SINGAPORE: A 54-year-old male bus passenger was injured after a double-decker bus ploughed through overhanging tree branches along Bishan Street 22 on Wednesday (Nov 22) evening. The service 88 bus was travelling along Bishan Street 22 when it collided with a tree bough, causing damage to the bus, especially onContinue Reading
While many have expressed disappointment with the limited attention from the West regarding Myanmar’s political crisis, it is especially surprising that Myanmar’s neighboring countries have not exhibited more interest.
A perusal of Chinese newspapers – Myanmar’s most substantial neighbor – reveals scant coverage of the Myanmar population’s distress and the resistance forces opposing the military junta, the State Administration Council (SAC).
This media oversight is not a coincidence. Politically speaking, the Chinese government may be apprehensive of its citizens drawing parallels or being influenced by Myanmar’s democratic struggles, especially in an era where information spreads rapidly across digital platforms.
In a heavily censored information environment, Beijing is not interested in providing news coverage about the violence inflicted by the SAC on its citizens or footage of armed rebellions by ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) and the anti-military People’s Defense Forces.
Despite the ongoing civil war, widespread resistance and associated violence, few in China are aware of what is going on in Myanmar. And even though Beijing has significant economic and strategic interests in Myanmar and has a strong preference for stability in the country, Chinese domestic media has been silent since the 2021 coup.
Much of China’s domestic population is not interested in learning about their neighboring countries. Despite China’s rapid ascent as a global powerhouse, there seems to be limited interest in the affairs of less affluent countries like Myanmar, perhaps except from those residing in Yunnan or areas directly bordering Myanmar. Attention is either focused domestically or oriented toward more developed nations in the West and East Asia.
Some of China’s neighboring countries, despite geographical proximity and historical ties, often find themselves overshadowed in public discourse, with their challenges and successes receiving less scrutiny from the average Chinese citizen.
This has inadvertently marginalized the significance of Myanmar’s challenges, relegating them to the periphery of public discourse in China. It is an ironic situation, given the profound implications Myanmar’s stability and political changes hold for China. The woes of Myanmar – from its political upheaval to the struggles of its people – have limited resonance among the Chinese public.
But Myanmar has not disappeared from China’s domestic media coverage. The Chinese public’s primary interest in Myanmar revolves around its role as a hub for criminal networks involved in online scams.
These operations are often based in the border regions Myanmar shares with Thailand and China. These areas are marked by fragmented control among ethnic armed groups, militias and border guards and are exploited by criminal networks.
They primarily target Chinese citizens but also those from other nearby countries, leading to significant financial losses and a surge in related crime. In response, the Chinese government has intensified its law enforcement efforts, either by collaborating with regional governments or directly intervening to combat these cross-border operations.
Myanmar has garnered a negative reputation in China, with some domestic media outlets portraying the country as a “living hell.” Reports often highlight how these criminal networks engage in scam operations, drug production and rampant human trafficking, describing accounts of the mistreatment and suffering of Chinese people.
Some reports even sensationalize accounts of tourists being kidnapped from Thailand and smuggled across the border into Myanmar’s Kayin state.
Public outrage has compelled the Chinese government to adopt a more assertive stance concerning Myanmar’s internal matters. Beijing has pressured the SAC to cooperate in actions related to countering online scams. But Beijing recognizes that many territories where these scam operations are based are not under the SAC’s control.
China has also notably pressured some EAOs in Myanmar for cooperation. In September 2023, hundreds of criminals were repatriated from the Wa state across the Chinese border. At the same time, two Chinese courts have officially charged two leaders from the Wa state for involvement in scam operations. Reports suggest that more will be repatriated to China.
Amid the ongoing developments in Myanmar, China has primarily focused on matters that directly impact its own interests. The broader Chinese public seems either unaware or unengaged with Myanmar’s population and their concerns.
This asymmetrical attention from China towards Myanmar warrants careful consideration in studies of the bilateral relationship between the two countries and in assessing the future of Chinese influence in Southeast Asia.
Enze Han is Associate Professor at the Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Hong Kong.
Following last week’s gripping yarn concerning the rescue of Fiona, the loneliest sheep in the world, it seems only fair to report on another tale featuring animals in distress. My thanks to reader Paul Drew for alerting me to the saga of two pigs, Butch and Sundance, who became known in England as the Tamworth Two, belonging to the breed of that name.
