Month: July 2018

From ground level, Australia’s drought looks like a featureless, brown dust bowl, but from the air it transforms into an artistry of color and texture as the land cracks under a blazing sun.

Circular dry plow tracks resemble the concentric circles in Aboriginal dot paintings that tell of an ancient mythology; starving cattle queuing for feed look like an abstract painting, and their black shadows stretching across the land resemble a surrealist image.

But for farmer Ash Whitney, there is no such beauty, just blood, sweat and tears as he struggles to feed his cattle, cutting the drying branches of Kurrajong trees — a last resort during the worst of droughts.

“I have been here all my life, and this drought is feeling like it will be around a while,” said a despairing Whitney, whose property near the town of Gunnedah is on the Liverpool Plains, a usually fertile area now withered, having received the lowest average rainfall in nearly 30 years.

The worst drought in living memory is sweeping parts of eastern Australia, leaving farmers struggling to cope and many of them asking questions about the future.

Cattle farmer Tom Wollaston, born 70 years ago in the same house he lives in today, is afraid for what this drought will mean for his children, who aim to take over the 2,300-hectare (5,683-acre) property when Tom “hangs up his

boots.”

“I can’t seem to be able to do anything else apart from just feed and keep things going, and it [the drought] seems to be one step ahead of me all the time. We’ll battle it out, but it puts a strain on everyone,” Wollaston said.

His wife, Margo, said droughts negatively affect not only her family but also the whole farming community around the nearby town of Tamworth in northwest New South Wales state.

“I find droughts a little bit like cancer — it sort of eats away at you, and it just gets drier and drier and more severe and more severe, and impacting on your life a lot worse,” she said. “I do try really hard to keep the house and the garden clean and green, because that keeps your head in the right space at nighttime.”

May McKeown, 79, and her son Jimmie, who live on a property near the northwest NSW town of Walgett, said they were extremely worried about the future, having had almost no rain since 2010.

“My great-grandfather settled on this land in 1901, and he never had to remove cattle from the paddocks over there,” she said, pointing to the west. “But we have had to remove them all and bring them closer to the homestead so we can more easily feed them.”

The farm has made little income in recent years, and when they run out of hay in a few months, rising hay prices will leave them in a financial situation her family has never had to contend with in more than a 100 years, she said.

A quarter of Australia’s agricultural production by value is grown in NSW and the state government has offered more than A$1 billion in emergency funding to farmers. It announced the latest tranche — A$500 million — on Monday.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said parts of Australia experienced the second-warmest summer (December-February) on record and have just been

through one of the driest and warmest autumns (March-May) on record.

And the dry spell, which has left more than 95 percent of NSW in drought, according to Department of Primary Industries, has no end in sight.
…

China urged the United States on Tuesday not to allow Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to transit its territory when she visits Belize and Paraguay next month, adding to tension between Beijing and Washington that has worsened amid a trade war.

Beijing considers democratic Taiwan to be a wayward province of “one China,” ineligible for state-to-state relations, and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

China regularly calls Taiwan the most sensitive and important issue between it and the United States, and Beijing always complains to Washington about transit stops by Taiwanese presidents.

Taiwan’s government announced on Monday that Tsai would travel to and from its two diplomatic allies via the United States, standard procedure for visits by Taiwanese presidents to Latin America.

Taiwan’s Presidential Office said Tsai would be stopping off in Los Angeles and Houston, though did not provide exact dates.

Speaking at a daily news briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China had already lodged solemn representations with Washington about the planned transits.

“We have consistently resolutely opposed the United States or other countries with which China has diplomatic relations arranging this kind of transit,” Geng said.

China urged the United States “not to allow the transit of the leader of the Taiwan region, and not send any wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces,” he added.

China has been peeling away the number of countries which maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, amid a concerted effort to pressure Tsai, whose Democratic Progressive Party espouses independence for the island, a red line for China.

The timing of Tsai’s August visits to the United States comes amid an increasingly bitter trade war between China and the United States.

While the United States has no formal ties with Taiwan, it is the island’s main source of arms and strongest unofficial diplomatic backer, to Beijing’s anger.

Taiwan has official relations with just 18 countries worldwide, many of them poor nations in Central America and the Pacific such as Nicaragua and Nauru.

Taiwan has accused China of using dollar diplomacy to lure away its allies, promising generous aid packages, charges China has denied.

