https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220331_12/ In China, COVID-19 cases have been back on the rise after a strong effort by China to quell the spread of the disease in the early stages of the pandemic when they imposed extremely tight lockdowns with strict curfews and enforced quarantining to the point where citizens were basically locked within their homes. Restrictions are yet again to be… Read more »
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/1/unfounded-hong-kong-slams-us-uk-reports-on-declining-freedoms Now that we are post Chinese takeover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom, which occurred in 1997 and resulted in Hong Kong’s status as a “special administrative region” of China, Hong Kong still has a level of autonomy officially according to China, however it has fundamentally lost its democratic functions. In a recent report, both the United States… Read more »
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/27/holdstronger-togethermyanmarrussiaparademilitary-relationship Ever since the military coup and the new regime’s cruel treatment of its citizens, Myanmar has been increasingly shunned by the rest of the world as the rebellion of freedom-fighters against the military has become an escalating conflict that Myanmar’s government has released little to no information on. Myanmar has already been facing heavy sanctions targeting the Commander in… Read more »
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-xi-calls-maximum-restraint-ukraine-2022-03-08/ In classic Chinese fashion, China has found ways to officially call itself neutral in the Russian invasion of Ukraine while still taking clearly non-neutral actions. While they do declare themselves partners with Russia (this avoids actually labeling themselves as allies of Russia), they have called for peace talks to be facilitated by Germany, France, and itself to negotiate for… Read more »
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/construction-spotted-nkorea-nuclear-test-site-first-time-since-2018-report-2022-03-07/ Ever a hanging threat, the North Korean nuclear program is one of the most unpredictable, and therefore frightening, in the world. The current closest estimate of nuclear weapons possessed by North Korea is anywhere from 30 to 40 weapons, which is still causing worldwide alarm despite this being the smallest arsenal out of the nine countries in the world… Read more »
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/3/2/taiwan-president-to-donate-salary-for-ukraine-relief-efforts Ukraine and Taiwan, both countries struggling for independence and democracy against authoritarian superpowers, have proven time and again their willpower and resilience in realizing this dream. Undoubtedly, the solidarity born from these mirroring situations is of a particular strength, which Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, along with her vice president William Lai and Premier Su Tseng-chang, have demonstrated with their… Read more »
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-work-with-asian-peers-boost-use-local-currencies-trade-2022-02-16/ Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, economies have seen a number of unprecedented shocks that have rattled what was once thought to be sturdy. Some businesses have simply died from lack of customers, while others have unexpectedly flourished with the shift from working in offices and schools to working from home. In these times, finance and economics have become very tricky,… Read more »
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/10/us-approves-major-14-billion-arms-sale-to-indonesia With its deals with the United States, France, South Korea, and India, Indonesia is taking strides to expand and buttress both its naval and air power. From the United States, Indonesia has bought 13.9 billion USD worth of F-15 fighter jets and fighter jet equipment. The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle (nicknamed the Sea Eagle) is an American-made fighter aircraft… Read more »
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/1/world-accused-of-sitting-and-watching-as-myanmar-slides-to-war In the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar, an effort to hold the military coup government accountable for their crimes against civilians and spread awareness about the military’s human rights violations is being made with the aim of eliciting a response from the international community in hopes that one day retribution will come to the dictatorship. Since the military coup… Read more »