China Says US ‘Pivot’ to Asia Destabilizing the Region

A Chinese Defense Ministry report released on April 16 accused the United States of destabilizing the Asia-Pacific region by strengthening its military alliances and sending more ships, planes and troops to the area. The US policy, known as the “pivot” to Asia, runs counter to regional trends and “frequently makes the situation tenser,” the report said. The pivot will see 60 percent of the US Navy’s fleet deployed to the Pacific by 2020, and comes amid concern in the region over China’s increasing assertiveness in territorial disputes with its neighbors. Beijing sees the move as part of a strategy aimed at containing a rapidly rising China. in the Philippines after their ship ran aground on an atoll in the Tubbataha National Marine Park, a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site, on April 8. In addition to fines for damaging a protected coral reef, the men could get up to 12 years in prison and up to US $300,000 in fines for poaching pangolins, an endangered species also known as the scaly anteater that is prized in China for its meat and scales. More than 10,000 kg of pangolin meat was found aboard the ship, whose crew is also accused of attempting to bribe park rangers to avoid arrest and carrying explosives for fishing.

North Korea Tones Down Rhetoric

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

More than two months after Pyongyang’s third nuclear test on Feb. 12 provoked a new round of international sanctions, the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un continued to issue threats against the United States and its allies. By late April, however, there were signs that the crisis was abating, with North Korea saying it was ready to talk if the sanctions were dropped. Although there was no immediate prospect of negotiations restarting under these conditions, the change in tone—after months of threatening to launch nuclear attacks on targets in the US— was welcomed by some observers, even as others warned that the regime might be preparing to launch a missile.

No Time for Child’s Play

A child in Yangon collects cans and bottles while all around her, people several times her age take part in the annual Thingyan “water-throwing festival,” held to celebrate the traditional Myanmar Buddhist New Year. Although Thingyan is a festive time for most Myanmars, for many the need to earn a living trumps the desire for fun. Even with recent moves to improve the country’s economy, many Myanmars earn barely enough to feed themselves from one day to the next, and in especially poor families, small children spend more time trying to earn an income than studying for their futures.