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Asia News on Oct. 20, 2020
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
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Hey guys, I am doing a survey for my psychology lab, can you please fill it out for me? it is about the experiences of Asian people during the pandemic. Thank you so much
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Under Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan has faced censorship of media, economic crisis, critics, and opposition. However, the campaign against him tried to penetrate into discontent over the way he handled the economy, which was failing even before the global Covid-19 pandemic hit.
On Sunday, a huge number of people rallied in Pakistan’s biggest city of Karachi to protest for ousting PM Khan, whom they accused of being placed by the military in a fixed election in 2018.
PDM’s Karachi demonstration was as impressive as the one at Gujranwala. While Jinnah Garden’s was filled, several people who came late had to stand outside the premises and listen to the speech.
PM Imran Khan had many times stated that the majority of people knew the PML-N and PPP leaders were corrupt and could never gather for protest however the two rallies have tarnished the PTI’s narrative.
The protestors first rally was in Gujranwala on Friday, which was held by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance between 11 opposition parties that have joined to remove Khan from office.
The night prior to the march, the government set out on mass arrests of around 500 opposition leaders and activists, essentially from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
It’s the first time in Pakistan that all opposition political parties (PDM alliance) have joined to challenge the military’s resistance in politics.
Pakistan’s desperate monetary situation was intensified by the Covid-19 pandemic, with the nation’s economy contracting after many years.
Pakistan is viewed as having taken care of the pandemic moderately well up until this point, recording only 322,000 positive cases and 6,621 deaths in a populace of 220 million. However, there are concerns that if negligence continues then it will be tough to face the second wave.
On Friday’s rally, no social distancing was followed and no person in the group or politician was seen wearing the mask. Protestors were holding banners and masks of former PMs Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif during the demonstration.
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On Monday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released its 88-page report against North Korea’s criminal justice system, calling its arbitrary, brutal, torturous and procedure less. The report titled, “Worth Leas than an Animal: Abuse and Due Process Violations in Pretoria Detention in North Korea”, highlighted how the country has been conducting human rights violations and scrapping procedures to make way for abusive per-trial detention. The country operates through weak legal and institutional framework, and biased law enforcement agencies functioning on the directions of the country’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.
HRW’s Asian Director, Brad Adams said, “North Korea’s pretrial detention and investigation system is arbitrary, violent, cruel, and degrading. North Koreans say they live in constant fear of being caught in a system where official procedures are usually irrelevant, guilt is presumed, and the only way out is through bribes and connections.”
HRW investigated and interviewed eight former government officials, who left the country, and 22 North Koreans – 15 women and 7 men – who were held by authorities in interrogation facilities (kuryujang) since 2011, the year when Kim Jong Un took over the rule. Kim is the third generation of the family which has been ruling the country.
Former detainees said that once arrested they had no access to legal help and had no idea about the produce to be followed. They said it marked the beginning of unfolding of serval years of abuse as once the official investigation started there was no way to escape a sentence of short-term or long-term unpaid forced labor. Many female detainees reported incidents of sexual assault and even rape. They added that one could only come out of the custody through bribes and connections.
The report revealed that the captives were forced to sit still on the floor for days, ‘kneeling or with their legs crossed, fists or hands on their laps, heads down, and with their eyes directed to the floor’. Park Ji Cheol, One of the former soldier who broke rue prison and left North Korea in 2017 “If we moved, we were punished by standing and sitting, doing push-ups, abdominals, or holding onto the metal bars.”
Few of the former government officials told HRW that the Korean regime considered detainees inferior and less than animals and despised to look them in the eyes. Among other torture treatments given to detainees included, hitting - using hands, sticks, or leather belts - and forcing them to run around a yard up to 1,000 times. A former police officer said that the detainees were called by a number and not their names.
Adams said, “Former government officials told Human Rights Watch that mistreatment and humiliation are considered a crucial part of the North Korean criminal justice system. The North Korean authorities should bring the system out of the dark ages by asking for international assistance to create a professional police force and investigative system that relies on evidence instead of torture to solve crimes.”
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On Sunday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian reacted to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s recent offering to the controversial Yasukuni shrine. China and South Korea considered the shrine in Tokyo as a symbol of Japan’s World War ll military aggression as it honours 14 Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal as well as war dead. Lijjan criticises Japanese leader’s actions and called it a “negative action” and asked Tokyo to reflect on its war history.
The South Korean government “expresses deep regret that Japan’s government and congressional leaders have again dedicated an offering to the Yasukuni Shrine which glorify Japan`s past invasions,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
Seoul urges Japanese leaders to show “humble and genuine reflection” of past events through action with the launch of a new cabinet.
With the two countries (Vietnam and Indonesia), we plan to exchange opinions over how to handle the regional and global impending agendas such as cooperation for realising a free and open Indo-Pacific South China Sea issues and North Korean situations.
Japanese Cabinet Secretary, Katsunobu Kato
South Korea and Japan have a history of strained ties owning to Japan’s 1910-1945 colonisation of the Korean peninsula, where as tensions between China and Japan started building recently since China sent is military ships around Japans islands called Senkaku island. The Chinese vessel remained there for the record time, symbolising the ownership claims and in doing so, directly provoked Japan. Hence, Japan has been trying to shore up support from other regionals powers to build a united front against China, through defence and trade deals. It’s recent agreements include military and economic ties with Vietnam and Indonesia.
On Sunday evening Suga flew to visit Vietnam. The visit marked Suga’s first trip abroad since he took over the office. His foreign policy clearly echoed Japanese intensions of building stronger military alliance with the South East Asian countries in order to strategically combat Chinese growing aggression in the region.
During the recent visit, Japanese Cabinet Secretary, Katsunobu Kato, said, “With the two countries (Vietnam and Indonesia), we plan to exchange opinions over how to handle the regional and global impending agendas such as cooperation for realising a free and open Indo-Pacific South China Sea issues and North Korean situations.”
Japanese PM is flowing the footsteps of his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, and has been under pressure from his ruling party members who expect Suga to take a tough stand against China. The key agenda of Suga’s Vietnam’s visit was to diversify Japan’s supply chain, just like India, and Australia, in order to establish parallel trading ties with other countries and reduce its dependence on China. The recent pandemic lockdown, which led to cutting supplies form China, made the nations realise the need for establishing alternative channels.
Hạnh Dương
www.Vietpressusa.us
