Philippines cleans up after sixth major storm in weeks


By AFP
November 17, 2024

Handout photo from the Philippine Coast Guard shows coast guard personnel clear fallen trees off a highway in Catanduanes province after Typhoon Man-yi - Copyright Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)/AFP -
Pam CASTRO

Filipinos cleared fallen trees and repaired damaged houses on Monday after the sixth major storm to batter the Philippines in a month smashed flimsy buildings, knocked out power and claimed at least one life.

The national weather service had warned of a “potentially catastrophic” impact from Man-yi, which was a super typhoon when it hit over the weekend, but President Ferdinand Marcos said Monday it “wasn’t as bad as we feared”.

Packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 185 kilometres (115 miles) an hour, Man-yi slammed into Catanduanes island late Saturday, and the main island of Luzon on Sunday afternoon.

It uprooted trees, brought down power lines, crushed wooden houses and triggered landslides, but did not cause serious flooding.

“Though Pepito was strong, the impact wasn’t as bad as we feared,” Marcos said, according to an official transcript of his remarks to media, using the local name for Man-yi.

One person was killed in Camarines Norte province, which Marcos said was “one casualty too many”. Police said the victim, a 79-year-old man, died after his motorbike was caught in a power line.

There have been no other reports so far of deaths or injuries.

“We will now carry on with the rescue of those (in) isolated areas and the continuing relief for those who are, who have been displaced and have no means to prepare their own meals and have no water supplies,” Marcos said.

Power outages across the island province of Catanduanes could last for months after Man-yi toppled electricity poles, provincial information officer Camille Gianan told AFP.

“Catanduanes has been heavily damaged by that typhoon — we need food packs, hygiene kits and construction materials,” Gianan said.

“Most houses with light materials were flattened while some houses made of concrete had their roofs, doors and windows destroyed.”

In the coastal town of Baler in Aurora province, clean-up operations were underway to remove felled trees and debris blocking roads and waterways.

“Most of the houses here are made of light materials so even now, before the inspection, we are expecting heavy damage on many houses in town,” disaster officer Neil Rojo told AFP.

“We’ve also received reports of roofs that went flying with the wind last night… it was the fierce wind that got us scared, not exactly the heavy rains.”



– Storm weakens –



Man-yi weakened significantly as it traversed the mountains of Luzon and was downgraded to a severe tropical storm as it swept over the South China Sea towards Vietnam on Monday.

More than a million people in the Philippines fled their homes ahead of the storm, which followed an unusual streak of violent weather.

Climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rains, flash floods and stronger gusts.

At least 163 people in the Philippines died in the past month’s storms, which left thousands homeless and wiped out crops and livestock.

About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Southeast Asian nation or its surrounding waters each year, killing scores of people, but it is rare for multiple such weather events to take place in a small window.

Man-yi also hit the Philippines late in the typhoon season — most cyclones develop between July and October.

This month, four storms were clustered simultaneously in the Pacific basin, which the Japan Meteorological Agency told AFP was the first time such an occurrence had been observed in November since its records began in 1951.

Disgraced Singapore oil tycoon sentenced to nearly 18 years for fraud


By AFP
November 18, 2024

Former oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin arrives to be sentenced at the State Court in Singapore - Copyright Lehtikuva/AFP Heikki Saukkomaa

The founder of a failed Singapore oil trading company was sentenced Monday to nearly 18 years in jail for cheating banking giant HSBC out of millions of dollars in one of the country’s most serious cases of fraud.

Lim Oon Kuin, 82, better known as O.K. Lim, was convicted in May in a case that dented the city-state’s reputation as a top Asian oil trading hub.

His firm, Hin Leong Trading, was among Asia’s biggest oil trading companies before its sudden and dramatic collapse in 2020.

Sentencing him to 17 and a half years in jail, State Courts judge Toh Han Li said he agreed with the prosecution that the offences had the potential to undermine confidence in Singapore’s oil trading industry.

The amount involved “stood at the top-tier of cheating cases” in the city-state, a global financial hub, he said.

