Author: Yusara Askari

Why conventional wisdom giving China the military edge over India may not be true
20Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Why conventional wisdom giving China the military edge over India may not be true

It was decades ago when India and China went to war in 1962 over the same Himalayan region where at least 20 soldiers were killed on June 15 in a bloody confrontation between the two sides. One month of combat resulted in a Chinese military victory, with Beijing declaring a cease-fire after securing de facto control of Aksai Chin, an area claimed by both countries.The battle claimed the lives of around 700 Chinese troops and double that on the Indian side. But the militaries that face off in the Himalayas in 2020 are far different from those that fought 58 years ago.Conventional wisdom has it that China holds a significant military advantage over India, but recent studies from the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in Boston and the Center for a New American Security...
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Why Indonesia is reaffirming its position on the South China Sea and turning down China’s offer for bilateral talks
19Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Why Indonesia is reaffirming its position on the South China Sea and turning down China’s offer for bilateral talks

Amid recent activities in the South China Sea, the Indonesian government has reiterated its position on the rule of international law addressed to the United Nations, while declining China's offer to hold bilateral talks on overlapping claims.In a diplomatic note dated May 26, Indonesia reiterated that it is not a party to the territorial dispute in the South China Sea. “The nine-dash line map which China uses as a basis for its claims in the waters lacks an international legal basis,” it added.Beijing responded by sending a diplomatic note pointing out that there is no territorial dispute between China and Indonesia in the South China Sea.The note on June 2 said: “However, China and Indonesia have overlapping claims on maritime rights and interests in some parts of the South China Sea. Ch
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Pakistan: Number of jobless people to reach 6.65m in 2020-21
18Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Pakistan: Number of jobless people to reach 6.65m in 2020-21

Marred by economic instability and coronavirus outbreak, the number of unemployed people in Pakistan has been estimated to reach 6.65 million during the fiscal year 2020-21, compared to 5.80m of the outgoing financial year.According to the Labour Force Survey 2017-18, unemployment rate for the next year (2020-21) has been estimated at 9.56 per cent.Pakistan has the 9th largest labour force in the world which is increasing every year. During next year, the number of employed persons will increase to 69.2 million in 2020-21 from 62.1 million in 2019-20.The country is currently experiencing the phenomenon of unemployed educated people, particularly jobless graduates.The unemployment rate among degree-holders is almost three times higher than the other overall unemployed people. The reason beh...
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18Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments

India, China face off in first deadly clash in decades

The worst border clash between India and China in more than 40 years killed dozens of troops on both sides, raising tensions between nuclear-armed rivals who have increasingly been flexing their diplomatic and military muscle over a contested area of their shared border.Chinese state media described the incident on Monday night in the Galwan River valley where both countries have deployed troops in recent weeks as "the most serious clash between Chinese and Indian soldiers so far," confirming casualties but offering no further details about them.Indian government officials speaking on the condition of anonymity informed that 20 Indian army personnel had died in the fighting.As for China, American intelligence believes 35 Chinese troops died, including one senior officer.The incident took p...
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Hong Kong police blame youngsters for committing crimes under shadow of protest
17Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Hong Kong police blame youngsters for committing crimes under shadow of protest

Justifying its aggressive tactics towards pro-democracy demonstrators, the pro-China Hong Kong police are now accusing young Hong Kongers of committing crimes under the shadow of unrest.Expressing his concerns, Commissioner of police of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, Chris Tang Ping-keung said that young people committing crimes have become a trend in the territory amid protests against China.The Hong Kong police have been called out of its excessive use of forces against the demonstrators in the territory. On June 12, the police arrested 35 people protesting against China's plan to impose national security legislation on the territory.In 2019, a total of 4,268 young people were arrested, an increase of more than 50 per cent from 2018. Of the 8,057 people a...
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China reports 57 new virus cases, highest daily count since April
14Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments

China reports 57 new virus cases, highest daily count since April

China reported 57 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, the highest daily figure since April, as concerns grow about a resurgence of the disease.Through strict lockdowns, the domestic outbreak in China had been brought largely under control early this year – but a new outbreak has been linked to a meat and vegetable market in south Beijing.The National Health Commission said 36 of the new cases were domestic infections in the capital, Beijing.The other two domestic infections reported on Sunday were in north-eastern Liaoning province, and local health officials said they were close contacts of the Beijing cases.“The capital should expand the scope of nucleic acid testing for the virus”, a city government spokesman said on Sunday.  He told a news conference that Beijing has entered an “ex
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Counter China on all fronts, not just on borders, say experts
14Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Counter China on all fronts, not just on borders, say experts

As tensions continue to rise between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Indian strategists and experts said that India needs to build up its own capabilities in order to counter China on all fronts and not just on the border.“The tensions between the US and China will certainly either put us in a sweet or in a delicate position in the time to come. India needs to build up its own capabilities in countering China – not just on the border, but we need to take them on all other fronts,” President of Centre for China Analysis and Strategy Jayadeva Ranade 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 Alliance and Defense Capital
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Parts of Beijing locked down, wholesale market shut after fresh COVID-19 cluster
13Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Parts of Beijing locked down, wholesale market shut after fresh COVID-19 cluster

Beijing has returned to “wartime” footing and banned tourism, locked down 11 residential estates and shuttered a wholesale market after a fresh cluster of COVID-19 cases sparked fears of a new wave of infections.Chu Junwei, an official of Beijing's southwestern Fengtai district, told a briefing on Saturday that the district was in "wartime emergency mode".“Throat swabs from 45 people, out of 517 tested at the district's Xinfadi wholesale market, had tested positive for the new coronavirus, though none of them showed symptoms of COVID-19”, Chu said.A city spokesman told the briefing that all six COVID-19 patients confirmed in Beijing on Friday had visited the Xinfadi market.The capital will suspend sports events and inter-provincial tourism effective immediately, he said.“One person at an a
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Hong Kong government rejects UK criticism of new security law as “biased”
12Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Hong Kong government rejects UK criticism of new security law as “biased”

In a sharp response to Britain’s report criticizing China’s imposition of national security legislation, the Hong Kong government said that the report is “inaccurate and biased” and that the legislation will not curb the freedoms of anyone.The British government said the proposed security law was a clear violation of China's international obligations and a breach of the "one country, two systems" formula that has governed the former British colony since its handover to Chinese rule in 1997."There is still time for China to reconsider, to step back from the brink and respect Hong Kong’s autonomy and respect its own international obligations," British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab wrote in the foreword to his government's six-monthly report on Hong Kong.Raab said a solution to the unrest fom
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A look at China’s military amid COVID-19-induced economic slowdown
11Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments

A look at China’s military amid COVID-19-induced economic slowdown

Due to the coronavirus induced economic slowdown, thousands of demobilized People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers in big and medium-sized cities are currently facing unemployment or under-employment.Most of them, sources said, were demobilized between 2015 and 2018. Their number is said to be close to 300,000. Because of the 2016 decision, most of them were given only a lump sum payment.They were working as delivery boys, or as bearers in hotels, restaurants and salespersons in malls and shops etc. The technically qualified ones joined manufacturing units.There have been small size demonstrations asking for special help from the government by these ex-soldiers in various cities. “While not yet alarming, local authorities see these agitations as generators of negative sentiments against go
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