Seven years in prison for criticising Myanmar's electoral process
Today's headlines: Charlie Kirk had just been to Seoul and Tokyo for his first lecture tour in Asia; In Malaysia, the annual congress of PAS, the most important Islamist party, begins; The Philippines protests against Chinese plans to create a nature reserve in disputed waters; China's first military exercises with Russia and Mongolia; Trump backtracks on repatriating skilled workers from South Korea.
MYANMAR
The Burmese regime has sentenced a 36-year-old man from Taunggyi, Ko Nay Thway, to seven years in prison for implicitly criticising the organisation of the upcoming elections in Myanmar on Facebook by posting a video of a woman being robbed. The message seems to be that the military junta will never be able to hold free and fair elections if it cannot even guarantee basic security. According to commentators, other people are likely to be prosecuted under a law enacted in late July that punishes anyone who opposes or interferes with the elections, scheduled for December.
UNITED STATES-SOUTH KOREA-JAPAN
Charlie Kirk, the young conservative commentator close to Trump who was killed last night in Utah in the United States in a new serious episode of political violence, had just returned from his first series of conferences in Asia. On 5 September, he spoke in Seoul at an event promoted by the Build Up Korea 2025 movement, and a few days later he spoke in Tokyo at a rally promoted by the Japanese anti-immigration party Sanseito. In his speeches, Kirk argued that Asia faces the same battles as America.
MALAYSIA
Malaysia's largest political party, the Parti Islam SeMalaysia, begins its annual congress, known as “muktamar”, today. Although PAS won the most seats of any party in the last elections in 2022, it is not part of the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. According to observers, the party will continue to maintain its stability, but many wonder whether it will be able to attract non-Muslim voters.
PHILIPPINES – CHINA
The Philippine Foreign Ministry has protested against China's plan to create a nature reserve in Scarborough Shoal, a disputed maritime area in the South China Sea. Manila calls the islet Bajo de Masinloc and considers it “long an integral part” of its territory, at the centre of the main shipping routes in the region and a vital support for Filipino fishermen.
VIETNAM – AZERBAIJAN
A delegation from the Azerbaijan Tourism Office, led by director Florian Zengstšmid, travelled to Hanoi to meet with colleagues from Vietnam to discuss opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in the field of tourism, including agreements with the airline VietJet Air, and attended an exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City to ‘demonstrate Azerbaijan's great tourism potential’.
RUSSIA – CHINA – MONGOLIA
Russia, China and Mongolia conducted their first joint military exercises for border defence, entitled 'Cooperation for border protection – 2025‘, as announced by the Beijing Ministry of Defence, emphasising that ’security cooperation is being strengthened‘ between the three countries in unspecified areas common to all three states, with the aim of ’enhancing the ability to respond to border threats".
USA – SOUTH KOREA
According to the Financial Times, US President Donald Trump has halted the repatriation of some 300 South Korean workers arrested at the Hyundai plant and asked them to stay to train US citizens in highly skilled jobs needed in foreign industries investing in the US. In response, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said that South Korean companies will now be reluctant to invest in the United States without a new visa system for workers.
IRAN
In recent days, Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reached an agreement on the resumption of inspections at nuclear sites, including those bombed by the United States and Israel, but no specific details were provided and Tehran then stated that the agreement would be scrapped if international sanctions, threatened by some European countries, were reimposed, while according to IAEA statements, progress has been made towards resuming inspections.
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