 
…

China urged the United States on Tuesday not to allow Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to transit its territory when she visits Belize and Paraguay next month, adding to tension between Beijing and Washington that has worsened amid a trade war.

Beijing considers democratic Taiwan to be a wayward province of “one China,” ineligible for state-to-state relations, and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

China regularly calls Taiwan the most sensitive and important issue between it and the United States, and Beijing always complains to Washington about transit stops by Taiwanese presidents.

Taiwan’s government announced on Monday that Tsai would travel to and from its two diplomatic allies via the United States, standard procedure for visits by Taiwanese presidents to Latin America.

Taiwan’s Presidential Office said Tsai would be stopping off in Los Angeles and Houston, though did not provide exact dates.

Speaking at a daily news briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China had already lodged solemn representations with Washington about the planned transits.

“We have consistently resolutely opposed the United States or other countries with which China has diplomatic relations arranging this kind of transit,” Geng said.

China urged the United States “not to allow the transit of the leader of the Taiwan region, and not send any wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces,” he added.

China has been peeling away the number of countries which maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, amid a concerted effort to pressure Tsai, whose Democratic Progressive Party espouses independence for the island, a red line for China.

The timing of Tsai’s August visits to the United States comes amid an increasingly bitter trade war between China and the United States.

While the United States has no formal ties with Taiwan, it is the island’s main source of arms and strongest unofficial diplomatic backer, to Beijing’s anger.

Taiwan has official relations with just 18 countries worldwide, many of them poor nations in Central America and the Pacific such as Nicaragua and Nauru.

Taiwan has accused China of using dollar diplomacy to lure away its allies, promising generous aid packages, charges China has denied.

 
…

Every summer, thousands of South Koreans, Chinese and Japanese tourists flock to Jeju Island for its beautiful beaches and natural beauty. But social justice activists are trying to get them to also visit sites that explore the island’s dark history, and commemorate the victims of anti-communist massacres that began prior to the Korean War.

Today, Jeju Island, also known as the ‘Hawaii of Korea,’ is a world heritage site known for its fields of yellow canola flowers in full bloom, the bright turquoise color of the ocean, numerous waterfalls, and natural wonders such as the fortress-like Seongsan Ilchulbong cliff with thousands of volcanically formed cones rising out of the ocean.

However, in 1948, Jeju was the site of a violent pro-communist protest movement against the U.S. allied South Korean government that grew into a separatist uprising. Pro-communist demonstrators held rallies to oppose a May 10, 1948 election that would affirm the division of Korea between the communist North and capitalist South. On April 3, 1948 rebels attacked police stations, killed officers, and burned polling centers for the upcoming election.

Communist insurgency

The government in Seoul declared martial law to suppress the insurgency. Thousands of police and pro-government militias from the mainland took part in a widespread and brutal crackdown that lasted until the end of the Korean War. 

A 2003 South Korean government truth commission report found government forces responsible for widespread atrocities, including burning down 70 percent of all villages on the island and killing more than 30,000 people, or 10 percent of the island’s population.

“People were killed without reason. Anyone could lose their life. Whether or not it was a baby, disabled, pregnant, or elderly, there was no exception. They killed anyone that came into sight,” said Hong Chun-ho, a survivor of the so-called April 3rd Incident, who is now 81 year old.

Dark tourism

Today a civic group operates Jeju Dark Tours to raise public awareness about the island’s tragic history, and what it sees as the unresolved issue of the South Korean government involvement in the killing of thousands of innocent people.   

“It is crucial to deliver the message that we will no longer keep silent against the state violence and that we won’t let this happen again,” said Baek Ga-yoon, a representative of Jeju Dark Tours.

The tour takes visitors to see the site where alleged executions took place, a mass grave of victims that is part of the April 3rd Peace Park, and caves where villagers would hide to evade police and military forces.

Critics of the South Korean government’s role in the Jeju conflict also hold the United States accountable as well. They accuse the occupying American military power of either directly supporting or allowing the crackdown. The U.S. military has denied any involvement in the atrocities committed on Jeju Island.

Some supporters of the U.S.-South Korea alliance are concerned that the Jeju Dark Tour group is not about understanding the past, but about advancing an anti-American political agenda.

“The education and tours regarding the April 3rd Incident could be implemented with a purpose to provide negative perspectives on the U.S. military and to disrupt the U.S-South Korea alliance leading to the withdrawal of U.S. Armed Forces, which would be very mistaken,” said Kim Kwang-dong, a security analyst with the Nara Policy Institution in Seoul.

