it will be a big deal,” said Sang. The Philippines filed a diplomatic protest this week over a Chinese Coast Guard vessel’s dangerous “maneuvering” in the South China Sea. Beijing rejected the accusation saying China has “sovereign rights and jurisdiction” over the waters. Japanese and Philippine ministers are expected to discuss arms exports to the Philippines, Kyodo’s sources said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ahead of their meeting at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi, India, March 19, 2022. Credit: Reuters Quad members When Japanese Prime Minister Kishida visited India last month, Japan and India also agreed to hold what would be their second two-plus-two meeting “at an early date.” But the timing of the meeting has not been decided, either, Japan says. Both Japan and India are members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) and important players in the Indo-Pacific so “it is only natural for India to also interact with Japan for two-plus-two,” said Sana Hashmi, visiting fellow at the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation. “Two-plus-two talks demonstrate the level of engagement and the willingness to strengthen the partnership by both sides,” Hashmi said, adding: “Of course, China’s aggression is a factor in countries’ willingness to advance ties, but India-Japan relations are multifaceted and two-plus-two dialogue is a part of this multifaceted engagement.” Besides the Philippines and India, Japan has held two-plus-two security talks with the United States, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Indonesia and Russia.
Upward trend in Myanmar online wildlife trade endangers biodiversity and public health
Upward trend in Myanmar online wildlife trade New research by WWF shows that online illegal wildlife trade in Myanmar increased by 74% from 2020 to 2021. The report, ‘Going viral: Myanmar’s wildlife trade escalates online,’ details 173 different species being advertised for sale online in 2021, up from 143 species the year before. Sales of mammal species – either as live animals or their body parts – rose by 241%. Posts that advertised mammals for sale referenced commercially bred civets, meat of the critically endangered Sunda pangolin for consumption, elephant skin pieces for jewellery and juvenile bears as pets. All these animals are used as an ingredient of Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs). “WWF research reveals that online trade in wildlife within Myanmar is escalating,” said Shaun Martin, WWF-Asia Pacific’s Regional Illegal Wildlife Trade Cybercrime Project Lead. “Despite the global importance of Myanmar’s biodiversity and everything we now know about the origins of COVID-19, online trade monitoring has revealed different species being kept in close proximity – sometimes in the same cage, wild meat selling out in minutes with demands for more, sales of soon-to-be extinct animals openly discussed in online groups, and trade occurring across country borders. With Asia’s track record as a breeding ground for many recent zoonotic diseases, this sharp uptick in online trade of wildlife in Myanmar is extremely concerning.” Similar wildlife deterioration was observed in many African countries in the past decade. Key findings from new WWF report on online trade in wildlife include More than 11,046 products from 173 species were recorded for sale online in 2021. 96% of posts were for live animals, with 87% advertising that animals had been taken from the wild. Mammal sale posts rose 241% from 2020 to 2021. The largest online trading group had more than 19,000 members and over 30 posts a day. The number of traded species on the IUCN Red List rose 80% from 2020 to 2021. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), swine flu (H1N1), avian flu (H5N1), and COVID–19, all originated in animals and have proliferated in Asia in the last two decades. With scientists estimating that 3 out of every 4 new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals, it is likely that animal to human disease spillover – or zoonoses – would be the trigger for future pandemics. The trade in live wildlife and wildlife parts brings many species and their pathogens together, increasing the potential for spillover to humans. Among the 11,046 wildlife items promoted for sale through social media posts were six species listed as “Critically Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, indicating an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. A further seven species were marked “Endangered” and 33 marked “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List. Of particular note were posts that advertised the Sunda and Chinese pangolins, both “Critically Endangered” species, with pangolins also identified as carrying SARS-related betacoronaviruses., These posts advertised pangolins as live animals and wild meat, as well as referring to commercial breeding. Similar posts for civets were also seen, with civets identified as the intermediate host of the virus that caused the SARS outbreak in Asia in 2002. “The risk of new pathogen transmission from wild animals to humans – the most common source of new epidemics, and pandemics – is increased by the close contact conditions created by this trade,” said Emiko Matsuda, Group Lead on Biodiversity and Public Sector Partnership, WWF-Japan. “These online sales of live animals and wildlife products need to be disrupted before they escalate any further, endangering Myanmar’s precious wildlife and global public health.”
Shanghai’s lockdown shock
Authorities in Shanghai, China’s biggest city and financial hub, suddenly announced a full lockdown after the detection of the omicron variant of coronavirus. The strictness of Shanghai’s COVID-19 restrictions caught many residents in the city of 26 million people off-guard, sparking anger and panic-buying that emptied shelves and raised concerns about elderly people unable to access food. While public criticism of government policies is risky in China, some questioned the wisdom of Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping’s insistence on a zero-COVID policy, and one economist said the lockdowns could cost the economy at least $46 billion a month in lost output.
