Month: April 2018

Members of Pakistan’s Hazara community, a minority Shi’ite sect, are on a hunger strike for a third day against the targeted killings their community has faced for years.

 

The number of killings has recently increased, with four separate attacks in April alone.

 

“I want to request army chief (Qamar Javed) Bajwa to come here as a common man, as a father, as a husband, and feel our pain. We have 3,000 widows and 10,000 orphans. Face them. Tell them why their loved ones are being killed,” said Jalila Haider, a lawyer and a human rights activist belonging to the community.

 

“Who are these people who come and shoot our youth despite the presence of security check posts,” asked Raheela Haider, another striker. “We want to find out who they are.”

 

Provincial Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti visited the hunger strike camp late Sunday and assured Haider and others that the regional government was taking steps to arrest elements involved in the targeted killings. Haider, however, rejected Bugti’s request to end the strike.

 

Thousands of Hazaras have been killed in bomb blasts or shootings over the last two decades. Sunni militant groups have taken responsibility for most of those incidents.

 

In most of the attacks, the assailants managed to escape.

 

The Hazaras reside primarily in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. In Pakistan, Shi’ites are a regular target of Sunni militant groups. Hazaras seem to bear the brunt of that violence since their distinctive facial features, a mixture of Mongolian and Central Asian ancestry, make them easily identifiable. In addition, many of them live in two large clusters in Quetta and have limited routes out of their communities, making attacks easier to plan.

 

Over time, the government tried to protect their main communities in Quetta, the capital of the restive Balochistan province, by putting walls around their neighborhoods guarded at the entrance by Frontier Constabulary, a paramilitary force.

 

Hazaras complain that their neighborhoods have turned into large prisons, where they are free to move about as long as they do not step outside. If they do, to conduct business or pursue their education, they risk death.

 

Last year, a high school graduate, Ali Haris, told VOA that up to 80 percent of his high school class gave up the prospect of a university education out of fear. To go to college, they would have to leave the safety of their protected community and travel through parts of the city where Hazaras regularly become targets.

 

Pakistan’s National Commission of Human Rights (NCHR), established in 2012 to meet the country’s international obligations, said in a recent report that more than 700 Hazaras were killed in various incidents of terrorism in Quetta in the last five years.
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Vietnam sounded off twice last week against China over a long-festering maritime sovereignty dispute, after months of silence. But analysts expect to see angry phases like this one alternate more often with silent ones.

The foreign ministry in Vietnam said on April 24 China violated Vietnamese sovereignty by installing military jamming equipment in the disputed sea’s Paracel Islands. The equipment could disrupt Vietnamese flights and its own military activity, said Carl Thayer, Southeast Asia-specialized emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

The State-run oil firm PetroVietnam said the same day tension in the South China Sea would hamper offshore exploration for fuel under the ocean floor. Pressure from China has spiked two exploration efforts since mid-2017, analysts say. A Vietnamese driller is now planning a $4.6 billion natural gas exploration project with ExxonMobil.

But Vietnam had said little against China over the past seven months, even during China’s high-profile naval exercises in March and when China rapped a visit to Vietnam by a U.S. aircraft carrier. It increasingly values economic ties with China and looks to political channels for solving disputes, analysts say.

“Internally the leaders have to be constantly weighing what China’s reaction will be under particular circumstances,” Thayer said. “If they’re looking for something, they may not want to rock the boat and move more cautiously. So it’s tactical, but it’s that constant weighing of ‘have we gone too far or not done enough,’ and looking at internal pressure.”

Quiet periods

Vietnam and China contest parts of the South China Sea off the 3,444-kilometer-long Vietnamese coast. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines also claim all or parts of the sea that covers 3.5 million square kilometers including prime fisheries and fossil fuel reserves. China claims about 90 percent of the sea, but the other countries rarely speak out.

Analysts often look to Vietnam first for any outcry against Chinese military expansion in the sea’s Paracel and Spratly island chains. But, until last week, Vietnam had withheld virulent criticism of China since condemning military exercises in August 2017. It wants a stronger economic and political relationship, some scholars say.

“There’s some balancing mechanism, so it’s a hot and cold relationship,” said Eduardo Araral, associate professor in the National University of Singapore’s public policy school. “But I do not expect the Vietnamese government to go out of its way to criticize China, because it’s a very delicate situation.”

