Blogging the democratic revolution
Bill from Dawn’s Early Light let me know about a conversation between himself and Simon from Simon World discussing the future of U.S.-Sino relations. Being that Simon is both a smart guy and lives in Hong Kong, he knows what he’s talking about. Check it out.
I was bothered by Indonesia’s Abu Bakar Bashir verdict and realized it was going to amount to a political struggle in Indonesia’s six-year-old democracy, because voters there had just elected a new president who ran for office on an anti-terror platform. That sham verdict is going to pose some problems for Indonesia’s new president as terrorists grow emboldened there.
That’s the title of a new report by Amnesty International concerning Nepal. The government of Nepal should restore fundamental human rights, open a peace process based on justice and respect for human rights, protect human rights defenders and end the impunity of the security forces. The Maoists should commit themselves to respect international human rights and humanitarian law. The US, UK and India play a critical role as major allies of Nepal and key providers of military aid. AI calls on them to suspend all military assistance to the government of Nepal as a means of pressurising it to change…
I missed yesterday but today I am back on track. Daily Burma is up. It’s short and sweet but there are some interesting developments to watch out for.
This is the guy that China put into power in Hong Kong after it was handed over from the British in 1997. After some protests against him, the Party promoted him out to a position in China. Bill thinks it has something to do with preventing a democratic push in light of events elsewhere in the world. UPDATE: Looks like a lot of people are taking notice here.
Today’s Daily Burma is up and ready. Complete with link to the State Departments 2004 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for Burma and keeping you informed on the latest arrest of U Thu Wai. Thanks to Robert for letting me join the Publius team. No my site doesn’t have comments. That was originally by choice but over the weekend my server shut down comments on all MT accounts due to spam overload, so now it is no longer by choice. Feel free to leave comments here.
Zed just let me know of his latest Daily Burma post. There is a new publication in Canada that is the first in North America to print in Burmese! Check it out, he has the PDF file of one of its issues.
Rather unprecedented: President Chen Shui-bian yesterday reiterated that he will not seek Taiwan’s independence, as he and opposition leader James Soong issued a rare joint statement agreeing to put aside partisan interest in pursuit of cross-strait peace. The head of state and the People First Party chief issued the joint statement after meeting behind closed doors for more than two hours in the first fence-mending talks in four politically tumultuous years. They said in order to protect Taiwan’s interests, it is vital to “find viable solutions to the issues of importance, that being: permanent peace across the Taiwan Strait, and…
Zed is back from his break, and is keeping us up to date with a new Daily Burma. Check it out!
Reporters Without Borders has the report: Reporters Without Borders has renewed an appeal for the release of 11 journalists currently being held in prisons in Nepal. Six of those being held were among at least 16 journalists security forces picked up after King Gyanendra seized power on 1 February and declared a state of emergency. Nepal was already holding five journalists before the royal coup, making it, after China, Cuba and Eritrea, the world’s fourth largest prison for journalists. “Until they are released we will continue to urge the international community, particularly the European Union, to apply political and economic…
Virtually one of the only good sources of news that I can find, Radio Free Nepal has a roundup of the latest stories coming out of the country. And pictures. And the emergence of yet another Nepali blogger! I think we will start to see more and more of these as the crisis goes on. UPDATE: Even more! One Nepali blogger notes that the tide may be turning against the monarchy. Just look at this. I am giving King G a few more weeks. With India, US, and UK united, China is not going to even think of meddling. So…
Zed has a rather large post on the politics and news coming out of Burma, you know, the military dictatorship nobody ever talks about.
Bill Rice thinks that the joint declaration on Taiwan by the United States and Japan was timed just right. What is amazing about the event, is its timing. US Diplomacy of old would have kept such a meeting until after China had given the message of displeasure to the North Koreans. On another level, the announcement comes on the 60th anniversary (good post from Michelle Malkin here) of the Marines taking of Iwo Jima. I give both Pacific democracies credit for supporting freedom by making a strong public stance together in word and in treaty. This puts teeth to President…
I have been telling you all about Radio Free Nepal the past few days, and they have been an invaluable source of information. And like any good source of information, they have pictures: Arrests made during the democracy protest earlier. It is so hard to get a good idea of what is going on in other parts of the world until you can actually see it. A picture is not only worth a thousand words, but amplifies the impact of a given situation by that much. The Advocacy Project is also telling the story out of Nepal, and are posting…
Courtesy: RFN Radio Free Nepal has a roundup of news out of the country for today. The King has, again, cut the lines of communication, though it seems that service is coming back sporadically. The protests for Democracy Day have also been thwarted. The situation doesn’t look to be getting better soon.