So far neither the Jeju Dark Tour, nor the sites commemorating the tragic history of the island, have become popular tourist attractions.  In 2017, only 2.3 percent of Koreans visited Jeju Island for cultural or historical educational purposes, according to the Jeju Provincial Tourism Association.

Forbidden topic

The Jeju insurrection and crackdown remains a controversial subject in South Korea. Some conservative advocates argue the tragic loss of innocent civilians was justifiable in a time of war, and to prevent the spread of communism.

The more liberal perspective focuses on the atrocities committed by government forces, and downplays the communist leaning of the insurgents, instead referring to them as freedom fighters who stood against the division of the Korean peninsula.

For decades the South Korean government suppressed and censored information about Jeju’s dark history. There were even cases where the descendants of the participants in the uprising alleged they were discriminated against in gaining employment, and where authors who wrote about the incident were imprisoned.

In 2003, after a long silence, the Korean government officially apologized for its role in the massacre, but victim advocates also have demanded compensation. This year, South Korea’s liberal President Moon Jae-in, who is sympathetic to the cause of the Jeju victims, voiced support for seeking reconciliation about the April 3rd Incident through dialogue and education.

“Although the tragedy was prolonged and the pain was so deep that a breeze only brought tears, the spring of Jeju will blossom like a full bloom,” said President Moon Jae-in at this year’s memorial ceremony. 
…

Every summer, thousands of South Koreans, Chinese and Japanese tourists flock to Jeju Island for its beautiful beaches and natural beauty. But social justice activists are trying to get them to also visit sites that explore the island’s dark history, and commemorate the victims of anti-communist massacres that began prior to the Korean War.

Today, Jeju Island, also known as the ‘Hawaii of Korea,’ is a world heritage site known for its fields of yellow canola flowers in full bloom, the bright turquoise color of the ocean, numerous waterfalls, and natural wonders such as the fortress-like Seongsan Ilchulbong cliff with thousands of volcanically formed cones rising out of the ocean.

However, in 1948, Jeju was the site of a violent pro-communist protest movement against the U.S. allied South Korean government that grew into a separatist uprising. Pro-communist demonstrators held rallies to oppose a May 10, 1948 election that would affirm the division of Korea between the communist North and capitalist South. On April 3, 1948 rebels attacked police stations, killed officers, and burned polling centers for the upcoming election.

Communist insurgency

The government in Seoul declared martial law to suppress the insurgency. Thousands of police and pro-government militias from the mainland took part in a widespread and brutal crackdown that lasted until the end of the Korean War. 

A 2003 South Korean government truth commission report found government forces responsible for widespread atrocities, including burning down 70 percent of all villages on the island and killing more than 30,000 people, or 10 percent of the island’s population.

“People were killed without reason. Anyone could lose their life. Whether or not it was a baby, disabled, pregnant, or elderly, there was no exception. They killed anyone that came into sight,” said Hong Chun-ho, a survivor of the so-called April 3rd Incident, who is now 81 year old.

Dark tourism

Today a civic group operates Jeju Dark Tours to raise public awareness about the island’s tragic history, and what it sees as the unresolved issue of the South Korean government involvement in the killing of thousands of innocent people.   

“It is crucial to deliver the message that we will no longer keep silent against the state violence and that we won’t let this happen again,” said Baek Ga-yoon, a representative of Jeju Dark Tours.

The tour takes visitors to see the site where alleged executions took place, a mass grave of victims that is part of the April 3rd Peace Park, and caves where villagers would hide to evade police and military forces.

Critics of the South Korean government’s role in the Jeju conflict also hold the United States accountable as well. They accuse the occupying American military power of either directly supporting or allowing the crackdown. The U.S. military has denied any involvement in the atrocities committed on Jeju Island.

Some supporters of the U.S.-South Korea alliance are concerned that the Jeju Dark Tour group is not about understanding the past, but about advancing an anti-American political agenda.

“The education and tours regarding the April 3rd Incident could be implemented with a purpose to provide negative perspectives on the U.S. military and to disrupt the U.S-South Korea alliance leading to the withdrawal of U.S. Armed Forces, which would be very mistaken,” said Kim Kwang-dong, a security analyst with the Nara Policy Institution in Seoul.

