A Kashmiri man cools off at a stream on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. The entire planet sweltered for the two unofficial hottest days in human recordkeeping Monday and Tuesday, according to University of Maine scientists at the Climate Reanalyzer project. The unofficial heat records come after months of unusually hot conditions due to climate change and a strong El Nino event. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Published May 2023 in Comparative Connections · Volume 25, Issue 1 (This article is extracted from Comparative Connections: A Triannual E-Journal of Bilateral Relations in the Indo-Pacific, Vol. 25, No. 1, May 2023. Preferred citation: Yu Bin, “China-Russia Relations: War and Peace for Moscow and Beijing,” Comparative Connections, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp 161-170.)
Perhaps more than any other time in their respective histories, the trajectories of China and Russia were separated by choices in national strategy. A year into Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, the war bogged down into a stalemate. Meanwhile, China embarked upon a major peace offensive aimed at Europe and beyond. It was precisely during these abnormal times that the two strategic partners deepened and broadened relations as top Chinese leaders traveled to Moscow in the first few months of the year (China’s top diplomat Wang Yi, President Xi Jinping, and newly appointed Defense Minister Li Shangfu). Meanwhile, Beijing’s peace initiative became both promising and perilous as it reached out to warring sides and elsewhere (Europe and the Middle East). It remains to be seen how this new round of “Western civil war” (Samuel Huntington’s depiction of the 1648-1991 period in his provocative “The Clash of Civilizations?” treatise) could be lessened by a non-Western power, particularly after drone attacks on the Kremlin in early May.
Maurice StierlResearcher at the Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies at Osnabrück University, Germany
Published On 17 May 202317 May 2023
Members of German NGO migrant rescue Sea-Watch and art Kollektiv Ohne Namen sail a boat with life vests during a symbolic art action to bring attention to the plight of refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea, on the Ill River in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, May 9, 2023. The slogan reads ‘Abolish Frontex’ [File: Johanna Geron/Reuters]
When boats with refugees are at risk of capsizing in the Mediterranean Sea, the speed of rescue operations is essential. Any delay in the emergency response can lead to serious bodily harm or the loss of life.
Still, offering a speedy response in such situations is not one of Europe’s priorities. In a study recently published in the journal Security Dialogue, I argue that time has become increasingly “weaponised” in Mediterranean migration governance.
Over the last decade, and in order to prevent arrivals, European Union authorities have sought out ways to slow down rescue engagement while accelerating interceptions to Libya.
The end of Italy’s humanitarian-military operation Mare Nostrum in 2014 marked a turning point. As a response to a devastating shipwreck on October 3, 2013 near Lampedusa, this operation sped up rescue activities off the Libyan coast, leading to the rescue of about 150,000 people. However, it was denounced by critics as a “pull-factor” that would incentivise the arrival of refugees. Mare Nostrum ended and gave way to successive European operations that experimented with delays in emergency responses.
This handout image provided by Greece’s coast guard on June 14 shows scores of people on a battered fishing boat that later capsized and sank off southern Greece, drowning hundreds of migrants.
Hellenic Coast Guard via AP
Many around the world closely followed the plight last week of five wealthy men who went missing aboard a Titanic-bound submersible. Meanwhile, researchers at the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) updated the number of migrants who have died trying to reach Europe by sea this year: nearly 2,000.
The number of people who lose their lives each year in the crossing is staggering, and this year is on track to be worse than the last. Here are some of the reasons why this year has become so deadly:
Hundreds died aboard the Adriana
According to IOM data, at least 1,999 migrants died between January 1 and June 26 of this year, mostly from drowning. In the same period last year, 1,358 died. These tallies include those who died in the three major routes across the Mediterranean, as well as at the Atlantic route from West Africa.
One enormous tragedy accounts for a large portion of the uptick: the capsizing of the fishing boat Adriana two weeks ago in deep waters off the coast of Greece. The boat had departed Libya crammed with hundreds of people. When it capsized, it took the lives of most of the migrants on board, and IOM estimates the number who perished at 596.
Migrants from Eritrea, Libya and Sudan crowd the deck of a wooden boat as they wait to be assisted by aid workers of the Spanish NGO Open Arms, in the Mediterranean sea about 30 miles north of Libya, on June 17.
Joan Mateu Parra/AP
More people are attempting the crossing
Another factor is that the overall number of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean is higher than it was last year.
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Italy in particular has seen a significant increase in the number of migrants arriving: more than 60,000 so far this year, compared with fewer than 27,000 at this point last year. IOM estimates that the total arrivals of migrants by sea to Mediterranean Europe are more than 82,000 this year, compared to fewer than 49,000 by this time last year.
