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External forces and Pakistan’s fate

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No one could deny involvement of external forces in internal politico- economic affairs of Pakistan in the wake of global players interests in the region and beyond. Pakistan since its inception is considered part of US lead allies. On one hand, the Pakistan civil military which always dominates power making institutions is under influence of Great Britain whereas the religious minded circles are helpless before Saudi Arabia. Though common men including religious clergy always hold the US lead allies responsible for hardships and other issues, the ground reality is different whereas Pakistan always backs, supports and works for the implementation of US lead allies policies and decisions in the region.

Even during the so-called Cold War, Pakistan had also backed and supported the US lead allies against the USSR. On such grounds, Pakistan also holds a major share in generation and promotion of religious extremism. No doubt to mention that this religious extremism is always proving beneficial to US lead allies, but many countries around like China, Iran, Russia and others are exercising extreme caution and see these extremist groups as dangerous for the safety and economic prosperity of the region.

US, Pakistan and regional conflicts

The US through Pakistan help, was able to get rid of its staunch rival USSR through so called Jehadi on the soil of Afghanistan, got occupation of Middle East countries like Iraq, Egypt, and Libya from Afghanistan after 9/11 and even built up further pressure against some of CAR countries also. However, the US despite Saudi Arab support had failed to topple Bashar al-Asad in Syria and scramble now in Yemen after years of carelessness to the miseries of innocent Yemenis. Time will prove what Washington tries to seek in Yemen peace efforts.

Now, the US is apparently trying to create chaos in the hard-time friend Pakistan by playing political cards to divide the nation. Political tension stemming from former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan accusations that US had conspired toppling his government can serve as an example and the first step by US to destabilize the already economically-fragile Pakistan. Khan said the US is angry at him because he was pursuing an independent foreign policy for Pakistan, and his visit to Russia and meeting President Vladimir Putin one day invaded Ukraine.

US angry on Pakistan

US allegedly handed a memo to Islamabad’s outgoing ambassador to Washington on March 7, a day before the opposition moved the no-trust vote in parliament. “We are angry with Pakistan. We can forgive Pakistan if Imran Khan loses a no-trust motion. But if the vote fails, Pakistan will have to face serious consequences,” Khan said, citing the text of the memo. In a brief, Pakistan is under pressure from the US, and its military establishment which always says “yes” to US demands.

But through one or the other, Pakistan political leadership has always preferred cordial and friendly relations with China. Though some circles throughout the world are considering China as a major hurdle or rival before the US, but, China is in fact a trader or investor. China always avoids confrontation and prefers cordial friendly relations and trading based strategies throughout the world. On the issue of Afghanistan and Ukraine, China has made attempts to oppose the US but it never made attempts to resist.

China annoyed by terrorist activities

China started to worry after the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan got worse mainly because of US influence and anti-China policies. The Chinese concerns further intensified when its engineers were abducted in Waziristan and Swat of Pakistan. Situation got worse when Chinese Uyghurs were also dispatched to China for carrying out terroristic activities. China called for international supports in the fight against terrorism after 29 people were knifed to death in 2014 in the city of Kunming western region of Xinjing, home to the Muslim Uighur people. Abdullah Mansour, leader of the rebel Turkestan Islamic Party praised the attack at that time. In 2015, another 18 people were died when ethnic Uighurs attacked police with knives and bombs at a traffic checkpoint in the old Silk Road city of Kashgar. The Chinese officials never confirmed the incidents, but there are several reports on this.

It is rational to say that the Turkestan Islamic Party is getting support from anti-Chinese countries, but most of them find ground for its support and the best place is Pakistan since it has land borders with China. US reactions to Khan’s independent foreign policy are one the reasons as it stands in contrast with US policies toward China and Russia, besides economic projects that Beijing-Islamabad jointly developing.

China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor on the horizon

Being fully aware of the influence of the US, China continued efforts to start work on the longstanding China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The Chinese materialized its dreams when signed a MoU with former Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on 2010 and started work on it when Nawaz Sharif won 2013 general polls. But the US lobby continued its efforts against CPEC by provoking Imran Khan for months long sit in protest from August till December in 2014. However CPEC construction continued but went on halt when Imran Khan took office as Prime Minister in August 2018. During this period a number of violent and terror attacks occurred against Chinese Engineers in Kohistan, Gilgit Baltistan and Shangla districts. Chinese remained very careful in reaction and they didn’t blame anyone in this respect.

There are also reports regarding understanding between the US and UAE in resistance against China working on Gawadar Port. Now the Gawadar and CPEC are partially made operative but the Chinese are very careful. Almost all politicians and analysts are of the common opinion that the US along with its allies like Great Britain and Saudi Arabia are behind the agitation based political resistance of Imran Khan against the current government under Shahbaz Sharif.

