WASHINGTON, 07 August 2021, (TON): Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with the foreign ministers of the 26 ARF participating countries, the ASEAN Secretary General, and the EU High Commissioner at the 28th Annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Ministerial Meeting hosted by ASEAN Chair Brunei Darussalam.

Blinken underscored the importance of democracy, transparency, and accountability in the Indo-Pacific.

Blinken called on the PRC to abide by its obligations under the international law of the sea and cease its provocative behavior in the South China Sea. He raised serious concerns about ongoing human rights abuses in Tibet, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang.

The Secretary also noted deep concern with the rapid growth of the PRC’s nuclear arsenal which highlights how Beijing has sharply deviated from its decades-old nuclear strategy based on minimum deterrence. Blinken then joined other countries in calling for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The Secretary urged all ARF member states to pr-ess the military regime in Burma to end violence and support the people of Bur-ma as they work to return to democratic governance.

Blinken calls Japanese FM, Secretary of State Blinken spoke on Friday with Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu. Blinken and Motegi reaffirmed the U.S.-Japan Alli-ance as the cornerstone of peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and across the globe.

NAYPYITAW, 07 August 2021, (TON): Myanmar’s Central Bank announced that it has introduced new rules relating to the employment of foreigners by local privately-owned banks.

In a five-page order, the junta-controlled Central Bank outlined a series of restrictions that seek to limit both the number of foreigners in the country’s banking sector and their influence.

Under the new rules, banks can hire no more than 25 non-Myanmar nationals, none of whom are permitted hold the position of chair or vice-chair within their organizations.

According to the order ”if a foreigner is hired to act as chief executive officer, a Myanmar citizen must be appointed as deputy chief executive officer.”

All foreign hires will also be subject to vetting by the Central Bank, which will examine both their relevant professional qualifications and their political activities.

The move is seen as being aimed not only at limiting the involvement of foreigners in the banking sector, but also at reining in private banks.

DHAKA, 07 August 2021, (TON): Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has expressed deep condolences over the lives lost in central China's Henan Province and in western Germany due to heavy rain and severe floods.

In a message sent to Chinese state councilor and foreign minister Wang Yi, Dr Momen conveyed heartfelt sympathies to the members of bereaved families.

He said "our thoughts and prayers are with the government and people of China. We stand by the friendly people of China as they face the situation with courage and fortitude."

In a separate message sent to his German counterpart Heiko Maas, Momen conveyed his deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives in floods.

He wrote to the German federal minister for foreign affairs "our prayers are with those who are still missing, and those who suffered injuries or loss of homes."

Momen expressed hope that the people affected would soon be able to overcome this difficult time through the intensive efforts of the German Federal and State Governments.

NAYPYITAW, 07 August 2021, (TON): As Myanmar’s new junta murdered hundreds of peaceful protesters in the weeks and months following its February coup, civilians across the country took up arms to form guerilla resistance groups.

At the same time, the underground National Unity Government (NUG), formed with the help of elected MPs who were ousted by the military, pledged to create a national People’s Defence Force (PDF) to challenge the junta.

Since then, the exact relationship between the NUG and the numerous self-organising armed groups fighting the junta has been unclear.

Many appear to have acted independently, arming themselves as best they could and teaching themselves how to wage war by launching attacks against junta targets. Others have declared an official affiliation with the NUG.

Yee Mon, Minister of Defence for the NUG, says efforts have been underway to unify the numerous PDF chapters across the country and set up a chain of command.

DHAKA, 07 August 2021, (TON): Newly-elected Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi wants to closely work with Bangladesh for mutual benefit of the two countries.

He made this remark when State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam called on him after the swearing-in ceremony on August 5.

This is the first time any Bangladeshi delegation is attending the Iranian President's swearing-in ceremony. Shahriar Alam led a 3- member Bangladesh delegation on August 3.

He later paid a courtesy call on President Raisi. The meeting lasted for 20 minutes.

During the meeting, the new president of Iran recalled his visit to Bangladesh 20 years back.

He particularly mentioned about his visit to Jashore, and expressed his gratitude to President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for congratulating him on his election as president.

He appreciated the robust economic development of Bangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

While thanking Bangladesh for supporting Iran in international fora, he mentioned that Palestine question is the first and foremost issue of the Muslim Ummah.

Raisi appreciated Bangladesh for hosting more than one million Rohingyas who were displaced from their homeland.

NEWYORK, 6 August, 2021, (TON): United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on 5^th August Thursday called for progress toward a world free of nuclear weapons on the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

In a video message to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Japan, the UN Secretary General said: “The only guarantee against the use of nuclear weapons is their total elimination.”

Guterres said the UN shares the hibakusha’s vision of a world without nuclear weapons, which was the subject of the first-ever General Assembly resolution, passed just five months after the bombing, while the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force this past January. 

He expressed deep concern over the lack of progress towards achieving a nuclear-free world.

The Secretary-General called on countries that possess nuclear weapons to adopt risk reduction measures, both individually and jointly, saying “we can never take the norm against the use of nuclear weapons for granted.”

He also urged governments to use the Tenth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to strengthen their commitment to a nuclear-weapon-free world.

By TON Research Section 

Sri Lanka’s GDP per capita is one of the largest among South Asian countries but despite that Sri Lanka is facing worst economic downturn in 73 years. The economy of Sri Lanka was in trouble before the start of Corona virus pandemic however, Sri Lanka is trying to sustain economic growth but the government’s high debt payment remained a concern and has contributed to the debt crisis. Sri Lanka’s economy was already in trouble since South Asian island nation’s civil war ended in 2009 and after that in 2019, the Easter bombings hit hard Sri Lanka’s tourism sector in which 250 people were killed. Tourism sector was one of the important sources of foreign exchange earnings which amount for about 5% of GDP earning and provide jobs to 3 million of Sri Lanka’s population. As if what happened was not enough, lockdowns during the corona virus pandemic had further damaged the already struggling growth and economy of the country.

