Asia News

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JAPAN:
The continuing dispute between Japan and China over an island chain for which both countries claim ownership escalated last Sunday. A group of Japanese activists landed on one of the islands and waved Japanese flags. This followed the arrest and deportation of 14 Chinese nationals who landed on an island 4 days earlier. Japan calls the chain Senkaku and China uses the name Diaoyu. There were government outcries following both incidents and public protests were also reported by media in China and Japan.
There were calls in Japan for the 2 powers to seek a peaceful resolution of the matter. These regional tensions are compounded by the dispute between South Korea and Japan over another group of islands that South Korea calls Dokdo and Japan refers to as Takeshima. Japan has held a long standing claim over those islands, but Korea believes it was Korean territory returned to them at the conclusion of WWII.
KOREA:
The United States and South Korea have announced that their joint military training exercises, known as “Ulchi Freedom Guardian, will conclude by August 31st. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with some of his troops who participated in the bombing of South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island in 2010 and urged them to be vigilant and be prepared to lead a sacred war according to North Korea’s state media last Saturday. The media went on to say that Kim could clearly see Yeonpyeong island from where he addressed the troops.
PHILIPPINES:
According to the state-run PNA news agency, a small plane carrying Philippine Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, his bodyguard and 2 pilots went missing over Masbate Bay. The only known survivor of the crash is the bodyguard who was found by fishermen floating about 300 meters from the shore. A wide search and rescue mission has been ordered by the state and is being assisted by a U.S. military aircraft equipped with infrared and sonar.
The popular Minister was on his way to Naga City for a political event. He is a graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in the U.S.
MYANMAR:
Last Friday the International credit company, VISA Group, announced that it will begin operations in Myanmar adding to the continuing world recognition of that country’s reforms.
In a press release the company said “The first priority for Myanmar will be preparing for the influx of international visitors resulting from the relaxation of international sanctions.”
The move is surely encouraged by the fact that Myanmar will host both the World Economic Forum and the Southeast Asian Games next year. In June, Coca-Cola said that it would resume operations there for the 1st time in 60 years.
Meanwhile in western Myanmar, the ongoing violence between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhist Rakhines continues and the flow of refugees from that area into India have prompted New Delhi to ask officials in western Myanmar to do their utmost to slow the human tide crossing into India.
INDIA:
One week ago In India, authorities issued a ban on mass texting for the next 15 days. This was in response to messages of fear spread by text messages to students and workers in the northeastern state of Assam. The messages said that there would be retributions for ethnic violence there. As a result as many as 7,000 people fled Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad.
In Assam there have been incidents of Muslim boys being shot by individuals from the Bodo tribe and retaliations by Muslims killing Bodos. In all over 80 people have been killed and over 300,000 have been displaced.