Why China fears an Indo-Pacific alliance

South China Morning Post – 10-7-2024

Japan and the Philippines have signed a historic defence agreement, allowing both countries to station troops on each other’s soil. The pact is the first of its kind for Japan in the region. At the same time, Tokyo and Manila have been strengthening their alliances with the US and its allies in the region, including South Korea, India and Australia. China, which seeks to extend and maintain its influence in the region, has denounced any alliance-building. Why has the latest agreement sounded alarm bells in Beijing?

Students killed in Bangladesh job-quota protests

South China Morning Post – 17-7-2024

At least six students have been killed and over a hundred injured in protests calling for an end to civil service job quotas in Bangladesh. The violence in the capital Dhaka on July 16, 2024, was the latest flare-up in a deepening conflict over the issue. Hundreds of university students demonstrated against the local government job allocation system, which currently favours children of pro-government groups who back Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Thousands have taken part in protests in several cities since July 7.

US-bound with risks and dreams, the ‘border crossers’ from China

South China Morning Post – 7-7-2024

US authorities arrested about 50,000 Chinese nationals for illegal entry at America’s southern border between January 2023 and May 2024. Chinese migrants are the fastest-growing group illegally entering the US from Mexico, with their numbers spiking after China eased pandemic travel restrictions in late 2022. Most of the Chinese asylum seekers begin pursuing new lives in communities like Monterey Park, a Los Angeles suburb with a large Chinese community. The Post spoke with some of the new arrivals about the challenges they face in the US. Their experiences revealed a complex picture of migration, adaptation and American dreams at times fulfilled – yet often shattered.