It was January 1998 and the two pigs were being unloaded from a truck to meet their fate at an abattoir in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. Spotting a gap in a fence the pigs did a runner, only to find themselves confronted by the River Avon. Following in the footsteps of namesakes Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the movie, the porkers bravely plunged into the river and made it to the other side before trotting off to take refuge in a thicket. For the curious, pigs are natural swimmers.
It must have been a slow news day because the pigs’ escape became a major story in Britain and at one stage there were farcical scenes with nearly 100 journalists tripping over one another in pursuit of the elusive porkers. One newspaper called it “Pigmania”. Their escapade even became a subject of debate in Parliament.
As the pigs continued to evade the police, support for them grew and a campaign began to spare them from the abattoir. The Daily Express adopted a firm stance, boldly announcing the pigs were “too good to eat and too brave to die”. Stirring stuff. The country waited in anticipation.
The pigs were eventually captured after a week on the run. Butch and Sundance naturally became celebrities and the Daily Mail headlined its report “World Oinkslusive!”. There were assorted headlines featuring bacon and ham and with all the popular support there was no way the pigs would end up as pork chops at the butcher’s. So they were taken to a sanctuary where they reportedly spent the rest of their days “mucking about”.
The pigs’ adventure spawned a spin-off for the local economy with cute piggy dolls, greetings cards and children’s books. The ultimate accolade came in 2003 when the BBC released a film drama entitled The Legend of the Tamworth Two.
An abattoir story from the 1980s in Thailand which did not have quite such a happy ending featured a buffalo that was among a herd aboard a 10-wheel truck heading for a Bangkok slaughterhouse.
When the truck broke down outside Don Mueang airport, the buffalo decided to make a run for it. The creature was determined not to end up as meatballs in somebody’s soup. After trotting up the ramp and taking bites out of suitcases he ran into the departure lounge. When the passengers saw the buffalo thundering towards them they fled screaming and total pandemonium ensued as the creature charged around the lounge with frantic airport officials in hot pursuit.
Alas, the buffalo was eventually subdued and later continued its inevitable journey to the Great Meatball in the Sky.
This week we were greeted with the headline that “winter” has officially arrived in Thailand although perhaps “cool season” is a more accurate term. The temperature has certainly dipped in recent days and as I write this in mid-morning Bangkok it is a most pleasant 28C, but it doesn’t exactly feel “wintry”. So maybe it’s a trifle premature to dig out the balaclavas, fur coats, snow boots and thermal underwear.
Anyway it doesn’t matter what we call it. We all know Thailand has three seasons — Hot, Very Hot and Incredibly Hot.
It was Samuel Johnson who wrote: “When two Englishmen meet, their first talk is the weather.” To keep up traditions I recently had a conversation with another English ex-pat about the meteorological conditions. We agreed that one thing we miss about our home country is the four seasons or, more truthfully, three of the seasons. Promoting the English winter is a bit of a hard sell.
One thing about the UK is that, unlike Thailand, when you go to bed you can never be totally sure what weather awaits the following morning. My preferred season in the UK is spring, although that is possibly influenced by the fact that my last visit was at the height of spring which turned out to be unexpectedly sunny.
I was lucky to experience the Sussex and Dorset countryside where everything was turning green or coming to life. Leaping lambs, buttercups and daisies, blooming bluebells and babbling brooks — it was a poet’s delight.
Spring really sparks a feel-good emotion. Perhaps Thailand should squeeze spring into the calendar after all. Maybe it could be allocated a couple of weeks in the middle of February before it gets too hot. It might even cheer us up.
One reliable sign the cool season has arrived is the annual Ploenchit Fair which takes place next Saturday from 10am to 9pm at Bangkok Patana School on Sukhumvit 105 (La Salle). There is a shuttle-van to the school from Bang Na BTS station (Exit 1). Organised by the British Community in Thailand Foundation for the Needy, it’s a great way to spend the day and the beer goes down easier when you know it’s for charity.
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His photograph was selected among 21,474 entries from 96 countries submitted in 2023, with the winners announced during the award ceremony in the Netherlands on Saturday. The winner of each category receives a cash prize of €500 (US$543).
In his acknowledgement video screened at the awards, Toh said that the sobering truth was “like a man with a torn poncho, this cartoonish-looking creature is unable to escape the consequences of man-made ecological disaster and the wrath of nature”.