Denmark commission finds Copenhagen illegally silenced anti-China demonstrators
A commission appointed by the government of Denmark this week criticized the country’s Foreign Ministry for giving into Chinese pressure and preventing anti-Beijing demonstrations during state visits in 2012 and 2013. The Tibet Commission found that Denmark’s intelligence and security service used pressure to convince police in Copenhagen to stop all anti-China demonstrations, in violation of the country’s constitution. Protesters were barred from gathering within sight of the visiting Chinese delegations. The police hid them behind buses and confiscated Tibetan flags. China had cancelled several official visits to Denmark after a 2009 “unofficial” meeting between then Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and the Dalai Lama. The commission found that the canceled visits caused Copenhagen to pursue China-friendly policies. This was evident in 2011, when the Dalai Lama visited Denmark to give lectures on management and the meaning of life. The organizers of that visit made it clear that there would be no political meetings during his stay in the country. “This issue is being discussed in the press and its being dealt by many ministerial and politicians. Several ministers have already commented that they will try to remedy these mistakes,” Anders Højmark Andersen, chairman of the Tibet Support Committee in Denmark, told RFA’s Tibetan Service. “This is the second report by the Tibet Commission which has dealt with period from 1995 to 2015, so it covers 20 years. There have been more than 200 Chinese official visits to Denmark in this period but it also deals with Tibetans’ visit to Denmark like His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit,” Andersen said. Andersen noted that although pro-Tibetan independence groups were allowed to demonstrate, they were often placed in areas where visiting Chinese officials would never run into them. “And that’s the problem,” he said. “During Hu Jintao’s visit in 2012, police even took Tibetan flags away from us in the street but we still succeeded in showing the Tibetan flag to the Chinese president fortunately”. “I think that now Chinese officials will hesitate before visiting Denmark on a very high level. And I also think they will only send lower-level leaders to Denmark in the future because now they know that they cannot persuade the police to hide us anymore,” Andersen said. He noted that Sino-Danish relations have been good since 2008 when Beijing and Copenhagen entered into a strategic partnership, but things have soured more recently. “The Danish government has realized the worsening human rights record in China and the attempt by the incumbent President Xi to assume lifelong leadership,” said Andersen. China routinely pressures foreign governments to silence criticism of Beijing, Mandie McKeown, executive director for the UK-based International Tibet Network International, told RFA in an email. “We have seen this kind of influence many times before. Most notably back in 1999 when Metropolitan Police broke U.K. law in their handling of demonstrators during the state visit of then-Chinese president Jiang Zemin,” she said. “In a high court case brought by the Free Tibet Campaign (where I worked), the police agreed they had policed Free Tibet demonstrators “unlawfully” by removing Free Tibet banners and Tibetan National flags from people solely on the basis that they were protesting against the Chinese President’s visit,” said McKeown . She said Beijing has tried to bully other governments into silence, recalling that in 2016 at least 12 governments issued a joint statement to the U.N. Human Rights Council saying they had been targeted by Chinese pressure. “Ireland was threatened with the cancelling of a multi-euro trade deal. The Irish Times reported that the Irish government had been warned by the Chinese authorities that a vote by Ireland at the United Nations Human Rights Council could have consequences for a multi-million-euro beef trade deal,” she said. “Notably we have seen China move towards a more sophisticated plan to build influence by doubling down on building their soft power and its ability to influence other countries, communities and individuals,” McKeown said. RFA attempted to reach the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Justice Department in Denmark for comments but received no reply. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Shanghai battens down for further lockdowns as city government admits poor planning
China looks set to stay with its controversial zero-COVID policy, as residents of the west bank of Shanghai’s Huangpu river flocked to supermarkets ahead of Friday‘s scheduled lockdown, and patients said they were having trouble getting lifesaving medical treatment due to testing restrictions. The city, which is home to 26 million people, is under a two-phase lockdown that saw the Pudong financial district locked down for five days, to be followed by Puxi across the river on Friday. But the Pudong lockdown looks set to be extended as the authorities grapple with a rapidly rising wave of fresh community transmission of the omicron variant of COVID-19. High-ranking Shanghai government official Ma Chunlei admitted that the government had been taken unawares by the rapid rise in infections, as the city reported more than 5,600 newly confirmed cases, both symptomatic and asymptomatic. Ma said his government was working hard to address citywide food shortages. “Our knowledge about the highly contagious omicron variant has been insufficient, we were inadequately prepared for the fast-rising number of infected patients, and our control measures have not been up to speed,” Ma told journalists on Thursday, in a rare official admission of responsibility. “We sincerely accept everyone’s criticism, and are working hard to improve,” Ma said in a briefing, adding that the government is expanding its COVID-19 testing and patient isolation facilities. ‘Dynamic clearance’ The Shanghai municipal government also sent the message to the city’s residents by mass SMS, a resident surnamed Wang told RFA. “The Shanghai government was criticized today because of the huge number of complaints we have received,” Wang said. “They started distributing