Xi says Russia and China should ‘lead global governance reform’
BEIJING: China and Russia need to “lead the correct direction of global governance reform”, according to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who hailed the two countries’ partnership at a meeting with a top Russian politician in Beijing on Monday (Jul 10), state media reported. Beijing and Moscow have ramped up economicContinue Reading
Solomon Islands leader visits Beijing, highlighting US-China rivalry in South Pacific
BEIJING: Leaders of the Solomon Islands and China on Monday (Jul 10) promised to expand relations that have fuelled unease in Washington and Australia about Beijing’s influence in the South Pacific. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare met Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, with Sogavare and Li presidingContinue Reading
Why S Koreaâs Yoon just isnât popular
On May 10, 2022, Yoon Suk-yeol was inaugurated as South Korea’s president. Yoon promised a presidency characterized by “freedom“, “fairness and common sense,” and a “value-based alliance” with the United States. But one year later, Yoon’s government faces a politically divided South Korea.
Yoon’s approval rating has declined from the low 50s since his inauguration and has fluctuated between the high 20s and low 40s. While Yoon’s domestic approval improved after diplomatic visits to the United States and the G7 Summit in Japan, it has not returned to pre-inaugural levels.
Yoon has contentious relations with the opposition Democratic Party, which controls South Korea’s National Assembly. The partisan conflict has reached new heights under Yoon.
For the past year, the government and the opposition party’s leadership have not held a formal meeting. The Democratic Party has condemned Yoon’s government for approving investigations into corruption allegations surrounding the Party’s leader Lee Jae-myung as politically motivated.
In retaliation, the opposition party has advocated for investigations into First Lady Kim Keon-hee.
Yoon’s political agenda has stalled under the partisan gridlock. The proposed pension, labor and education reforms, such as greater transparency of labor unions’ auditing, flexibility in employees’ work hours, and the abolition of the direct election of the education superintendent, have stymied.
Yoon has also vetoed the Grain Management Act and Nursing Act passed by the National Assembly. With few substantive legislative achievements, even citizens supportive of Yoon’s policies have become skeptical about their successful implementation.
Yoon has also struggled to expand domestic political support because of the fractures and controversies within the government. Traditional (often older) conservative voters and more ideologically heterogeneous (often younger male) voters make up Yoon’s support base. But support for Yoon’s government among younger voters has declined.
Young voters have criticized Yoon’s government for replicating what they perceive as the cliquish governance of former president Moon Jae-in’s government. The President’s Office has been criticized for marginalizing prominent figures within the ruling People’s Power Party, including Yoo Seong-min, Lee Jun-seok and Ahn Cheol-soo, who formed a unity ticket with Yoon in the presidential election.
Controversial remarks and conduct by government members have contributed to public perceptions that Yoon’s presidency has fallen short of upholding the promise of “fairness and common sense.”
Yoon’s government has struggled to communicate its policies effectively to the broader public on several contentious political issues. After the crowd crush incident at Itaewon, Yoon’s government rejected demands for the resignation of the Minister of Interior and Safety.
But the public perceived the decision as an attempt to avoid political responsibility. The government’s proposal to implement flexible labor hours was also met with public backlash due to widespread concerns about the extension of weekly work hours for employees.
Yoon’s foreign policy has also heightened the domestic political divide. Yoon’s supporters have approved his deepening of South Korea’s strategic partnerships with the United States and Japan and more assertive stances against North Korea and China.
Critics, though, say that Yoon is escalating geopolitical tensions and sacrificing South Korea’s interests to Japan and the United States. Despite their policy merits, Yoon’s government has been perceived as making contentious policy decisions without sufficiently consulting domestic critics.
South Korea’s next National Assembly election is in April 2024. If the government aspires to a legislative mandate to enact its agenda, Yoon’s second year in office must be more successful than his first in internal governance and public communication.
Yoon’s government must display discipline in managing a more cohesive and inclusive political coalition. Government figures and officials whose behavior and rhetoric undercut Yoon’s promise to uphold ‘fairness and common sense’ should be censured.
Yoon’s government should also incorporate policymakers with more diverse backgrounds, including those outside the president’s inner circle and even his critics, reaffirming Yoon’s own campaign promise of a “big tent” government.
The government should honor its promise to prioritize “interaction” with citizens. Yoon relocated the presidential office from the Blue House to the government complex in Yongsan, symbolizing his commitment to political accessibility.