A shocking fact is that since independence in 1947, no Pakistani prime minister has completed a five-year term in office in the country.

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Corruption in the most war-hit country

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Credible sources in Argavi district of Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province say that the previous mayor of the Taliban in this district collected about 12 million Afghani from the municipal revenue and did not deposit it into the government account. According to the sources, two of the accused who are in cahoots with this local Taliban official fled the country and went to Iran, while the Taliban mayor is currently in the district but yet to clear the government accounts.

Also, the director of agriculture of this district owes about 14 million Afghanis to the Taliban regime for the collection of “Ashroozkat” and besides that, he has embezzled hundreds of thousands of Afghanis. On the other hand, the previous police commander of the Taliban has also given two million and 800 thousand Afghanis for the sale of shops at Mandavi Gate in Vahdat city of the same district.

The Taliban, who claimed to fight financial and administrative corruption in Afghanistan, have now become the biggest perpetrators of corruption. Citizens of the country in different provinces are complaining about the increase in bribery, and extortion by the Taliban. Reliable sources have confirmed to Harici that some officials openly accept bribes.

Despite the Taliban’s claim of fighting corruption, the citizens of the country complain that members of this group are involved in widespread corruption. According to these citizens, the Taliban are deeply involved in corruption and extort money from every project under different titles. Also, there is no accountability and transparency in the implementation of development and government programs by the Taliban.

Embezzlement scheme: Taliban officials escaped to Iran with millions of Afghani

Sources in Argavi district of Badakhshan province say that a person known as “Qari Zubair”, the former mayor of this district, has pocketed 12 million Afghanis of municipal revenue. According to the sources, two of his accomplices named Nasir and Zainullah escaped from Afghanistan and went to Iran. These sources say that “Qari Zubair” has also converted and sold a part of the gate of Vahdat Shahr Clinic, which was towards the city, into a shop.

Sources add that currently a person named Shamsuddin known as “Mola Sham”, who was previously the deputy mayor of Ergo, has been appointed as the mayor of this district.

According to sources, this figure of the Taliban is a “professional thief and debtor of the people” and after being appointed as a supervisor, he paid off his debts, married two wives, bought several homes and cars. According to the sources, this local Taliban official is illiterate and now Zubair, the former mayor of the Taliban in Ergo, is supporting him.

It is also said that “Mola Sham” has cut down the trees in the streets of Vahdat city, which people have maintained for years, under the pretext of widening the road, and has destroyed the green space of this city. According to the sources, after people protested on social networks, local Taliban officials from Faizabad prevented the continuation of cutting trees in this district.

Moreover, Maulvi Sirat, the former Taliban police commander for Ergo district, has converted the Mandavi gate of this district into a shop and sold it to the public for two million and 800 thousand Afghanis.

Several high-ranking Taliban officials are involved in corruption

These sources also say that another person named Qari Hamed, the director of agriculture of Argo district, who was responsible for collecting “Ashrouzkat” for the Taliban, is in debt of about 14 million Afghanis and he himself has admitted to this. This is the only amount that he admitted and the hundreds of thousands of other Afghans he pocketed, he has no account with the Taliban in this regard.

These concerns have been raised while in the new report of the Transparency International Organization, Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban has been placed in the 165th position in the global ranking of the fight against corruption in 2024, falling three places.

In this ranking, Afghanistan is in 165th place with 17 points. Transparency International annually ranks 180 countries based on perceived levels of corruption, from 0 (very corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

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Final stages of Yoon’s impeachment trial: Key issues

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South Korea’s Constitutional Court has become the site of a fierce political battle as it prepares to rule on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol in early March.

Since January 14, the court has held 10 hearings to determine whether Yoon committed constitutional violations serious enough to warrant his impeachment in early December with a martial law declaration that was later cancelled. More than two-thirds of the National Assembly voted in favor of his impeachment.

The court is expected to approve or reject the impeachment in early March after a final hearing on February 25.

Nikkei Asia compiled the prominent discussions about the process:

What were Yoon’s orders when he sent troops to the National Assembly?

President Yoon sent troops to the National Assembly after declaring martial law on the night of December 3. This action was interpreted as his intention to neutralize the legislature, which has the constitutional right to demand the lifting of martial law.

Lawyers for the National Assembly said Yoon ordered commanders to remove lawmakers from the main hall, preventing them from passing a motion to lift martial law. Yoon’s lawyers argued that this was done to maintain order in the parliament and to protect people from possible accidents.

