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August
Pacific Islands divided over Fukushima water release, says Cook Islands PM
Written by Nur Yasmin
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, chairman of the Pacific Islands bloc, said that science supported Japan's decision to pump treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, but that the region may not agree on the "complex" issue.
Japan said on Tuesday it will start releasing into the sea more than 1 million metric tons of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant on Aug. 24, going ahead with a plan heavily criticised by China.
Japan has said that the water release is safe. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, greenlighted the plan in July, saying that it met international standards and that the impact it would have on people and the environment was "negligible".
The IAEA travelled to Cook Islands in July to present its findings to the Pacific Islands Forum - a regional bloc of 18 nations, whose combined exclusive economic zones span 40 million square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean, where half the global tuna catch is found.
"I believe that the discharge meets international safety standards," Brown said in a statement on Wednesday. He added the IAEA would continue to monitor the water during the discharge process.
Not all Pacific leaders had the same position and the Pacific Islands Forum may not reach a collective position, he said.
In a region that had suffered from the effects of nuclear weapons testing by outside powers, it was a "complex issue", he said. The United States conducted nuclear tests in the Pacific Islands in the 1940s and 1950s, and France between 1966 and 1996.
"This is a demanding situation for all of us, and we need to assess the science," he said.
A Pacific Nuclear Free Zone was established in 1985 under a treaty that prevents the dumping of radioactive materials.
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said in a speech on Monday that he supported the discharge, based on the IAEA report, and it was "fear mongering" to connect the controlled release of water over 30 years to the nuclear weapons tested in the Pacific.
The Fukushima discharge will be discussed at a meeting of the five-nation Melanesian Spearhead Group - Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia's ruling FLNKS party - on Thursday. (Reuters)
August
Australia to unveil Indigenous referendum voting date next week
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Australian government said it would announce the voting date for a landmark referendum to constitutionally recognise the country's Indigenous people next Wednesday as it battles a dip in support for the proposal in recent months.
Australians will be asked to vote either in October or November on whether they support altering the constitution to include a "Voice to Parliament", an Indigenous committee to advise Parliament on matters affecting them.
"Very soon, our nation will have a once in a generation chance to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our constitution - and make a positive difference to their lives with a Voice," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
"I will be campaigning for constitutional recognition. Because if not now, when?," Albanese said in a statement on Wednesday.
Albanese has staked significant political capital on the referendum. Since Australian independence in 1901, only eight of the 44 proposals for constitutional change have been approved.
Opinion polls out early this month showed the referendum would fail if it was held now, adding pressure on the government to improve its messaging. To succeed, a referendum requires a national majority of votes as well as a majority of votes in at least four of the six states.
Making up about 3.2% of Australia's near 26 million population, the Aboriginal people were marginalised by British colonial rulers and are not mentioned in the 122-year-old constitution. They were not granted voting rights until the 1960s and track below national averages on most socio-economic measures.
The referendum debate has divided opinions with supporters arguing the Voice will bring progress for the Aboriginal community, recognise the 65,000 year-old culture and "unite the nation". Opponents say it would hand excessive powers to the body, while others have described it as tokenism and toothless. (Reuters)
August
Pakistan's prayers answered as cable car survivors given 'second life'
Written by Nur Yasmin
When Pakistani villager Gul Faraz rang his family to raise the alarm that a cable had snapped and he and seven schoolchildren were trapped in a cable car swaying in the wind high above a rocky ravine, he doubted he would ever see home again.
"It is an unforgettable day," Faraz said on Wednesday, a day after army commandos performed a miraculous rescue, winching two to safety with a helicopter, and bringing the rest down on a zip line when it became too dark to fly safely in the gusting winds.
"I can't tell you what we experienced yesterday when one cable of the cable car suddenly snapped and we were stranded in the air," said Faraz, who at 20 years old was the only adult aboard, and the only person with a cell phone.