“I observed the creature for a while, noticing its fearful, uncertain, and sorrowful demeanour.
“Its distress was probably due to its confusion on realising the lifeless nature of this desolate vessel it is clinging onto for survival.”
The nature lover noted in the press release that nautili are known to latch onto passing jellyfish as a form of travel or to leach on their food.
“I found out from the locals that families would dump trash at a nearby mountain, which would then be scattered into the ocean during the typhoon season,” he said.
“I hope this photo conveys the impact of human behaviour on nature and the urgent need for proper sanitation for this community to bring about the much-needed change to protect our environment,” Toh said in the video.
Following his win, Toh said that he will be launching a new company, Ugly Diving, which will offer underwater photography workshops, freediving courses and underwater portrait photography.
The award is not Toh’s first. He also won the Photo of the Year prize at the Asia Dive Expo (Adex) Voice Of The Ocean Competition – an underwater photography and videography competition – in 2022 and 2023.
SINGAPORE: Online personality Kurt Tay has been charged with distributing sexual content on Telegram.
Tay, whose real name is Tay Foo Wei, returned to court on Thursday (Nov 16) to face a charge of distributing an intimate photo and video without a woman’s consent.
The 41-year-old Singaporean, who was first charged on Nov 1, is accused of sending a video of a woman performing a sex act to a Telegram chat group on Oct 27.
This was done without the woman’s consent, and with Tay knowing that it was likely to cause her humiliation, alarm and distress, the charge sheet said.
A gag order is in place to protect the identity of the victim and the order extends to the name of the chat group.
On Thursday, Tay arrived in court with his father. People lined the public gallery, giving each other updates on the court mention via a Telegram chat group separate from the one in the charge sheet.
The police prosecutor said more time was needed to complete the directions the Attorney-General’s Chambers had given to the investigating officer and asked for four weeks’ adjournment.
Tay told an interpreter that he intended to apply to the Public Defender’s Office (PDO). The judge said the PDO application was to be made within a week and an update was to be provided.
She asked Tay to have his bailor present at the next hearing for any fresh charges to be tendered. He might be given additional similar charges as well as a charge under the Protection from Harassment Act.
Tay will return to court on Dec 11.
Tay first came to the public eye when he auditioned for Singapore Idol in 2006. He later became known for his behaviour such as carrying a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) belt, getting breast implants and accepting a challenge for a street fight.
He refers to himself online as Superstar Celebrity Kurt Tay and updates his followers on his life.
If convicted of distributing intimate material without a woman’s consent, he could be jailed for up to five years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these punishments.
Ahead of a summit in San Francisco next week, Beijing has urged Washington to take immediate actions to stop US decoupling from China, .
Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account of the China Central Television (CCTV), said in a commentary that the US has been trying to decouple from China in the name of “de-risking,” “friend-shoring” and “safeguarding national security.”
“Friend-shoring” refers to the United States’ strategy of encouraging its firms to place orders in like-minded countries so manufacturers will have an incentive to move from China to these places.
That’s an issue that the US side was expecting to come up. “The US has no desire to decouple from China,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in an opening remark during a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in San Francisco on Thursday.
“A full separation of our economies would be economically disastrous for both our countries, and for the world,” Yellen said. “We seek a healthy economic relationship with China that benefits both countries over time.”
“Beyond our bilateral economic relationship, I look forward to discussing our collaboration on global challenges, from climate change to debt distress in low-income countries and emerging markets,” she said. “As the world’s two largest economies, we have an obligation to lead on these and other issues, for the people in our countries and around the world.”
The Chinese commentary raised, besides decoupling/friendshoring, five additional concerns:
The social media account is seen as authoritative as it has access to China’s high-level diplomatic information, including the dialogue during a 90-minute phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden on September 10, 2021.
Vice-Premier He said his previous discussions with Yellen has been constructive so both sides will look into more economic and financial topics of China and the US. He said he hopes to use this chance to raise some issues that concerned China the most.
He did not disclose what issues he would raise in his meetings with Yellen on Thursday and Friday. The six concerns mentioned in Yuyuan Tantian’s article are apparently meant to reveal what He would have said if he had listed them.
Back in July Yellen met with He during her four-day trip to China. After their meeting, the Chinese Finance Ministry said in a statement that the China side had made five demands to the US side.