However, there is no doubt that Sri Lanka has made significant progress after the military defeated Tamil rebels in 2009 albeit, today the Sri Lanka’s economy is again having worst downturn in the years. The growing national deficit and rising dept has put the currency under pressure. The local currency fell to record low and can be rescued only by a $660 million loan from China.

The head of the economic research group Point Pedro Institute of Development, Muttukrishna Sarvananthan said that “The condition of the economy is in dire straits; there is no doubt about it.”

The central Bank of Sri Lanka declared at the end of 2020 that the country’s economy had contracted by 3.6 per cent and has recording the heavy recession since 1948. Moreover, Sri Lanka is also struggling with revenue collection and earlier, government funds and economy both were dwindling. Moreover, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows remained low and the government was not successful in reaching the target which caused drop in Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves. And now the foreign exchange reserves had run dry to a level that are barely enough to pay for imports of last three months at a time when big repayments of its foreign debts are falling due, that is further damaging its financial system. International rating agencies have also showed their concern over the ability of Sri Lanka to service its huge foreign debt as the country’s foreign reserves fell sharply in 2020. The government has limited U.S. dollar transactions. So far Sri Lanka paid $1.3 billion debt and in this year, Sri Lanka requires totaling $3.7 billion to make debt payments. Central Bank of Sri Lanka says that its currency is weakening against other major currencies making the payments more costly.

Although, Sri Lanka’s foreign debt troubles are not new and have more often led to balance of payment (BOP) issues, which is much more than its huge borrowing from many other foreign sources. In spite of the limits imposed, imports still surpass the country’s exports. From the last four decades; Sri Lanka has been relying heavily on loans from foreign countries for development, which results in a large foreign debt stock. Sri Lanka’s government obtained several rounds of loans for construction and development from China and most of the loan repayments have not been started yet. Sri Lanka is also been seen as a country that has fell into debt trap of China due to the many projects that are financed by China but now debt problem of the Sri Lanka goes beyond China.

According to the central bank, Sri Lanka obtained a $1.5 billion swap facility from China earlier this year and $400 million swap from India will be available by August to help rebuild its reserves. Now, Sri Lanka is in need of sufficient foreign currency inflow for the repayments of foreign debt which is only possible through increased exports, FDI or more external debt albeit, Sri Lanka failed to fulfill any of these to equal its growing foreign debt repayment obligations. So far, Sri Lanka’s government has not been able to eliminate the fear of economic downturn. The main reason behind the ongoing economic crisis is the structural weaknesses like low tax revenue, reduction in trade and others. Failure of the Sri Lanka’s government to provide long-term inclusive and consistent solutions to deal with all the structural weaknesses has resulted in the economic crisis in the country and now concrete steps are needed to overcome the economic crisis in the country.

WASHINGTON, 06 August 2021, (TON):  At the end of June 2020, the People’s Republic of China imposed the sweeping National Security Law on Hong Kong, further undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy.

Over the course of this crackdown, Beijing and Hong Kong authorities have arbitrarily delayed scheduled elections, disqualified lawmakers, undermined press freedom, and arrested more than 10,000 people.

The PRC has fundamentally altered the bedrock of Hong Kong’s institutions and suppressed freedoms of Hong Kongers. Despite widespread demonstrations, which brought millions together to call for greater freedom, Hong Kong’s promise of democracy has dimmed.

President Biden directed Deferred Enforced Departure for Hong Kong residents in the United States for 18 months, joining our partners and allies in offering safe haven should residents fear returning to Hong Kong.

NAYPAITAW, 06 August 2021, (TON): According to a spokesperson for the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) “a Myanmar military battalion fired light arms and heavy artillery at Kachin State’s Waingmaw Township for several hours, allegedly unprovoked.”

KIA information officer Col Naw Bu told media that the one-sided assault came from the junta’s Waingmaw-based LIB 58, and that it may have been a drill gone wrong.

He said “the military is known to practice drills. Maybe what happened yesterday was just a drill, and they started to get paranoid and shoot at each other.”

A 50-year-old Waingmaw elder said that artillery shelling was heard from around 7:30pm, and the sound of small arms and machine guns began at 9pm. 

He said “I couldn’t sleep for most of the night. My house was shaking because it is not far from the junta’s base that fired the weapons.”

Houses in Labang village, also near the LIB 58 base, were hit by both bullets and shells, a man who lives near the battalion told media on the condition of anonymity. He said that a large artillery shell hit a pig farm, killing some of the livestock.

At around 10pm, a military helicopter flew over Waingmaw three times during the heavy shooting, while tanks and armored vehicles circled the town, residents said.

NEW YORK, 06 August 2021, (TON): A senior diplomat said “the United Nations Security Council has convened an emergency meeting for Friday (Aug 6) to discuss rising violence in Afghanistan.”

The meeting was called after Afghan Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar spoke to India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in the wake of Taliban’s assault on major cities and an attack on the residence of Defence Minister Bismillah Mohammadi in Kabul.

The Afghan foreign minister had reportedly, during the conversation, sought a special meeting of the UNSC.

India, currently a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, is holding the powerful body’s presidency for the month of August.

UNSC members would be briefed by FM Atmar and United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan’s chief Debrah Lyons during the session.