The judge shaved off a year due to Lim’s age but did not give any sentencing discount on account of his health, saying the Singapore Prison Service has adequate medical facilities.

Lim, however, remained free on bail after his lawyers said they would file an appeal before the High Court.

State prosecutors had sought a 20-year jail term, saying “this is one of the most serious cases of trade financing fraud that has ever been prosecuted in Singapore”.

The defence had argued for seven years imprisonment, playing down the harm caused by Lim’s offences and citing his age and poor health.

The businessman faced a total of 130 criminal charges involving hundreds of millions of dollars, but prosecutors tried and convicted him on just three — two of cheating HSBC, and a third of encouraging a Hin Leong executive to forge documents.

Prosecutors said he tricked HSBC into disbursing nearly $112 million by telling the bank that his firm had entered into oil sales contracts with two companies.

The transactions were, in fact, “complete fabrications, concocted on the accused’s directions”, prosecutors said, adding that his actions “tarnished Singapore’s hard-earned reputation as Asia’s leading oil trading hub”.


– ‘Unprecedented turmoil’ –


Lim built Hin Leong from a single delivery truck shortly before Singapore became independent in 1965.

It grew into a major supplier of fuel used by ships, and its rise in some ways mirrored Singapore’s growth from a gritty port to an affluent financial hub.

The firm played a key role in helping the city-state become the world’s top ship refuelling port, observers say, and it expanded into ship chartering and management with a subsidiary that has a fleet of more than 150 vessels.

But it came crashing down in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic plunged oil markets into unprecedented turmoil, exposing Hin Leong’s financial troubles, and Lim sought court protection from creditors.

In a bombshell affidavit seen by AFP in 2020, Lim revealed the oil trader had “in truth… not been making profits in the last few years” — despite having officially reported a healthy balance sheet in 2019.

He admitted that the firm he founded after emigrating from China had hidden $800 million in losses over the years, while it also owed almost $4 billion to banks.

Lim took responsibility for ordering the company not to report the losses and confessed it had sold off inventories that were supposed to backstop loans.

Biden in ‘historic’ pledge for poor nations ahead of Trump return

By AFP
November 18, 2024

After a decade of conflict in one of the Arab world's poorest countries, more than two-thirds of Yemenis are dependent on humanitarian aid - Copyright JIJI Press/AFP/File STR

US President Joe Biden announced a “historic” $4 billion pledge for a World Bank fund that helps the world’s poorest countries, the White House said Monday, before Donald Trump takes office with a new cost-cutting agenda.

The outgoing leader unveiled the money for the International Development Association as he attends the G20 summit underway in Rio de Janeiro, his last time at the gathering of world leaders.

“The president announced today that the United States intends to pledge $4 billion over three years… which is really exciting,” a senior US administration official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The official said the pledge would not be binding on Trump’s incoming administration but said previous Republican governments had also backed top-ups for the fund.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden has been trying to shore up his international legacy – Copyright AFP Mauro PIMENTEL

US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer earlier called the pledge “historic” and said Biden would “rally other leaders to step up their contributions.”

The International Development Association is the concessional lending arm of the World Bank and is used for some of the poorest countries in the globe, including for projects focused on climate.

During a six-day tour of South America, Biden has been trying to shore up his international legacy ahead of President-elect Trump’s return to the White House on January 20.

On Sunday he visited the Amazon rainforest in Brazil to promote his record on climate change, saying that the United States had hit its target of increasing bilateral climate financing to $11 billion a year.

Billionaire Trump has pledged to take a wrecking ball to many of Biden’s policies and has appointed tech tycoon Elon Musk as head of a commission to target what he calls federal government waste.

G20 host Brazil launches alliance to end ‘scourge’ of hunger

By AFP
November 18, 2024

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who grew up in poverty, is championing an anti-hunger alliance - Copyright AFP Ludovic MARIN

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva opened a G20 summit in Rio by launching an alliance to curb world hunger, which he called a “scourge that shames humanity.”

The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty marks an early summit success for left-wing Lula, with a total of 81 countries signing on to it.

Argentina was the only one of the 19 countries in the G20 not to sign on to the initiative.

