Canadians’ views about China, U.S. at a standstill, poll suggests

Negative perceptions of China persist while public is divided on Canada’s southern neighbour, survey shows.

Mario Canseco

Just over two-thirds (68%) of Canadians have an unfavourable opinion of China, while favourable perceptions of the United States are about 50%.

bjdlzx/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Every six months, Research Co. and Glacier Media ask Canadians about their opinions of other countries. Plenty has happened since July to suggest that the way we look at other nations would shift.

Germany has a new chancellor and Japan has a new prime minister. There have been more mentions in the media about the behaviour of Russia and Saudi Arabia in the international stage, whether in the form of questions about the future of Ukraine or the purported “charm strategy” to purchase a once-great football club in the United Kingdom.

Still, no country has dominated the international coverage landscape in Canada more than China. In September, over the course of just a few hours, Canadians learned that Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was no longer under house arrest in Vancouver – following a deferred prosecution agreement with the United States – and that arbitrarily detained Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig had been released from custody and were on their way to Canada.

Chinese authorities continue to claim that the two matters are unrelated, and that Spavor and Kovrig had “applied for release for medical reasons.” The end of a crisis that unfolded over more than 1,000 days has not had an immediate impact on public perceptions. Only 20% of Canadians hold a positive view of China, consistent with the 21% observed in mid-2021 and the 19% posted in late 2020.

At this stage, 68% of Canadians have an unfavourable opinion of China, a proportion that climbs to 73% among men, 81% among Canadians aged 55 and over and 72% among British Columbians.

Just weeks ago, we learned that a majority of Canadians (56%) continue to believe that Canada should boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics and that two-thirds (68%) are trying to avoid Chinese products. Simply put, the dismay that Canadians show towards this particular country is practically the same as it was at the height of the well-documented diplomatic impasse.

Canada’s closest trading partner also sees stagnation when it comes to public views. Among Canadians, positive perceptions of the United States remain at 50%, while negative ones gained a point in six months to reach 41%. There has been consistency on these views since Joe Biden was elected president. Gone are the days when more than three in five Canadians (62%) held negative opinions about a country whose government was headed by Donald Trump.

The way Canadians feel about the United States does not go through major fluctuations by age or gender right now. The real variation happens at the regional level. Sizable majorities of Albertans (58%) and Quebecers (56%) hold positive views about the neighbouring country. The numbers are lower in Ontario (51%), Atlantic Canada (44%), British Columbia (43%) and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (36%).

Most Canadians who voted for the Conservative Party (59%) or the Liberal Party (55%) in last year’s federal elections hold a favourable opinion of the United States. The proportion drops dramatically among those who voted for the New Democratic Party (NDP) last year (31%, with 62% saying their view is negative).

The numbers for the United States are still not near the level observed for other G7 nations. We consistently see more than two-thirds of Canadians expressing positive feelings about France (68%, down five points), Germany (69%, unchanged), Italy (also 69%, down four points), Japan (also 69%, down one point) and the United Kingdom (71%, down two points).

There is also a drop in the way Canadians perceive three other countries. While a majority continue to express positive views about South Korea (55%, down two points), perceptions of Mexico have fallen once again (45%, down four points). 

Fewer than two in five Canadians (37%, down four points) have a favourable opinion of India, with negative views inching close to 50% in Alberta (48%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (also 48%) and Quebec (47%).

Three countries fare better than China, while two others continue to lag. More than two in five Canadians have positive views about Venezuela (28%, down two points), Russia (down four points) and Saudi Arabia (23%, unchanged). Criticism of Russia is especially high among men (65%) and Canadians aged 55 and over (73%).

As has been the case for years, the lowest rating is reserved for Iran (16%, down one point) and North Korea (14%, also down one point). It is remarkable to see that China, the manufacturer of so many of the products Canadians use every day, is viewed only slightly more favourably than two countries with which Canada has had remarkably different relationships – in diplomacy and trade – for decades.

Mario Canseco is president of Research Co.

Results are based on an online study conducted from December 15 to December 17, 2021, among 1,000 adults in Canada. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error, which measures sample variability, is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

AI-powered chess board help master the game | Can sense moves and guide players 

The ChessUp board uses artificial intelligence to guide players using colored lights to indicate good, acceptable and poor moves. It was displayed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. (Jan. 4)

 

Canadian chess streamers gain big worldwide audience

CECIL ROSNER

SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL

PUBLISHED 11 HOURS AGO

Zeng Chongsheng v. Aman Hambleton, Chessbrah online blitz, 2021 (See diagram)

Canadian Grandmasters Eric Hansen and Aman Hambleton have found a unique way to earn a living from chess, but it doesn’t involve playing in tournaments.

The two friends and business partners run a streaming service in Calgary called Chessbrah, which has gained a huge following in recent years. People tune in as they play blitz games on camera, while offering an entertaining running commentary.

