Asia-Pacific

Photo: Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) with the Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) at the Great Hall of the $3.8 billion cost of the Naivasha-Kisumu phase of the Standard Gauge Railway to be provided as part of grant financing. Credit: Xinhua/Yin Bogu.

African Countries Seek Relief from Burgeoning Chinese Loans

By Allan Olingo

In the past 15 years, Beijing has written off more than $2 billion worth of debt advanced to African countries, says Allan Olingo, an accomplished business journalist from Kenya. This article first appeared in The East African on September 17, 2018.

NAIROBI (IDN-INPS) – Some African countries are now seeking to write off their loans from China while others are offering concessions using their natural resources and assets to manage their ballooning debt.

A new report by the U.S.-based Centre for Global Development shows that China’s loans to Africa, currently standing in excess of $14 billion, continue to rise, putting a strain on borrowers and posing the risk of default.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 20 September 2018

Japan and China Boost Connectivity in Southeast Asia

Prime Minister Abe is reported to be keen to reach an agreement on specific cooperation project during his planned official visit to China this October.

Viewpoint by Zhao Hong

The author is Professor at the Research School for Southeast Asian Studies, Xiamen University, China. This article was first carried in EastAsiaForum on 15 September 2018. It is being reproduced in view of its relevance beyond Southeast Asia.

SINGAPORE (IDN-INPS) – Southeast Asian countries still face major challenges in regional market integration and connectivity. ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) plans to strengthen connectivity through the development of a series of rail, road and water links offering regional powers not only the opportunity to secure overseas investment contracts but also to shape Southeast Asian infrastructure in their favour.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 20 September 2018

Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Credit: PTI

Afrophobia and Racism Keep India Trailing Behind China

By Shastri Ramachandaran

The author is an independent journalist writing on political and foreign affairs. This article first appeared in NewsClick that claims to be an alternative to the corporate media in India on July 27, 2018, and is being reproduced by the permission of the author who give editorial support to IDN-INPS editor. – The Editor.

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi's current outreach to Africa, including his participation in the 10th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, is perhaps the right juncture to take a close look at India-Africa relations since he assumed office in 2014.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 18 September 2018

Photo (left to right): North Korea's Kim Jong-Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

A Rapper Accompanies South Korean President to Pyongyang

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK | SEOUL (IDN) – South Korean President Moon Jae-in will visit Pyongyang, the capital city of North Korea from September 18-20, 2018 with a view to encouraging Kim Jong-Un to break the deadlock in nuclear talks between North Korea and the United States. Moon played a crucial role in President Donald Trump and Kim coming together for the summit meeting in June.

Moon's office said on September 16 that the President will be accompanied by 52 government officials, politicians, business leaders and selected representatives from various other fields, according to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency.

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 17 September 2018

Photo: The UN Human Rights Council meeting room in Geneva. Credit: ohchr.org

Sri Lanka Apparently Target of an Undeclared War

Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) - In June this year, announcing U.S. withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Ambassador Niki Haley said, "We take this step because our commitment does not allow us to remain a part of a hypocritical and self-serving organisation that makes a mockery of human rights."

U.S. is leaving because the council members voted to probe Israeli killing of scores of protestors in the Gaza Strip. However, its labeling of the UNHRC as "hypocritical" and "making a mockery of human rights" would ring a bell in many Asian and African countries.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 15 September 2018

Photo: President Kagame meets Chinese President in Beijing. Credit: Paul Kagame's website.

African Critics Warn of Dark Side to China's ‘Charitable' Loans

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – There are two sides to every coin and two widely opposing views on China's offer of generous loans and grants to African countries announced at the recent China-Africa Cooperation Forum in Beijing.

At the conference, with representatives from 53 of 54 African countries, sky-high numbers were bandied about. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced $60 billion in funds for eight initiatives over the next three years, in areas ranging from industrial promotion, infrastructure construction and scholarships for young Africans.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 12 September 2018

Image: Writing hands (reformatted) Credit: The Buddhist Channel

The Time Has Come for 'Right Mindfulness' in Journalism

By Kooi F. Lim

This article is being moved in association with the Buddhist Channel (Malaysia).

KUALA LUMPUR (IDN) – Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? – also called the six sigma of information gathering are the tools taught at basic journalism schools. Every budding reporting cadet is drilled to probe issues and to deeply investigate using these methods.

But like any other tools, it is the intent of its use that decides the outcome of the application. In many cases, "intent" is the agenda of the tool owners. The intent masks what is known as media bias, which includes (but is not exclusive to) conservative bias, corporate bias, liberal bias and mainstream bias.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 11 September 2018

Photo: APFC Convener and World Vision International's Sudarshan Reddy Kodooru (with microphone) flanked on his right by Nobuyuki Asai, Program Coordinator in the SGI Office of Peace Affairs in Tokyo; and on his left by Ajit Hazra, World Vision International; and Atallah FitzGibbon, Islamic Relief Wordwide. Credit: SGI

Engaging with Faith and Faith Actors on Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development

Viewpoint by Sudarshan Reddy Kodooru

The author is Convener of the Asia Pacific Faith-based Coalition (APFC*) for Sustainable Development and Regional Director, Faith & Development, East Asia at World Vision International. The following is based on his speech during APFC's first annual meeting on August 29-31, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan. – The Editor

BANGKOK (IDN) – We live in an age unparalleled by any other and hovering at the intersection of various and often-competing forces. Any traces of the thin veneer of isolation have been wiped away by globalization. Today, we face challenges incomparable in magnitude to any previous age, many look to faith for developmental solutions.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 10 September 2018

Photo: Secretary General Shahidul Islam of the BIMSTEC has said member states, including Bangladesh and Myanmar, have shown their "diplomatic maturity" by not raising the Rohingya issue at the just-concluded Summit in Kathmandu. Credit: bdnews24.com

Foreigners Suspected of Using Rohingyas to Destabilise Region

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) – The Myanmar government has slammed a ruling by the International Criminal Court (ICC) declaring that they have jurisdiction to investigate the deportation of Rhoyingya Muslims as a possible crime against humanity. In a statement, Myanmar's President Win Myint dismissed September 6 ICC ruling as based on "faulty procedure" and described it as of "dubious legal merit".

In Dhaka, Secretary General Shahidul Islam of the regional grouping BIMSTEC told a press conference that both Bangladesh and Myanmar had shown "diplomatic maturity" by not raising contentious issues in a forum that is designed to promote economic cooperation.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 08 September 2018

Photo: Ambassador A.L.A Azeez, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva, addressing the Eighth Meeting of Convention on Cluster Munition, accompanied by his team. Credit: Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva.

Sri Lanka Takes Over Presidency of a Landmark Convention Calling for 'A World Free of Cluster Munition'

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – Sri Lanka has taken over the Presidency of the landmark Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) ten years after it was adopted, at the end of the Eighth Meeting of States Parties (8MSP) in Geneva from September 3-5, 2018. CCM is a legally binding international treaty that prohibits all use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster bombs, a type of explosive weapon which scatters 'bomblets' over an area.

Sri Lanka's presidency will run through till September 2019 when the Ninth Meeting of States Parties (9MSP) will take place. The South Asian country's Ambassador A.L.A Azeez, Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, will preside over 9MSP that, he said, "is an important turning point for my country in its move towards humanitarian disarmament".