Day: February 27, 2023

Bangkok the Center of China’s Big Train Ambition for ASEAN

Chin@Strategy

China wants to establish high-speed train service from its southern Yunnan province, across the Mekong and ultimately down into Singapore, as part of its Belt and Road Initiative aimed at increasing its access to the Indian Ocean. If it comes into being over the next decade, the network will pull neighboring Southeast Asian countries closer to Beijing. Thailand is pivotal to that plan, but some have raised questions about the wisdom of the project. Vijitra Duangdee has the details. Videographer: Black Squirrel Productions VOA

 Fear, Hope, Disappointment Linked to Indonesia-China Rail Project

Chin@Strategy

China’s Belt Road Initiative promised vastly improved infrastructure to connect people of various developing countries and promote commerce. But aside from widely reported delays, some projects had a hidden cost and unintended local impact, as reported by VOA’s Ahadian Utama in Jakarta, Indonesia. Videographers: Ahadian Utama and Indra Yoga. VOA

Corruption crackdown creates traffic jam at Vietnam Register

Chin@Strategy

Registering your vehicle in Vietnam has entered the slow lane due to a crackdown on corruption. In January, Vietnam Register Director Dang Viet Ha and former director Tran Ky Hinh were both arrested on charges of accepting bribes. The investigation has expanded over the past three months, with  employees across the country being investigated, prosecuted and fired in connection with allegations they also took bribes and forged documents to pass unroadworthy vehicles. Now the registry is even having to use 12 staff who are being probed for wrongdoing to reopen…

Questions Arise as China Constructs Thousands of Schools in Iraq

Chin@Strategy

It’s been more than five years since Iraq declared victory over the Islamic State terror group, yet much of Iraq is still reeling from its aftermath. The government says the country needs 12,000 new schools, and it’s looking to outside countries, including China, for help. Namo Abdullah reports that Iraqis are eager to see new schools constructed despite uncertainties surrounding the deal. VOA

Lawyers for Vietnamese Buddhist group investigated by authorities

Chin@Strategy

Police in Vietnam said they are investigating lawyers for the Peng Lei Buddhist Church, accusing them of violating the country’s penal code as part of their representation for the religious group. Officials from the Ministry of Public Security said the lawyers could be charged under Article 311, which criminalizes ‘abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the State’ and is often used by authorities to target dissidents and opponents in Vietnam. On Feb. 22, police in Ho Chi Minh City arrested Vo Van Dien, a YouTuber who had…

Japan, NZ Accelerate Intel-Sharing Pact Amid China Concerns

Chin@Strategy

Tokyo —  The foreign ministers of Japan and New Zealand agreed Monday to speed up talks on an intelligence sharing pact as the two island nations vowed to strengthen security ties and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region amid shared concern over an increasingly assertive China. New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and her Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, also agreed during their talks in Tokyo to collaborate on priority issues for Pacific Island nations such as climate change, maritime security and infrastructure. The two countries pledged to ensure that the Pacific…

New US House Committee to Focus on Strategic Competition With China

Chin@Strategy

U.S. lawmakers this week are launching a two-year effort to address strategic competition between the United States and China, with a prime-time hearing set for Tuesday that will include testimony from human rights activists and members of former President Donald Trump’s national security team. Representative Mike Gallagher, who will chair the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition with China, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” earlier this week, “We may call this a strategic competition, but it’s not a tennis match. This is about what type of world we want to…

House Committee on US Competition with China to Hold First Hearing

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The newly created House Select Committee on U.S. competition with China will hold its first hearing late Tuesday, with testimony from former President Donald Trump’s national security advisers and Chinese human rights activists. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson sat down with three of the committee’s members to discuss their upcoming work. Camera: Saqib Ui Islam VOA

Where Did Covid Originate? Here’s What We Know and Don’t Know

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The Energy Department’s conclusion, with “low confidence,” that an accidental laboratory leak in China most likely caused the coronavirus pandemic has renewed questions about what sparked the worst public health crisis in a century — and whether the virus at the heart of it was somehow connected to scientific research. Scientists and spy agencies have tried assiduously to answer that question, but conclusive evidence is hard to come by. The nation’s intelligence agencies are split, and none of them changed their conclusions after seeing the Energy Department’s findings, officials…

Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 370 of the invasion

Chin@Strategy

The military situation is becoming increasingly difficult around the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday as many of Ukraine’s battlefields turn to mud. “In the Bakhmut sector, the situation is constantly becoming more difficult,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly address. “The enemy is constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions for fortification and defence.” Russia’s defence ministry claimed its forces destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot near the town – the focal point of Russia’s advances in eastern Ukraine – also shooting…