In this 3-minute blitz game, Black goes for broke. What does he play?THE GLOBE AND MAIL

“There’s just no money in (tournament) chess,” says Hambleton, 29, one of Canada’s few home-grown Grandmasters. He made a concerted effort to get the title in 2017, because he knew it would help people take him more seriously as a commentator and a streamer.

The two friends began travelling the world a decade ago, playing in tournaments and trying to improve their game. At first they began streaming just for fun, but eventually realized it could be a full-time business.

Chessbrah has more than 250,000 followers on Twitch. Fans can buy subscriptions, buy merchandise or donate directly to the stream. The Chessbrah Youtube channel also has more than a quarter of a million subscribers, and some videos get more than a million views.

Hambleton loves every minute of it: “I enjoy entertaining and speaking to a large audience.”

Answer:

To the delight of his Chessbrah fans, Black played 19. ... Nxf2 20.Kxf2 Qe3+ 21.Kxe3 Bd4+ 22.Kf3 Ne5 mate.

Chinese scientists build factory robot that can read minds on the assembly line

Trained robot monitored co-worker’s brain and muscle signals to predict needs, China Three Gorges University team says in domestic peer-reviewed paper
China is in dire need of more powerful robotic technology to address its problems of a shrinking workforce and rising labour costs


Stephen Chen in Beijing
Published: 6 Jan, 2022

Mind-reading robot works with a volunteer in a product assembly experiment.

 Photo: Dong Yuanfa, Intelligent Manufacturing Innovation Technology Centre, China Three Gorges University

Researchers in China say they have developed an industrial robot that can read a human co-worker’s mind with 96 per cent accuracy.

The robot not only monitored the worker’s brain waves, but also collected electric signals from muscles, as it worked seamlessly together to assemble a complex product, according to its developers at China Three Gorges University’s Intelligent Manufacturing Innovation Technology Centre.

The co-worker did not need to say or do anything when they needed a tool or a component, as the robot would recognise the intention almost instantly, picking up the object and putting it on the workstation, according to the developers.

“In modern industrial manufacturing, assembly work accounts for 45 per cent of the total workload, and 20-30 per cent of the total production cost,” project lead scientist Dong Yuanfa and his co-researchers said in a paper published in domestic peer-reviewed journal China Mechanical Engineering

Collaborative robots, or “cobots”, could accelerate the pace of an assembly line, but their application remained limited because “their ability to recognise human intention is often inaccurate and unstable”, the paper said.

Humans and robots or autonomous machines have been working together in factories for decades, but are separated by fences in most places to avoid accidents.

In recent years, some advanced production plants such as car factories in Germany have introduced a fence-free work environment, with robots that swing into action only after a button is pressed. Such machines are equipped with safety sensors that stop them immediately if they come into physical contact with humans.

The robots replacing humans in China’s service industry

Some research teams have tried to build a new generation of “cobots” that can guess human intention by monitoring eye or body movements. However, these passive approaches suffered from problems like slow response and poor accuracy.

To overcome this, the robot created by Dong’s team was put through hundreds of hours of training by eight volunteers.

The volunteers were first asked to wear a non-invasive brain wave detector and the team found the robot could estimate their intent with just about 70 per cent accuracy.

However, the brain signal was quite weak. For the robot to get a clear message, the volunteer would need to concentrate very hard on the work at hand. But most of them were distracted by other thoughts after working on the repetitive assembly job for a while, the researchers said.

In contrast, the muscle signals, collected by a few sensors stuck to an arm, were more stable. Even though these too waned as the volunteer grew tired, a combination of both brain and muscle signals could help the robot estimate the worker’s next move in a second with unprecedented accuracy, according to the team.

01:49
Robot ‘coach’ helps Chinese curlers prepare for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

However, it was unclear whether these laboratory results could be replicated in a real-life factory setting. The researchers could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.

According to the paper, there would be some challenges to the application of the new technology in a real factory setting. Though the brain and muscle detectors could be placed inside a worker’s cap and uniform, the quality of data could be affected by sweat or irregular movements.

But these problems could be overcome by feeding the robot with motion and visual data, the researchers suggested.

This comes days after China announced an ambitious plan to become a global innovation hub for robotics by 2025, as part of its “smart manufacturing” goals.

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The number of industrial robots in China has been growing at a pace of 15 per cent annually since 2016, Wang Weiming, director of industrial equipment with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said in Beijing on Tuesday.

There were 246 robots for every 10,000 workers in China, or twice the world average, Wang said, but the majority were built with technology developed in the West that sometimes could not cope with the challenging environments in China.

Hence, China is in desperate need of more powerful robotic technology to overcome problems such as a shrinking labour force amid sharply declining birth rates, and rising labour costs. By 2025, more than 70 per cent of large-scale factories in China would be using robots, he added.

Song Xiaogang, secretary general of the China Robot Industry Alliance, said the development of cobots would be a priority.

“There would be a leap from fence operation to robot-human collaboration,” he told the same press conference.

Some Chinese factories have asked workers to wear brain-reading helmets or use AI-controlled cameras to monitor their facial expressions.

Though the purpose was to detect fatigue, depression or other mental signs that might affect work efficiency or safety, critics have warned about privacy concerns.

In the United States, the use of robots has reduced industrial workers’ salaries, according to a study by the American Economic Association in 2019. Some studies by Chinese researchers in major economic zones such as the Pearl River Delta have found a similar phenomenon.

However, a study by Peking University researchers last month indicated that the mass application of robots in nearly 300 cities from 2006 to 2016 had helped Chinese factories produce more premium products of higher quality and increased the nation’s global competitiveness as a whole.



Stephen Chen investigates major research projects in China, a new power house of scientific and technological innovation. He has worked for the Post since 2006. He is an alumnus of Shantou University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the Semester at Sea programme which he attended with a full scholarship from the Seawise Foundation.

How China aims to dominate the world of robotics (scmp.com)

How realistic is China’s five-year plan for robotics?

By Georg Stieler | January 3, 2022

https://www.therobotreport.com/

The new five-year plan for the robotics industry is principally a good sign for China’s robotics industry. Whereas other parts of the Chinese technology sector have been hit by stricter regulatory measures in the past year, this plan highlights the ongoing political support for this field.

Whereas the Chinese government seems skeptical about much of the consumer internet, it wants to make China an industrial powerhouse, and robots are a part of this. This trend is also reflected by the fact that Chinese venture capital (VC) investments in robotics almost doubled in 2021 compared to 2020. VC funds in general raised 65% less capital during this period.

Regarding the goals and the question of how realistic they are, I expect a mixed outcome. We should not forget that this is not the first plan of this kind. The first five-year plan for the robotics industry was released in April 2016, about one year after the Made in China 2025 strategy.

Together with plenty of initiatives on provincial and city levels, the subsidies in the wake of Made in China 2025 turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing for the domestic robotics industry, however. Political connections often mattered more than technical capabilities for the distribution of subsidies. Huge overcapacities for the assembly of robot arms were built up, while the development of key components such as reducers, servos and controllers was neglected. Domestic robot companies were trapped in a vicious cycle of low technical capabilities and no margins at the low end of the value chain, leaving no space for investments in R&D.

Correspondingly, we didn’t see the market share of domestic robot makers grow for a long time, it has been around 30-35% over the last few years. The change was only in 2021, when we saw that local companies such as EFORT or ESTUN started winning tender offers against globally leading robot suppliers at renowned clients such as BYD or Foxconn. With extremely low prices, domestic makers of collaborative robots such as JAKA or Elite are also becoming more visible in low- and mid-end applications. The field of Kiva-like AGVs is dominated by local firms.



Speaking about core components, gains of local suppliers were also incremental until recently. Over the last year, we saw that firms such as Inovance (motion control) and Leaderdrive (harmonic gears) were growing stronger than the general market.

Have these recent successes been achieved due to the successful implementation of government planning? Some observers say they came despite the government policies. Domestic companies can only go into price wars when they have corresponding funding. As we have seen in China’s machine tool industry before, huge credit lines can lead to a lack of financial discipline, and prevent companies from becoming competitive in the long run.

Can China pick the right winners?

One of the goals of the new plan is to consolidate the industry and create larger entities. However, it is not entirely clear if the government is good at picking winners.

An example of success is HIKROBOT, the logistics robot branch of HIKVISION, China‘s leading state-owned supplier of video surveillance equipment. Together with Huawei, the companies are working on innovative autonomous navigation solutions, which can work without expensive LiDARs.

Cheaper mobile robots might be a game changer, indeed. The Achilles heel of both these companies is their proximity to the Chinese state and that they are on US entity lists. New technologies such as autonomous navigation require substantial computing power, and no mainland Chinese company is close to being able to produce processors powerful enough to complete these tasks.

An example where close government ties do not necessarily translate into success in the marketplace is Siasun, one of China‘s oldest and largest state-owned robot manufacturers. The company had the lowest sales growth among the top 20 robot vendors in China during the last two years.
Takeaways

To conclude, even if many of the goals in this plan are not entirely new and might not be reached in time, both robotics companies and policy makers outside of China need to take the challenge from China’s robotics industry seriously.

Recent developments make me more optimistic about the capabilities of local companies than five years ago. China has increased its number of robotics scientists, many of them educated abroad. The country‘s large industrial base provides plenty of sales potential. In fields such as battery making or photovoltaics, China is so advanced that production knowhow from there is now transferred to other countries. Subsidies and fierce competition in China are bringing down prices, which will pave the way for new robotics applications. Even we expect the economy to cool down further in 2022, but promising robotics companies will continue to receive support.

On the other hand, state-funded Chinese robotics companies are eyeing the US and the EU, hoping to charge higher prices there than in their hyper-competitive home market. Western robotics companies need to be prepared for that. Policy makers must find ways to sustain a healthy development of future industries against competitors, which are enjoying unfair state aid.