Vietnam counts China as a source of tourism and raw materials for manufacturing. A year ago Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang visited China to push for opening Chinese markets to more Vietnamese goods, augmenting a $72 billion two-way trade relationship that Vietnam calls its largest.

 

Focus on diplomatic ties

Vietnam may withhold some hostility in view of deepening official relations with China, Thayer said. The two militaries have done 23 joint patrols in the shared Gulf of Tonkin, with the latest ending in December, for example. They have also explored for oil together and live by a Gulf of Tonkin fisheries deal.

The two communist parties often meet to stop disputes from escalating, another factor keeping Vietnam quiet at times, Araral said. Vietnamese party Politburo member Nguyen Van Binh met Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan in mid-April to talk about increasing “high-level meetings” and improving “practical cooperation.”

China has tried to make peace through economic ties with all the Southeast Asian maritime claimants since 2016, when a world arbitration court ruled against the legal basis for the Chinese maritime claims.

Criticism against Chinese maritime claims would also expose Vietnam’s violations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), said Euan Graham, international security director with the Lowy Institute for International Policy. Both countries claim waters and islets beyond their internationally recognized exclusive economic zones extending 370 kilometers offshore.

“Vietnam is obviously the one that would be most likely to push back, but then Vietnam also I think has difficulties in reconciling its claim with UNCLOS,” Graham said.

Pressure to speak out

The two sides got into deadly clashes in 1974 and 1988 over competing maritime claims. In 2014 the two sides rammed each other’s boats as China allowed an oil firm to position its rig in a disputed tract. Many ordinary Vietnamese, some also wary of China due to a border war in the 1970s, rioted then against China.

The deadly riots point to continued anti-China sentiments in Vietnam, where some consumers say they’re still so upset they avoid Chinese goods when shopping. Vietnamese activists still demonstrate every year against Chinese Paracel occupation.

Vietnam stopped the 2014 riots after 21 people died. But the government “would not stop their citizens from rampaging in the streets if there’s some issues with China” such as another oil exploration tiff, Araral said.
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Vietnam sounded off twice last week against China over a long-festering maritime sovereignty dispute, after months of silence. But analysts expect to see angry phases like this one alternate more often with silent ones.

The foreign ministry in Vietnam said on April 24 China violated Vietnamese sovereignty by installing military jamming equipment in the disputed sea’s Paracel Islands. The equipment could disrupt Vietnamese flights and its own military activity, said Carl Thayer, Southeast Asia-specialized emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

The State-run oil firm PetroVietnam said the same day tension in the South China Sea would hamper offshore exploration for fuel under the ocean floor. Pressure from China has spiked two exploration efforts since mid-2017, analysts say. A Vietnamese driller is now planning a $4.6 billion natural gas exploration project with ExxonMobil.

But Vietnam had said little against China over the past seven months, even during China’s high-profile naval exercises in March and when China rapped a visit to Vietnam by a U.S. aircraft carrier. It increasingly values economic ties with China and looks to political channels for solving disputes, analysts say.

“Internally the leaders have to be constantly weighing what China’s reaction will be under particular circumstances,” Thayer said. “If they’re looking for something, they may not want to rock the boat and move more cautiously. So it’s tactical, but it’s that constant weighing of ‘have we gone too far or not done enough,’ and looking at internal pressure.”

Quiet periods

Vietnam and China contest parts of the South China Sea off the 3,444-kilometer-long Vietnamese coast. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines also claim all or parts of the sea that covers 3.5 million square kilometers including prime fisheries and fossil fuel reserves. China claims about 90 percent of the sea, but the other countries rarely speak out.

Analysts often look to Vietnam first for any outcry against Chinese military expansion in the sea’s Paracel and Spratly island chains. But, until last week, Vietnam had withheld virulent criticism of China since condemning military exercises in August 2017. It wants a stronger economic and political relationship, some scholars say.

“There’s some balancing mechanism, so it’s a hot and cold relationship,” said Eduardo Araral, associate professor in the National University of Singapore’s public policy school. “But I do not expect the Vietnamese government to go out of its way to criticize China, because it’s a very delicate situation.”

Vietnam counts China as a source of tourism and raw materials for manufacturing. A year ago Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang visited China to push for opening Chinese markets to more Vietnamese goods, augmenting a $72 billion two-way trade relationship that Vietnam calls its largest.