Its participation was still “under negotiation,” a Brazilian government source said.

The charity Oxfam said the global alliance “could be a turning point in the battle against hunger and extreme poverty” but urged the initiative to go further by instituting changes in agriculture, supporting land rights and confronting “the weaponization of hunger.”

The decision not to join by Argentina — led by right-wing President Javier Milei, a big fan of Donald Trump — deepened a political gap with neighboring Brazil.

Milei has imposed radical austerity measures in Argentina to bring down high inflation.

The policies sent the poverty rate in the country soaring to 52.9 percent in the first half of this year, 11 percentage points higher than in the previous six-month period.

Milei was the first world leader to see Trump after the Republican’s win in the US presidential election. He attended a gala at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Florida estate last Thursday.

The Argentine leader has several times labeled Lula a “communist” and “corrupt.”

The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty also has the support of international organizations such as the European Union and the African Union — both G20 members — as well as financial institutions and NGOs, bringing the total number of signatories to 147.

The initiative’s goal is ambitious: to reduce world hunger which affected 733 million people last year — nine percent of the global population — according to the UN.

For Lula, who grew up in poverty before becoming a steelworker, a trade unionist and eventually president of Latin America’s biggest economy, the initiative is dear to the heart.

At a national level, his leftwing policies have already lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty.



– ‘Political will’ –



The global alliance on hunger is an effort to widen that push by putting international financing behind it, and replicating successful national programs in other countries.

“Eradicating hunger and poverty is not so hard, and the cost is not exorbitant,” Wellington Dias, Brazil’s minister for social development, said in a statement announcing the alliance.

“It’s just a question of political will.”

Negotiations on the initiative had gone on for months, with concrete commitments already made.

The Inter-American Development Bank on Friday announced a $25 billion contribution to programs fighting hunger and poverty over the next five years.

The alliance especially aims for improved nutrition for early childhood, free school canteens and supporting small farms. The goal is to improve food access and quality for 150 million children by the end of the decade.

Nigeria, which already has the biggest school meals program in Africa, has vowed to double the number of children benefiting from it to 20 million.

Indonesia, from January 2025, will start a new program of free canteens, with the aim of reaching 78 million school children in 2029.

Five takeaways from the G20 summit in Rio


By AFP

November 18, 2024

One of the issues dearest to President Lula was forging a global alliance against hunger - Copyright AFP Mauro PIMENTEL

G20 leaders met in Rio de Janeiro on Monday for talks on climate change, ongoing wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Lebanon, and more, at a forum that highlighted differences between world powers but also delivered some successes.

Here are five key takeaways from the summit:



– No climate breakthrough –



Hopes were high that G20 leaders would jumpstart stalled UN climate talks taking place in Azerbaijan.

In their final declaration, however, they merely recognized the need for “substantially scaling up climate finance from billions to trillions from all sources.”

Crucially, they did not say who would provide the trillions.

They also did not reiterate a commitment made at the COP28 climate talks in Dubai last year for a “just, orderly, and equitable transition” away from fossil fuels.

“They haven’t stepped up to the challenge,” Mick Sheldrick, co-founder of the Global Citizen campaign group said.



– Ukraine war –



The war in Ukraine dominated discussions at the G20, a day after the United States gave Kyiv the green light to strike Russian territory with American-supplied long-range missiles.

Russia vowed a “response” if hit.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who together with Brazil has been pushing for Kyiv to enter peace talks with Russia, urged the G20 to help “cool” the war.

In their final statement, G20 leaders said they welcomed “all relevant and constructive initiatives that support a comprehensive, just, and durable peace” in Ukraine.

While condemning, as at last year’s G20 summit, the “threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition,” they made no mention of Russian aggression.



– Lebanon, Gaza ceasefire calls –



The leaders of the G20 — which mixes steadfast Israel allies such as the United States and Argentina with countries like Turkey that are more supportive of Palestinians — called for “comprehensive” ceasefires in both Gaza and Lebanon.

They said the Gaza ceasefire should be in line with a US-proposed UN resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in the territory in return for the release of all hostages by Hamas.

