In The News

Hong Kong Remains Important to China: Economist

August 12, 2019
Protests have paralyzed Hong Kong throughout the summer, putting China’s system of governance for the island into question. While the protesters’ numbers have fallen, the movement has expanded its demands and methods, including disruptions that have forced the Hong Kong airport to close. The protests may have dashed China’s vision for Hong Kong as an “‘economic’ city in which politics plays a...

India Pulls Kashmir’s Autonomy: Washington Post

Ahsan I. Butt August 8, 2019
After little parliamentary debate and virtually no citizen input, the Modi government is scrapping two articles in the Indian constitution that apply to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, splitting the state and administering two sections as a union territory. At the same time, the government increased its troop presence, closed schools and the internet, and placed some leaders under house arrest....

India’s Move on Kashmir Will Fuel Resentment: BBC

Andrew Whitehead August 5, 2019
The special status assigned to Jammu and Kashmir reflects an agreement between India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Kashmir's political leaders. “India's BJP-led government has now unilaterally torn up that special dispensation,” reports Andrew Whitehead for BBC News. “It's the biggest change in Kashmir's constitutional status since the 1950s.” The government...

China, Hong Kong Protests: South China Morning Post

Tammy Tam July 29, 2019
China’s state media have called for forceful action to stop protests in Hong Kong, and a government spokesman called eight weekends of protests that have disrupted the city "evil and criminal acts committed by the radical elements." Even so, the Chinese government is showing no sign of moving quickly despite escalating tensions and a "'let it be’ sentiment reflects the...

Protests in Hong Kong Over Extradition Bill: Vox

Eric Kleefeld June 9, 2019
Citizens of Hong Kong express alarm about the erosion of freedoms since the United Kingdom handed control of the city to the People’s Republic of China in 1997. Hundreds of thousands of people, as many as a million, wore white and marched to protest a bill allowing criminal extradition to China. The protesters called for resignation of the city’s chief executive who supports the bill. The march...

Sudan Military Tries to Clear Protests: Al Jazeera

June 4, 2019
Sudan security forces have tried to clear a camp of protesters who have persisted for months with demands for civilian rule. At least nine people have died. Most of the protesters have cleared the camp and military vehicles are blocking their return. Protest organizers are now calling for a campaign of civil disobedience in the quest for civilian rule. “The sit-in has become the focal point of...

Sudan’s Protesters Expect Civilian Rule: Economist

June 3, 2019
Sudanese protestors have railed against internal turnover in government power, as in Awad Ibn Auf, former vice president and defense chief who briefly replaced the recently ousted Omar al-Bashir following his official resignation. Like his predecessor, Auf has long been the subject of international scrutiny for complicity in the genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region underway since 2003. “Faced with a...