It said Beijing was concerned by the extra tariffs, company sanctions, investment restrictions, export controls and Xinjiang product bans imposed by the US on China in recent years.
Yuyuan Tantian’s latest article, with the title “A new round of China-US dialogues begin,” elaborated these points and stretched them out into six concerns.
According to the self-description, the author of “Yuyuan Tantian” is a woman, an “experienced political and economic news reporter,” who has a PhD in Economics.
“Since the Biden administration took office, the terminology of China’s economic policy has been changing, from ‘decoupling’ to ‘recoupling’ to ‘competition,’ from small yard, high fence’ to’ ‘de-risking’ to ‘friend-shoring,’” she said in the article. “No matter how, they still refer to the so-called security issues.”
She added: “In its economic exchanges with China, the US has long generalized and abused the term ‘national security.’ Behind this, the United States’s hegemonic thinking is still at work.”
She said that the “friend-shoring” strategy, which is no different from “decoupling,” allowed China to ship more solar panels to Southeast Asia and auto parts to Mexico in recent years.
“The US wanted to exclude China from the global industrial and supply chain system. But its actions helped deepen the relationship between China and other countries,” she wrote.
On October 17, the US Department of Commerce banned Nvidia from shipping its A800 and H800 graphic chips, which can be used to develop artificial intelligence, to China. China’s orders involving US$5 billion of Nvidia chips have then been canceled.
Yuyuan Tantian saidd the US government not only failed to protect its own companies’ interests in China but also used untransparent and unfair administrative means to restrict Chinese firms from raising funds and operating in the US.
“The US side has so far added 1,300 Chinese firms to its entity list,” she said. “If it wants to work with China, it must trim this list.”
She added that it was wrong for US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to have said in August that China is “uninvestable.” She said China will continue to open up its economy while American firms must grab the opportunity to invest in it.
She also criticized the US and its allies for promoting the narrative that China’s overseas investments created “debt traps” for developing countries.
After Yellen reiterated on Thursday that the US won’t decouple from China, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying officially announced on Friday that Xi will be in San Francisco from November 14 to 17 for a China-US summit meeting and the 30th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
The Xi-Biden meeting is expected to be held on November 15, Kyodo News reported on Wednesday.
Read: Luring investment a high priority for Xi’s US trip
Follow Jeff Pao on Twitter at @jeffpao3
SAN FRANCISCO: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday told Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng she wants to have an “open and substantive” discussion on the US-China economic relationship, Beijing’s subsidy practices and global challenges such as climate change and debt relief. In prepared remarks at the start of twoContinue Reading
BEIJING: According to a report released this week, China is the world’s largest bill collectors due to its Belt and Road job, with an estimated 80 % of the loans supporting nations in financial distress. According to Beijing, the BRI, a massive worldwide network initiative unveiled by President Xi JinpingContinue Reading
Shanghai / Singapore: According to sources, China’s efforts to prevent the yuan from falling caused the chaos in the money markets last week. This pressure comes from Beijing, which is attempting to control its markets and economy during a significant slowdown. On October 31, routine month-end cash requirement in China’sContinue Reading
MANILA – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr was among the 23 national leaders who attended last month’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) summit in Beijing, marking the 10th anniversary of the US$1 trillion globe-spanning infrastructure-building program.
At the event, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced close to $100 billion in new state policy bank financing for the initiative. In a white paper published last month, China maintained “the ultimate goal of the BRI is to help build a global community of shared future.”
But the Philippines won’t be among the recipients of China’s largesse or shared future as Marcos Jr’s administration swerves decidedly away from China’s monied but troubled program for paving its global influence.
In a major development with geopolitical implications, the Philippine Department of Transportation has announced the full termination of a series of big-ticket infrastructure projects with China in favor of Japanese and Western rivals.
According to the Philippine Senate, nearly all of China’s key investment initiatives in the Philippines are now in doubt due to both economic and political factors. The upshot is a new nadir in Philippine-China relations, a dramatic about-turn from the six years of warm engagement under the pro-Beijing Rodrigo Duterte presidency.
For the Philippines, China has largely engaged in “pledge trap” diplomacy during the Duterte administration, a cynical ploy that entailed forward-deployed concessions in the South China Sea in exchange for largely illusory investment pledges. China pledged as much as $24 billion in infrastructure projects under Duterte, nearly none of which have been delivered.