In a sweeping post, The Faces of G comments on the new alignments: Several key anti-U.S. states have been more public in their movements and alignments. A week ago, North Korea boasted of its nuclear weapons. Syria and Iran get together to build a ‘common front’ Änothing new, just a PR stunt reallyÅ. Today, Russia stated it would continue to help Iran’s “peaceful” nuclear program. On Wednesday, CIA director Porter Goss warned that a Chinese military build-up could tip the cross-strait military balance with Taiwan. China didn’t like those remarks, but must at the same time walk a diplomatic tightrope,…
Radio Free Nepal has a piece up regarding the tactics that news publications are using to get the word out. After a fortnight of the Royal Coup, I would like to comment on the media and their ???????bravery???????? in publishing or not publishing about the coup. Himal, a fortnightly newsmagazine that never failed to criticize the King????????s role in the past, came up in the bravest way. The first issue after the coup was published two days ago and ran a full page advertisement and a note by editor to tell the readers that the magazine has been censored and…
Illegally blogging from his home country, the new Radio Free Nepal blog is doing news roundups and commentary on the situation there. Definitely one of the few sources of information available from there!
Want to know what’s going on in Burma? Zed has got today’s update.
Zed has posted a large roundup of the news coming out of and surrounding Burma. Check it out!
The front page news isn’t bringing it to you, but Transition Trends is: The recall of US, UK, French and Indian ambassadors from Kathmandu yesterday was a very welcome sign of co-ordinated international action to protest the royal coup there on 1 February. It’s especially welcome from the US, which seemed less than engaged on the issue recently. Recalling an ambassador “for consultations” is not the same as serious pressure like a threat to military assistance and other aid would be, but it’s a start. By the way, I’ve heard through the grapevine that the US has told the king…
From Regime Change Iran, though I wish they’d post the link to the Reuters article they cite: North Korea has sent a message of solidarity to Iran amid suspicions the reclusive communist state had boasted of having nuclear weapons to raise the stakes while U.S. attention is focused on Iran’s nuclear programmes. North Korea declared on Thursday for the first time it possessed nuclear weapons and pulled out indefinitely from six-party talks on its weapons programme, saying it needed a defence against a hostile United States. The North’s official news agency reported on Friday that two top officials had sent…
The United States will instead, as I have been predicting, defer to the regional powers: WASHINGTON (AP) – The Bush administration said Friday that it wasn’t interested in one-on-one talks with North Korea about its nuclear programs outside the six-party negotiations involving the communist nation’s neighbors. “It’s not an issue between North Korea and the United States. It’s a regional issue,” White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. “And it’s an issue that impacts all of its neighbors.” North Korea has plenty of opportunity to talk to the United States within six-party talks, McClellan said. In an interview with a…
Transitions Trends posts statements by the State Department that makes them look like they just don’t care. From the State Department: I don’t have anything new to say about Nepal from what we’ve said previously, which is, obviously, that the actions of the King, in summarily dismissing the government and declaring a state of emergency and taking repressive measures such as banning media and jailing political opponents, is something that we view with the greatest concern. This is what Transition Trends has to say about it: “Greatest concern”? As India is seriously threatening to suspend military aid to Nepal, all…
Well, duh: SEOUL, FEBRUARY 10: North Korea declared on Thursday, for the first time, it possessed nuclear weapons and pulled out indefinitely from six-party talks on its atomic ambitions, saying it needed a defence against a hostile US. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice played down the announcement, saying US had assumed, since the mid-1990s, that North Korea could make nuclear weapons. But she said it would only deepen its own isolation, and forego international security guarantees if it pulled out of six-party talks on its nuclear programme. The article contains a lot of international reactions. Japan downplays it as…