It also called for a Lebanon ceasefire “that enables citizens to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line” that separates Lebanese and Israeli armed forces.



– Tax the super-rich –



The G20 endorsed the idea of cooperating to make sure “ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed,” delivering a victory to summit host Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

It said though that such cooperation should be “with full respect to tax sovereignty” and involve “debates around tax principles” as well as coming up with anti-avoidance mechanisms.

An economist specializing in inequalities who was tapped by the Brazilian G20 presidency to write a report on the issue, Gabriel Zucman, hailed the “historic decision.”



– Alliance against hunger –



One of the issues dearest to President Lula was forging a global alliance against hunger, and he received an early success by launching that initiative at the start of the summit, getting 82 countries to sign on.

The alliance aims to unite international efforts to provide financing in the campaign against hunger, and to replicate programs that have proved successful in some countries.

The goal is to reach half a billion people by the end of the decade, reducing what Lula — who grew up in poverty — has called a preventable “scourge that shames humanity.”


China’s Xi urges G20 to help ‘cool’ Ukraine crisis


By AFP
November 18, 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged leaders to help 'cool the Ukraine crisis and seek a political solution' - Copyright AFP Mauro PIMENTEL

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged G20 leaders Monday to support efforts to de-escalate the war in Ukraine and reach a “political solution,” state media reported.

His remarks at the G20 summit in Brazil come shortly after Ukraine received a US green light to launch long-range missiles provided by Washington against targets inside Russia.

“The G20 should support the United Nations and its Security Council in playing a greater role, and support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of crises,” Xi said, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

He called for leaders to avoid “spillovers” from battlefields and escalation of fighting, and to help “cool the Ukraine crisis and seek a political solution.”

War in Ukraine continues to rage since Russia’s invasion in 2022.

China presents itself as a neutral party in the war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.

But it remains a close political and economic ally of Russia. NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the war, which it has never condemned.

Following the long-range missile policy shift by US President Joe Biden, who leaves office in January, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Monday his country was sending Ukraine 4,000 AI-guided drones.

Xi, in his speech Monday, also called for efforts to shore up multilateral trade systems and warned against “politicizing economic issues” without naming any specific countries.

His comments come before US President-elect Donald Trump reenters the White House in January, after campaigning on pledges to enact sweeping tariffs on China and others.

Washington also unveiled sharp tariff hikes this year on Chinese goods, notably on products like electric vehicle batteries and solar cells, as the United States tries to grow its domestic clean energy sectors.

“We must avoid politicizing economic issues, artificially dividing the global market, and avoid practicing protectionism in the name of green and low-carbon development,” Xi said.

In seeking cooperation on artificial intelligence, he added that this should not become “a game of rich countries and the wealthy.”

Xi called for “all sides to stop fighting” in Gaza as well, saying the war between Israel and Hamas has “brought heavy suffering,” CCTV reported.

Bangladeshi ex-ministers face ‘massacre’ charges in court

By AFP
November 18, 2024

Thirteen Bangladeshi former top government officials appeared in court on Monday under heavy guard to face charges of inciting massacres - Copyright AFP Abdul Goni
Sabiha ALAM

Thirteen Bangladeshi former top government officials arrested after the revolution in August appeared in court Monday accused of “enabling massacres”, with prosecutors repeating extradition demands for exiled ex-leader Sheikh Hasina.

Dozens of Hasina’s allies have been taken into custody since her regime collapsed, accused of involvement in a police crackdown that killed more than 700 people during the unrest that led to her ouster.

Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam said the 13 defendants, who included 11 former ministers, a judge and an ex-government secretary, were accused of command responsibility for the deadly crackdown on the student-led protest that ousted the regime.

Hasina, who fled to old ally India by helicopter on August 5, was also due in court in Dhaka on Monday to face charges of “massacres, killings, and crimes against humanity”, but she remained a fugitive in exile.

“We have produced 13 defendants today, including 11 former ministers, a bureaucrat, and a judge,” Islam, the chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal, told reporters.

“They are complicit in enabling massacres by participating in planning, inciting violence, ordering law enforcement officers to shoot on sight, and obstructing efforts to prevent a genocide.”