Last, but not least: policy makers in the West need to ask themselves what they can do to create a better environment for technology companies on their side. Speaking as a German citizen, our government should be reminded that the fight against climate change is important, but that there are also other pressing issues. Too many resources are being spent for unproductive activities, these days. When were the last attempts to unleash more creative, entrepreneurial power and encourage risk takers in the EU?

About the author
Georg Stieler is managing director for Asia at international consulting firm STM Stieler.

Hyundai tells CES it's bringing robotics into metaverse
By Kim Hye-ran & Kim Tae-gyu, UPI News Korea

Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Eui-sun enters a presentation stage along with Spot, a four-legged robot, during the Consumer Electronics Show 2022 Tuesday in Las Vegas. Photo courtesy of Hyundai Motor


Jan. 6 (UPI) -- South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor said the company would use robotics in the "metaverse," or the virtual world.

The conglomerate disclosed the plan during its Tuesday presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show 2022 in Las Vegas.

Hyundai dubbed the vision as "meta-mobility," which it said is designed to make robots act as a medium between the real world and virtual spaces so that changes in the metaverse are reflected in reality.

The company said the distinctions between future mobilities would be blurred thanks to robotics technology, and as a result, vehicles and urban air mobility devices will serve as smart devices to access the metaverse platform.

"At Hyundai, we are harnessing the power of robotics to achieve great things. We envision future mobility solutions made possible by advanced robotics -- even expanding our mobility solutions to meta-mobility," Hyundai Chairman Chung Eui-sun said.

This vision will enable unlimited freedom of movement and progress for humanity."

Over the past few years, Hyundai has bet big on robotics technology. In particular, the firm acquired U.S. robotics company Boston Dynamics in 2020 for $880 million.

The startup is famous for machines such as Spot and Atlas. The former is a four-legged robot that can trot, climb stairs, and open doors, while the latter is a humanoid robot.

Boston Dynamics founder and Chairman Mark Raibert also attended the presentation and said he envisioned a future in which people and robots work side by side.

"We see a future where robots become more than just task-oriented tools, more than just machines," Raibert said. "We believe in a future where robots become useful, trusted companions in our everyday lives."

Volkswagen sets date for reveal of 'groovy' Microbus remade as autonomous EV


A prototype of the electric VW Microbus is shown. File Photo courtesy of Volkswagen

Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Volkswagen has set a date to reveal its "groovy" microbus remade as an autonomous electric van five years after it teased the concept.

"The legend returns on 03/09/22," VW Group CEO Herbert Diess tweeted Thursday with a sketch of the ID Buzz electric van concept.

The remake of the staple of coastal California's towns was never a foregone conclusion, The Verge reported, but Volkswagen announced the ID Buzz concept as the electric successor of the Microbus in 2017, saying the decision was "driven by popular demand."

"It's ok to say 'groovy' again," Volkswagen said on its website with a link to the announcement.

The German automaker initially unveiled the ID Buzz concept at the 2017 Detroit auto show.

The March 9th reveal will show the production-ready version, and the electric Microbus is expected to be ready to hit the U.S. roads by next year, according to The Verge and CNET.com.

The concept is designed to bring back fond memories of the Microbus, first sold in the United States in 1950, while stepping into the future of electric and autonomous vehicles.

The new electric Microbus has similarities in design and engineering, including providing ample space for passengers or cargo, but also has changes based on the newer technology.

In the 1950s, the Microbus had 30 horsepower, but the ID Buzz concept has 369 horsepower form electric motors and nearly 300 miles of estimated range.

The ID Buzz will use autonomous driving software from Argo AI, which specializes in platforms for autonomous driving to make it a self-driving vehicle.

The all-electric Microbus will also serve as a platform for its commercial ride-hailing and delivery operation it aims to launch in Germany in 2025, The Verge previously reported.

It is also part of VW's decade-long plan to make 22 million electric vehicles.

‘Jeopardy!’ champ hits $1 million; talks fame, trans rights

By LYNN ELBER

This image provided by Jeopardy Productions, Inc. shows game show champion Amy Schneider on the set of "Jeopardy!" Schneider is the first trans person to qualify for the show's Tournament of Champions. (Jeopardy Productions, Inc. via AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider is adding to her list of bragging rights and admirers.

Already the highest-earning female contestant in the quiz show’s history and the woman with the longest winning streak, on Friday she became one of only four “Jeopardy!” players to reach seven figures in regular-season winnings.

She’s collected $1.02 million in 28 victories, solidifying her 4th-place position on the list that includes Ken Jennings with $2.5 million; James Holzhauer, $2.46 million, and Matt Amodio, $1.52 million.

Schneider, who’s also fourth in consecutive wins, will compete again Monday.