Kwak Jong-geun, the former commander of the Special Warfare Command who is currently under arrest, admitted that Yoon had called Kwak to order ‘staff’ out of the main hall because a quorum had not yet been reached. The officer said he did not act on that order.

During Tuesday’s hearing, a lawyer for the assembly said: “[The president] used the national armed forces as his personal troops and involved them in a coup.”

Yoon disputed this and said he never used the term ‘personnel’ to describe the people in question. In Korean, the words for lawmakers, staff, and agents sound similar, though they are different.

Kwak said Kim Yong-hyun, then defense minister, told him to remove the lawmakers from the hall. Kim, on the other hand, said he asked the commanders to remove the agents, not the lawmakers, and that the commanders may have misunderstood. The parliament’s lawyer said such an allegation did not make sense because the former defense minister could simply order them to stand down if they were spies.

Did Yoon order the arrest of politicians?

The second issue was whether Yoon ordered the police chief and military commanders to arrest politicians, judges, and journalists who opposed him.

Parliamentary representatives said Yoon had ordered the police chief, a special forces unit commander, and an official of an espionage agency to arrest a dozen people together. They included Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, House Speaker Woo Won-shik, and Han Dong-hoon, then leader of the ruling People Power Party.

Hong Jang-won, a former deputy director of the National Intelligence Service who was in charge when martial law was declared, said Yoon told him in a phone call to ‘catch them all.’ Hong also said he later received a list from the defense counterintelligence command. Yoon and his lawyers denied the allegation, arguing that it was meaningless because the spy agency had no arrest powers. The lawyers also questioned the authenticity of the memo containing the list. However, the court accepted the note as evidence.

Why did Yoon send soldiers to the election commission?

Yoon argued that he ordered Kim, a former defense minister, to send troops to the National Election Commission’s office building in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, to check the agency’s electronic system because he had a report prepared by the spy agency in 2023 that said it was problematic.

Assembly representatives said Yoon sent troops to take over the commission’s servers because he believed a rumor that the 2024 general election was rigged.

Yoon’s lawyers also alleged Chinese meddling in South Korean elections, citing some media reports but providing no evidence.

Did martial law harm the country and the people?

Kim Yi-su, a senior lawyer for the assembly, said the president’s reckless behavior has deeply hurt the country.

“The collapsing economy is facing a bigger crisis. Political polarization is deepening. And it has left a shameful trauma on the entire military. People want healing and restoration,” he said.

Yoon and his lawyers, on the other hand, claimed it was a ‘peaceful martial law’ and intended only as a temporary warning to the public against ‘massive’ pressure from the opposition Democratic Party. At a hearing earlier this month, the ousted president argued four times that ‘nothing happened’ and that martial law was lifted without harming anyone.

What will happen next?

Both sides will present their final arguments to the Constitutional Court on Tuesday, February 25. The court will then decide whether to uphold the dismissal.

As stipulated by the constitution, the decision requires the approval of six of the eight judges, as one seat on the nine-member court is vacant. If the court upholds the impeachment, Yoon, who is currently suspended, will be immediately removed from office, and a presidential election will be held within 60 days.

If the court rejects the case, Yoon will be reinstated.

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Chinese universities integrate DeepSeek AI to drive tech innovation

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This month, universities in China are experiencing an artificial intelligence breakthrough, a ‘Sputnik moment’ for China, based on DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup that has attracted much attention.

The move comes as Chinese authorities aim to boost scientific and technological innovation in schools and universities that could create new sources of growth for the world’s second-largest economy.

DeepSeek, a Hangzhou-based startup, has been showered with praise by Silicon Valley executives and US tech company engineers, who say its DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1 models are on par with the most advanced models from OpenAI and Meta.

Shenzhen University in the southern province of Guangdong said this week that it has launched an artificial intelligence course based on DeepSeek, which will help students learn about security, privacy, ethics, and other challenges, as well as the underlying technologies.

‘How to strike a balance between technological innovation and ethical norms will be explored,’ it said.

Zhejiang University in eastern China announced in February that it had started organizing special DeepSeek courses.

Jiao Tong University in Shanghai said on its official WeChat account that it uses DeepSeek to upgrade AI learning tools in its courses. Renmin University of China has also applied DeepSeek ‘in multiple fields, injecting new power for teaching and research, campus office.’

In January, China released its first national action plan to build a ‘strong education nation’ by 2035, saying it aims to establish a ‘high-quality education system’ with accessibility and quality ‘among the best in the world.’

DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng attended a rare meeting on Monday with President Xi Jinping and some of the biggest names in China’s tech sector, such as Alibaba.

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