Month: September 2023

SEOUL (TIP): In a surprise move, South Korea’s opposition-controlled National Assembly voted on September 21 to strip the leader of the opposition of his parliamentary immunity, potentially allowing his arrest over corruption allegations. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, has been accused by prosecutors of bribery in connection with a firm that is suspected of illicitly transferring $8 million to North Korea.
He is also accused of breaching his duties, which allegedly resulted in a loss of 20 billion won ($15 million) for a company owned by Seongnam city during his term as its mayor.
Despite his party’s majority in the 300-member parliament, the motion to lift Lee’s immunity passed by a 149-136 vote.
At least 29 members of Lee’s party voted to strip his immunity, South Korean’s Yonhap news agency reported.
Lee has denied all the allegations against him, and on Wednesday asked his party members to reject the motion, which he called “clearly illegal and unjust”.
This triggered escalating criticism from within the Democratic Party, local reports said, as Lee’s stance contradicted his earlier promises to relinquish immunity if needed.
Han Dong-hoon, South Korea’s justice minister, described Lee as “a serious criminal suspect” and accused him of colluding with people with “gangster backgrounds”.
The opposition leader also committed “a serious crime akin to disrupting the foundation of the nation” by “attempting to undermine UN sanctions against North Korea”, Han told parliament.
Lee, 58, launched a hunger strike on August 31 over what he calls the government’s “incompetent and violent” policies, especially its failure to oppose Japan’s release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima reactor.
He was transferred to a hospital on Monday, but this did not prevent prosecutors from issuing a request for an arrest warrant the same day.
A former child factory worker who suffered an industrial accident as a teenage school drop-out, Lee rose to political stardom partly by playing up his rags-to-riches tale.
But his bid for the top office has been overshadowed by a string of scandals. He faced scrutiny over a questionable land development deal and persistent rumours linking him to organised crime.
At least five individuals connected to Lee’s various scandals in the past have been found dead, many in what appeared to be suicides. (AFP)

RIO DE JANEIRO (TIP): Indigenous people celebrated September 21 after Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled to enshrine their land rights, removing the imminent threat those protections could be rolled back.
The justices had been evaluating a lawsuit brought by Santa Catarina state, backed by farmers, seeking to block an Indigenous group from expanding the size of its territorial claim. Nearly all of the high court’s justices voted to support the Indigenous group, which has far-reaching implications for territories nationwide.
Dozens of Indigenous people in traditional yellow feather headdresses and body paint danced, sang and jumped around in front of a multitude of flashing cameras in the capital of Brasilia after the decisive vote was cast. Some wiped away tears of joy.
“I’m shaking. It took a while, but we did it. It’s a very beautiful and strong feeling. Our ancestors are present — no doubt about it,” said Jéssica Nghe Mum Priprá, who is from the Xokleng-Laklano Indigenous group.
In the case before the court, Santa Catarina state argued a legal theory being pushed by opponents of further land allocations for Indigenous groups. It said that the date Brazil’s Constitution was promulgated — Oct. 5, 1988 — should be the deadline for when Indigenous peoples to have already either physically occupied land or be legally fighting to reoccupy territory. They also claimed it would provide legal certainty for landholders.
Nine of the court’s 11 justices rejected that argument.
“Areas occupied by Indigenous people and areas that are linked to the ancestry and tradition of Indigenous peoples have constitutional protection, even if they are not demarcated,” said Justice Luiz Fux, who cast the vote that established the majority.
The two justices who voted to support Santa Catarina’s position were appointed by President Jair Bolsonaro, who was a vocal opponent of expanding Indigenous territories and supported their assimilation.
Indigenous rights groups argued the concept of the deadline was unfair, saying it does not account for expulsions and forced displacements of Indigenous populations, particularly during Brazil’s two-decade military dictatorship.
The lawsuit put at risk the status of Brazil’s hundreds of Indigenous territories, said rights group Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, known by the Portuguese acronym Apib.
Large groups of Indigenous men and women from different states and ethnicities had gathered in and around Brasilia in recent months during the high court’s deliberations.
Francisco Cali Tzay, the U.N. special investigator on the rights of Indigenous peoples, had urged Brazil’s Supreme Court to protect Indigenous lands.
“Under the constitution, Indigenous peoples are entitled to the permanent possession of the lands they traditionally occupy,” Tzay said in a 2021 statement.
He said a ruling in favour of business interests “could legitimize violence against Indigenous peoples and inflame conflicts in the Amazon rainforest and other areas.”
Though the case involved only one Indigenous group, the Supreme Court gave it “general repercussion” status, meaning the ruling will serve as a precedent for all instances of justice involving Indigenous groups.
It thus applies to hundreds of administrative procedures and legislative initiatives that are in progress and is likely to torpedo a proposal in Congress to enact the same 1988 deadline. (AP)

LONDON (TIP): Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on September 21 insisted he was “not slowing down efforts” to tackle climate change, a day after softening green policies aimed at achieving net zero carbon emissions by mid-century. Sunak told a news conference on Wednesday that the UK was adopting a more “pragmatic” approach to meeting the net zero target.
The new strategy will include the pushing back of a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035. The prime minister also announced an easing of energy efficiency targets for rental properties and backtracked on plans to make homeowners replace gas boilers with heat pumps.
The rethink in green policy was met with a backlash from opposition lawmakers, environmental campaigners, the car industry and some MPs of Sunak’s Conservative Party.
But Sunak on Wednesday defended the changes as chief executive of the independent Climate Change Committee, Chris Stark, called his policy shift “wishful thinking” and said the UK now didn’t have the policy package to hit its targets.
“We are absolutely not slowing down efforts to combat climate change. I am very proud of our country’s leadership,” Sunak said in an interview with the BBC.
The premier said he agreed that “you can’t just wish or will your way to net zero”, but added that “people have asserted these targets without having an honest conversation with the country about what’s required to deliver them”.
He said the government had an “ongoing responsibility” to put policies and proposals in place that would allow the UK to meet its international and domestic obligations.
The government remained “committed” to those targets, he said, adding that he had “absolute confidence and belief that we will hit them”.
The policy shift comes as British voters are facing a cost-of-living crisis that has seen food and housing costs spiral with concerns multiplying over the potential financial cost of the government’s net zero pledge.
With a general election expected next year, the Conservatives are trailing in the polls behind the main opposition Labour Party. (AFP)

HANGZHOU (TIP): Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a “strategic partnership” with Syria on September 22 during talks with President Bashar al-Assad, who is seeking financial support to help rebuild his devastated country. The leaders met on the eve of the Asian Games opening ceremony, which Assad will attend as part of his first visit to China since 2004.
China is one of only a handful of countries outside the Middle East that Assad has visited since the 2011 start of a civil war that killed more than half a million people, displaced millions and battered Syria’s infrastructure and industry.
Assad is the latest in a string of leaders ostracised by the West to be feted by Beijing, with Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi visiting this year, as well as top Russian officials.
“Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on Friday jointly announced the establishment of the China-Syria strategic partnership,” according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
The leaders were each flanked by nine aides at a large rectangular wooden table, a CCTV video showed, as two flags from each country were set in front of a Chinese painting in the meeting room. Relations between the two countries “have withstood the test of international changes”, Xi said.
“China supports Syria in opposing foreign interference, opposing unilateral bullying, safeguarding national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity,” the Chinese leader added.
Assad, in turn, said he “thanked the Chinese government for everything you have done to stand alongside the Syrian people in their cause and their trials”, according to a readout from Syrian state news agency SANA.
“This visit is extremely important due to its timing and circumstances because a multipolar world is being formed today which will restore balance and stability to the world,” he said.
“I hope that our meeting today will lay the foundations for broad-based and long-term strategic cooperation in all areas,” he added.
‘New level’
Beijing’s foreign ministry has said Assad’s visit will serve to take ties to a “new level”.
Beijing has long provided Damascus with diplomatic support, particularly at the UN Security Council where China is a permanent member.
Analysts say that Assad’s visit represents an important step towards returning to the international fold after years of US-led isolation of his regime.
Syria’s war began after Assad’s repression of peaceful pro-democracy protests escalated into a deadly conflict that pulled in foreign powers and jihadists.
Assad’s trip also comes as China expands its engagement in the Middle East.
This year, Beijing brokered a deal that saw longtime regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Damascus-backer Iran agree to restore ties and reopen their respective embassies.
The detente was followed by Syria’s return to the Arab fold at a summit in Saudi Arabia in May, ending more than a decade of regional isolation. (AFP)