Poised and affable on TV and in an interview with The Associated Press, she doesn’t seem the gloating type. But she is tickled by the fact that she’s fulfilled a prediction made by her 8th-grade classmates in Dayton, Ohio: She was voted most likely to be a “Jeopardy!” contestant, based on her geography and spelling bee prowess.

More significantly, she’s the first transgender person to qualify for the show’s tournament of champions. In a series of tweets last November, Schneider said she’s proud to be a trans woman and wants people to know that aspect of her, adding, “but I’m a lot of other things, too!”

Schneider’s “Jeopardy!” achievements have made her both an inspiration and a target for transphobic insults online — which she batted away with the same aplomb she displays on TV. Her deftness earned attention last week from Harvey Fierstein.

“I couldn’t be prouder if she were my own daughter,” the writer and Broadway star tweeted.

Fun fact: Schneider is proud of a podcast she did on “Downton Abbey” and invites those who are interested to listen to “hundreds of hours of content” about the PBS series.

Schneider, an engineering manager living in Oakland, California, recently talked with AP about her newfound fame, keeping her day job — but dreaming about an entertainment career — and being a voice for the trans community. Remarks have been edited for clarity and length.

AP: Are you having pinch-me moments over how well you’ve done on ‘Jeopardy!’?

SCHNEIDER: Absolutely. Just seeing myself on TV still is almost a shock, even though I was there when it all happened. I thought I could win some games but I didn’t think I would do this well. The other day, my girlfriend mentioned some famous people that had gone to her high school, and I was thinking, “I know there was somebody who went to mine.” I looked it up on Wikipedia and there I was, listed under notable alumni. That was a very weird moment to see that.

AP: You’ve mentioned actor Laverne Cox and comedian Natasha Muse as trans women you find inspiring. Have you heard from viewers who see you as a role model?

SCHNEIDER: I have definitely heard from other trans people who have been sort of thrilled to see me out there. But one of the things that I’ve enjoyed the most is hearing from parents, and sometimes grandparents, of trans people, an older generation. There’s a lot of fear for their loved ones who are trans, and worry that they might be limited in life. To be able to go out there and show that I can be successful in a very mainstream type of way has, I think, made a lot of them feel better about the people in their lives.

AP: Given that Cox and Muse are both performers, is that something that touches a chord in you? You’ve done acting, and is comedy something you’re interested in?

SCHNEIDER: I’ve done open mics around town, just for fun and not seriously pursued it, but I’ve been a performer my whole life. As I was struggling with the necessity of coming out, definitely one of the fears was, ‘Will I still be comfortable in public and will I still be able to perform after I transitioned?’ And seeing them definitely helped with that.

AP: Is a career in entertainment your goal?

SCHNEIDER: I’m dreaming of it. I don’t know exactly in what direction I would want to take that, and I don’t know what opportunities will be available coming out of this (the show). But I’ve been working on my writing as a field I might find some opportunities in. Beyond that, I’m just sort of riding it out and kind of seeing what may or may not come up as it goes along.

AP: Last month, after you got a Twitter shoutout on your “Jeopardy!” success from Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, you asked your followers in the state to consider that a vote for a Republican in this year’s elections would make your life harder. How did you decide to make a statement that puts you on a different level of exposure?

SCHNEIDER: I definitely thought about it, and I don’t want my social media to be a place where people are arguing about politics all the time. But at the same time, I can’t ignore the fact that there’s people out there threatening my brothers and sisters in the trans community. Here I have a chance to say something about it, and I can’t be completely silent. I don’t necessarily want to be super-activist about it and constantly banging that drum. But I can’t be silent either, when I know that there’s so many people in danger of real hurt and harm from political policies.

AP: You had a polite response to someone who took you to task for the tweet.

SCHNEIDER: I grew up in a Republican household and a Catholic environment, and many people I love are conservative in various ways. I know them, and I know they’re not intentionally out there doing harm and that they have reasons for the positions that they hold. So I want to engage people from (across) the spectrum where that’s possible. But it has to be in a condition where my right to exist is granted, otherwise we can’t talk.

Senegal rejects bill to double jail time for homosexuality

By BABACAR DIONE

January 6, 2022

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal’s National Assembly has rejected a proposed law that would have doubled the jail time for people convicted of homosexuality, which is illegal in the country, though proponents of the bill vowed to press ahead with their efforts.

The proposed legislation backed by about a dozen members of parliament would have increased the maximum sentence from five years to 10. But legislative members of President Macky Sall’s coalition already had said they found the measure unnecessary and on Wednesday it was formally rejected.

The office of the National Assembly issued a statement saying that Sall already had made clear that homosexuality will not be legalized and is already “severely punished by the Senegalese penal code.”

Cheikh Mbacke Bara Dolly, an opposition leader in parliament, slammed his ruling coalition colleagues for rejecting the bill without further debate.

“They should have let the process come to its conclusion,” he said Thursday. “This rejection will give more power to the LGBT community.”

