Author: Joanne Serrieh

China’s PLA instigated most violent clash between India-China since 1962 just to grab territory: McConnell
23Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
China

China’s PLA instigated most violent clash between India-China since 1962 just to grab territory: McConnell

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) initiated one of the most violent clashes with India, since the two countries went to war in1962, just for the sake of grabbing land territory, said a top American Senator.As many as 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives on Monday in the face-off with Chinese troops who attempted to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation in eastern Ladakh. The Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the violent clash.Mitch McConnell, US Senate Majority Leader during a foreign policy speech on the floor of the House on Thursday said: "On land, for the sake of grabbing territory, the PLA appears to have instigated the most violent clash between China and India since those nat...
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Uighurs in Xinjiang face grave health hazards as China conducts nuclear tests
19Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
China

Uighurs in Xinjiang face grave health hazards as China conducts nuclear tests

Forced labour, persecution, and political indoctrination are not the only things Uighurs in China’s Xinjiang are suffering from.  Nuclear tests near to Uighur populations are the new addition leading to thousands of death.The US State Department, in the month of April, said in a report that China may have secretly conducted low-yield underground nuclear tests at Lop Nur test site despite claiming to observe an international pact banning such blasts.The report further claimed extensive excavation activity being carried out at Lop Nur throughout 2019. Though the test might come as a surprise for international community, for Uighurs it is just another one added to the long list of nuclear tests that have been conducted at Lop Nur.Urumqi, Turpan, Qumul and Korla are cities with Uighur populati
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Chinese threats to Uighurs goes beyond Xinjiang
19Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
China

Chinese threats to Uighurs goes beyond Xinjiang

After three long years, Abdujelil Emet, an Uighur activist living in Germany, received a call from his sister in China’s Xinjiang. The call was anything but joyous. It was made at the direction of Chinese security officers. Emet’s sister begged him to stop activism. The Chinese official then took the phone and said, “You’re living overseas, but you need to think of your family while you’re running around doing your activism work in Germany”. China's atrocities on Uighur Muslims, living in Xinjiang are known to the world. But now, reports have emerged which show that across Europe, exiled Uighurs report surveillance by Beijing and threats of harm to their relatives in the region if they make noise about Chinese repression.In a similar incident, France-based outspoken critic of Chinese polic
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Hong Kong protests might have serious impact on its special status ending in 2047: China
17Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
China

Hong Kong protests might have serious impact on its special status ending in 2047: China

China has warned that widespread demonstrations might have a serious impact on the Hong Kong's special status which will end in 2047 under Beijing's 'one country, two systems' principle, especially at a time when pro-democracy protests in the city are showing no signs of abetting."Many people in Hong Kong have been thinking about the future of one country, two systems after 2047. We also need to think of this -- what kind of record is Hong Kong going to bring, to win a new mandate from the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese people that it represents at that time," Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) was quoted as saying.In the name of strengthening the 'one country, two systems', Chinese authorities have recently revealed that the...
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Myanmar’s auditor general cautions own govt against Chinese loans
17Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
China

Myanmar’s auditor general cautions own govt against Chinese loans

In a startling announcement, Myanmar’s auditor general has cautioned government officials about continued reliance on Chinese loans both pre-BRI and BRI loans that come with high rates of interest."The truth is the loans from China come at higher interest rates compared to loans from financial institutions like the World Bank or the IMF [International Monetary Fund]," Auditor General Maw Than said. "So, I would like to remind the government ministries to be more restrained in using Chinese loans."Myanmar's current national debt stands at about $10 billion, of which $ 4 billion is owed to China, Auditor General Maw Than told reporters in Naypyidaw on Monday. This can push Myanmar to debt trap like Sri Lanka and some African states. The country has to repay as much as $500 million annually t
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EU blames China for ‘huge wave’ of Covid-19 disinformation
15Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
World

EU blames China for ‘huge wave’ of Covid-19 disinformation

China has been accused by the European Union of running "targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns" globally, as the bloc set out a plan to tackle a "huge wave" of false facts about the coronavirus pandemic.At the height of Europe's coronavirus outbreak, French politicians were left furious when a Chinese embassy website claimed in mid-April that care workers in France had abounded their jobs and had left patients to die. It was also claimed, falsely, that over 80 French lawmakers had used a racist slur against World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus."I believe if we have evidence we should not shy away from naming and shaming," Vera Jourova, a European Commission vice-president, said. This is the first time an EU executive has publicly named China as a ...
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Philippine protesters rally over controversial anti-terror bill
14Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
Business

Philippine protesters rally over controversial anti-terror bill

Braving the fear of Coronavirus, thousands of protesters rallied in the capital of the Philippines, Manila on Friday against anti-terrorism legislation that critics fear would give Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte sweeping powers to stifle dissent.The Bill, which has been approved by Congress and is expected to be signed into law by Duterte, would create a council of presidential appointees that could order warrantless arrests of people it deems are terrorists.It also allows for weeks of detention without charge. Activists fear the legislation could open the door to a crackdown on Duterte's opponents."They (authorities) shouldn't fool us that this terror Bill is for terrorists. It's for all of us," said Neri Colmenares, an activist and lawyer.“Groups such as the kidnap-for-ransom gang
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Tibet, Taiwan key in reforming India policies towards China: Experts
14Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
Asia, Business

Tibet, Taiwan key in reforming India policies towards China: Experts

Amidst the stand-off between India and China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), strategic experts and intellectuals said that to counter Xi Jinping’s ‘One China Policy’, India should support Tibet and Taiwan, and give Dalai Lama more visibility in India’s political circles.“India should be supporting Tibet and try that the Dalai Lama should be given a higher position and more visibility in India’s political circles. Along with this, we must begin economic and technological engagements with Taiwan, besides supporting it politically,” Director of Vivekananda International Foundation Dr. Arvind Gupta said.He was speaking at webinar titled, "Revisiting One China policy: Economic and Political Options for India: Hong Kong, Tibet, Taiwan, and Xinjiang" jointly organized by the Law and Society
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Fearful Hong Kongers rush to secure limited British passports
13Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
Business, World

Fearful Hong Kongers rush to secure limited British passports

As China continues with its plan to roll out the new Security Law, Hong Kongers are in a rush to avail the citizenship offered by Britain and leave the troubled territory.Shortly before Hong Kong was handed back to China, Simon Ng applied for a British National (Overseas) passport, a document he never thought he would need.His predicament is not new for the people in that region, as thousands of Hong Kongers rush for British passports with China tightening its grip on the territory.China's plan to impose a sweeping national security law on the city in response to huge pro-democracy protests has Ng mulling the prospect of leaving, the first time he has contemplated such action since Britain returned the former colony in 1997."Back then, like many of my peers, I thought China would reform an...
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Thailand: Protesters demand investigation of exiled activists’ kidnapping
12Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
Business

Thailand: Protesters demand investigation of exiled activists’ kidnapping

In Thailand’s capital Bangkok, protesters in held a small rally outside the Prime Minister's offices on Friday urging the authorities to investigate the suspected kidnapping of an exiled activist by unknown gunmen last week in Cambodia.Wanchalearm Satsaksit, 37, a previously little-known pro-democracy activist who fled from Thailand following a 2014 military coup, was seized on a street outside his apartment in Phnom Penh on June 4.Cambodian authorities initially said they did not have enough information to investigate, but later said they would. Thailand government officials have denied any role in the disappearance."It has been more than a week since this happened, but there has been no progress in the investigation," Jutatip Sirikhan, president of the Student Union of Thailand, said at
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