But Yoon’s daily informal press interviews were soon suspended and the President’s Office has received criticism for limiting press interviews. Yoon should resume outgoing interactions with the press and citizens.
There is some skepticism about whether open communication could persuade the public in today’s polarized political environment. But a proactive display of political dialogue and articulation of policies, even if such outreach does not always persuade critics, leaves a positive public impression on Yoon’s commitment to overcome the constraints of a divided government.
Yoon has shown improvements in his communication overseas and he should also improve his communication with domestic constituents, starting with resuming the official press conference for the first time since August 2022.
Yoon’s government will likely face continued partisan gridlock in its second year. The government must respond to the challenge with a renewed commitment to improving internal governance and public communication to be successful.
The government’s actions will determine whether constituents will endorse Yoon’s presidency with a stronger political mandate in the next National Assembly election.
If Yoon succeeds, his presidency might experience a political turnaround similar to former president Roo Moo-hyun’s government. In 2004, Roh’s government overcame low approval ratings and the South Korean legislature’s opposition to his leadership — even impeachment — in its first year to win the subsequent National Assembly election.
If Yoon fails, though, his presidency might become the first not to have a legislative majority throughout its five-year term.
Jong Eun Lee is Adjunct Faculty at the School of International Service, American University.
This article was originally published by East Asia Forum and is republished under a Creative Commons license.
China kindergarten stabbing: What’s behind spate of attacks?
ReutersWe still know little about what might have caused a man to enter a kindergarten in southern China and stab six people to death.
There are rumours swirling that it was revenge – that one of the dead adults had previously hit the attacker’s child with his or her car. But that does not explain why six died, including three children and a teacher.
These sorts of crimes can feel senseless, and yet also depressingly common.
Go back to the 1990s and things like this were virtually unheard of in China. It’s not that terrible things didn’t happen to children. They did.
There was the horrific incident in March 2001 when a school in the southern province of Jiangxi exploded, killing 41 children. An investigation found the school was doubling as a fireworks factory and the school children as cheap labour.
It was a tragedy that rocked China. There was much soul-searching about the exploitation of children and callous disregard for their safety. But their deaths were an accident.
Then, starting from around 2010, something began to change. That year, there was a sudden spate of knife attacks in which 17 children were killed.
This was something completely different. The children had been deliberately targeted to cause maximum pain and outrage.
China’s then Premier, Wen Jiabao, visited the scene of one of the attacks and immediately called for more security at schools. But he also said the underlying “social tensions” that led to such crimes must be addressed.
It was an interesting use of words. It suggests that these apparently senseless crimes do have a logic to them.
Since then, China has witnessed a significant increase in such attacks, almost always by men, almost always designed to cause maximum outrage.
In 2018, a man walked in to a packed school room in south-west China’s Yunnan province and began spraying the children with corrosive chemicals. Thankfully, none of them died. But 50 were sent to hospital, some with serious injuries.
What could cause someone to buy and mix the chemicals, then carefully plan and carry out such an attack?
It is not a phenomenon unique to China.
In 2019 in the Japanese city of Kyoto, a disgruntled man in his 40s sprayed gasoline on to the entrance of an animation studio and set fire to it. In the ensuing inferno, 36 young animators died, most of them women. The man told police he wanted revenge against the studio for stealing his ideas.
Experts say such men, and they are almost always men, fit a profile.
They have festering anger and resentment towards the society they live in, but do not feel part of.
By carrying out a sensational and violent crime, they bring notoriety to themselves, while inflicting pain and suffering on the society they hate.
But China may have some additional factors that have driven the recent rise in such crimes.
In the last two decades, China has gone through an extraordinary social and economic transition, from centrally planned socialist state to a hyper-competitive free-market economy, where some have become very wealthy and others have been left out of the bonanza.
Chinese people now joke that if you want a girlfriend, you need to have a nice car, and if you want a wife, you first need an apartment.
But this isn’t really a joke.
Men with low social status, who earn low wages or are unemployed, have little prospect of finding a mate. This has been further exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, during which millions of Chinese spent months locked in their apartments, and a youth unemployment rate that hovers around 20%.
China now has a term for mass knife attacks and mass outrages. They are called “social revenge”. Arguably, the conditions that led to the first social revenge attacks over a decade ago have only got worse.
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Dark Pink, Ocean Buffalo: Hackers and cyber-espionage in SEA
A lack of bloodshed doesn’t mean an absence of war.