Human rights groups and Western leaders have lobbied Senegal to ease its laws against sexual minorities, bringing up the issue on business trips to the West African country in recent years.

Prosecutions for homosexuality in Senegal had been rare, though human rights activists say arrests are on the rise. Discrimination still runs deep in this moderate, predominantly Muslim country where the bodies of gay men have even been dug out of cemeteries after their families had laid them to rest there.

Gay South Korean couple lose equal coverage lawsuit against health insurer

By Thomas Maresca

Same-sex partners So Seong-wook (L) and Kim Yong-min lost their lawsuit Friday against South Korea’s national health insurer over its withdrawal of spousal benefits from So.

 Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI

SEOUL, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- A Seoul court rejected a landmark lawsuit by a same-sex couple over shared health insurance benefits Friday, a ruling that advocates say highlights the challenges the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community faces in pursuing equal rights in South Korea.

The suit was filed last year by So Seong-wook against South Korea's National Health Insurance Service after it withdrew his ability to receive spousal benefits under the employer of his longtime partner, Kim Yong-min.

South Korea does not recognize marriage or civil unions for same-sex couples, and the Seoul Administrative Court said Friday that it had no legal basis to expand the definition of marriage.

"The union of a man and woman is still considered the fundamental element of marriage, according to civil law, precedents of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court and the general perception of society," the judgment said.

"Under the current legal system, it is difficult to evaluate the relationship between two people of the same sex as a common-law relationship," it continued.

The plaintiffs had argued that the NHIS recognizes non-married couples such as common-law spouses. They said after the ruling that they would appeal the decision.

"Even though the court has left it as a matter for the legislative branch, we will continue to fight until the day that our relationship is recognized," Kim told reporters outside the court. "I believe that love will eventually win."

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In February 2020, Kim, 31, was able to register So, 30, as his dependent with the National Health Insurance Service in what is believed to be the first such case in the country.

However, when a local magazine highlighted the couple's story several months later, the NHIS abruptly canceled So's dependent status.

The LGBT community in South Korea has long been seeking more rights and a higher profile in a country that remains deeply conservative on many social issues. In addition to a same-sex marriage ban, there are no anti-discrimination laws in place to protect sexual and gender minorities

Advocates said Friday's ruling was a missed opportunity for the court to move LGBT rights forward on the basis of equality under the Constitution.

"The court could have made a more meaningful decision on the case, but they are trying to avoid touching this issue," Lee Jong-geol, general director of LGBT advocacy group Chingusai, told UPI after the verdict.

"But [the case] may help push the country to see that this is an unavoidable issue that we need to do something about," he said.

Public attitudes toward the LGBT community have been shifting in South Korea in recent years, especially among the younger generation.

A 2020 global survey by Pew Research found that just 44% of South Koreans felt that homosexuality should be accepted, but that figure soared to 79% among 18-29 year-olds. The generation gap was wider than in any other country, the study said.

Despite the court's decision, So said he believed South Korea was heading toward equality for all.

"We're disappointed with the ruling," he told UPI. "But society is changing. We will appeal the decision and keep working on it, and I hope that change will come even sooner."

LGBTQ+ rights: Germany appoints first 'commissioner for queer affairs'

For the first time in the country's history, Germany has appointed a commissioner for the acceptance of sexual and gender diversity. Green Party lawmaker Sven Lehmann will oversee a LGBTQ+ national action plan.


Green Party lawmaker Sven Lehmann has long been advocating for gender diversity and acceptance

Accepting his new position on Wednesday, Green Party politician Sven Lehmann said "everyone should be able to live freely, safely, and with equal rights."

In the newly created role of "Federal Government Commissioner for the Acceptance of Sexual and Gender Diversity," Lehmann will be responsible for working with government ministries on policy projects affecting the LGBTQ+ community. He will also spearhead the government's National Action Plan for Sexual and Gender Diversity.

Germany's month-old government — made up of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) — previously set out the plan in their coalition deal. "Germany should become a pioneer in the fight against discrimination," the agreement reads.
Ensuring fundamental rights

In announcing his appointment, Lehman said that protection of all people regardless of their sexual and gender identity "must be ensured in accordance with the Basic Law" (Germany's constitution) and that "the fundamental rights of trans, inter and non-binary people must finally be fully enforced."

"We also need a broad strategy to combat hatred directed at groups — which explicitly includes 'queerphobia'," Lehmann said.

Driven by seeking justice

The 42-year-old parliamentarian has been a member of the Bundestag for the Greens since 2017. From 2018 to 2021 Lehmann served as spokesperson for queer policy and social policy within the Greens' parliamentary group, alongside Ulle Schauws.

"The issue of justice drives him," Schauws told DW. "That's why fighting for a life free of discrimination, for acceptance and diversity is like an engine that drives him."

Lehmann's close contact with rights groups and activists means he knows exactly what issues are affecting the queer community," she said.

"Even in discussions where there's criticism, he always has an open ear for what's important and what problems there are."

