India is on a rampage and more on Asia

  Indian tax officials examined mobile phones and laptops used by some BBC editorial and administrative employees during an inspection at the British broadcaster's offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. Some are claiming this is in reprisal for a BBC documentary that raised questions about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's behavior in the last 20 years.

India will raise seven new battalions of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in the next few years to deal with brewing tensions with mainland China.

Feb 18, 2023

 On February 6 when a Filipino boat was attempting to take supplies to the Sierra Madre, a vessel that is used as a Filipino naval outpost in the South China Sea, a Chinese vessel intercepted it and used a laser device to temporarily blind the crew.

Laser weapons designed to damage eyesight are banned under UN convention, but when did Communist China care about bans.

Feb 26, 2023

Sometimes I forget about Japanese royalty. Naruhito, who was crowned emperor on May 1, 2019, after his father Akihito became the first Japanese emperor to abdicate in two centuries, gave his first public birthday address on Thursday.

March 8, 2023

 Joe Biden's legacy: Universities have reopened in Afghanistan but only for men.

March 20, 2023

China and Cambodia held military naval exercises for the first time in Cambodian waters. I started thinking about the Vietnam War, Mekong Delta, Khmer rouge. etc.

March 21, 2023

I'm a bit surprised that Japan PM Kishida is going as far as visiting Kyiv.  This follows Japan joining Western allies in imposing sanctions on Russia, sending defensive equipment, and offering refuge to those fleeing the Ukraine-Russia war.

April 13, 2023

I had to read this statement twice; Myanmar's military stated that if civilians were also killed in its air strike on a gathering in the Sagaing area, it was because they were being forced to help "terrorists".

April 17, 2023

Atiq Ahmed , former lawmaker in India's parliament who was convicted of kidnapping, was killed along with his brother while police were escorting them for a medical check-up. The assailants were posing as journalists. I keep thinking about Jack Ruby.

April 28, 2023

Many folks in India are offended and have been criticizing a cartoon in Der Spiegel, a German magazine, that they claim is racist and in bad taste. The cartoon shows a dilapidated Indian train, overflowing with passengers, overtaking a fancy Chinese train on a parallel track. Hell, the cartoon acknowledges India is surpassing Communist China. Gimme a break!

May 11, 2023

Ming Pao, a Hong Kong newspaper, will scrap Wong Kei-kwan's comic strip, which has been running since 1983, because it offends the mainland Commies. Censorship grows- no surprise.

June 8, 2023

EU is coming after palm oil and other products by demanding exact proof of which trees are cut down. Malaysia ,etc are its targets. Endless micro-management.

June 30, 2023

India and Philippines vow stronger cooperation dealing with mainland China’s regional claims in the South China Sea which center on a nine-dash line surrounding several islands and waters of disputed sovereignty. They've agreed to the placement an Indian defense attaché in Manila.

July 19, 2023

 Private Travis T. King of the USA Army "stumbles" into North Korea, but Kirby lectures us on abortion. What a Pentagon!

August 16, 2023

Spanish group Inditex will cut ties with Myanmar suppliers. Primark and Marks & Spencer did last year.  I doubt these moves will make the military junta snap to attention.

Sept 5, 2023

 Myanmar's junta will let Kyi rot in jail -her request for an outside physician denied.

Sept 25, 2023

The Philippines claim it will remove a Chinese floating barrier blocking fishing vessel access in the Scarborough Shoal. This will get ugly quickly.

Oct 11, 2023

Hong Kong’s business community struggles due to Beijing’s bounty on those with opposing views. Many in the legal sector are concerned about judicial independence, and some executives are concerned that Hong Kong is losing its business relevance to Singapore and Dubai.

Oct 17, 2023

Chinese and Japanese coast guard ships faced off in waters around disputed islands in the East China Sea

China claims it drove away several Japanese vessels that "illegally" entered territorial waters on Monday around islands, which it calls Diaoyu and is urging Japan to stop all "illegal activities" in the area. However, Japan controls the islands and calls them the Senkaku.

Oct 31, 2023

Pakistan has given illegal Afghan immigrants until November 1 to exit the country and will use force if the deadline is not met.

Nov 12, 2023

Burma Shave occurring too close to China.