Around half a dozen lawyers supported the defendants, who were brought from custody and led into court surrounded by a ring of security forces to separate them from the large crowd outside.

Hasina’s 15-year tenure saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

The charges the 13 face are so far limited to the police crackdown on student-led protests, but Islam requested more time to compile evidence stretching back further.

“The crimes that led to mass murders and genocide have occurred over the past 16 years across the country,” he told reporters.

The court gave prosecutors until December 17 to submit their investigation report.



– ‘Seeking assistance’ –



The defendants listened to the charges read to them but were not asked yet to give a plea.

At one point, former industry minister Kamal Ahmed Majumdar stood up and spoke, appealing to the judge that he wanted “to say something”, an AFP reporter in the court heard.

He was not allowed to speak further.

Others in court included once powerful ex-law minister Anisul Huq, former Supreme Court judge Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, and former energy adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury.

Former social affairs minister Dipu Moni is the only woman among the 13.

Islam said efforts are being made to bring 77-year-old Hasina to Dhaka for trial, a day after interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Bangladesh was seeking her extradition.

Islam said they had contacted Interpol “seeking assistance in arresting her, as she has committed crimes against humanity”.

Red notices issued by the global police body alert law enforcement agencies worldwide about fugitives.

India is a member of Interpol, but the red notice does not mean New Delhi must hand Hasina over as each country applies their own laws on whether an arrest should be made.

India to send 5,000 extra troops to quell Manipur unrest

By AFP
November 19, 2024

People run past burning vehicles during a protest in November to condemn the alleged killing of women and children in Manipur - Copyright AFP/File -

India will deploy an extra 5,000 paramilitary troops to quell unrest in Manipur, authorities said Tuesday, a week after 16 people were killed in fresh clashes in the troubled state.

Manipur in India’s northeast has been rocked by periodic clashes for more than 18 months between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community, dividing the state into ethnic enclaves.

Ten Kuki militants were killed when they attempted to assault police last week, prompting the apparent reprisal killing of six Meitei civilians, whose bodies were found in Jiribam district days later.

New Delhi has “ordered 50 additional companies of paramilitary forces to go to Manipur”, a government source in New Delhi with knowledge of the matter told AFP on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorised to speak with media.

Each company of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), a paramilitary unit overseen by the home ministry and responsible for internal security, has 100 troops.

The Business Standard newspaper reported that the additional forces would be deployed in the state by the end of the week.

India already has thousands of troops attempting to keep the peace in the conflict that has killed at least 200 people since it began 18 months ago.

Manipur has been subject to periodic internet shutdowns and curfews since the violence began last year.

Both were reimposed in the state capital Imphal on Saturday after the discovery of the six bodies prompted violent protests by the Meitei community.

The ethnic strife has also displaced tens of thousands of people in the state, which borders war-torn Myanmar.

Incensed crowds in the city had attempted to storm the homes of several local politicians.

Local media reports said several homes of lawmakers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which governs the state, were damaged in arson attacks during the unrest.

Long-standing tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolve around competition for land and jobs.

Rights groups have accused local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain.

Tractor-driving French farmers protest EU-Mercosur deal

PETITE BOURGEOIS LANDOWNERS REVOLT

By AFP
November 18, 2024

French farmers staged a new wave of action to protest the adoption of a trade pact between the European Union and four South American countries - Copyright Lehtikuva/AFP Heikki Saukkomaa

French farmers launched Monday a new wave of action to protest the adoption of a trade pact between the European Union and four South American countries they fear would threaten their livelihoods.

Paris is leading resistance against ratification of the trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay that would create the world’s largest free trade zone.

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron defended France’s resistance to the proposed blockbuster deal as he visited Argentine’s Javier Milei, ahead of a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. He said France would “continue to oppose” the trade deal.

On Monday, angry French farmers used tractors to block roads and erected wooden crosses during protests across the country, urging Macron and the government to do more.

“Stop the promises, start with actions”, read a sign unfurled along a road in the southeastern town of Le Cannet-des-Maures.

“Macron, your agriculture is dying and you are looking elsewhere,” read another banner.