 

Focus on diplomatic ties

Vietnam may withhold some hostility in view of deepening official relations with China, Thayer said. The two militaries have done 23 joint patrols in the shared Gulf of Tonkin, with the latest ending in December, for example. They have also explored for oil together and live by a Gulf of Tonkin fisheries deal.

The two communist parties often meet to stop disputes from escalating, another factor keeping Vietnam quiet at times, Araral said. Vietnamese party Politburo member Nguyen Van Binh met Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan in mid-April to talk about increasing “high-level meetings” and improving “practical cooperation.”

China has tried to make peace through economic ties with all the Southeast Asian maritime claimants since 2016, when a world arbitration court ruled against the legal basis for the Chinese maritime claims.

Criticism against Chinese maritime claims would also expose Vietnam’s violations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), said Euan Graham, international security director with the Lowy Institute for International Policy. Both countries claim waters and islets beyond their internationally recognized exclusive economic zones extending 370 kilometers offshore.

“Vietnam is obviously the one that would be most likely to push back, but then Vietnam also I think has difficulties in reconciling its claim with UNCLOS,” Graham said.

Pressure to speak out

The two sides got into deadly clashes in 1974 and 1988 over competing maritime claims. In 2014 the two sides rammed each other’s boats as China allowed an oil firm to position its rig in a disputed tract. Many ordinary Vietnamese, some also wary of China due to a border war in the 1970s, rioted then against China.

The deadly riots point to continued anti-China sentiments in Vietnam, where some consumers say they’re still so upset they avoid Chinese goods when shopping. Vietnamese activists still demonstrate every year against Chinese Paracel occupation.

Vietnam stopped the 2014 riots after 21 people died. But the government “would not stop their citizens from rampaging in the streets if there’s some issues with China” such as another oil exploration tiff, Araral said.
…

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U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Monday that a planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un be held in the Demilitarized zone between the North and South Korea.

“Numerous countries are being considered for the MEETING, but would Peace House/Freedom House, on the Border of North & South Korea, be a more Representative, Important and Lasting site than a third party country? Just asking!” the president wrote on Twitter.

Trump expressed optimism this weekend about the planned meeting with Kim, tentatively scheduled for May or early June, following conversations Saturday with Moon and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Trump tweeted he had a “very good talk” with Moon and updated Abe on plans for his anticipated summit with Kim.

Key U.S. leaders have expressed growing optimism that decades of hostility on the Korean Peninsula are closer than ever to coming to an end.

Friday, Kim became the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea, when he crossed the border to shake the hand of South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The two leaders agreed to work toward removing all nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula and vowed to pursue talks that would bring a formal end to the Korean War.

North Korea has in the past made similar commitments about its nuclear program, but failed to follow through. Asked whether Pyongyang’s commitment is real this time, Trump said, “We’re not going to get played.”

On Sunday, South Korean officials said Kim Jong Un plans to invite experts and journalists from Seoul and the United States to observe when Pyongyang shuts down its nuclear test site in May.

National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this story.
…

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U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Monday that a planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un be held in the Demilitarized zone between the North and South Korea.

“Numerous countries are being considered for the MEETING, but would Peace House/Freedom House, on the Border of North & South Korea, be a more Representative, Important and Lasting site than a third party country? Just asking!” the president wrote on Twitter.

Trump expressed optimism this weekend about the planned meeting with Kim, tentatively scheduled for May or early June, following conversations Saturday with Moon and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Trump tweeted he had a “very good talk” with Moon and updated Abe on plans for his anticipated summit with Kim.

Key U.S. leaders have expressed growing optimism that decades of hostility on the Korean Peninsula are closer than ever to coming to an end.

Friday, Kim became the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea, when he crossed the border to shake the hand of South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The two leaders agreed to work toward removing all nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula and vowed to pursue talks that would bring a formal end to the Korean War.

North Korea has in the past made similar commitments about its nuclear program, but failed to follow through. Asked whether Pyongyang’s commitment is real this time, Trump said, “We’re not going to get played.”

On Sunday, South Korean officials said Kim Jong Un plans to invite experts and journalists from Seoul and the United States to observe when Pyongyang shuts down its nuclear test site in May.

National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this story.
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