【陳怡妏╱綜合外電報導】涉嫌貪污的馬來西亞前首相納吉上月敗選下台後，遭新首相馬哈迪重啟調查，警方搜索他的吉隆坡豪宅等6處房產，查扣大批疑用貪污所得購買的奢侈品。警方昨公布證物照片，只見一個個行李箱裡塞滿26種貨幣現鈔，及還包在塑膠袋裡的項鍊、戒指、手鍊等名貴珠寶，總值約83億台幣，是馬國警方史上最大豐收。
Tiaras, purses and cash: Malaysia seized nearly $273 million in valuables from the former Primer Minister Najib Razak and his wife, who are embroiled in a corruption scandal. [The New York Times]
(A tiara is a jeweled, ornamental crown traditionally worn by women. It is worn during formal occasions, particularly if the dress code is white tie.)
2018年6月27日 星期三
What Trump's Iran action means for Japan's energy interests 美國暗示將對規定期限後進口伊朗石油的國家零容忍
What Trump's Iran action means for Japan's energy interests | Asia ...
www.atimes.com/.../trumps-iran-action-means-japans-energy-interes...
美國暗示將對規定期限後進口伊朗石油的國家零容忍 |
2018年6月26日 星期二
Meddling in Australia's politics could get you prison time.澳洲或將以多年來最強硬力度收緊反間諜法 。台灣與澳洲2017年9月簽署備忘錄，提供諾魯拘留營的難民醫療服務
澳大利亞或將以多年來最強硬力度收緊反間諜法 |
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Meddling in Australia's politics could get you prison time.
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#難民營一隅。（美聯社資料照）
台灣與澳洲2017年9月簽署備忘錄，提供諾魯拘留營的難民醫療服務，但澳洲媒體指出，澳洲政府為了避免難民踏上澳洲本土，而台灣因無難民相關法規，就醫難民無法申請庇護，只能被迫返回拘留營，因此選擇與台灣合作，此事引發極大爭議，對此澳洲駐台辦事處今（25）日發布聲明，強調所有就醫難民都是自願到台灣接受醫療診治，也同意療程結束後，回到諾魯拘留營。
#澳洲駐台辦事處Australian Office in Taipei在臉書貼文稱：「感謝台灣為諾魯的醫療轉診者所提供的優質醫療服務。在醫療轉診的安排下，在諾魯進行『區域處理』的病患可獲得諾魯當地無法提供的專科醫療服務。在轉診到台灣之前，所有病患都自願同意在台灣接受醫療服務，也同意在出院後回去諾魯。台灣優質的醫療服務與對國際醫衛的貢獻都是獲得全球好評的。台灣與諾魯醫療合作計畫也行之有年......
13世纪的凤头鹦鹉画像证明了英国人认为澳大利亚在被殖民前是“黑暗大陆”的看法是错误的 13th century cockatoo illustration shows Australia wasn't a 'dark continent', and trade flourished
一个13世纪的凤头鹦鹉画像证明了英国人认为澳大利亚在被殖民前
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-26/medieval-cockatoo-illustration-debunks-australian-history-myths/9911892
13th century cockatoo illustration shows Australia wasn't a 'dark continent', and trade flourished
Updated
A 13th-century illustration of an Australasian cockatoo debunks the myth Australia was "a dark continent" and reveals trade routes around the country's north were flourishing as far back as medieval times, a study shows.
Researchers found the illustration in a manuscript that was either written by or belonged to Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II.
It is the oldest-known European illustration of the bird, found in a book dating from between 1241 and 1248, and pre-dating other European illustrations of cockatoos by 250 years.
The manuscript includes 900 drawings of falcons and other animals kept by the emperor. Four of the images are of a white cockatoo — a gift from an Egyptian sultan to Frederick II.
Heather Dalton from the University of Melbourne, who contributed to the research published in the journal Parergon, said the find challenged "the British view" that Australia was "a dark continent".
"The significant thing is that this parrot provides a window to a world of quite busy trade to Australia's north," she said.
"The discovery of these images … highlight the fact that during the medieval period, merchants plying the waters just to the north of Australia were part of a flourishing trade network that reached west to the Middle East and beyond."