Local farmers also placed a cross next to a mock-up gallows with a message reading “France’s agriculture in danger”.

In the eastern city of Lyon, farmers tore off municipals signs and deposited them at the stairs of a museum.

Yohann Barbe, spokesman for the FNSEA, France’s top farming union, speaking to broadcaster Europe 1, said that the scale of the protests was going “to be unprecedented”.

“Farmers are still just as irritated as ever by a government that is dragging its feet.”

The new wave of rallies came after farmers across Europe including France earlier this year mounted rolling protests over a long list of burdens they say are depressing revenue.

Life is hard for French farmers, who complain about excessive bureaucracy, low incomes, and poor harvests.

The proposed trade pact has provoked fresh anger because farmers fear any agreement would open European markets to cheaper meat and produce that are not forced to adhere to strict rules on pesticides, hormones, land use and environmental measures.

On Sunday, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau warned farmers there would be “zero tolerance” in the event of “lasting” roadblocks.

bur-sb-kd-as/sjw/rl

Indigenous Australian lawmaker who heckled King Charles censured


By AFP
November 17, 2024

Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe disrupting proceedings as Britain's King Charles attended a parliamentary reception in Canberra in October 

- Copyright POOL/AFP/File LUKAS COCH

Laura CHUNG

An Indigenous lawmaker was censured by Australia’s parliament Monday for heckling King Charles about the legacy of European settlement during his October visit to Canberra.

The censure carries no practical punishment but passed the Senate Monday with 46 votes in favour and 12 against.

During the king’s visit to parliament, independent senator Lidia Thorpe screamed: “This is not your land, you are not my king,” decrying what she said was a “genocide” of Indigenous Australians by European settlers.

She also turned her back on the king as dignitaries stood for the national anthem.

The censure motion condemned Thorpe’s actions as “disruptive and disrespectful”.

It also said the Senate no longer regarded it “appropriate” for Thorpe to be a member of any delegation “during the life of this parliament”.

A censure motion is a symbolic gesture when parliamentarians are dissatisfied with the behaviour of one of their own.

Thorpe — sporting a gold chain with ‘Not My King’ around her neck — said she did not “give a damn” about the censure and would most likely use the document as “kindling” later in the week.

She told national broadcaster ABC she would “do it again” if the monarch returned.

“I will resist colonisation in this country. I swear my allegiance to the real sovereigns of these lands: First Peoples are the real sovereigns,” she said.

Green Senator Mehreen Faruqi voted against Thorpe’s censure, saying the lawmaker was telling Australia’s history “the way she wants to”.

Thorpe is known for her attention-grabbing political stunts and fierce opposition to the monarchy.

When she was sworn into office in 2022, Thorpe raised her right fist as she begrudgingly swore to serve Queen Elizabeth II, who was then Australia’s head of state.

Australia was a British colony for more than 100 years, during which time thousands of Aboriginal Australians were killed and entire communities displaced.

The country gained de facto independence in 1901, but has never become a fully-fledged republic.

King Charles is the current head of state.

The issue of a republic reared its head during the king’s visit Down Under earlier this year, but the issue remains a political non-starter.

A recent poll showed about a third of Australians would like to ditch the monarchy, a third would keep it and a third are ambivalent.

In 1999, Australians narrowly voted against removing the queen, amid a row over whether her replacement would be chosen by members of parliament, not the public.

Thousands march to New Zealand’s parliament in Maori rights protest


By AFP
November 18, 2024

Copyright AFP Sanka Vidanagama

Booming Indigenous Maori “haka” chants rang out across New Zealand’s capital on Tuesday, as thousands rallied against a conservative proposal accused of stoking racial divisions.

An estimated 15,000 demonstrators poured into Wellington from all corners of the country, shutting down busy streets on the final stages of their “hikoi” protest march towards parliament.

Bare-chested men wearing traditional feather cloaks were joined by small children, the elderly and riders on horseback waving the red, white and black Maori flag.

Others with distinctive full-face Maori “moko” tattoos clutched ceremonial wooden weapons.

