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NORTH ASIA
Safeguarding democracy
Ahead of a critical election next year, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen appealed to her constituents to help protect the nation’s “hard-earned freedom and democracy” amid what she describes as efforts by “authoritarian regimes” to polarize the country through misinformation.
During an annual security conference hosted by state think tank Institute for National Defence and Security Research, Tsai made a veiled accusation against Beijing for staging “cognitive warfare, in the form of mis- and/or disinformation, attempts to exploit and drive polarisation in our free and democratic society.”
This, as Taiwan prepares for its 2024 presidential elections, where Tsai — a staunch champion of Taiwan’s sovereignty against China — is ineligible to seek a third term. The chief foreign policy issue will likely be about Taiwan’s tense relationship with China, which has aggressively sought to unify the island with the mainland.
Taipei’s refusal to acknowledge the so-called One China policy has made Taiwan a top target of Chinese disinformation and cyberwarfare. Specifically, its citizens are often inundated by pro-unification propaganda saying that the only way to avoid conflict with China was to join mainland China.
This is on top of the frequent intrusions and shows of aggression by China’s aircraft and ships near Taiwan, which it hopes to unify with the mainland as part of its “One China” policy. Last year, Tsai said these tactics sought “to create disturbance in the minds of people” and to undermine their trust in the Taiwanese government’s ability to defend its citizens.
Taipei’s 23.8 million people, however, have shown resilience against such tactics. A 2020 poll showed that over a third identified as Taiwanese and only 2.4 percent as Chinese. Only 0.7 percent of its citizens supported unification with China, the lowest mark recorded since the survey started in 1992.
In an October 2022 speech, Tsai called for political unity to combat Chinese disinformation while also reiterating that she remained open for dialogue with Beijing, which cut off after her election in 2016.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Making the culprits pay
Ten years after a devastating typhoon killed over 6,000 people in the southern Philippines, environmental groups are calling on the government to make polluters pay for their role in the climate crisis devastating vulnerable countries like the Philippines.
On the 10th anniversary of Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon “Yolanda” last Nov. 8, green groups led by the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED) renewed their calls for a shift to renewable energy, seen as one of the ways to address the root causes of climate change.
“As we remember lives lost, we must also strive to protect and empower those living today and generations to come. A just and rapid shift to renewable energy will allow communities in the region to benefit from much more affordable and sustainable energy,” CEED executive director Gerry Arances said.
Their calls come as Yolanda’s survivors continue to grapple not only with its painful memory but also its enduring impact in the communities. In Tacloban City, where the onslaught had been strongest, many continue to live in shacks and remain jobless, while thousands still do not have access to water.
While the Philippines is frequently exposed to climate-related disasters, the typhoon also became a stark illustration of the perceived weaknesses of its government, from its lack of resources to the politicized nature of its disaster response systems.
At the time, President Ferdinand Marcos’ cousin and then Tacloban mayor Martin Romualdez was accused by then President Benigno Aquino III — whose clan is a prominent Marcos rival — of failing to prepare his city for the disaster. His successor and cousin Alfred Romualdez was later accused of misspending nearly P1 billion (US$58,421,623.00) of Yolanda recovery funds.
Many also believe that Yolanda’s mismanagement helped fuel the populist rise of the tough-talking Rodrigo Duterte during the 2016 presidential election. In the typhoon’s aftermath, Duterte, then mayor of his hometown Davao City, organized a convoy from his hometown Davao City to Tacloban City to commiserate with the survivors, drawing a comparison between him and his predecessor Aquino, whose widely perceived stoicism was often misconstrued as callousness and aloofness, especially during crises.
SOUTH ASIA
Stopping abuse of counterterrorism laws
Three human rights organizations have called on global terrorism financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to intervene and urge India to stop prosecuting and harassing human rights defenders on the pretext of countering terrorist financing.
On Nov. 6 – the start of the FATF’s fourth periodic review on India – Amnesty International (AI), Charity & Security Network (C&SN), and Human Rights Watch (HRW) also condemned how Indian authorities have “exploited FATF recommendations which aim to prevent terrorist financing (to stage) a coordinated campaign to restrict civil space and stifle the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”
Among the counterterrorism financing rules allegedly abused by the Indian government are the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), all of which have been used to wring dry activists, nonprofit organizations, and even media outlets deemed critical of the government.
A case in point is the Oct. 3 arrest of Prabir Purkayastha, editor of progressive news site NewsClick over allegations of receiving foreign funding. The homes of 44 other journalists connected to the news outfit were also raided.
“India’s three laws together have created a dangerous arsenal with debilitating consequences for civil society and human rights activists,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
As part of the 40-member body formed to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing, India had enacted or amended these local laws in compliance with FATF assessments. But in a report released last month, Amnesty International noted how the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under Prime Minister Narendra Modi used these laws to subject organizations to “arbitrary and burdensome” administrative requirements, while also empowering the state to suspend and cancel their registrations.
Over the past decade, the groups noted that authorities have used the FCRA to cancel the licenses of nearly 21,000 non-government organizations; the UAPA to go after dozens of activists and media workers; and the PMLA to freeze the bank accounts of Amnesty International India in 2020 and thus bar them from securing funds for their work and legal representation.
GLOBAL/REGIONAL
A rapidly depleting resource
With the water crisis in South Asia fast becoming a crisis for children as well, the U.N.’s Children’s Agency (UNICEF) has urged the region’s governments to ensure the efficient management of water and to invest more in infrastructure for clean water to address the affected countries’ water scarcity.
This, after a new UNICEF report revealed that a staggering 347 million children in the region were exposed to high or extremely high water scarcity — the highest number of vulnerable children among all regions in the world.
The crisis is particularly acute in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, where over 200 million children are at risk, the report said. Poor water quality, lack of water and mismanagement are seen as the main reasons driving the scarcity.
Although the eight-nation region – composed of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka – is home to more than a quarter of the world’s children, it only holds 4 percent of the world’s renewable water. And this resource is even more impacted by the climate crisis as droughts become more frequent, severe and longer lasting.
This compounds the already exacting toll of heat waves in South Asia, which a separate U.N. report estimates affects nearly half a billion children in the region. In India especially, climate change-driven heat waves have become fatal especially for children, pregnant women and the elderly.
Overall, this leaves the region’s children vulnerable to layers of suffering: lack of safe and reliable water could impact not only their health but even their education and future. With no alternative, families will be forced to cook and drink contaminated water, exposing children to diarrheal and waterborne diseases, malnutrition and stunting.
During periods of acute shortage, children are either forced to drop out of school to help fetch water from long distances. Even if they don’t, persistent water shortage could affect their academic performance and ability to complete their schooling.
Given these challenges, the agency urged the region’s governments to invest more in water services that can withstand climate shocks. It also called for stronger adaptation plans and climate financing to make drinking water more accessible.