Emanuele Scimia

Parliamentary elections postponed for one year because of the coronavirus emergency. Democratic Front: An excuse to avoid a crushing defeat. Jurists question the legitimacy of the postponement. The crackdown continues: the police accuse six activists of violating the national security law. They include Nathan Law.

The island’s first democratically elected president, he started the democratic transition in 1990, after the Tiananmen massacre. A supporter of Taiwan’ identity, he was disliked by the Communist leadership in Beijing. in Chinese media he was described as the “Godfather of Taiwan secessionism.”

Tony Chung, leader of the pro-independence group Studentlocalism, is among four people arrested. Police say the accused sought to establish a republic and unite all pro-independence forces. The four activists risk life imprisonment. The authorities are cracking down on dissent. Carrie Lam fears that pro-democracy forces will win the next elections.

The big cat is endangered. For the first time in four years, some tigers were caught on camera in western Thailand, home to about 160 specimens. Some 3,900 wild tigers still exist worldwide, most in India. The trade in protected animals is worth billions of dollars. By 2022, Thailand hopes to boost the tiger population by 50 per cent.

More and more Taiwanese companies are leaving China and investing in the Indian subcontinent. India offers a huge market, cheap labour and tax breaks. The two countries fear China’s rise.

A defector returning home from South Korea has been quarantined with COVID-19 symptoms. South Korean police is investigating the 24-year-old over rape allegations involving a North Korean female defector. Pyongyang and Seoul are investigating the incident. Until now, the North had always denied cases of contagion in the country.

Nicknamed ‘big cannon Ren’, Ren has been charged with embezzlement and damaging the image of leaders and the state with its criticisms. Party members cannot question the leaders, and state entrepreneurs must align themselves with the regime's decisions.

Defying pandemic restrictions, a student network challenges Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who came to power in a coup. As public pressure against the military is growing, protesters want parliament to be dissolved, a new constitution to be written and an end to repression. Fears grow over the economy. For some analysts, the prime minister is using the coronavirus emergency to limit freedom and concentrate power.

The reference is to the fines imposed on reporters who covered a demonstration in memory of the attack on democratic activists a year ago. Journalists: the police cannot identify and select us. European Union: Security law erodes the freedoms of the former British colony.

At least 45 million people have been affected by floods, the worst in decades. The China Labour Bulletin reports that the government has overlooked rural areas. Migrant workers have been forced to return to their villages to help in relief efforts. Low-income households have been impoverished. Around 20 million low-paid workers are still unemployed.

Large multinationals, including Apple and Nike, are targeted, accused of profiting from the exploitation of the Islamic population of the region. United Nations: One million Uyghurs interned in concentration camps. Tens of thousands of forced labor for major international brands. France: Stop violations, the UN intervenes.

One year ago on July 21, a mafia gang attacked a group of anti-extradition demonstrators and unsuspecting passengers at the local metro station. A district councilor arrested yesterday for breaking the new security law. 79 people fined for violation of anti-coronavirus measures.