For the past two years, a cyber conflict has quietly boiled across the Asia Pacific region. At the centre of the virtual fighting is a shadowy figure: known to some as Ocean Buffalo or to others as Dark Pink. Not to be mistaken for the K-pop group with a similar name, the enigmatic hacker group has been targeting government and military agencies mainly in Southeast Asia but also as far away as eastern Europe.
“Every attack starts from a human,” said Dmitry Volkov, CEO and co-founder of the global cybersecurity provider Group-IB, a private firm that works with national authorities and groups such as Interpol.
The company has been tracking the hacks and came up with the Dark Pink codename. The use of such names is a common practice in the cybersecurity sector, where analysts caution there’s seldom any true certainty in nailing down organisations that exist only as digital shadows.
Since the hacker organisation’s attacks gained public attention in June 2021, the perpetrators have infiltrated 13 entities, mostly in Southeast Asia. This spree targeted government agencies in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia and Bosnia and Herzegovina; military bodies in Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand; and religious groups, non-profit organisations and educational institutions in Vietnam and Belgium.
The latest moves triggered major concerns among international cybersecurity experts who say the scope of the attacks might be much broader than they originally thought.
But analysts also say the group is just one of many engaged in constant, simmering cyber-espionage campaigns across the region and beyond. As the world increasingly goes digital, both criminal groups and national intelligence organisations alike have pushed fast-developing techniques to more efficiently break down defences, steal information and carry out attacks of real-world significance. Sometimes, as with Dark Pink or Ocean Buffalo, the line between rogue groups and officially sanctioned activities is blurry as can be.
“There’s a lot of sensationalising around it,” Aaron Ng, senior systems engineer at CrowdStrike, another global cybersecurity firm that came up with the Ocean Buffalo name. “At the core, it is really just an extension of spycraft evolving with the times. Like a business adopting digital technologies, spying organisations across the world also have to follow the trend.”
According to Group-IB, Dark Pink seems to follow that pattern. The entity’s latest intrusion was detected in May, showing no sign of an end to its espionage campaign.
“Dark Pink has a strong focus on military organisations,” Volkov said. “They want to get military secrets and we need to think a few steps ahead if we want to catch who’s behind these attacks.”
They started off primarily as an instrument of the state.
Aaron Ng, CrowdStrike
But while the group gained publicity as Dark Pink only two years ago, there are hints that suggest its true origins could extend much further back. Threat intelligence at CrowdStrike reported the group’s attacks bear a very close similarity to the activities of what they’ve been referring to as Ocean Buffalo, a hacker entity that has likely been working since 2012. CrowdStrike believes the earlier-detected group is likely connected to the Vietnamese government – and maybe only recently turned outwards into the rest of the world.
“We have been tracking these intrusion activities for so many years, but we attribute the intrusions to the group Ocean Buffalo,” said Ng. “Ocean Buffalo has been around for more than a decade now and they started off primarily as an instrument of the state to perform domestic surveillance.”
According to Ng’s experience researching the group’s activities, Ocean Buffalo’s modus operandi matches with that of what Group-IB is tracking as Dark Pink. As earlier research already confirmed that Ocean Buffalo was Vietnam-originated, CrowdStrike has strong reasons to believe that so is Dark Pink.
The inherently secretive nature of digital espionage helps give cover to such organisations as they evolve and expand their reach. Even if groups such as CrowdStrike are confident about the origins of Ocean Buffalo, national cybersecurity authorities in Southeast Asia are still investigating the nature of Dark Pink. The group’s attacks were mostly carried out through sophisticated custom malware and “spear-phishing” emails aimed at specific users.
Both experts explained that cyberattacks almost always begin with gathering information on the data potential and internal procedures of the targeted organisation.
While Ocean Buffalo may have Vietnamese roots, Ng believes the vast majority of today’s cyberattacks across Southeast Asia are carried out by groups from China for the purposes of intelligence gathering and economic espionage.
“That often means collecting information that would help them with better foreign policy decision-making and that fits the Chinese communist regime’s agenda,” he said. “For example, gathering information about dissidents who live abroad.”
Ng added that he saw a correlation between the Chinese governments five-year policy plan and the nature of the intellectual property threats happening in the cyber-realm. He also pointed to the conflicting interests of China and Vietnam in the disputed South China Sea as another thread carrying over into the digital world.
“Intelligence is inherently political,” Ng said. “The countries would collect information that would help them with better foreign policy decision-making.”