Protests have been swelling throughout New Zealand after a minor party in the conservative coalition government drafted a bill to redefine the founding Treaty of Waitangi.

Although the bill has almost no chance of passing, its mere introduction has stirred up an uncomfortable reckoning on race relations.

Many critics see it as an attempt to abolish government programs for Maori citizens, who remain far more likely to live in poverty, die early, and languish in prison.

“It’s not the best way to have a conversation. We will not accept unilateral change to a treaty that involves two parties,” said Ngira Simmonds, a key advisor to New Zealand’s Maori queen.

“There is a better way,” he told AFP after travelling to Wellington to take part in the protest.

“We remain hopeful that politicians will understand and heed that call.”

The bill was introduced to parliament by the libertarian ACT Party last week.


– Deep divisions –


ACT Party leader David Seymour has characterised it as an attempt to end special treatment for the country’s 900,000-strong Maori population.

But proceedings were derailed when 22-year-old Maori Party MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke took to her feet in the chamber, ripped the bill in half, and launched into a haka.

Former conservative prime minister Jenny Shipley said the proposal threatened to “divide New Zealand in a way that I haven’t lived through in my adult life”.

Although incumbent Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has pledged the bill will not pass into law, he has been condemned for even allowing it to be debated in parliament.

Seen as the country’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 to bring peace between 540 Maori chiefs and colonising British forces.

Its principles today underpin efforts to foster partnership between Indigenous and non-Indigenous New Zealanders and protect the interests of the Maori community.

The anniversary of the treaty’s signing remains a national holiday.

STALINISM REDUX

Hong Kong court jails 45 democracy campaigners on subversion charges

By AFP
November 18, 2024

Police keep watch outside the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court in Hong Kong during the sentencing of the city's most prominent democracy campaigners - Copyright AFP Peter PARKS

A Hong Kong court on Tuesday jailed all 45 defendants convicted in the city’s largest trial under its sweeping national security law, with “mastermind” Benny Tai receiving the longest sentence of 10 years.

Tai’s jail term is the longest yet handed out under the law, which was imposed by Beijing in 2020 to quash dissent after massive, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before.

The group, which included figures from across Hong Kong’s once-diverse political spectrum, was charged with subversion after they held an informal poll in 2020 as part of a strategy to win a pro-democracy electoral majority.

Along with Tai, pro-democracy politicians Au Nok-hin, Andrew Chiu, Ben Chung and Australian citizen Gordon Ng were singled out as organisers and received sentences of up to seven years and three months.

Australia’s government said it was “gravely concerned” by the sentencing.

The other forty received terms beginning from four years and two months.

After Tai, the second longest sentence was handed to young activist Owen Chow, at seven years and nine months, with the court saying he “took a more proactive role in the scheme than other defendants”.

“Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, the 68-year-old co-founder of the city’s last standing opposition party the League of Social Democrats, received a term of six years and nine months.

– ‘ Refused to be tamed’ –

His wife and LSD leader Chan Po-ying told AFP outside the courtroom that the term was “within our expectations”.

“It is what it is — no matter (whether) I laugh or I cry so I choose to laugh a bit,” she said.

Leticia Wong, a former district councillor for a since-disbanded pro-democracy party who attended the sentencing, told AFP that she found the terms were “encouraging people to plead guilty and testify against their peers”.

“For those who refused to be tamed, punishment is obviously heavier,” Wong said.

Western countries and international rights groups have condemned the trial as evidence of Hong Kong’s increased authoritarianism.

China and Hong Kong say the security law restored order following the 2019 protests, and have warned against “interference” from other countries.

Forty-seven people were initially charged after they were arrested in January 2021, making this case the largest by number of defendants.

Thirty-one pleaded guilty, and 16 stood a 118-day trial last year, with 14 convicted and two acquitted in May.

– ‘Constitutional crisis’ –

The aim of the election primary, which took place in July 2020, was to pick a cross-party shortlist of pro-democracy candidates to increase their electoral prospects.

If a majority was achieved, the plan was to force the government to meet the 2019 protesters’ demands — including universal suffrage — by threatening to indiscriminately veto the budget.