So far neither the Jeju Dark Tour, nor the sites commemorating the tragic history of the island, have become popular tourist attractions.  In 2017, only 2.3 percent of Koreans visited Jeju Island for cultural or historical educational purposes, according to the Jeju Provincial Tourism Association.

Forbidden topic

The Jeju insurrection and crackdown remains a controversial subject in South Korea. Some conservative advocates argue the tragic loss of innocent civilians was justifiable in a time of war, and to prevent the spread of communism.

The more liberal perspective focuses on the atrocities committed by government forces, and downplays the communist leaning of the insurgents, instead referring to them as freedom fighters who stood against the division of the Korean peninsula.

For decades the South Korean government suppressed and censored information about Jeju’s dark history. There were even cases where the descendants of the participants in the uprising alleged they were discriminated against in gaining employment, and where authors who wrote about the incident were imprisoned.

In 2003, after a long silence, the Korean government officially apologized for its role in the massacre, but victim advocates also have demanded compensation. This year, South Korea’s liberal President Moon Jae-in, who is sympathetic to the cause of the Jeju victims, voiced support for seeking reconciliation about the April 3rd Incident through dialogue and education.

“Although the tragedy was prolonged and the pain was so deep that a breeze only brought tears, the spring of Jeju will blossom like a full bloom,” said President Moon Jae-in at this year’s memorial ceremony. 
…

A Filipino soldier, five militiamen and four villagers were killed by a powerful bomb that exploded in a van the troops were inspecting Tuesday amid threats of bombings in a southern province, military officials said.

Regional military spokesman Lt. Col. Gerry Besana said one other government militiaman was wounded in the blast after dawn that shattered a part of the barricades surrounding an army militia outpost in the village of Colonia on the island province of Basilan.

Besana, who is based in southern Zamboanga city across a strait from Basilan, said a security clampdown due to intelligence reports of possible bomb attacks on military outposts included the setting up of road checkpoints, which allowed troops to stop the bomb-laden white van.

Police said the blast occurred after militiamen flagged down the van at a checkpoint for inspection, although the report had limited details and it’s unclear what happened to the driver.

The villagers who died in the explosion included relatives of militiamen assigned at the outpost.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast. Investigators were trying to determine the type of the explosive and its design.

Government forces have been put on alert in the south, scene of decades-long Muslim separatist unrest, after President Rodrigo Duterte signed a new autonomy agreement last week with the biggest Muslim rebel group in the country.

The peace deal has been opposed by much smaller but violent extremist bands mostly linked with the Islamic State group.

“These may be the work of peace spoilers,” Besana told The Associated Press by telephone, referring to opponents of the autonomy agreement and adding that it was likely that the militia outpost was the target of the bombing and not the city of Lamitan a few kilometers (miles) away.

Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega committed “every available resource under his disposal to identify the perpetrators in the soonest possible time.”
…

A Filipino soldier, five militiamen and four villagers were killed by a powerful bomb that exploded in a van the troops were inspecting Tuesday amid threats of bombings in a southern province, military officials said.

Regional military spokesman Lt. Col. Gerry Besana said one other government militiaman was wounded in the blast after dawn that shattered a part of the barricades surrounding an army militia outpost in the village of Colonia on the island province of Basilan.

Besana, who is based in southern Zamboanga city across a strait from Basilan, said a security clampdown due to intelligence reports of possible bomb attacks on military outposts included the setting up of road checkpoints, which allowed troops to stop the bomb-laden white van.

Police said the blast occurred after militiamen flagged down the van at a checkpoint for inspection, although the report had limited details and it’s unclear what happened to the driver.

The villagers who died in the explosion included relatives of militiamen assigned at the outpost.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast. Investigators were trying to determine the type of the explosive and its design.

Government forces have been put on alert in the south, scene of decades-long Muslim separatist unrest, after President Rodrigo Duterte signed a new autonomy agreement last week with the biggest Muslim rebel group in the country.

The peace deal has been opposed by much smaller but violent extremist bands mostly linked with the Islamic State group.

“These may be the work of peace spoilers,” Besana told The Associated Press by telephone, referring to opponents of the autonomy agreement and adding that it was likely that the militia outpost was the target of the bombing and not the city of Lamitan a few kilometers (miles) away.

Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega committed “every available resource under his disposal to identify the perpetrators in the soonest possible time.”
…