Marcos Jr’s apparent departure from the BRI is rooted in deep bilateral grievances over contested territories in the South China Sea. Most recently, the Marcos Jr administration expressed vocal outrage over China’s harassment of Philippine resupply and patrol missions on and around the Second Thomas Shoal, where Manila maintains troops on a grounded ship.
Following a recent collision between Chinese and Philippine sea vessels, US President Joe Biden made it clear that America will respond to any attack on Philippine ships, aircraft or soldiers stationed in the South China Sea as outlined under the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).
From Beijing’s perspective, however, the Marcos administration has walked back its earlier commitment to pursue a “new golden era” of bilateral relations by actively courting a stronger US military presence on its soil.
Under an expanded Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), the Pentagon is set to gain access to a whole host of military facilities close to both the South China Sea as well as Taiwan’s southern shores.
Upon closer examination, however, it’s becoming clear to many observers that the BRI is under strain amid China’s economic slowdown, property crisis and various investment debacles overseas.
From its peak in 2018, China’s overall BRI-related activities are down by some 40%, according to recent reports. This is partly due to declining financing from Beijing as well as regulatory hurdles and financial fragility in various recipient countries.
A recent research report published by Boston University found that while China’s development finance institutions provided partner nations with about $331 billion between 2013 and 2021, “many of the recipients of Chinese finance are subject to significant debt distress.”
By some accounts, China spent as much as $240 billion to bail out BRI recipient nations on the verge of bankruptcy, most dramatically in the case of Sri Lanka and increasingly in Pakistan and Laos.
Heightened China-Philippine sea tensions have coincided with a virtual collapse in bilateral investment deals. Though two-way trade between the two neighbors remains robust, although largely in Beijing’s favor, nearly all of Beijing’s infrastructure investment pledges made during the Duterte era are now in jeopardy.
Just days after a Chinese vessel collided with a Philippine resupply mission in the South China Sea, Philippine Transportation Secretary Jaime Batista announced that the Philippines is scrapping $4.9 billion worth of Chinese big-ticket infrastructure projects, involving two railway projects on the northern island of Luzon and another on Duterte’s home southern island of Mindanao.
“We have three projects that won’t be funded by the Chinese government anymore. We can’t wait forever and it seems like China isn’t that interested anymore,” Bautista told a forum organized by European investors in Manila. Instead, the Philippines is now seeking alternative “better” deals from traditional investment partners like Japan, South Korea, the US and the European Union.
The Filipino official complained about the lack of financial commitment and perceived as relatively onerous terms of Chinese-funded projects in comparison to Japan’s concessional loan programs. Japan is currently developing a multi-billion subway project in Manila and several major “connectivity” initiatives in industrialized regions of the country.
In fact, the Marcos Jr administration warned as early as last year of the potential cancellation of Chinese-backed projects due to the lack of any meaningful progress on the ground. The issue was also raised during the Philippine president’s state visit to Beijing in January, to no avail of a renewed Chinese commitment.
According to Philippine Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, as many as six big-ticket Chinese projects are now being “reconsidered” due to Chinese delays, concerns over lending terms and broader geopolitical frictions.
Chinese projects likely to face Manila’s axe include the Samal Island-Davao City Connector project; the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project; the New Centennial Water Source — Kaliwa Dam Project; the Philippine National Railways South Long Haul Project or the PNR Bicol; the Mindanao Railway Project Tagum-Davao-Digos segment; and a closed-circuit television project in several cities in Metro-Manila.
“We [in the senate] convened an oversight on [China’s] ODA [Official Development Assistance], so I know that many of the ODA-funded projects are delayed due to the implementation of the right of way and bidding,” Gatchalian said in an interview.
“China’s grace period is shorter with only five to seven years compared to Japan with five to almost 10 years, which means (with China) we would need to immediately pay and it would be more expensive. Let’s compare the economics: it is cheaper in Japan,” he said.
But as the Philippines effectively pulls out of China’s BRI, the risk of a more volatile downward spiral in bilateral ties is rising. And it remains to be seen whether Japan, the US, South Korea and Europe will actually fill the infrastructure gap China had earlier pledged to address.
Follow Richard Javad Heydarian on X at @Richeydarian