Author: Joanne Serrieh

China’s ‘repression against all religions continues to intensify’, says US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
12Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
World

China’s ‘repression against all religions continues to intensify’, says US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday accused the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of seeking to “infuse communist dogma” into faith groups’ teachings, saying that the state of religious freedom in China has further deteriorated over the past year.China’s “state-sponsored repression against all religions continues to intensify”, Pompeo told reporters at the release of the “2019 International Religious Freedom Report”.“The mass detentions of Uygurs in [the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region] continues, so does the repression of Tibetan Buddhists and Falun Gong and Christians,” said Pompeo.Last year began with China’s formal adoption of a five-year plan to “Sinicise” Islam, a strategy to bring the religion and its practitioners in line with Party doctrine.In 2019, the Chinese government
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Coronavirus has exposed ‘US-style human rights’ crisis, says Chinese report
11Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
World

Coronavirus has exposed ‘US-style human rights’ crisis, says Chinese report

The China Society for Human Rights Studies issued a report on Thursday terming the US response to the coronavirus pandemic as “self-interested, short-sighted, inefficient, and irresponsible,” saying that it exposed the long-existing problems within the country.In the report titled, “The COVID-19 Pandemic Magnifies the Crisis of US-Style Human Rights”, the Rights group said “inequality within the US society was being fully exposed during the pandemic."“The US response to the pandemic has not only caused the tragedy in which about 2 million Americans became infected with the virus and more than 110,000 have died from it, but also caused the exposure and deterioration of the long-existing problems within the United States, such as a divisive society, the polarization between the rich and the
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India, China to continue military talks to address dispute along LAC in Ladakh
11Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
Asia

India, China to continue military talks to address dispute along LAC in Ladakh

As the commander-level talks did not result in any immediate change in ground positions, India and China have decided to continue to hold discussions at both military and diplomatic level to address the present dispute on the LAC in the Eastern Ladakh sector.“The talks at the military and diplomatic levels will continue to find a solution to the issue in Eastern Ladakh”, sources in New Delhi said.The two sides had met on Jun 6 in Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but there has not been any significant change in the ground after that.From the Indian side Lt General Harinder Singh who is the 14 Corps Commander in Leh had crossed over to Moldo on the Chinese side of the line of control opposite Chushul in Ladakh with his Chinese counterpart Major General Liu Lin.Du
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LAC dispute: China mobilizes thousands of troops, armored vehicles near border with India
10Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
Asia

LAC dispute: China mobilizes thousands of troops, armored vehicles near border with India

Thousands of paratroopers, armored vehicles, and equipment were reportedly mobilized in a military drill by China with the country saying they could be deployed “within hours” to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India in the Himalayas, where tensions have again flared.Both India and China have been at loggerheads over disagreements regarding LAC in India’s eastern Ladakh. Throughout the month of May, several areas along the LAC in Ladakh and North Sikkim witnessed major military build-up by both the Indian and Chinese armies, in a clear signal of escalating tension.According to state media reports, the soldiers and armored vehicles were transported from the central province of Hubei to an unspecified location in China’s northwest plateau, thousands of kilometers away, in “just a few h
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Hong Kong cannot tolerate any more ‘chaos’, says Carrie Lam
9Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
World

Hong Kong cannot tolerate any more ‘chaos’, says Carrie Lam

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday said that the city could not afford further "chaos" as it marked the first anniversary of the start of rolling mass protests against the extradition legislation by her government.A year ago, more than a million people flooded the streets of Hong Kong to protest a Bill by Lam's government that would have allowed people to be extradited to mainland China, where courts are controlled by the Communist Party, for trial.Lam later withdrew the Bill but the legislation triggered widespread concern that the central government in Beijing was stifling freedoms in the global financial hub."All of us can see the difficulty we have been through in the past year, and due to such serious situations we have more problems to deal with," Lam said during her w
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Alleged sexual assault on schoolgirls in Thailand prompts national reckoning on patriarchy
8Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
Business

Alleged sexual assault on schoolgirls in Thailand prompts national reckoning on patriarchy

Incessant rapes and sexual assaults on schoolgirls have shocked Thailand leading to social media unrest and intensified calls for severe “capital” punishment for sex offenders in the country.In May, a grandmother reported to the police that her 14-year-old granddaughter had been raped over the course of more than a year. The attacks, according to the child, happened several times at her school in northeastern Thailand, where she was reportedly abused by five teachers and two male alumni.Besides the assaults, the men were also accused of filming the acts and using the video clips to threaten the child, who had kept it a secret since March last year.Shortly after her story made headlines, another student from the same school reported that she too was raped by some of the suspects. She is 16
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Malaysia to go into ‘recovery phase’ until Aug 31: PM Muhyiddin
7Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
Business

Malaysia to go into ‘recovery phase’ until Aug 31: PM Muhyiddin

Malaysia's movement control order (MCO) imposed to control the spread of COVID-19 will enter a “recovery phase" beginning June 10 until August 31, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Sunday.Muhyiddin said the recovery phase is part of the country's exit strategy from the MCO, following a downward trend in the infection rate. "Malaysia has successfully contained the spread of the pandemic and will now enter the recovery phase," he said.Under the recovery, “almost all” social, educational, religious and business activities, as well as economic sectors will reopen in phases, with standard operating procedures to be adhered to, Muhyiddin said.“Interstate travel will be allowed, except for areas placed under enhanced MCO, while the country's borders will remain closed”, the prime minister s
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Lawmakers in eight countries form new global coalition to counter China
5Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
World

Lawmakers in eight countries form new global coalition to counter China

A group of 19 MPs from eight countries and the European Parliament, representing a swathe of parties from across the political spectrum have launched a new cross-parliamentary alliance to help counter what they say is the threat China's growing influence poses to global trade, security and human rights.The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China said it aims to "construct appropriate and coordinated responses, and to help craft a proactive and strategic approach on issues related to the People's Republic of China."The decision comes as the US struggles to muster a cohesive alliance to take on China's growing economic clout and as it leads foreign governments in condemning Beijing's move to impose national security legislation on Hong Kong.US Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democrat Bob Me...
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Mobile services suspiciously shut down in Pakistan’s Quetta
5Jun By Joanne SerriehNo Comments
Asia

Mobile services suspiciously shut down in Pakistan’s Quetta

Mobile and internet services have been shut down in Pakistan’s Quetta since Monday morning for unknown reasons, causing various problems to general public and the students availing online classes amidst the Covid-19 outbreak.According to the city’s media reports, cellular networks, which includes mobile services and internet went offline on Monday morning for no apparent reasons and have been shut down since.Liaqat Shahwani, the spokesperson for the Balochistan government, denied local government’s involvement in the matter and expressed ignorance on the issue.Shahwani further added that the provincial government has not requested the federal government for this measure and is completely unaware of the federal government’s involvement in the cellular network shutdown.This is not the first
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