Anti-junta offensive in Shan State, on Mynamar's northeast border near China, has displaced at least 50,000 people, with trade routes cut off and several towns seized.

China is asking for all sides to cease hostilities.

More China news: China detained Japanese executives Hiroshi Nishiyama, on suspicion of espionage in March, and he was arrested last month. This has Japanese employees wondering if it is safe to travel to China, Also, Japanese companies in China have been telling employees to keep a low profile.

Nov 27, 2023

South Korea suspends 2018 deal with North Korea and re-starts its aerial surveillance in response to the launch of a satellite by North Korea. NK has also had started to rebuild guard posts along the frontier.

Dec 15, 2023

 KMT Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia, a former Taiwanese diplomat and one-time head of Taiwan's China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council, visited the mainland hoping his party can narrow the DPP, the ruling party, lead ahead of the Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections.

DPP response: "It is no wonder that international public opinion and Taiwan's people have questioned: does the KMT have to report everything to Beijing first?"

Dec 20, 2023

A Japanese court ordered the governor of Okinawa to approve the central government's modified plan for landfill work at the planned relocation site of a key USA Marine base on the southern island despite long running opposition by residents.

Jan 5, 2023

North Korea fired approximately 200 artillery shells into waters off its western coast. This led to an emergency evacuation order for civilians on the border islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong. The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea confirmed the artillery firings which breached the maritime buffer zone that was set up to reduce border tensions.

South Korean military responded with live-fire artillery drills.

Jan 13, 2023

 William Lai, Keep Taiwan (Free of Communist China), is set to be Taiwan's next president. He is the first presidential candidate in Taiwan to get five million votes.

Jan 17, 2024

  Missiles from Iran targeted two bases in Pakistan of the militant group Jaish al Adl, a Sunni outfit. The Ayatollah is on a rampage in the area.

Jan 26, 2024

Kirin sees Japanese whiskey driving 50% export of premium brand, When I think whiskey Japan doesn't come to mind.

Feb 14 2024

 Myanmar Junta will implement military conscription and bring back retirees due to steep military personnel losses while it's battling a coordinated offensive by an alliance of three ethnic-minority insurgent groups.

Feb 20, 2024

Mainland China's top financial watchdogs' goal is to ensure that the sector adheres to Communist Party values- be wary Hong Kong! Their bumper sticker: socialist economy can work.

April 11, 2024

200 Myanmar military personnel withdrew to a bridge to Thailand on Thursday after a days-long assault by the anti-junta resistance in Myawaddy, a border town. 

Thailand, which remains neutral, is concerned about the fighting spilling into its airspace and is taking in refugees.

prior blog https://vaporvents.blogspot.com/2021/10/focusing-on-asia-in-4q-of-2021.html

Focusing on Asia in the 4Q of 2021

Philippine President #RodrigoDuterte announced his retirement from politics which came as quite a surprise to many folks thought he would  pull a "Putin" and run for VP to circumvent the constitutional limit of a single six-year Presidential term. His withdrawal paves the way for a possible presidential run by his daughter, Sara Duterte, mayor of Davao city, who has topped independent public opinion surveys on who should lead the country next.

Earlier blog  Asia-in-2018

Oct 6, 2021

Bongbong Marcos, whose father Ferdinand was chased from office in a  revolt in 1986 and died in exile in Hawaii three years later, is running for President in PI.

Nov 3, 2021

India’s Defense Ministry ran a successful test launch of the Agni-5, the country’s longest-range missile, which is capable of reaching Beijing, China,  It appears the June 2020  bloody Himalayan clash  hasn't been forgotten. 

Nov 26, 2021

Riots in the Solomon Islands over a switch of allegiance from Taiwan to China that occurred two years ago. A bipartisan delegation from the US House of Representatives visited Taiwan this week.

Possible boycott of the Beijing Olympics looming.  Can any of this make a dent in the power of Communist China?

Dec 22, 2021

The citizens of Taiwan don't want to be the next Hong Kong. Yesterday they backed the DPP, the ruling party, on four referendum questions and rejected the Nationalist Party which wants closer ties with Communist China. Let's hope Biden is paying attention and stops his habit of forgetting our friends.