He called his family first, and then television channel Geo News, whose coverage quickly drew the attention of the world's media to the drama unfolding in the remote mountains of northern Pakistan.
It is a part of the world where cable cars and rickety rope bridges are the fastest way to move from a village on one hillside to its nearest neighbour across ravines and valleys.
The schoolchildren, aged between 10 and 16, had been coming down from their homes in Jhangri to a school in Battangi, two villages in the Allai valley, when the calamity struck at around 7 am.
The journey by cable car usually took just a matter of minutes, whereas travelling on the rough mountain roads and tracks takes hours.
It would be 16 hours before the high-risk rescue operation brought everyone safely off the flimsy car as it dangled 183 metres (600 feet) above the ground, the military said, lowering the height estimated by officials earlier but making it no less deadly.
There were fears the remaining cable could give way any time, and cries of 'God is Great' arose from people gathered around to see the children brought down on harnesses by soldiers on a zip line.
"At some point, I had lost hope that we would safely return home," Faraz told Reuters by telephone from his home, where his family was receiving visitors from villages across the region, all offering thanks for their survival.
Having dreaded the worst, Pakistan exulted with relief and pride over the daring rescue.
"Our first priority was to secure the children," caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar said, describing the feat as "near impossible".
"It was heartening to see the whole nation praying and standing united ... in the hour of need," Kakar told a news conference in the southern city of Karachi.
Those prayers were answered for Faraz and the children.
"We got a second life," he said. (Reuters)
August
On frontline island with China, Taiwan president says peace comes through strength
Written by Nur Yasmin
Maintaining peace needs a powerful defence, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday, as she made a rare visit to a frontline island located right next to China, to mark the anniversary of a key military clash with Chinese forces.
China has stepped up military activity to try and force democratically-governed Taiwan to accept Beijing's sovereignty, despite strong objections from the government in Taipei.
Tsai laid a wreath and bowed her head in respect at a memorial park on Kinmen island, at its closest less than 2 km (1.2 miles) away from Chinese-controlled territory, for the 65th anniversary of the start of the second Taiwan Strait crisis.
"Our position on maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is very firm," Tsai told veterans at a lunch, adding that there would be no Taiwan today if they had not prevailed during the crisis in 1958.
The crisis was the last time Taiwanese forces joined battle with China on a large scale.
"However, to maintain peace, we must first strengthen ourselves," Tsai added.
"We must thus continue to implement national defence reforms, promote defence self-sufficiency, and continuously improve the combat power and resilience of national defence."
In August 1958, Chinese forces began more than a month of bombardment of Kinmen, along with the Taiwan-controlled Matsu archipelago further up the coast, including naval and air battles, seeking to force them into submission.
Taiwan fought back at the time with support from the United States, which sent military equipment like advanced Sidewinder anti-aircraft missiles, giving Taiwan a technological edge.
The crisis ended in a stalemate, and Taiwan observes Aug. 23 every year as the date it fended off the Chinese attack.
It was only Tsai's third visit as president to Kinmen to mark the anniversary, following a visit in 2020 when she was accompanied by the de facto U.S. ambassador to Taipei.
Formerly called Quemoy in English, Kinmen today is a popular tourist destination, though remnants of past fighting such as underground bunkers scatter the island, and Taiwan maintains a significant military presence.
Taiwan has controlled Kinmen and Matsu since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taipei in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists. (Reuters)
August
German Foreign Minister says China a challenge to 'how we live together'
Written by Nur Yasmin
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday China posed a challenge to the "fundamentals of how we live together in this world" and Germany would work with mid-sized nations like Australia to de-escalate tension in the Indo-Pacific.
In a video address to an Australian foreign policy think tank, Baerbock said Australia's experience of trade bans imposed by China had influenced Germany's shift in policy towards Beijing.
"China has changed, and that's why our policy towards China also needs to change," she told the Lowy Institute.
