prout template

6
PROUT TIMES REGIONAL
JAN-MAR 2019
7
regional news
SEAsia wary of China’s BRI,
skeptical of US, survey shows
Why a China invasion of
Taiwan would fail
Seventy percent of
respondents to a survey
conducted by the ISEAS-
Yusof Ishak Institute
in Singapore believe
that Southeast Asia
should be cautious when
negotiating with China
on its massive Belt and
Road Initiative (BRI)
infrastructure project.
The survey, which was
quoted in a report by
Reuters on January
6, drew on responses
from 1,008 people in
all ten members of the
Association of Southeast
Asian Nations, or Asean.
The survey found the
main concern is that
regional nations may be
trapped in unsustainable
debt to China. That
perception was strongest
in Malaysia, the
Philippines and Thailand,
the survey showed.
Nearly half of the
respondents said that
BRI would bring Asean
“closer into China’s
orbit”, one-third were
of the impression that
the project lacked
transparency and 16%
believed it would finally
fail.
At the same time the
study showed that people
in Asean countries are
increasingly skeptical of
America’s commitment
to the region as a
strategic partner, while
China’s reach is growing
both politically and
economically.
Seventy three percent
of the respondents
believe that China
now holds the greatest
economic influence in
the region and has more
clout politically and
strategically than the
United States.
Six out of ten respondents
felt that US influence
has deteriorated from a
year ago and two-thirds
believed US engagement
with Southeast Asia had
declined.
About a third said they
had little or no confidence
in the US as a strategic
partner and guarantor of
regional security.
At the same time, fewer
than one in ten saw
China as a “benign and
benevolent power”, with
nearly half saying Beijing
possessed “an intent to
turn Southeast Asia into
its sphere of influence.”
Why not to other
country? Not dead trap!
No dead trap!this US
the slogan to make poor
country from progress.
Since US is rich ,why
don’t the US do some
form to help poor
country. Who do you like
to listen???US -destroy or
China is building.
When President Xi
Jinping called on
January 2 for Taiwan’s
”reunification” with
China, it was not the first
time a Chinese leader
threatened to use military
might to force the island
nation’s incorporation
with the mainland.
But when Xi told his
military forces a few days
later to make preparations
for an all-out war, the
call to arms was clearly
different from previous
threats made against the
island Beijing views as a
renegade province.
Xi is emerging as modern
China’s third communist
strongman, and as
with the previous two
autocrats, national unity
is a main prerogative.
Mao Zedong, the founder
of the Communist Partycreated
People’s Republic,
brutally brought Tibet
under China’s central
rule. Deng Xiaoping, the
Party’s second strongman
leader, oversaw the
negotiated takeover of
former British Hong
Kong and Portuguese
Macau.
Xi evidently believes that
one of the major tasks
of his leadership is to
annex Taiwan, which has
been separated from the
mainland since the 1949
communist victory in
China’s civil war.
“Xi increased invasion
rhetoric after Taiwan’s
2016 election sweptout
the pro-Beijing
[Kuomintang Party]
from the presidency
and legislature, setting
a deadline of 2020 for a
final decision on whether
to storm the beaches or
return to the negotiating
table,” Wendell Minnick,
a Taiwan-based military
analyst and author of
several books on China’s
armed forces, said.
Chinese President Xi
Jinping reviews a military
display of Chinese
People’s Liberation Army
(PLA) Navy in the South
China Sea on April 12,
2018. Photo: Reuters/Li
Gang/Xinhua Xi Jinping
reviews a military display
in the South China Sea
on April 12, 2018. Photo:
Reuters/Li Gang/Xinhua
Other China watchers
believe that 2021, the
centenary of the founding
of the Communist Party
of China, will be a crucial
year for Taiwan. Through
recent intra-Party power
plays and purges, Xi
has ensured that he
will remain in power
when those nationalistic
celebrations are held.
In March 2018, China’s
legislature re-approved
the appointment of Xi as
president, removing the
two five-term limits to
that post. Xi’s other two
powerful positions —
Communist party general
secretary and chairman
of the Party’s military
commission — are not
subject to term limits.
He is also the chairman of
the government’s parallel
military commission,
a central state organ,
cementing his role as
China’s paramount leader.
China watchers still
believe that war is the
last option for Xi to get
Taiwan to agree to a deal
similar to that achieved
for Hong Kong and
“ A recent opinion poll showed
that 80% of Taiwanese would
reject any ”one country, two
systems” model, and that
61% were satisfied with Tsai’s
response to Xi. Moreover, 85%
approved of Tsai’s conditions
for any talks with Beijing,
including a requirement
that they communicate on a
government-to-government
basis.
Macau, dubbed “one
country, two systems”,
whereby those territories
enjoy a large degree of
autonomy.
But, in a January 2
speech, Taiwan President
Tsai Ing-wen said that
most Taiwanese are
“staunchly opposed to the
concept” and that they
would “never accept”
governance under the
formula suggested by Xi
and the Communist Party
leadership in Beijing.
Philippines wins Miss Universe 2018 in Thailand
Filipino-Australian Catriona Gray won the fourth Miss Universe crown for the
Philippines
Filipino-Australian
Catriona Gray has won
this year’s Miss Universe
pageant, making it the
Philippines’ fourth win
in the history of the
competition.
On Monday morning
in Thailand, Gray, 24,
was crowned the new
Miss Universe after
competing against 93
other contestants for the
title. Tamaryn Green of
South Africa was first
runner-up, followed
by Sthefany Gutiérrez
of Venezuela, CNN
Philippines reported.
Miss U 17 december 2018
Gray is the fourth Filipina
to win the title, following
Pia Wurtzbach, who won
the title in 2015. Margie
Moran won the crown
in 1973 and Gloria Diaz
was the first Filipina to
win the Miss Universe
pageant in 1969.
The Filipina beauty
queen is an advocate
and volunteers at nongovernment
organization
Love Yourself PH, an
NGO that advocates
and promotes HIV-
AIDS awareness and
prevention. Gray 17
december 2018 Photo:
InstagramGray was a
model and singer with
a Master Certification
in Music Theory from
Berklee College of Music
in Boston in the US
and has a Certificate in
Outdoor Recreation and a
black belt in Choi Kwang-
Do.
Before Miss Universe,
Gray represented the
Philippines in the Miss
World pageant in 2016 in
the United States, where
she finished in fifth place.
Stephanie del Valle from
Puerto Rico won the
pageant that year.
How Vietnam lost
and China won
Cambodia
Forty years ago
today, some 100,000
Vietnamese soldiers
accompanied by almost
20,000 Cambodian
defectors marched
into Phnom Penh to
overthrow the radical
Maoist Khmer Rouge
regime.
The invading forces
found less than 100
survivors in the capital
city. The Khmer Rouge,
which came to power
in 1975, had evacuated
Phnom Penh, leaving
buildings to decay and
collapse.
In the countryside,
where almost all
Cambodians were sent
as part of the Khmer
Rouge’s “Year Zero”
revolution, it was a
Hobbesian nightmare.
After less than four
years in power, an
estimated quarter of all
Cambodians perished
under the genocidal
regime.
Only in November 2018
were two of the regime’s
senior officials finally
convicted of genocide,
against the Cham and
Vietnamese minorities.
January 7 is marked
in Cambodia as either
“Liberation Day” or
“Victory Day”, and
was once described
by a former leader as
the country’s “second
birthday,” the first being
its independence from
French colonial rule in
1953.