While sharing similar perspectives on the reasons behind cyberattacks, Group-IB refrained from calling out any specific country. However, they linked the early intrusions by Dark Pink to a sequence of attacks in Vietnam and Indonesia in mid-2021.
The hacking group was seemingly inactive throughout the second half of last year. But Group-IB was later able to link several attacks on government institutions in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to Dark Pink using digital evidence gathered through the analysis of past infection chains.
“We identified Dark Pink attackers in their early stage, information gathering,” Volkov said. “That’s why we are motivated to follow their steps and find them before they get a command to disrupt some kind of military operations in the Asia Pacific region.”
What is most concerning, according to Group-IB, is that once the threat group gains access to its target, it can remain undetected and control the conquered cyberspace.
Threats are similar everywhere, but the devil is in the details
Dmitry Volkov, Group-IB
Whoever is behind Dark Pink is clearly skilled in keeping their activities original enough to remain active while getting away with their crimes.
According to malware analysts at Group-IB, Dark Pink uses spear-phishing to gain initial access and tricks users into opening a file that looks like it’s from Microsoft Word but is really a virus.
The group also uses the off-the-shelf commercial programme Microsoft Build to launch a highly advanced form of malware called KamiKakaBot, which can control devices and steal sensitive information while evading detection by anti-virus software. Through commands from a Telegram channel, hackers can use this tool to intercept key data by placing their attack between an infected system and the targeted institution.
The use of the well-known Microsoft Build and a popular communication platform such as Telegram makes it even more difficult to diagnose and prevent these attacks.
Speaking generally, Volkov said organisations should take measures to protect their systems and users from such attacks, such as educating employees on the risks of spear-phishing. He also said countries should invest more on a national level to train experts who can stay up-to-date on the rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape.
“Threats are similar everywhere, but the devil is in the details,” he said. “We need to understand how exactly these threat factors are able to bypass different security control systems. Without this knowledge, it is impossible to develop the right protection technologies and respond effectively to cyber threats.”
Given the persistent, international threat posed by groups such as Dark Pink and Ocean Buffalo, the analysts who spoke to Globe said it was crucial for governments and international organisations to stay ahead of the curve in the digital arms race.
“This is the reason why threat intelligence exists,” said Volkov. “We try to understand what happens in one region, then structure the collected information and share it with the rest of the world so other regions can be prepared in advance.”
Tony Fernandes to focus on AirAsia after selling all QPR shares, ending co-ownership of football club
KUALA LUMPUR: Capital A chief executive officer Tony Fernandes has disposed of his entire shareholding in QPR Holdings, the parent company of Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) said on Monday (Jul 10). Capital A also said that this strategic move will allow Mr Fernandes to concentrate his time and efforts onContinue Reading
UTN, Bhumjaithai against forming minority govt
The United Thai Nation (UTN) and Bhumjaithai parties on Monday voiced opposition to any attempts to form a minority government as the vote to select the country’s next prime minister approaches.
UTN leader Pirapan Salirathavibhaga said via Facebook that the party would not nominate Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha or himself for the PM post at the prime ministerial election in parliament on Thursday because it does not support the establishment of a minority government.
He said the party would not vote for a prime minister candidate from a party whose policies run counter to the constitution, especially when that party seeks to amend the lese majeste law and the three main pillars of the country (nation, religion, and monarchy).
Mr Pirapan said he assigned UTN secretary-general Akanat Promphan to propose this stance for the party’s consideration and pass it into a resolution when it meets on Tuesday.
The meeting is set to determine how the party will vote in Thursday’s prime ministerial election.
“It’s clear and straightforward and should leave no room for any interpretation. Our duty is to protect the country from harm,” he said.
Also, Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul said the party has consistently made its stance clear that it will not support a minority government and amendments to the lese majeste law.
He declined to comment on MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat’s campaign to drum up support for his bid to become the prime minister, seen by the MFP’s critics as pressuring the Senate ahead of Thursday’s vote.
Mr Pita, the MFP’s sole prime minister candidate, commands 312 votes from the MFP-led alliance and is still shy of 64 votes to be elected prime minister. He has appealed to the Senate to help make up for the shortfall, as MPs from parties in the opposite wing are not likely to break rank and vote for him.
There are doubts he will be able to get the votes he needs in the first round.
Mr Anutin said the House speaker would have to decide what to do next in case Mr Pita could not muster enough support after two rounds of voting.
He said he was not intimidated by the prospect of a “witch hunt” after the prime minister vote, noting that MPs and senators should be free to exercise their judgement.