While China was a partner on climate change, trade and investment, it was "a rival when it comes to the very fundamentals of how we live together in this world," she said.
"What we see is the emergence of a world of increasing systemic rivalry, in which some autocratic regimes seek to bend the international order to increase their spheres of influence, using not only military might but also economic clout."
Numerous countries were pivoting to China because they lacked alternatives, and Germany wanted to change this, she said.
Germany would not promote new confrontation between blocs, but would diversify its trading partners and de-risk, she said.
"We learned painfully how vulnerable our one-sided dependencies on Russian energy imports made us. We don’t want to repeat that mistake," she said.
Germany wanted to establish direct supply of rare earths and lithium mined in Australia, but the "risky detour" most Australian lithium took to be processed in China needed to be reduced, she said. "Mining and processing is geopolitical," she said.
Australia, which produces half of the world's lithium, is seeking foreign investment to establish local processing; it also blocked two Chinese investments in rare earths companies this year.
Highlighting the economic importance of the Indo Pacific to Europe, Baerbock said half of all container ships pass through the Taiwan Strait.
"Any unilateral change in the status quo across the Taiwan Strait would be unacceptable, even more so if this were to include coercive or military means," she added.
Germany participated in the 13-nation Talisman Sabre military exercises in Australia last month, and opened its first Pacific Islands embassy in Fiji on Saturday. (Reuters)
August
Cambodia parliament endorses strongman Hun Sen's son as new PM
Written by Nur Yasmin
Cambodia's newly elected parliament endorsed four-star military general Hun Manet as prime minister on Tuesday, completing a historic transfer of power in a fast-changing country led by his father Hun Sen for nearly four decades.
The Western-educated Hun Manet, 45, had the overwhelming backing of a National Assembly dominated by his Cambodian People's Party (CPP), following an election in July that was dismissed abroad as a sham that lacked any viable opposition.
Hun Manet told lawmakers that election was free and fair and promised he would implement the CPP's policies and ensure peace, economic growth, better infrastructure, and wage increases for civil servants and garment workers.
He lauded his father and the older generation of politicians for steering Cambodia from years of devastating civil war to an era of peace, growth and better living for its people.
"The bright wisdom, diverse experiences, pragmatism, and the levels of adeptness, intelligence and savviness that (Hun Sen) and excellencies leaders have displayed ... is a mastery of the art of leadership, one that we as the future generation can only aspire to," Hun Manet said in a speech.
Hun Sen, 71, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla and self-styled strongman has pledged to remain in politics in other roles for at least a decade, in what experts see as a move to fend off potential challenges to his son.
One of the world's longest-serving leaders, Hun Sen has expressed desire to become president of the upper house Senate next year.
Until Tuesday's address to parliament, little was known about Hun Manet's vision for Cambodia, a country of 16 million people, few of whom have lived under a leader other than his father.
A graduate of the West Point military academy in the United States, Hun Manet rose fast through the ranks of Cambodia's armed forces and has served as head of counter-terrorism, deputy chief of his father's bodyguard unit, army chief and deputy military commander.
He is also highly educated, with a masters degree from New York University and a doctorate from Britain's Bristol University, both in economics, in stark contrast to his father, who had no formal education.
Hun Manet's first months in office will be watched by major powers for signs of whether he favours a more liberal approach and improving Cambodia's strained ties with the West, or plans to keep the authoritarian status quo of his father and remain in China's sphere of influence. (Reuters)
August
UN says over 200 former Afghan military, officials killed since Taliban takeover
Written by Nur Yasmin
More than 200 members of Afghanistan's former military, law enforcement and government have been killed since the Taliban took over, the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said on Tuesday, despite a "general amnesty" for old enemies.
The mission said in a report it had recorded at least 218 extrajudicial killings with links to the Taliban from their takeover of Afghanistan in mid-2021 up to June.
"In most instances, individuals were detained by de facto security forces, often briefly, before being killed," the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said.
