August 2018

24 August 2018
WORLD
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Women defiant as Danish
ban on full-face veil
takes effect in Denmark
Human rights campaigners have slammed the ban as a violation of women’s rights, while supporters
argue it enables better integration of Muslim immigrants into Danish society.
US tariff plan
doomed to be
futile: China
Beijing : The US is playing hard and
soft tactics with China on the trade issue,
but such a two-faced approach is doomed
to be futile and will disappoint countries
and regions opposing the trade war, China's
Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.
The comments came after the US threatened
to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth
of Chinese goods from 10 per cent to 25
per cent and later spread the news that it
wants to restart negotiations with China.
The US act set aside the interests of its
own farmers, business owners, consumers
and the interests of the world, the ministry
spokesperson was quoted as saying by
Xinhua news agency. "Facing such an escalating
trade war threat, China has made full
preparations and will be forced to take
countermeasures in order to defend national
dignity, the interests of its people, free
trade and the multilateral system, as well as
the common interests of all countries," the
spokesperson said. He said that China
believes in solving differences through dialogue,
but that should come with the prerequisite
of equal treatment and honouring
commitments. The ultimate purpose of the
US' baseless accusations against China is to
suppress the latter's peaceful development,
according to the spokesperson.
Stockholm-Denmark’s controversial
ban on the Islamic
full-face veil in public spaces
came into force on Wednesday
as women protested the new
measure which fines anyone
wearing the garment. Human
rights campaigners have
slammed the ban as a violation
of women’s rights, while supporters
argue it enables better
integration of Muslim immigrants
into Danish society.
Protests against the ban were
planned in the capital
Copenhagen and the secondbiggest
city Aarhus late
Wednesday, with several hundred
people expected to attend,
some of them wearing the fullface
veil. A spokesman for the
Copenhagen police said they
did not plan to fine the protesters
who violated the ban.
Wearing a burqa, which covers
a person’s entire face, or the
niqab, which only shows the
eyes, in public will lead to a
fine of 1,000 kroner ($156, 134
euros). The ban also targets
other accessories that hide the
face such as balaclavas and
false beards. Repeated violations
will be fined up to 10,000
kroner. A 30-year-old Muslim
woman interviewed in daily
Berlingske, identified only as
Sarah, said she had “lost faith
in the system”.
Born and raised in Denmark
by parents who emigrated from
Turkey, she has worn the niqab
since she was 18.
“I’ve realised that democracy
doesn’t work. Politicians
boast of freedoms and rights
when they are making fun of
Muslims and when they are
drawing caricatures of the
prophet. But when it comes to
me, they take away my right to
choose how I want to dress,”
she said. “I have come to the
realisation that Muslims don’t
have the same rights as others.
So much of politics is hypocritical.”
It is not known how
many women wear the niqab
and burqa across the country. “I
don’t think there are many who
wear the burqa here in
Denmark. But if you do, you
should be punished with a
fine,” Justice Minister Soren
Pape Poulsen was quoted as
saying by Ritzau news agency
in February when the government
presented its proposal for
the ban.
It said at the time that the
burqa and niqab were not
“compatible with the values
and sense of community in
Danish society”.
But Sarah said that instead
of enabling Muslims to integrate
Danish values, the ban
risked having the opposite
effect of increasing segregation.
“When the mosque is one
of the few places where we can
(wear veils), then I think the
law will mean that more people
will go to the mosque.”
China, Asean agree on draft South
China Sea code of conduct
Singapore : China and the
Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (Asean) have agreed on a
draft code of conduct that will lay
the foundation for talks over the
disputed South China Sea, the
Foreign Ministers of Singapore and
China announced on Thursday. The
agreement came at the annual ministerial
meeting between China and
Asean member states in Singapore,
Channel News Asia reported.
China has overlapping territorial
and maritime claims in the South
China Sea with several Asean
members, including Brunei,
Malaysia, the Philippines and
Vietnam.
The countries have long discussed
a deal to defuse tensions but
the talks have been hindered by
sticking points such as the area the
agreement should cover. Chinese
State Councillor and Foreign
Minister Wang Yi said the agreement
on the draft was a new and
important step for the code of conduct
deliberations. "I believe that
the negotiation on COC can be
speeded up if we exclude external
interference," he said. "Facts will
prove that China and Asean member
states are capable of maintaining
peace and stability in the South
China Sea and reaching regional
rules adhered to by all through
negotiations."
Singaporean Foreign Affairs
Minister Vivian Balakrishnan
called the agreement a "milestone".
He said the single draft negotiating
text will be a "living document and
the basis of future code of conduct
Austrian man found with
80 birds in hand luggage
at Paris airport, arrested
Paris : The French police have arrested an Austrian man at a
Paris airport after he flew in from Mexico with 80 small birds
stashed in his hand luggage, a judicial source said Wednesday.
Although all but one of the birds were still alive when they were
discovered at Roissy airport, a further 55 have since died, the
source added. The birds were discovered on Friday in boxes hidden
in three bags. The Austrian collector, who is already facing
court action in Germany, claimed to be passionate about birds.
The birds, many of which feed on nectar, likely died because of
the “transport conditions and the stress of their capture,” the
source said. Exceptional permission was given to allow the birds
to leave the airport instead of facing quarantine conditions.
The illicit avian cargo was placed in the care of vets before the
surviving birds were taken to a permanent home on Wednesday.
3 mountaineers killed
in French Alps
Paris : Three climbers were reported dead on Thursday in the
Mont Blanc massif mountain range in the Alps, the media reported.
The mountaineers were believed to have lost their lives after
they fell from an altitude of about 3,600 metres in the Miage
Domes area of the mountain, Xinhua news agency reported citing
local media.
negotiations". Both sides also
agreed on the key modalities for
future rounds of talks.
He also said that the agreement
on a single text didn't mean that
negotiations were over or that all
the competing claims over territory
in the South China Sea were
resolved as the code of conduct
"was never meant to resolve territorial
disputes", according to the
report. Balakrishnan added that it
would be premature to set a deadline
for the negotiations on the
code of conduct as it involved a
"dynamic, evolving situation".
Negotiations on the code of conduct
began in March and both sides
arrived at the first draft during talks
held two months ago at China's
Changsha city, said Balakrishnan.
The Chinese Foreign Minister
said that Beijing dispatched its
most advanced rescue ship
equipped with professional searchand-rescue
teams to the Nansha
Islands (in South China Sea) days
ago, to carry out various missions.
The ship will provide maritime
assistance for ships from countries
around the world when necessary,
he said.
US Secretary of State
arrives in Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur : US Secretary of
States Mike Pompeo arrived on
Thursday in Malaysia on his first visit
to the region with an agenda that
includes ministerial level meetings of
the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (Asean) in Singapore on
August 3 and 4. According to his official
agenda, Pompeo will first make a
short visit to Kuala Lumpur which will
include a meeting with Malaysian
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on
Friday morning, Efe news reported.
The same day he will go to
Singapore, where he will participate in
bilateral and multilateral meetings
under the framework of the Asean.
Asean is made up of Myanmar, Brunei,
Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand
and Vietnam. Denuclearization of the
Korean peninsula and the historic
meeting between US President Donald
Trump and North Korean leader Kim
Jong-un in Singapore in June is expected
to be feature in the discussions on
Saturday at the Asean Regional Forum
(ARF), which deals with matters related
to security. North Korea is among
the countries that take part in the ARF,
along with South Korea, China, Japan,
Russia and the EU, among others.
Pompeo's trip will conclude with a
meeting with Indonesian President
Joko Widodo in Jakarta.