emergency supplies of food yesterday, but it isn’t being distributed to every household, only to those in need.” “Actually, every household is having difficulty,” he said. “There are many people in my community, and only 100 households have been given a small amount of fresh vegetables.” State news agency Xinhua weighed in on the side of mass testing and lockdown-style restrictions, saying the CCP’s preferred method of “dynamic clearance” to contain COVID-19 hadn’t changed. And food supplies aren’t the only issue. Many patients are now unable to access life-saving medical treatment as the city’s hospitals shut their doors. A woman surnamed Zhou said her husband had been scheduled to get his weekly hemodialysis at Shanghai’s Zhongshan Hospital, but the entire area is now under lockdown. “Zhongshan Hospital has been helping us find other hospitals to go to,” said Zhou, who estimated that around 500 other patients are in a similar situation to her husband. Tests before appointments She said the problem is that hospitals require a negative PCR test before patients are allowed to attend their appointments. “We were notified that we had an appointment at Longhua Hospital this evening, but it takes 24 hours to get a PCR test result back,” Zhou said. “The results come out too late, sometimes more than 10 hours too late.” Another resident surnamed Wu said his mother was rejected for treatment for terminal cancer, and local officials didn’t allow her to leave until he complained about it on social media. “My mother was admitted yesterday … they want a [negative] PCR test result to admit you,” Wu said. “I would call the neighborhood committee but their phone was constantly busy or rang unanswered.” “Within half an hour [of my social media appeal], they called me,” he said. But Shanghai resident Zhao Ning said he knew of someone who died of an asthma attack due to the lockdown restrictions imposed on medical patients. “When he was taken ill, he called an ambulance, and his family went to the police [on guard] at the door for help, but the police didn’t help them,” Zhao said. “Another ambulance came for a COVID-19 patient next door, and they went to ask for help from them, but they couldn’t help them. Then the asthma patient died.” Shanghai has seen around 20,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since March 1, although observers believe the true number may be several times higher. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Indonesian foreign minister calls on Russia to stop war with Ukraine
During a meeting with her Russian counterpart in China this week, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said she pressed Moscow to end its war with Ukraine, citing the urgent humanitarian situation and the conflict’s ripple effects on the world economy. Her Wednesday talk with Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of an international meeting to discuss the situation in another country scarred by war – Afghanistan – focused on the war in Ukraine, Retno told reporters on Thursday. “Indonesia conveyed the importance of ending the war immediately because of its tremendous humanitarian impact, not to mention its impact on global economic recovery,” Retno told a virtual news conference from China. “I reiterated Indonesia’s consistent position, including respect for international law and the principles of the United Nations Charter such as sovereignty and territorial integrity,” she said. Retno said that, during a separate meeting on Wednesday, she also asked Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to support efforts to end the Russian invasion. “I conveyed the importance of all parties, including China, to push for an immediate end to the war so that the humanitarian crisis does not get worse,” Retno said of her meeting with Wang. Retno talked with Lavrov and Wang on the sidelines of a dialogue between Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and its neighboring Chinese district of Tunxi. The dialogue sought to stabilize Afghanistan, which is known today as an Islamic emirate after the Taliban took over following the withdrawal of U.S. forces last year. Regarding Ukraine, Indonesian officials hope negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv could be positive, she said. “Flexibility is needed so that negotiations can produce good results. And all parties must strive to end the war immediately to avoid the worsening of the humanitarian situation,” she said. During peace talks in Istanbul on Tuesday, Russian negotiators agreed to “fundamentally” cut back operations near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv, news agencies reported. Alexander Fomin, Russia’s deputy defense minister, said the move was meant “to increase trust and create conditions for further negotiations.” Despite those statements, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday dismissed Russia’s pledge, saying his army was getting ready for clashes in the east, Agence France-Presse reported. “We don’t believe anyone, not a single beautiful phrase,” Zelenskyy said in a video address to his nation. “We will not give anything away. We will fight for every meter of our territory.” Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, more than 4 million Ukrainians have fled their country, according to a United Nations report. Shuttle diplomacy Hikmahanto Juwana, an international law professor at the University of Indonesia, said Jakarta should maintain communication with all parties in the Ukraine conflict. “Indonesia can also send its foreign ministers or a special envoy to engage in shuttle diplomacy to discuss solutions [on ending the war],” he told BenarNews. He noted that Indonesia will be hosting the G-20 summit of the world’s leading economies in October, and that could be spurring the nation’s interest in seeing fighting end in Ukraine. “Indonesia through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must act immediately to make the G-20 summit a success and ensure that all heads of government and heads of state are present,” he said. Indonesia has sent invitations to all member countries, including Russia, foreign ministry official Dian Triansyah Djani said earlier. Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia has said that Putin planned to attend G-20 summit in Bali despite attempts by Western governments to oust Moscow from the grouping. Ukraine, which is not a G-20 member, had previously urged Indonesia to include discussions on the invasion during the summit. But Teuku Faizasyah, spokesman for Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had said Jakarta’s stance was “that the G-20 summit should focus on global economic issues.” Afghanistan While attending the gathering of Afghanistan and other countries during the China dialogue, Retno said she stressed the need for the ruling Taliban to open education to all children. In his own message to dialogue attendees, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged his nation’s support for Afghanistan but without mentioning the Taliban’s alleged human rights abuses, the Associated Press reported. Meanwhile on March 26, Indonesian and Qatari officials signed a letter of intent to provide scholarships and skills training for teen girls in Afghanistan, Retno said. “I expressed my hope that the ban on schooling for Afghan girls at the secondary school level can be reviewed,” she said of her statement at the dialogue. “As the largest Muslim country, Indonesia is ready to contribute to helping the people of Afghanistan, including in the field of education,” she said. The Taliban, which returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, had planned to allow teen girls to attend secondary schools, but dropped the plan last week over concerns about uniforms and the dress-code for schoolgirls. Girls can attend school up to grade six. She said it was important that the Taliban make good on its promises. “The Taliban needs to prepare a road map with concrete steps and timelines for fulfilling promises,” Retno said. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Struggling North Koreans say they are in no mood to celebrate missile launch
Following North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch last week, its first since 2017, the country’s media has been lauding it as evidence of Kim Jong Un’s leadership and bravery, sources in the country told RFA. But citizens and soldiers alike are beginning to resent the use of missile launches to praise Kim Jong Un, who is reverently referred to as the “Highest Dignity,” and would rather the government pay more attention to issues like food and supply shortages. Though it was initially believed that North Korea launched the Hwasong-17 ICBM on March 24, South Korean military authorities reported Tuesday that it was in fact the older Hwasong-15. The Hwasong-17 was involved in a failed launch on March 16 and exploded over Pyongyang, they said. “Today, while I was reading the news report in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper app on my smartphone, there was a report saying the Highest Dignity signed an order to launch an ICBM and I was skeptical whether our leader is the right person,” an official of Ryongchon county, in the northwestern province of North Pyongan, told RFA’s Korean Service. “This year, the authorities insist that the food problem should be solved by decisively increasing agricultural production. Cooperative farms are struggling because they do not have fertilizer and other materials that are desperately needed for farming preparations, but the authorities do not provide any funds,” said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons. He said that the money the government is using for nuclear and missile development could be better used to boost the agricultural sector, but the government keeps launching missiles, so farm officials are angry. In the city of Chongju in the south of the province, government loudspeakers have been broadcasting propaganda about the missile test. “It says the Highest Dignity directly guided the launch of an ICBM that could stand up to a long-term confrontation with the United States,” a resident of the city told RFA. “This is the 13th missile they launched this year alone. They are acting like kids playing war games. Is this something we should be proud of? “The authorities’ propagandize that the launch of the ICBM was carried by the handwritten order of the Highest Dignity, which said to ‘launch bravely for the great dignity and honor of the country and people’. The residents find it absurd … expressing anger at authorities who turn a blind eye to their livelihoods,” the second source said on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. Soldiers in the military also see through the propaganda, griping that authorities are telling to sacrifice their lives for the nation, just as the soldiers who launched the missile are somehow sacrificing themselves to fulfill the orders of Kim Jong Un. The soldiers and officers have been attending daily “mental education classes” where they learn that the Red Flag Company, which launched the ICBM, are elite fighters who follow through on Kim Jong Un’s orders. “The ideological education emphasizes that the Red Flag Company is a family that shares joy and suffering with the Supreme Leader. They say the Red Flag Company are dedicating themselves to defending him,” the military source said. “They are told the Red Flag Company are warriors prepared to sacrifice their lives for the Supreme Commander by following the spirit of defending the leader. “However, the soldiers who listened to the instructor’s lecture continued to have expressionless faces as if they did not know what they were willing to sacrifice their lives for. The soldiers griped about the military authorities, who were forcing them to listen to this propaganda when they needed time to rest after their grueling winter training,” the third source said. Another military source, in North Pyongan, told RFA that the officers there are not buying the propaganda. “They know that another intercontinental ballistic missile launch failed on the 16th, so they are wondering how much money was wasted again for this launch,” the fourth source said. “Rather than focusing on the development of missiles, officers believe that it is urgent for the authorities to improve the poor supply situation in order to increase the morale of the soldiers. This would also increase the actual combat power of the military,” he said. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