Senior Taliban leaders have said there is an amnesty for former government officials and members of the military by order of their supreme leader.
The Taliban-led foreign affairs ministry said in response to UNAMA that it had not received reports of any cases of non-compliance with the order and any cases that did occur would be investigated.
U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk said the killings were a "betrayal of the people's trust" since the victims had been assured they would not be targeted. U.N. rights office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said the scale of killings was "shocking" and expected the true count to be higher.
UNAMA said about half of the killings it recorded occurred in the four months after the Taliban took over, as U.S.-backed foreign forces were withdrawing, in August 2021, and 70 were recorded in 2022.
"For the majority of violations discussed in this report, there is limited information regarding measures taken by the de facto authorities to investigate incidents and hold perpetrators to account," UNAMA said, referring to the Taliban administration.
"The apparent impunity with which members of the de facto authorities continue to commit human rights violations against former government officials and ANDSF members is of serious concern," UNAMA said, referring to the old Afghan National Defence and Security Forces.
In total, UNAMA had recorded 800 incidents of human rights violations connected with the Taliban against former government employees and military including arbitrary arrests, disappearance and torture.
The majority were against former members of the security forces and police, the mission said.
The Taliban-led foreign affairs ministry said their supreme spiritual leader had issued the amnesty order and another order against torture or ill-treatment of people in custody.
It denied state sanctioned extra-judicial killings or targeting people who fought in or worked for the foreign-backed former government.
"No military staff of the previous administration has been arrested, detained or tortured because of his activities in the security institutions," it said in a statement that the U.N. issued with its report.
"Those employees of the previous administration who joined the opposition groups of the Islamic Emirate (the Taliban administration) or had military activities to the detriment of the system, have been arrested and introduced to judicial authorities." (Reuters)
August
North Korea's Kim blasts 'irresponsible' top officials for flood damage
Written by Nur Yasmin
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has lashed out at top officials for their "irresponsible" response to flood damage, saying they had "spoiled" the national economy, state media reported on Tuesday.
Kim inspected a tideland on the west coast on Monday after seawater recently destroyed an embankment with inadequate drainage system, flooding more than 560 hectares of land, including over 270 hectares of rice paddies, news agency KCNA said.
Chastising officials for their "very irresponsible" neglect of duties, Kim singled out Kim Tok Hun, premier of the cabinet, for inspecting the destroyed site once or twice "with the attitude of an onlooker".
"He said ... in recent years the administrative and economic discipline of the Kim Tok Hun Cabinet has got out of order more seriously and, consequently, the idlers are spoiling all the state economic work with the irresponsible work manner," the KCNA said in an English-language dispatch.
Such irresponsibility and lack of discipline from officials is "mainly attributable to the feeble work attitude and wrong viewpoint of the premier of the cabinet," Kim said.
This week's visit is the latest in a series of inspections the North Korean leader has made of flood-hit farmlands amid mounting concerns over a food crisis in the reclusive country.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at South Korea's Kyungnam University, said Kim's harsh criticism could herald a cabinet reshuffle. It also demonstrates that the economy is not developing as planned, Lim added.
"After all, Kim appears to be furious over the national economy not improving as much as he wants," Lim said.
The North has suffered serious food shortages in recent decades, including famine in the 1990s, often as a result of natural disasters. International experts have warned that border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic worsened matters. (Reuters)
August
Thailand's Srettha wins PM bid as ally Thaksin returns after years in exile
Written by Nur Yasmin
Real estate mogul Srettha Thavisin won the backing of Thailand's parliament on Tuesday to become prime minister, paving the way to a new coalition government and an end to weeks of uncertainty and political stalemate.
Srettha, who was thrust into the spotlight just a few months ago by the populist Pheu Thai Party, secured the support of more than half of the legislature, on a day when the party's billionaire figurehead Thaksin Shinawatra made a historic homecoming after years of as a fugitive in self-imposed exile.
