Welcome to another edition of news from Asia. Unfortunately, some news this week could have found a place in Hillary’s “This Week in Misogyny,” (bless you for your work Hillary). Needless to say, trigger warnings apply.
This story was actually covered in Hillary’s latest post, but I think it bears repeating because this is an endemic problem, not just in Asia, but in many other places around the world. A 25-year-old pregnant Pakistani woman was beaten to death by her family in Lahore while police and others watched. The latest news is that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has demanded a report and for immediate action to be taken. An estimated 869 women died by “honor killing” last year, but the nature of this attack is bringing international scrutiny.
In India, two teenage Dalit girls were raped and murdered in Uttar Pradesh and the police did not issue a report when family members reported them missing. It’s a case that looks to be motivated by caste prejudice and violence.
New Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his list for his top 10 priorities for the government including restoring trust in the bureaucracy and greater emphasis on education, health, water, and energy.
Chinese authorities have detained a number of activists in the lead up to the 25th anniversary of the crackdown on protests in Tiananmen Square.
Shit has been getting real in Thailand for months, but the latest is that anti-military coup activists are calling for rallies in Bangkok.
The biggest political news in US/South Asian relations is the announcement by President Obama that he will order 9,800 troops to stay in Afghanistan with a complete withdrawal by 2016.
President Obama also paid a surprise visit to troops in Afghanistan over the Memorial Day weekend, but the White House still fucked up on the intelligence front when they outed the chief CIA official in the country.
A Chinese vessel rammed into and sank a Vietnamese fishing vessel in the South China Sea, which is so not helpful. All the crew survived, but yeah, not cool.
The US did warn China to simmer down, but I think the Chinese official stance would sound something like, “I do what I want.”
That’s it ’til next week. Leave any interesting news you find in the comments for discussion.