Many of the migrant boats are aiming for the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, which sits about halfway between Tunisia and Sicily. Two flows of migrants are now arriving at Lampedusa: those from Tunisia and those from Libya.Last week, 37 migrants went missing after their boat capsized between Tunisia and Lampedusa.
Migrants are traveling on boats not made for high seas
TTCT – Hai vụ đắm tàu cách nhau 4 ngày và vài nghìn cây số cho thấy thế giới đã trở thành một nơi đáng buồn ra sao.
Mục đích của những người tị nạn này không phải là thám hiểm biển khơi. Ảnh: Daryo.uz
Gần 3h sáng 14-6 trên Địa Trung Hải gần Hy Lạp, thủy thủ đoàn của chiếc Mayan Queen IV nhận tin có tàu gặp nạn ở gần đó, cách có 4 hải lý. Theo luật hàng hải quốc tế, và luật bất thành văn của dân đi biển, các tàu thuyền có bổn phận giúp đỡ và cưu mang nhau.
Tàu Mayan Queen IV là đại du thuyền tư nhân dài 90m và trị giá 175 triệu đô la, thuộc sở hữu một tỉ phú Mexico, có sức chứa thủy thủ đoàn 24 người và 26 khách, nhưng lúc đó chỉ có thủy thủ đoàn 4 người.
Đêm không trăng và đen như mực, nhưng trong vòng 20 phút tàu đến hiện trường. Theo thuyền trưởng Richard Kirkby thì tàu duyên phòng của Hy Lạp đang có mặt và chiếu đèn trên biển.
Ông cho hạ ghe xuống vớt nạn nhân đắm tàu đang bám vào vật nổi lềnh bềnh trên sóng, không ai có áo phao. Theo tiếng kêu yếu ớt của họ trong đêm, Mayan Queen lần dò và vớt lên 104 người Syria, Pakistan, Palestine và Ai Cập. Toàn bộ người được cứu sống là nam.
Tàu đánh cá Adriana dài khoảng 30m, chở 750 người tị nạn vượt biên từ bờ biển Libya sang Âu châu bị lật và chìm chỉ trong vòng 10-15 phút. Khoảng 100 trẻ em và phụ nữ trong hầm tàu không thoát kịp. 80 thi thể sau đó được tìm thấy, số người thiệt mạng như vậy được đoán định khoảng 650.
World leaders and finance bosses attend the closing session of the New Global Financial Pact Summit, Friday, June 23, 2023 in Paris, France. The aim of the two-day climate and finance summit was to set up concrete measures to help poor and developing countries whose predicaments have been worsened by the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine better tackle poverty and climate change. Lewis Joly/Pool via REUTERS
Summary
Roadmap for genuine change’ -Barbados’ Persaud
Eyes on IMO meet as shipping tax idea gathers steam
Critics say summit fell short of world’s needs
PARIS, June 23 (Reuters) – A Paris summit to discuss reforming the world’s financial system scored some notable wins that should tee up greater action before climate talks later this year, though some participants were disappointed with progress to address poorer states’ debt.
The Summit for a New Global Financing Pact saw French President Macron host around 40 leaders, many from the Global South, to debate changes to multilateral finance institutions in the face of climate change and other development challenges.
Much of the discussion centred on the key requests of developing nations, framed through the “Bridgetown Initiative” led by Barbados leader Mia Mottley, and her adviser Avinash Persaud said he was pleased with the outcome of the talks.
“It’s a roadmap for genuine change,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of the talks. “What’s emerged here is a real … understanding of the scale and pace of what is required.”
Among the highlights were confirmation that the richer world will likely hit a long-overdue target of providing $100 billion annually in climate finance to poorer countries, a long-delayed debt deal for Zambia, and a package to boost Senegal’s renewable energy capacity.
The World Bank and others also said they would start adding clauses to lending terms that allow vulnerable states to suspend debt repayments when natural disaster strikes.
Yet it was the wording of the final statement from attendees and subtle changes in the tone of discussions behind the scenes that gave hope to Persaud that even greater change was coming.
Specifically, for the first time, the document acknowledged the potential need for richer countries to provide fresh money to multilateral development institutions like the World Bank. This came alongside a plan to draw on more of their current assets, to the tune of $200 billion over 10 years.
Another first was in the explicit target for multilateral development banks to leverage “at least” $100 billion a year in private sector capital when they lend.
A reference was also made to finding “new avenues for international taxation”, as well as other Bridgetown Initiative requests including offering investors foreign exchange guarantees.
“That was widely discussed here and (there’s) lots of support behind an initiative that’s happening outside of Paris, at the International Maritime Organisation in a couple weeks time, on a levy on shipping emissions,” Persaud added.
Still, the summit was not without its critics.
“Unfortunately, the Paris Summit has not provided the breakthrough needed to find the funding for our planet’s survival,” Teresa Anderson, Global Lead on Climate Justice for ActionAid International, said, pointing to new funding pledges being loans or temporary debt relief instead of grants.
All eyes now turn to more traditional events later in the year, including the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings, a G20 meeting in September and the COP28 climate talks in Dubai.
Persaud said his focus would be on making sure the plan to scale up multilateral development bank lending was in place by the time of annual meetings in October, and that pilot work began on reducing the cost of capital for developing countries.
The summit, held against a backdrop of criticism that the world is moving far too slowly to address climate change, was a success in that it delivered a roadmap requiring specific actions by specific dates, some observers said.
“They’ve got a clear timetable of what they want to see happen and it’s that timeline that puts the pressure on and means that it’s harder to just kick things into the long grass,” said Sonia Dunlop from think tank E3G.
Reporting by Simon Jessop, Leigh Thomas and Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, editing by Mark Heinrich
The 1% of Vietnamese households without electricity rely on decentralized, micro renewable systems for power supply. Are such innovations sustainable?
A mini wind turbine set up in the countryside of Vietnam. PHOTO: 1516 energy
LAI CHAU, VIETNAM – In November 2019, teachers and students at the Pa U elementary boarding school in Muong Te district in Vietnam’s Lai Chau province had electricity for the first time.
The power came from a rudimentary micro wind turbine system, which was sold and delivered to the school by a local startup named 1516 and assembled by the teachers.
The setup was simple: aluminum tubs affixed to a sturdy wooden rod, linked to a sun box that contains a charge controller, a solar battery and an inverter to generate electricity.
Source: Mapbox
“The children were so excited to see those turbines in action,” recalled teacher Bui Thi Minh Khuyen. Despite a limited output that can only sustain the school’s energy needs until 10pm, the new power supply has made a vast difference.
Pa U schoolteachers assemble a wind turbine. PHOTO: 1516 energy
Previously, the school only had light bulbs powered by cheap solar panels imported from China. Fans, radios, TVs, phones and laptops were luxuries the school could not power.
The Democracy Monument in Bangkok, Thailand. (Nawit science / Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0)
Polarized politics, democratic deficits, rampant online hate speech, unprecedented global security risks. In this turbulent era, how do peace campaigners and grassroots mobilizers bridge bitter divides and promote peace in their communities?
A forthcoming study reveals that peacebuilders are finding new opportunities in this tough environment. In a project with the Initiative for Peacebuilding at the University of Melbourne, The Asia Foundation interviewed 25 civil society leaders in South and Southeast Asia—women and men, young and old—who work to prevent conflict. While acknowledging that space to speak out is shrinking in many countries, they expressed hopeful views of current opportunities to mediate and resolve conflicts.
TTCT – Nếu như Trung Quốc có bao giờ thực hiện thành công một cuộc Đại nhảy vọt, thì đó chính là ở Thâm Quyến. Và lý do cơ bản của thành công này là vì thành phố này được phân quyền một cách đích thực.
Tôi vẫn còn nhớ cách đây khoảng 10 năm, một người bạn Hong Kong dẫn tôi tới dải đất sát bờ biển Hong Kong, chỉ vào một dãy nhà cao tầng san sát ở bờ bên kia và nói đó là thành phố Thâm Quyến.
Anh kể trước đây rất nhiều người Trung Quốc đại lục bị hấp dẫn bởi Hong Kong phồn hoa đã bơi từ Trung Quốc đại lục để vượt biên, nhập cảnh trái phép vào Hong Kong. Tôi bèn hỏi vui: “Bây giờ còn không anh?”. Anh trả lời rất nhanh: “Bên đó bây giờ thậm chí còn giàu hơn bên đây thì vượt biên làm gì”.
Một góc Thâm Quyến nhìn từ trên cao. Ảnh: Tân Hoa xã (chụp ngày 13-8-2020).
Anh bạn Hong Kong không quá lời. Giờ đây, GDP của Thâm Quyến đã vượt Hong Kong. Thành phố đại lục này cũng đi trước Hong Kong về đổi mới công nghệ và là nơi có nhiều công ty nằm trong top 500 công ty thành công nhất thế giới. Năm 2019, Liên đoàn Công nghiệp và Thương mại toàn Trung Quốc đã thực hiện cuộc khảo sát cho thấy Thâm Quyến được coi là thành phố kinh doanh số 1 Trung Quốc. Tiếp tục đọc “Thâm Quyến: Trao quyền phải trao cho tới”→
Throughout most of the ongoing war in Ukraine, a truism has held across most of the American political spectrum, from left to right, about the second-order effects of the conflict’s outcome. A Ukrainian victory would strengthen the position of the United States vis-à-vis China globally, while a Russian victory would achieve the opposite.
