Blogging the democratic revolution
This is what happens when you let the state-owned media out into the world! They take pictures of all the lovely western women and post it all over their website. Hat tip: Danwei.
An envoy from the United States met with King Gyanendra yesterday evening to press for the restoration of civil liberties. As you may recall, the king imposed a state of emergency on February 1 and dissolved the parliament, leading to the arrest and detainment of hundreds of journalists, students, and political opponents. Constitutionally, the state…
After the demonstrations on May 1, 1000 journalists took it upon themselves to rally for press freedom in their country that no longer has it. About 1,000 journalists have marched in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, to demand the restoration of press freedoms following the royal takeover. Severe restrictions, including censorship, were imposed on the media…
The king of Nepal ended the state of emergency on April 30, two days earlier than the three month constitutional mandate. The order followed talks with India and Kofi Annan, who pressured him to restore democracy and civil liberties in the country. What followed was the emergency lifted, but the complete retainment of power and…
Since the emergency can only constitutionally last for three months though, it’s kind of by default. KATHMANDU, April 30 (Reuters) – Nepal’s king ended a state of emergency two days early, the Palace said on Saturday, but the sudden midnight proclamation does not reduce extraordinary powers he seized in February’s royal coup. Politicians said it…
I’ve been reading a lot about the maneuvering in Asia between China, India, Australia, and India. Of course, in the midst of all this, it doesn’t help U.S. policy that China has been portrayed as a capitalist boomland with the slight burden of a communist regime. Up until now, most people and even legislators have…
Gateway Pundit has a report on the arrest of 20,000 members of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) who were anticipating the return to the country of PPP leader (and husband of former PM Benazir Bhutto) Asif Ali Zardari: Police continued cracking down on Pakistan People????????s Party (PPP) activists on Thursday and arrested thousands of them…
Thomas Lifson at American Thinker has an important item out about growing unrest in China. Huge riots are occurring, not just in the remote, impoverished west, but now in the wealthier coastal cities. At issue is corruption and impunity. And with the rise of mass communications and Internet connectivity, Chinese expectations about governance are rising….
Will Franklin is looking at Bhutan’s Freedom House ranking, the king’s policies, and the newly proposed constitution. Here is the entire thing in PDF. He notes: Bhutan’s proposed constitution is ambitious, bordering on too ambitious. The beauty of the American Constitution is its relative simplicity, which has helped it stand the test of time. Bhutan’s…
Let the race begin! (Kyodo) _ The Mongolian presidential election campaign officially kicked off Friday with speeches, music and rallies as four candidate began vying for the top spot in one of the world’s youngest democracies. Until May 20, the candidates will fly or drive around the landlocked East Asian nation to speak with some…
Bizblogger reminds us that with the Pope’s passing, there are still those in China who are not free to worship as they wish. He also notes something unknown certainly to myself and probably many others. An unidentified secret cardinal. While there are 117 known cardinals preparing to select the next pope, the number could actually…
The government is still clamping down in Nepal, arresting over 500 protestors in light of planned pro-democracy rallies of several thousand. KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Nepali soldiers killed at least 50 Maoist rebels in a deadly overnight clash, the army said on Friday, as around 500 political activists were reported arrested by police during pro-democracy rallies…
There’s been a lot of talk with regards to the Iran soccer riots, and it looks like North Korea’s loss to them has triggered riots in the homeland, a rare public display of unrest! Angry North Korean soccer fans interrupted their national team’s World Cup qualifying match against Iran on Wednesday, throwing bottles and chairs…
A few significant things have happened in this arena besides the sale of fighter jets to both Pakistan and India. Secretary of State Rice has recently said that the U.S. aims to make India a world power in the 21st century. Washington: The United States unveiled plans Friday to help India become a “major world…
Hat tip to Andy for this article. The King of Bhutan, a small country located near undemocratic Nepal and India, has drafted a constitution to allow for multi-party democracy. The king of the Himalayan state of Bhutan announced the end of a century of absolute royal rule yesterday with the publication of a draft constitution…
The monarchy’s coup in Nepal continues, with demonstrators being arrested. Police in Nepal have arrested at least 120 anti-government activists across the country who defied a ban on protests to show their anger at King Gyanendra’s seizure of absolute power last month. In the capital, Kathmandu, police detained more than 40 protesters who gathered near…
Nearly two weeks ago after China passed its anti-secession law, Taiwan called on its population to protest en masse today. It is being called the 326 protest, and it hoping to pull over one million people. It is early in Taiwan right now, but over the past week, people have already started voicing out their…
“Kathmandu” from Radio Free Nepal is updating on the situation there. Things are still looking bad, but the U.S. and India are working to restore democracy as soon as possible. In another encouraging note, USA and India have told they are coordinating for early restoration of multi-party democracy in Nepal. Visiting US secretary of State…
The huge protest looking to obtain 1 million protestors is scheduled for Saturday, but some people are getting involved a little early. The story I’m going to link to has to do with the EU arms embargo, but the picture and caption is about Taiwan Some 400 drivers line up their taxis to form the…
Bruce Chang recently conducted a survey among Taiwanese-Americans living in Southern California and asked them to answer a few questions regarding Taiwan, China, and the new anti-secession law. They seemed pretty calm about it, which is reassuring to those of us on the outside. UPDATE: Last week you may remember something I said regarding the…
While the opposition has attempted to step up protests against the monarch, he has been relentless in cracking down. Some pictures are posted at Radio Free Nepal that I’ll reproduce here.
There were some reports earlier that the China-Russia joint military exercises were changed to prepare for an invasion of Taiwan. The Russian army chief categorically denied this. BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhuanet) — Visiting Russian army chief said here Thursday that the preparing Russian and Chinese joint military exercise is not targeted at any third country….
**Update 3/16** Things are quickly speeding up in east Asia. Just last week, China unveiled a law that would enable it to attack Taiwan if it tries to secede. And I have to hand it to the Taiwanese. Given their position, it may just be smarter for them to remain “part of China” and still…
This is very interesting. Edith Mirante, author of Burmese Looking Glass and founder of Project Maje once worked for Tiffany’s before her initial visit to Burma. I wonder if she had any influence here.
Just about the time that democracies start sprouting all over, Red China would like to remind everybody not to feel too good: BEIJING — China unveiled a law Tuesday authorizing an attack if Taiwan moves toward formal independence, increasing pressure on the self-ruled island while warning other countries not to interfere. The United States said…