Dr Dalton said while many scholars were aware the Sultan had given a "white parrot" to Frederick II, few were aware there were surviving images of the bird.
The research team looked at the details, such as the shape of the crest and the colouring of the cockatoo, and concluded it was likely a female — either a sulphur-crested cockatoo or a yellow-crested cockatoo.
Sulphur-crested cockatoos are found in Australia, Papua New Guinea and some Indonesian islands. Yellow-crested cockatoos are native to Indonesia and East Timor.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers yellow-crested cockatoos to be critically endangered, with their population estimated to be less than 3,000 globally.
Cockatoos travel well with people, being gregarious and long-lived, making a perfect gift, Dr Dalton wrote.
"In captivity, they can have lifespans of up to 80 years and Australian greater sulphur-crested cockatoos have been known to live up to 120 years," she said.
"The journey along trade routes would have taken years, and their chances of surviving would have been much higher than the majority of animals."
First posted
2018年6月25日 星期一
「吐槽」习近平 HBO官网遭封杀；北京「網管辦」指令：不能再使用「中國製造2025」一詞
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 | 知名脱口秀主持人约翰·奥利佛在HBO频道的“上周今夜秀” |
網絡上流傳一份北京「網管辦」(即北京市互聯網宣傳管理辦公室)下達傳媒的指令，要求傳媒在報道中美貿易戰時統一口徑，包括不要在中國商務部作回應前轉述美國總統特朗普、美國政府發言人和官員的言論，要在報道中突顯中國經濟持續向好的預期。指令又特別強調，傳媒不能再使用「中國製造2025」一詞，否則將會被追究責任。
#中國製造2025
THESTANDNEWS.COM
網上流傳京官指示 命傳媒統一口徑報中美貿易戰 不可粗俗攻擊特朗普 | 立場報道 | 立場新聞
2018年6月24日 星期日
China is trying to turn itself into a country of 19 super-regions
The planned city clusters are far larger than any others around the world
ECONOMIST.COM
China is trying to turn itself into a country of 19 super-regions
The average population of the five biggest clusters that China hopes to develop is 110m
China's economic statistics show troubling inconsistencies. BLOOMBERG.COM Opinion | Why China Can’t Fix Its Housing Bubble There's only one solution.
Nikkei Asian Review
The central government will take over the job of compiling gross regional product next year. Local governments seem to be trying to put their houses in order before that happens.https://s.nikkei.com/2MmTYWN
ASIA.NIKKEI.COM
China's economic statistics show troubling inconsistencies
杰茜达·阿德恩(Jacinda Ardern)是近30年来第一个在任内生产的世界领导人，金钟泌(Kim Jong-pil)去世， 印尼总统令要求，所有的外籍员工都需要接受印尼语训练
印度尼西亚一项总统令要求，所有的外籍员工都需要接受印尼语训练
• 两次担任韩国总理、曾帮助三位总统崛起的金钟泌(Kim Jong-pil)去世，享年92岁。（《纽约时报》）
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• 被遗忘的军队：十多年来，一群英国志愿者一直在搜寻“二战”
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• 中国男性消耗了全世界三分之一的香烟。由于肺癌率不断攀升，
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• 新西兰领导人杰茜达·阿德恩(Jacinda Ardern)是近30年来第一个在任内生产的世界领导人，
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Why Myanmar’s war against Kachin receives little attention
The Rohingya refugee crisis is just an egregious example of a common problem in Myanmar: ethnic persecution. The Kachin are also targeted and displaced by the Myanmar military yet receive far less media attention. Here's why.
Why Myanmar’s war against Kachin receives little attention
For more than 50 years, however, the predominately Buddhist Myanmar military has waged separate wars against many ethnic minorities native to the country. More than 100 ethnic minorities are native to the Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma. Many have experienced similar levels of state violence as the Rohingya.
Now, the country’s Baptist-Christian minority known as the Kachin find themselves in the unfortunate, yet familiar, position of being targeted by the Myanmar military. According to a United Nations report, in April more than 5,000 Kachin were displaced after the military launched a campaign against them in traditional Kachin lands in the country’s mountainous north near the Chinese border.