Political neophyte Srettha, a former president of property developer Sansiri (SIRI.BK), will be tasked with forming and holding together a potentially fragile coalition that will include parties backed by the royalist military, which overthrew Pheu Thai governments in 2006 and 2014 coups.
Among those ousted was former telecoms tycoon and Premier League football club owner Thaksin, who fled into exile and was jail in absentia in 2008 for abuse of power and conflicts of interest. A government led by his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was ousted in a coup in 2014.
Thaksin, 74, received a rapturous reception upon his return from supporters at a Bangkok airport, before being escorted by police to the Supreme Court then to a jail to serve a sentence of eight years.
The return of Thailand's most famous politician and Srettha's smooth ascent to the top job will add to speculation that Thaksin may have done a deal with his enemies in the military and establishment to allow his safe return, and possibly an early release from jail.
Thaksin and Pheu Thai have denied that.
Tuesday's events were the latest twist in a nearly two decade power struggle between Pheu Thai, which has won five elections, and a nexus of conservatives, generals and old money families that have long wielded influence on politics and the economy.
Srettha was declared by Pheu Thai as a prime ministerial candidate, alongside Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin's youngest daughter, in the run-up to a May 14 election in which the party finished second.
An attempt to form a coalition with the election winner, the progressive Move Forward, collapsed after it met fierce resistance from conservative members of the lower house and Senators under the influence of the military. (Reuters)
August
Why North Korea's satellite launches are so controversial
Written by Nur Yasmin
North Korea appears to be preparing for its second attempt at launching a reconnaissance satellite this year, a move that may prove as controversial as the nuclear-armed country's weapons tests.
A May 31 attempt - North Korea's first such launch since 2016 - ended in fiery failure when its new Chollima-1 rocket crashed into the sea.
North Korea told Japan on Tuesday that it would launch a satellite between Aug. 24 and Aug. 31, its second such attempt this year, prompting criticism from Japan and South Korea.
Here's what we know about North Korea's race for space, and why it's so controversial:
SPACE AMBITIONS
Since 1998 North Korea has launched six satellites, two of which appeared to have been successfully placed in orbit, the last one in 2016.
International observers said the satellite seemed to be under control, but there was lingering debate over whether it had sent any transmissions.
Experts said that North Korea had used a three-stage rocket booster like the Unha-3 of previous launches, but that a new launch pad was clearly built for a larger rocket.
A senior official at North Korea's space agency said after the launch that it planned to put more advanced satellites into orbit by 2020 and eventually "plant the flag of (North Korea) on the moon".
During a party congress in January 2021, leader Kim Jong Un revealed a wish list that included developing military reconnaissance satellites.
The Chollima-1 seems to be a new design and most likely uses the dual-nozzle liquid-fuelled engines developed for Pyongyang’s Hwasong-15 ICBM, analysts said.
South Korea has recovered some of the Chollima-1 wreckage - including, for the first time, parts of a satellite - but has not released detailed findings. Seoul said the satellite had little military value.
DUAL-USE TECHNOLOGY
The United States and its allies called North Korea's latest tests of satellite systems clear violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions, which prohibit any development of technology applicable to North Korea's ballistic missile programs.
North Korea has said its space program and defence activities are its sovereign right.
At the time of the 2016 space launch, North Korea had yet to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The satellite launch was condemned by governments in the United States and South Korea as a disguised test of missile technology capable of striking the continental United States.
Since 2016, North Korea has developed and launched three types of ICBMs, and now appears committed to placing working satellites in space. That would not only provide it with better intelligence on its enemies, but prove it could keep up with other growing space powers in the region, analysts said.
North Korea could use such satellites to more effectively target South Korea and Japan or conduct damage assessments during a war, said Ankit Panda of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
On the other hand, if North Korea can verify, with its own satellites, that the United States and its allies are not about to attack, it might reduce tensions and provide stability, he added. (Reuters)