Jan 25, 2022

Who needs guns?

 Two gangs from rival ethnic groups in the province of West Papua used machetes, arrows, and Molotov cocktails to settle a quarrel. The fighting sparked a fire killing 12 in a nightclub.

Feb 5, 2022

Mynamar(Burma), military junta will likely repress its country despite how bad things get and resemble a non -nuclear version of North Korea. Child begging at traffic lights has proliferated to the level that drivers are afraid to stop at traffic lights.

Feb 25, 2022

Filipino police said about 1,100 protesters gathered on the same Manila highway where millions assembled 36 years ago to end the Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorship. They had a clever chant

"Bring back the loot, not the thief" and held a banner "No to Marcos/Duterte2022" asking voters to not elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

March 17, 2022

A Japanese maritime patrol detected Russian amphibious warfare ships, which can carry dozens of tanks, other military vehicles, and hundreds of troops, and monitored them as they passed west from the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan through the narrow Tsuruga Strait. Possible destination Europe!

April 11, 2022

 Brain-drain continues in Hong Kong . Executives continue to depart while admission rates in several international schools have tumbled.  The European Chamber of Commerce's latest survey showed that nearly half of the businesses were considering moving elsewhere next year. 

Many market traders are moving to Singapore which is pushing up residential rental costs there.

April 15, 2022

Philippine President  Duterte vetoed a bill that would require social media users to register their legal identities and phone numbers. For now, so much for all those who say Duterte is a dictator.

April 23, 2022

Hong Kong will allow international travelers for first time since 2020.

Ok, hurry up and visit! Keep your mouth shut and restrain yourself online, and you may be able to leave without being imprisoned.

May 3, 2022

 Cambodia's PM Hun Sen urged Myanmar's top general to allow a special Southeast Asian envoy access to ousted and imprisoned leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

May 10, 2022

Thank you, President Reagan : Biden's State Dept has not backed off the Six Reagan-era security assurances(1982) given to Taiwan, which the United States declassified in 2020. Two key items:

USA has not set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, nor agreed to prior consultation with Beijing on such sales.

June 7, 2022

For anyone who has followed Japan's defense spending post WW2, this is a remarkable step. In an annual economic policy document Japan for the first time mentioned a time frame of five years for a large defense expenditure increase and a concern about threats faced by Taiwan.

June 21, 2022

I had to re-read this a few times. Protesters stormed a stadium in Maldives where more than 150 people were taking part in an event celebrating International Day of Yoga, They brandished placards proclaiming that yoga was against the tenets of Islam.

Islam is the state religion in the Maldives, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean.

July 8, 2022

 Tetsuya Yamagami told police he was dissatisfied with Shinzo Abe, a former PM of Japan, and wanted to kill him. He accomplished that using a home-made gun while Abe was campaigning for a seat in Parliament. Japan has some of the strictest gun laws in the world.

July 18, 2022

Biden "handed" Afghanistan to the Taliban in August, 2021 and girls above the sixth grade have yet to enter a classroom again. Not a word from AOC or Pelosi! 

Aug 13, 2022

While Nepal tries to maintain diplomatic neutrality and /or remain non-aligned, its nationals are allowed to be recruited into the armed forces of India and the United Kingdom. 

Sept 9, 2022

 U.S. Army's Pacific commander, General Charles Flynn, said he is in no rush to withdraw rocket launchers and other equipment from the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force base on Amami Oshima at the edge of the East China Sea. It will remain there until the next joint drills. I'm sure the Commies in Peking ain't smiling.

Dec 19, 2022

Hostage talks start after Pakistani Taliban militants seize interrogators and demand safe passage to Afghanistan. Let's go Brandon!

Dec 21, 2022

The Taliban released two Americans detained in Afghanistan on the same day its officials banned Afghan women from attending universities.

Dec 22, 2022

Nepal is set to release Sobhraj, the Serpent, who began traveled the world in the early 1970s, befriending, robbing, and killing young backpackers as he made his way along the Hippie Trail from Europe to Southeast Asia. In prison in 2008, he married Nihita Biswas, who is 44 years his junior and the daughter of his Nepalese lawyer. His health is shaky, but I wonder if other countries will pursue charges against him.