From military strategy and human rights to labor standards and trade, China is expected to come under tighter scrutiny by the upcoming Democratic-controlled US Congress.
Democratic lawmakers have complained that the dependence of the Republican administration of US President George W. Bush on Beijing to contain North Korea's nuclear ambitions has led to compromises on the critical human rights and trade fronts.
Evaluating the Republican Party's loss of control of the House of Representatives and Senate in last Tuesday's legislative elections, Robert Hathaway of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars said the Democrats were likely to pressure the Bush administration to be "more confrontational" with China.
"And I think that's where we are likely to see the biggest difference as a result of the elections in terms of Asia," he said.
As Democrats demand that the president pay more attention to such issues, China will become an even more critical topic in the run-up to the 2008 US presidential election, said John Tkacik, a former China expert at the US State Department.
The Republicans will enter the new Congress in January without their highly respected chairman of the House of Representatives subcommittee on Asia and Pacific affairs, Jim Leach -- considered by Tkacik as a "very pro-China voice," -- who was defeated in the polls.
The incoming House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and the anticipated new chairman of the House international relations committee, Tom Lantos, have been vocal critics of China's human rights record. Human rights are said to have worsened in China under the Republican watch.
"Overall, the human rights situation in China under the Republican administration has deteriorated," said T. Kumar, the Asia-Pacific advocacy director for Amnesty International USA.
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS