Opinion – Page 13 – The Singapore Post

India successfully gains allies while confronting China

26Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

India successfully gains allies while confronting China

"Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak”. This is exactly what China seems to have put in action now. China's weakness was highlighted when it failed to effectively handle the outbreak of coronavirus in its initial stages and was caught on the back foot with the U.S., Australia and other countries blaming it and seeking an investigation.So, rather than adopting a remorseful demeanor, China portrayed itself as "strong" by displaying an aggressive attitude. Not only did the Chinese diplomats turn into "wolf warriors," but the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime also came down harsh on Hong Kong, displayed belligerence in the Taiwan Strait, South China Sea and East China Sea, and engaged in land border clashes with India.But this time, China seems to have gone too far

Pakistan’s ‘Durand Line’ is perhaps bloodier than LoC

24Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

Pakistan’s ‘Durand Line’ is perhaps bloodier than LoC

The clashes between Afghan Taliban and Pakistani troops along the Durand line - the international land border between Afghanistan and Pakistan – is now every day news.Between July and August, the Afghan Taliban have claimed that they have killed many Islamabad soldiers. The citizens of Khyber Pakhtoonqkhwa are, once again, sounding the alarm and the good old strategy of chaos so dear to Pakistan army and intelligence is becoming more and more complex and elaborate.According to locals, Islamabad is playing on the usual different tables, sponsoring both Taliban and ISIS -Khorasan. According to US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad these two organizations are each other’s’ “mortal enemies, and in the war against ISIS, Taliban have played an important role”. For more than a year the Taliban are re

24Aug

By desk teamNo Comments

Opinion, Politics, World

Anti-govt rally held in Phuket

Anti-govt rally held in Phuket ํMembers of the Phuket Liberation Group lead an anti-government demonstration in Phuket on Sunday. (Photo by Achadtaya Chuenniran) PHUKET: About 350 young people of the Phuket Liberation Group held a demonstration against the government in this southern island province on Sunday. The demonstrators began to gather at the Saphan Hin park at about 5.30pm. They held aloft posters and banners with messages such as "Sovereign power belongs to the people", "Dissolve parliament. Get out" and "Can't we express opinions in democracy?". Some of the posters showed the picture of Wanchalerm Satsaksit, a Thai pro-democracy activist in political exile abducted by armed men outside his home in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on June 4, with a message read "Forced disappearance."

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor faces new threats from militancy

23Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor faces new threats from militancy

Ever since its launch in 2013, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been facing a lot of cynical scrutiny, with the United States cautioning that CPEC projects are neither transparent nor cost-efficient, and warning Islamabad that it is subjecting itself to expensive loans under China’s Belt and Road Initiative – through which Beijing has pledged more than US$60 billion so far.However, supporters of the project, including the Pakistani government, say that Islamabad will not end up being a client state of Beijing’s, and that the CPEC is its best shot at economic development.Indeed, the CPEC has not progressed as planned, with several large projects shelved and others still uncompleted. The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to slow things down further, even though Pakistan has approved

Farooq Abdullah, Mir demand probe into Kashmiri Pandit exodus

21Aug

By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Asia, Opinion

Farooq Abdullah, Mir demand probe into Kashmiri Pandit exodus

Kashmir is incomplete without Kashmiri Pandits, said former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah demanding a probe by retired Supreme Court judges into the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in early 1990s.Replying to questions during a webinar, Abdullah said he was of the firm belief that Kashmir is incomplete without Pandits and that he would support any mechanism to bring them back honorably.Nearly 60,000 Kashmiri Pandit families are registered as migrants after the onset of militancy in the Kashmir Valley in early 1990s. Abdullah chose to blame the then former Governor Jagmohan for the exodus and said that he “took them away” on the false promise of ensuring their return within three months.Meanwhile, questioning the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and establishment of I

China asks Maldives to repay loan, an eye-opener for all debtor-nations?

21Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

China asks Maldives to repay loan, an eye-opener for all debtor-nations?

Even as the Government of President Ibrahim Solih is battling Covid-19 pandemic, facing heat from the opposition for the government’s India front, and deciphering when to reopen its tourism sector, other issues are beginning to dog the nation. Now, the Solih leadership should also be concerned about the short, medium and long-term fallouts of China asking the Maldivian state to repay at least an instalment of a massive loan granted to a local resort-owner.China’s Exim Bank has asked the Maldivian government to pay up $10 million (MVR 154 million), possibly an unpaid instalment from the total $127 million loan to former Yameen ally and parliamentarian, ‘Sun’ Ahmed Shyam against ‘sovereign guarantee.’Generally, ‘sovereign guarantee’ is extended only to government sector loans, and the guaran

The struggle for the soul of the Mekong River

21Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

The struggle for the soul of the Mekong River

In June of this year, a Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) report ranked the Mekong Basin as the world's most productive freshwater fishery, accounting for over 15% of global annual freshwater fish catch. Meanwhile, researchers at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) estimate that the contribution accounts for a quarter of the world's freshwater catch. This inland fishery is critical to the food security of tens of millions living in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, and is fuelled by the Mekong River's natural flow cycle.Typically, the Mekong transitions like clockwork around July from the dry season period of relatively low flow to an extreme wet season pulse bringing floodwaters that nourish the entirety of the basin.Each year, this flood pulse drives water from the Mekong up

19Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

Let us rise

“No one is above the law and every citizen, including the state, is subservient to the rule of law and the supremacy of the Constitution,” said the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court in his verdict on the kidnapping of senior journalist Matiullah Jan in broad daylight on July 21.The court held that the case of kidnapping was a challenge to the federal government and public office holders. “They have to demonstrably show that there is a political will to put an end to impunity for crimes against citizens and to protect journalists from harm for exercising the right to free speech,” said the chief justice. “Abduction or enforced disappearance of any citizen is one of the gravest offences,” he lamented.It is heartening to note that the reaction from civil society, media, diplomats, pol

European governments mustn’t stay mum over Baloch Journalist’s death

19Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

European governments mustn’t stay mum over Baloch Journalist’s death

It’s the same every time, the story breaks out, gets written and advertised for at least a month before it disappears from the radars of the press. The story starts with a body dumped into a river. The body of a Baloch journalist, Sajid Hussain.Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to find mutilated dead bodies, in various stage of decomposition and beyond recognition dotting the roads of Balochistan; it is part of the nefarious ‘kill and dump’ policy of Pakistani intelligence agencies highlighted many times by human rights organizations, both national and international. But this time, there was a twist in the usual plot.Sajid was dumped into a river, but the river was in Uppsala, Sweden - the place where he had fled to and asked for political asylum. “His body was found on 23 April in the Fyr

17Aug

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

Abrogation that led to integration

It’s officially been a year since the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was stripped of its special status and bifurcated into two union territories. The abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A on August 5, 2019 was one of the most talked about legislations of the 21st century across the globe, with every big player in the global state of affairs expressing concerns about the emerging situation in J&K, post abrogation.The move was highlighted by every big media house in the world. Reporters and media houses were trying to get information from the ground in J&K, but the information blockade controlled the outflow of information from the region.The media blackout, which was considered as a violation of human rights including the right to information, basically acted as a damp

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