Nsang Gum San, a Kachin activist and leader in the global Kachin Alliance now living in the United States, said the recent escalation in violence shows nothing has changed for his people since Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi became State Counsellor (a position akin to a prime minister) in 2016. Despite transitioning to a quasi-democracy in 2011, the Myanmar government and military are still dominated by the Burmese, a Buddhist ethnic group that represents roughly two-thirds of the country’s population.
“There are all of these multinational companies in Burma,” said Gum San from his Maryland home. “However, if we measure reform by having Starbucks … then we are definitely wrong. Because real reform doesn’t mean carrying out things that were witnessed in the 19th century. These are crimes against humanity.”
Little international attention
Despite accounts of the military targeting civilians and using rape as a weapon, the plight of the Kachin, like other ethnic minorities in Myanmar, hasn’t received the same level of international media attention as the Rohingya crisis (Sky News).
Why haven’t international news organizations devoted as much attention to reporting on the Kachin as they have the Rohingya? Part of the reason may be due to the scale of the military operations. Rohingya refugees displaced by government actions outnumber Kachin refugees by more than 100 times. The Kachin are typically located in a remote, difficult to access part of the country. The Rohingya have also been denied citizenship, which blocks the group from receiving an education or moving freely about the country.
Gum San attributes the lack of media attention to official control of media access. Adjacent to communist China, the jungle region of northern Myanmar is prone to government-sponsored media blackouts.
“Journalists can report from Bangladesh, they can take photos and talk to refugees,” he says. “You cannot do reporting through the China border.”
Different histories of resistance
After decades without a military, the Rohingya have recently developed an armed rebel group to fight for the Rohingya to be recognized as an ethnic group. The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked police outposts in August 2017, killing 12 people.
However, Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army operations have mostly ended in failure. In 2017, the Myanmar military was able to displace more than 600,000 Rohingya in a span of three months. The ARSA currently controls no territory.
n contrast, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is considered one of the most formidable rebel armies in the country, and has secured territory and a high level of political leverage through violent resistance (Radio Free Asia).
Both the Rohingya and Kachin have been branded as “terrorists” by the Myanmar military for their respective armed groups (Democratic Voice of Burma). But the concept of Rohingya violent resistance has attracted more animosity from the Burmese ethnic majority compared with the Kachin, even though the Kachin are better armed.
Anti-Muslim sentiment is strong in predominately Buddhist Myanmar. Buddhist nationalists who promote a homogenous society cite Muslims as an existential threat, claiming a Muslim plan to become the majority in Myanmar (CNN).
Pressure to avoid dissent is palpable. Even Pope Francis avoided directly speaking on the Rohingya issue, presumably out of fear of a backlash when he visited the city of Yangon.
Four cuts: Same strategy
The Kachin Independence Army poses one of the largest obstacles for the Burmese military campaign for national control, yet the military has no specialized strategy for defeating them. The military has so far employed the same strategy against the Kachin as it has in other ethnic conflicts.
Known as “four cuts,” the strategy calls for cutting off food, funds, intelligence, and recruits in areas where ethnic rebel groups operate. This almost always means targeting civilian populations, especially in rural areas, such as the recent incident in Kachin State (Burma Link). A “scorched earth” tactic there was widely cited as the reason the Myanmar military was able to reclaim ethnic-controlled territories in Southern Myanmar (Asia Times).
While the KIA is far from defeated, the Myanmar military’s strategy is slowly producing results.
George Washington University professor Christina Fink said the military’s focus on cutting off funds is a particularly effective way of degrading the KIA. Radio Free Asiareported in January 2018 the military has prioritized controlling mining operations in Kachin State, specifically targeting jade, an essential source of revenue for the rebel army.
As fighting continues, prospects for diplomacy appear slim. The KIA agreed to a ceasefire in 1994, breaking alliances with other ethnic militias to make the deal. The Christian minority was outraged when the military broke the agreement in 2011 (Foreign Policy).
“The KIA is really bitter about what happened … so they want more significant terms negotiated in the peace process if they are going to be part it,” said Fink. “And the (military) hasn’t been willing to agree to those.”
Further Reporting
Sky News reported on the predominately Baptist-Christian Kachin and how they’re fighting the Myanmar military. WikiTribune community member Steve Mericansuggested we continue to report on the issue.
This WikiTribune story is dedicated to reporting on ethnic conflict in Myanmar.
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