In the 2021 federal election, Lehmann won the direct mandate for his constituency in the western city of Cologne, which is home to one of the country's largest gay communities.
'Important signal'

Germany's Lesbian and Gay Association (LSVD) said the newly created office is "another important signal for the queer political awakening promised by the coalition government."

Lehmann has to become "the driving force in the government in order to implement the queer political projects promised in the coalition agreement," Henny Engels from the LSVD board told DW.

"Right now he should urgently endeavor to ensure that LGBTQ+ people are explicitly included in the admission program for refugees from Afghanistan, which was recently presented by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock," Engels said.

In December, Baerbock vowed to speed up the evacuation of those in need of protection in Afghanistan. Germany's action plan includes cutting back on bureaucracy to hasten the process.

Coalition pledges reforms

The German Society for Trans Identity and Intersexuality (dgti) also said it looked forward to working with Lehmann on the path to a "better world for all trans, inter and non-binary people."

In recent years, some changes have been initiated in this area of equality and diversity that can now be brought to a good end, dgti told DW in a written statement.

"From the dgti's point of view, this includes, above all, the abolition of the 'transsexual law' and the passage of new legislation on self-determination."

In 2018, Germany became one of the few countries worldwide that officially recognizes the existence of more than two genders when it introduced a third option, "diverse," in addition to "male" and "female."

In the new government's coalition deal, the three ruling parties pledged sweeping reforms for LGBTQ+ rights including an end to restrictions on blood donations by gay men, as well as legal changes to allow trans people to determine their own gender.

The coalition also wants to see transition-related medical care fully covered by statutory health insurance and plans to create a compensation fund for trans and intersex people who were harmed by previous legislation, which included forced sterilization.

Prior to legal reform in 2011, trans people in Germany were forced to undergo sterilization to receive legal gender recognition.

"Some of these people suffer from these sex-assigning forced surgeries all their lives," the dgti statement read.

"Trans people who were only able to change their civil status after an adjustment operation must also be compensated. For many, this meant that their marriages resulted in a divorce or were annulled. Such action on the part of the state is against human dignity and human rights," the dgti said.

The creation of such a compensation fund would see Germany follow in the footsteps of European neighbors Sweden and the Netherlands.

Compensation has also been an issue with the Bundeswehr, Germany's army: In 2020 the Defense Ministry published a report on the extent of discrimination of gay soldiers before 2000.

'Example for EU neighbors'

Volker Beck, a Greens politician and former member of parliament, has praised the creation of the new post, even if it "comes somewhat late," he told DW.

Beck campaigned vehemently for the recognition of sexual diversity in the German parliament during his time as a Bundestag MP between 1994 and 2017. The first proposals for establishing a position similar to Lehmann's were already drawn up in the 1980s.

Looking to European neighbors, Beck said he hopes the position will be a "signal that gays and lesbians and sexual minorities are seen as citizens with equal rights."

Similarly, Lehmann's colleague Schauws said that while Germany still lags behind many countries on LGBTQ+ rights, she hopes the new government can lead by example for those even further behind. The new coalition has the task of ensuring that "people with queer biographies are finally taken seriously and the realities of diverse families are reflected in our laws so they can live free of discrimination."

"And this goes way beyond queer politics," said Schauws. "This applies to all forms of discrimination, and hatred towards specific groups that we experience in our country — and experience increasingly from right-wing groups. We have to keep a watchful eye on them and say: 'No, not in our country'."

Edited by: Rina Goldenberg and Kyra Levine


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Conversion therapy is now illegal in Canada

Rachel Aiello

CTVNews.ca Online Politics Producer
 Friday, January 7, 2022 

OTTAWA -- Conversion therapy is now illegal in Canada, marking a major milestone in LGBTQ2S+ rights in this country.

After parliamentarians came together to unanimously pass legislation to eradicate the harmful practice in late 2021, the Criminal Code sanctions came into force on Jan. 7.

That means that now, anyone who looks to subject someone of any age, consenting or not, to so-called conversion therapy could face up to five years in prison.

As well, if someone is found to be promoting, advertising, or profiting from providing the practice, they could face up to two years in prison.

Conversion “therapy,” as it has been called, seeks to change a person's sexual orientation to heterosexual or gender identity to cisgender. It can include seeking to repress someone’s non-heterosexual attraction, or repressing a person’s gender expression or non-cis gender identity.

These practices can take various forms, including counselling and behavioural modification, and they have been opposed by numerous health and human rights groups. There continue to be calls for further mental health and educational supports for those who have survived conversion therapy.

After years of calls for action and past failed attempts to pass a bill to ban conversion therapy, the accelerated all-party effort—despite some after-the-fact concerns raised by a few Conservative MPs—has been praised by political leaders as well as by LGBTQ2S+ advocates both in Canada and abroad.

Few countries have criminalized conversion therapy, and Canada now has what the federal Liberal government has described as “among the most comprehensive” protections in the world.

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Canada Bans ‘Conversion Therapy’

The law, which takes effect on Friday, puts Canada in the company of more than a dozen countries that have banned the widely discredited practice.


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, right, shook hands with Erin O’Toole, the Conservative leader, after the unanimous adoption of legislation banning so-called conversion therapy last month.

Credit...Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press

By Christine Hauser

NEW YORK TIMES
Jan. 6, 2022

A Canadian law banning so-called conversion therapy is poised to go into effect on Friday, making it a crime to provide or promote services intended to change or repress a person’s sexual orientation or gender expression.

With the new law, Canada’s criminal code will prohibit forcing someone to undergo conversion therapy; taking a minor abroad to take part; and profiting from, promoting or advertising the practice. Violations can draw sentences of up to five years’ imprisonment.

“This is an incredibly important step to making sure queer and trans people in Canada feel valid and deserving of full protection,” said Michael Kwag, a policy director at the Community-Based Research Center in Toronto, which researches the health of people of diverse sexualities and genders.

“It also sends a strong message to the entire country that any attempt to change, deny or suppress the identity of queer and trans people is wrong,” he said in an interview.

The law was the Canadian government’s second attempt last year to bring an end to the widely discredited practice and its third since 2020. The previous bill was set aside in August after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has described conversion therapy as “harmful” and “degrading,” called an election.

In November, David Lametti, Canada’s justice minister, and Marci Ien, the minister for women, gender equality and youth, resurrected the effort, introducing amendments that they said would make Canada’s protections against conversion therapy among the most comprehensive in the world.

Travis Salway, an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University who has researched the controversial practice, said some of the debate over the bill included concerns about religious freedom, such as whether a pastor could be charged if asked to speak to a person about gender identity.

The law goes further than the previous two bills because it broadens the consent issue to protect both adults and minors, said Nicholas Schiavo, the executive director of No Conversion Canada, a nonprofit organization that lobbied to support the bill.

“The intention behind the first two were good, but they left a loophole for adults to undergo conversion therapy,” he said. “They can’t consent to something fraudulent.”

The bill was passed through a unanimous consent motion by the House of Commons on Dec. 1 and the Senate on Dec. 7, after Conservatives who had opposed previous legislation on the subject embraced it. On Dec. 8 it was given royal assent, a procedural stamp that started a 30-day clock until it will take effect on Friday.

But some legislators were dismayed. Ted Falk, a Conservative member of Parliament from Manitoba, said he and other conservatives were “blindsided” by the fast-tracked bill that disregarded written viewpoints and concerns.

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In a Facebook post on Dec. 17, he said there was no sign a consensus or final decision had been reached before the motion was unexpectedly presented just as everyone was rising, giving no time for objections.

“There were about four seconds in which any one of us could have voiced an objection and, in all honesty, before I could process what was happening, the motion had been passed,” he wrote on Facebook.

“What was repeatedly requested by many of those making submissions, was the government’s guarantee — included in the legislation itself — that conversations with a religious leader, counselor or parent continued to be protected and possible,” the lawmaker added. “Sadly, these requests were not considered.”

Canada is among the latest countries to ban conversion therapy. The French Parliament voted on Dec. 14 to ban the practice. At least a dozen countries have also adopted some form of legislative protections against it, including India, Malta, Ecuador and Germany.

In the United States, 20 states and Washington, D.C., have passed laws banning conversion therapy, according to Born Perfect, a group seeking to outlaw the practice.

In Canada, the federal law joins a patchwork of municipal and provincial laws that have banned conversion therapy — in Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton and in provinces including Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Some practitioners have avoided detection. The names of programs are sometimes changed, Professor Salway said. In health care settings, physicians have acted as gatekeepers, declining to provide trans people access to hormones, he said.

“The benefit of the federal law is it covers the whole country at once, so we don’t have to rely on local politics,” he said.

Mr. Schiavo said local regulation was still relevant because it could be easier to use bylaws than to go through courts. “We are still in favor of cities stepping up,” he added.

Professor Salway and others said the federal law needed to be paired with localized education campaigns. “That’s why we should celebrate the bill, but not be so naïve that it is going to remove all these practices,” he said.

Mr. Kwag said his research organization found that 10 percent of the 9,214 L.G.B.T.Q. participants in its 2019-20 Sex Now survey had received the so-called therapy, with 67 percent in a faith-based setting and the rest through licensed health care providers, which are regulated by provinces.

Mr. Kwag, who is now 37, said he was 19 when his family referred him to an “ex-gay Christian therapist” for telephone counseling and talk therapy about his “homosexual urges.”

In sessions of 45 minutes to an hour, he was asked to recount homosexual thoughts or behavior, and was given “Scripture and strategies to manage” urges to act on those feelings.

After four sessions, Mr. Kwag said, he got in a heated argument with his family about making him attend them, and then he tried to take his own life.

“It was all very dehumanizing,” he said.