Asked if Bhumjaithai would join the coalition if Pheu Thai, the second largest party, took the lead in coalition formation, Mr Anutin said it would depend on policies and guidelines, adding that now was not the time to consider this.
Gaming firm Razer probing âpotential hackâ after data offered for US$100,000 worth of crypto
SINGAPORE: Gaming hardware company Razer said on Monday (Jul 10) that it is investigating a potential hack that affected its digital wallet Razer Gold, which customers use to purchase games and in-game content. This comes about three years after Razer suffered a cybersecurity breach that led to the personal information,Continue Reading
Bangkok sewers ‘ready’ for the rain
City Hall has made repairs in more than 500 of 700 areas at high risk of flooding in Bangkok, with officials stating that most low-lying areas can be drained within an hour.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said that Monday’s heavy rain had flooded many areas in the city with the highest water level of 38mm recorded in the Thon Buri area.
The deluge was reported to have caused congestion Monday morning on Chaeng Watthana Road, Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Bang Khen Roundabout and Rat Burana Road, among others. However, most floodwater was drained within an hour.
Mr Chadchart said that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) had been continuously dredging the drainage system all across the city. However, work was delayed due to many staff from the operation team falling ill with Covid-19.
”More than 500 of 700 flood-prone spots in Bangkok have been fixed and many water pumps were installed to help drain city floods as soon as possible,” he said.
Mr Chadchart also assigned related agencies to handle city floods and look out for commercial and household waste not properly disposed of along the drainage system.
To solve the flood issue in the long run, Mr Chadchart said that the BMA has drafted a blueprint for a newly-designed drainage network flowing out of the city via canals or water tunnels. However, canal communities remain a challenge as dredging often affects the areas they inhabit, he said.
Mr Chadchart said it is crucial to relocate the people living around canals to areas where they can have houses on firm foundations. The BMA will work with the Royal Irrigation Department to improve canal dredging as well as canal community relocation, he said
On Monday the Bangkok Flood Control Centre reported that, from 6-6.30am, Bangkok had moderate rain in Thon Buri areas along the Chao Phraya River, Bang Sue district, Chatuchak district, Phaya Thai district, Ratchathewi district and Pathumwan district.
Bang Bon district was reported as the area with the most rainfall, 37.5-38.5mm.
No decision on Pita’s shareholding yet
The Election Commission has not decided whether to send the iTV shareholding case of prime ministerial candidate Pita Limcharoenrat to the Constitution Court, according to its chair.
EC chairman Ittiporn Boonpracong said after the commission’s meeting on Monday evening that the commission only followed up progress from its fact-finding committee looking into the case of Mr Pita.
The EC earlier received complaints about Mr Pita’s eligibility for political office regarding his past shareholding in iTV.
The commission was asked to forward the case to the Constitution Court which could rule on Mr Pita’s eligibility for political office. If the court accepts the case, it can suspend Mr Pita from political roles pending its ruling.
The constitution prohibits a shareholder of a media organisation from running in a general election. Anyone who runs in a general election while knowing he is unqualified is liable to an imprisonment, fine and political ban. Mr Pita earlier said he had 42,000 shares in iTV only in his capacity as the executor of his late father’s estate.
Mr Pita is the leader and prime ministerial candidate of the election-winning Move Forward Party. MFP and its seven coalition allies agreed to nominate him as prime minister for the House and the Senate to vote on Thursday.
The eight coalition allies had 312 votes in the House and needed at least 64 votes in his favour from senators to secure Mr Pita’s premiership.
The constitution allows 250 senators to join 500 House representatives in voting for a prime ministerial candidate. A prime minister needs support from the majority of the two houses or at least 376 votes from their joint sitting.
On Monday Mr Pita wrote to the EC to ask it to listen to his defence on the iTV shareholding controversy.
In a TV programme interview on Monday Mr Pita refused to reveal the number of senators who would vote for him. He said negotiations with senators were making good progress.
As some senators disagreed with his party’s policy to amend the lese majeste law, Mr Pita said his party only intended to prevent any abuse of the law.
Some senators also said they could abstain in the prime ministerial vote due to the questioned qualification of Mr Pita in running in the general election.
Mr Pita declined to comment on a possible solution in case he fails to gather enough votes for his premiership from the House and the Senate.
The Move Forward Party leader on Sunday said he hoped the House and the Senate would vote in line with the people’s choice in the May 14 general election.