It is easy to see how takes like this gain such a strong foothold. Analysts are quick to apply sweeping, abstract constructs to their assessments of major world events. This time, that has meant a supposed worldwide faceoff between authoritarianism and democracy. Beyond such considerations, many have tried to imagine the Ukraine conflict’s effects on Chinese thinking about Taiwan. Here again, it is supposed that a Ukrainian victory against a vastly larger invading adversary would be deflating for China, lowering the risk of any near-term attempt to take control of Taiwan by force. And a Russian victory, which now seems quite unlikely, would produce the opposite effect.
Climate Nearing Point of No Return: Land & Sea Temperatures Break Records (Photo Source: Pixabay)
Climate experts are sounding the alarm as the target of keeping long-term global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) appears to be slipping away. Despite months of unprecedented heat on both land and sea, nations have failed to set more ambitious goals in the fight against climate change.
According to the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), average global surface air temperatures were more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for several days in early June, coinciding with the gathering of envoys in Bonn to prepare for this year’s annual climate talks in November. While temperatures have breached the 1.5-degree threshold temporarily in the past, this was the first time it occurred during the northern hemisphere summer, which began on June 1. Additionally, sea temperatures have broken records in April and May.
Sau 5 năm dài vắng bóng, Mỹ đã chính thức tái gia nhập Tổ chức Văn hóa, Khoa học và Giáo dục của Liên Hợp Quốc (UNESCO) vào ngày 30/6.
Trong một phiên họp bất thường hôm 30/6, 193 quốc gia thành viên của UNESCO đã phê duyệt đề xuất tái gia nhập tổ chức của Mỹ với 132 phiếu thuận và 10 phiếu chống.
Mỹ đã rút khỏi UNESCO vào năm 1984, dưới thời chính quyền Tổng thống Ronald Reagan, sau đó quay trở lại vào năm 2004.
Tuy nhiên, mối quan hệ của chính phủ Mỹ với UNESCO này trở nên căng thẳng vào tháng 10/2011, khi các thành viên của cơ quan này bỏ phiếu chấp nhận Palestine là thành viên của tổ chức.
Động thái này đã khiến Hoa Kỳ và đồng minh thân cận Israel tức giận, đồng thời buộc chính quyền của Barack Obama phải ngừng tài trợ cho cơ quan này. Năm 2017, Tổng thống Donald Trump tuyên bố, đất nước của ông sẽ rời khỏi UNESCO hoàn toàn với cáo buộc tổ chức này thiên vị và chống lại Israel. Mỹ và Israel sau đó đã chính thức rời UNESCO vào cuối năm 2018.
(KTSG) – Báo VnExpress ngày 4-6-2023 đăng đoạn clip ghi lại cảnh các nhân viên điện lực mang theo chiếc loa thùng đi qua những con phố ở Hà Nội để kêu gọi người dân tiết kiệm điện. Kêu gọi sử dụng điện tiết kiệm là cần thiết, nhưng việc các nhân viên điện lực làm trong đoạn clip trên dường như chưa trúng vào đối tượng chính, vì sản xuất công nghiệp mới là nhóm khách hàng sử dụng nhiều điện nhất và cũng là kém hiệu quả nhất so với các ngành kinh tế khác.
Forest worship practices have existed in the consciousness and life of ethnic minorities for a long time, featured in local ceremonies and festivals based on concepts of the universe and animism and represented by sacred forest gods.
RITUAL: Under shaggy vines, Sui Dơih (centre) – the celebrant – prepares offerings including a roasted pig, grilled meat, wine, chicken liver and a piece of raw pork.
For ethnic minorities in the Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) and mountainous regions across the country, the forest does not simply refer to materials and resources, but also a broad spiritual culture.
Forest worship practices have existed in the consciousness and life of ethnic minorities for a long time, featured in local ceremonies and festivals based on concepts of the universe and animism and represented by sacred forest gods.
Among them is the religious practice of cúng rừng (forest god worship) of the Jrai community in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. The event is a major tradition showing attachment to Mother Nature. Tiếp tục đọc “Traditional forest ritual protects Mother Nature”→
Domestic and foreign experts shared the view that there are only seven years left, so there is no time for hesitation. Vietnam needs to make greater efforts and stay resolved to accomplish its goals.
Vietnam’s multidimensional poverty rate dropped to 3.6% from 9.2% during the 2016-2022 period. (Photo: baochinhphu.vn)
CVD 
