Week-in-Pacifica (Jun 5-12)
Week in Pacifica. An everyweek digest by Pan Pacific Agency.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam vows to push ahead with extradition Bill as city gears up for fresh protests, strikes
June 11, 2019
Hong Kong, the Chinese city according to “one-country, two-systems” formula (which includes separate judicial systems), has been shocked by the proposed extradition law that lets sending people to China for trial. Masses went to the streets for protests, but the leader of the city Carrie Lam is going to push the Bill forward. More than 50,000 people have announced their plans to go for a strike on Wednesday (June 12) alongside with a pro-democracy labor group under the New World First Bus Company calling on its members to drive at the speed of 20-25 kmh. The current political crisis threatens Hong Kong’s competitiveness.
Flood affects over 1.42 mln people in east China province
June 10, 2019
More than 1.42 million residents have been affected by torrential rain-triggered floods in east China’s Jiangxi Province, with 135,000 of them relocated. Moreover, the floods had adversely affected 110,500 hectares of crops and wiped out 10,800 hectares of crops while 715 houses collapsed into the surging waters, with 313 houses severely damaged. Direct economic losses were estimated at 2.65 billion yuan (about 383 million U.S. dollars).
Putin and Xi step up the strategic game
June 9, 2019
On June 5, the Chinese President Xi Jinping came to Russia with a state visit as well as for the participation in the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. The emotional handshake in the pictures in numerous mass media sources and the relations behind it were interpreted by the USA as a great threat to its security. The Russia-China strategic partnership forms a peer competitor to the United States. The leaders signed a few agreements, the most remarkable of which was the one to develop bilateral trade and cross-border payments using the ruble and the yuan, bypassing the US dollar. Basically, the states want to exclude the USA from their relations and from the region in general.
Philippines rejects call for UN probe into alleged rights violations
June 9, 2019
The Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines rejected the independent investigation initiated by the 11 United Nations special rapporteurs. That should have been a probe into alleged human rights violations – unlawful deaths and police killings in frames of the so-called war of drugs. The main motives for the refusal are the following: the investigation undermines the national security as well as the DFA is afraid that the investigators might be biased. The DFA claims that there is no hidden information, everything is published under #RealNumbersPH initiative.
Russia slams US Navy for ‘unacceptable’ behavior after warships’ near-miss in East China Sea
June 7, 2019
The tensions in the South China Sea go on with the USA taking provocative actions near China. This time, the US guided-missile cruiser Chancellorsville unexplainedly changed direction and came within just 50 meters of the Admiral Vinogradov. A collision was only prevented after the Russian crew implemented emergency maneuvers and changed course. Russia accused the USA for that, but the US Navy denies all of them saying that the Vinogradov was the very vessel that accelerated at the US Chancellorsville while it was waiting for a helicopter to land.
G-20 to seek stricter taxation rules for digital giants: draft
June 7, 2019
The Group of 20 (G-20) Summit is going to take place from June 28-29 in Osaka, Japan, and the states-parties are already preparing for it. One of the steps overthought during the preparation was the creation a fairer tax system. G-20 states think that the trade giants such as Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Google LLC, etc. pay less taxes than they should according to their market share. The new tax rules will be created basing on where the companies make most of their profit rather than on the location of their headquarters. Besides, the G-20 has already considered the ways to combat economic risks such as debt vulnerabilities, money laundering, and unfair making profit as well as to promote sustainable growth of the world economy in general.
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