Three senior judges handpicked by the government to try security cases said the group would have caused a “constitutional crisis”.

Anna Kwok, executive director of the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council, condemned the sentencing as “an attack on the essence of Hong Kong – one that yearns for freedom, democracy and the right to political expression”.

Acquitted ‘Hong Kong 47’ defendant sees freedom as responsibility


By AFP
November 19, 2024

Pro-democracy activist Lee Yue-Shun, one of only two to walk away from the high-profile security case, attended the trial every day in carefully coordinated outfits -

 Copyright AFP ISAAC LAWRENCE

Xinqi SU

As the massive trial of the “Hong Kong 47” democracy campaigners ended on Tuesday, an acquitted member of the group watched from the sidelines and felt the weight of his freedom upon him.

Former district councillor and street dancer Lee Yue-shun is one of only two people to have walked away from a national security law trial.

On Tuesday, 45 of his co-defendants were handed prison terms of up to 10 years for subversion.

It is Hong Kong’s largest prosecution under its 2020 security law, imposed by Beijing after huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before.

“I find the situation (of being acquitted) quite hard to understand,” Lee told AFP in a series of interviews ahead of the sentencing.

“I think (the acquittal) gave me more responsibility — how can I make better use of the freedom I have not lost,” the 31-year-old added.

On Tuesday, Lee arrived outside court at 4 am (2000 GMT) to try and get a public seat.

“I come here today mainly (out of) a duty to show my concern for this important court case as a citizen,” he told AFP.

“I also want more people to notice the development and the conclusion of the case.”



– ‘Intention to subvert’ –



The 47 were charged after holding an unofficial election primary in July 2020, in a bid to make a shortlist aimed at gaining a pro-democracy majority in the legislature.

If victorious, they planned to force the government to meet the 2019 protesters’ demands — including universal suffrage — by threatening vetoes of the city budget.

Judges ruled they would have created “a constitutional crisis”, and 45 were convicted of subversion.

But Lee and another defendant, veteran lawyer Lawrence Lau, were acquitted.

Judges said they could not be sure Lee “was a party to the Scheme” nor that he “had the intention to subvert”.

Until the duo’s release in May, national security cases prosecuted under the 2020 law had a 100 percent conviction rate.

While Hong Kong’s legislature has been purged of opposition and scores of civil society groups have shuttered since the law’s passage, authorities maintain it restored order and stability after months of unrest.

“We have lost a lot of freedoms… All I can say is that the acquittal means I lost one less,” Lee said.



– Social justice vision –



Lee jokingly referred to himself as “a loser” — he struggled at school and failed to get into university first time round.

“But Hong Kong gave me a vision,” he said, and he decided to pursue a career as a social worker.

He first dipped his toes into politics as a student, working as a campaign helper for a pro-democracy party.

Lee soon caught the party’s eye as a candidate to attract young voters, and ran for district council at the height of the 2019 protests.

He was put forward in the election primary almost at the last minute.

He lost, but at dawn on January 6, 2021, was woken up by banging on his door.

It was the national security police.

“I couldn’t make sense of it at that time. I asked if many people were arrested. They said yes,” Lee recalled.



– ‘Come what may’ –



Lee was luckier than the others — he was granted bail after two weeks, whereas most of the 47 have been detained since that day.

Even so, stringent bail conditions kept him “trapped” in Hong Kong for nearly 1,200 days.

His passport was seized, and he was banned from speaking publicly in any way deemed to endanger national security.

“Over these three years — which I would describe as a test — I had been emphasising this: I would not let my life be destroyed,” Lee said.

“Until the last moment before the ruling, I had been thinking: ‘Come what may, there are still things I want to carry on’.”

Lee threw himself into street dance and boxing, and appeared at every trial day in carefully coordinated outfits.

He also completed a law programme, with his final thesis analysing the conspiracy charge in common law — using his own case as an example.

Two weeks after his acquittal, Lee retrieved his passport from the court, and in early July, he renewed his social worker licence.

“I will now make more active and better use of this basic right (of movement) to further develop myself… to encourage more and different people here,” he said.

Written By AFP

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