Daily Digest

RFA Closes Phnom Penh Bureau Amid Crackdown by Hun Sen RFA Radio Free Asia has decided to close its nearly 20-year-old bureau in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh amid a relentless crackdown by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s authoritarian regime on independent media ahead of critical polls next year, RFA President Libby Liu announced Tuesday. Using a pretext of..
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CHINA Taiwanese Activist Pleads Guilty to Chinese Subversion Charges Daily Mail A Taiwanese democracy activist pleaded guilty Monday to charges of attempting to subvert Chinese government power during a trial in China that his wife called a “political show” and further soured cross-strait ties. Lee Ming-cheh appeared alongside a Chinese co-defendant named Peng Yuhua at Yueyang intermediate..
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CHINA China’s Diplomatic Ties With Ally North Korea Are Fraying NBC News When Kim Jong Un inherited power in North Korea in late 2011, then-Chinese president Hu Jintao was outwardly supportive of the untested young leader, predicting that “traditional friendly cooperation” between the countries would strengthen. Since 2013, ties between the allies have deteriorated so sharply..
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CHINA China Agrees UN Action, And Talk, Needed To End North Korean Crisis Reuters China agreed on Thursday that the United Nations should take more action against North Korea after its latest nuclear test, while also pushing for dialogue to help resolve the standoff. North Korea, which is pursuing its nuclear and missile programs in..
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CHINA China Brushes Off Vietnam Protests Over South China Sea Drills Reuters China on Wednesday dismissed Vietnamese condemnation of its military live-fire exercises in the disputed South China Sea, saying it was acting within its sovereign rights. China conducted the drills around the Paracel Islands, which Vietnam claims, prompting Vietnam to say it would “resolutely..
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CHINA China Bans Fundraising Via Cryptocurrencies, Known As ICOs Chao Deng, Wall Street Journal Chinese authorities banned a type of fundraising using cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, dealing a blow to startups and other businesses that seized on the relatively new method of raising capital. China’s central bank, cyberspace administration and banking, securities and other regulators Monday declared..
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CHINA China Claims Military Solution To North Korea Not An Option As World Leaders Call On It To Step Up Pressure Victoria Craw, News.com.au China’s government has shut down the option of a military response to North Korean missile testing, saying war is not the solution to growing nuclear capabilities. Chinese defence spokesman Colonel Ren Guoqiang warned..
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CHINA   China Should Cut Off North Korea’s Oil Supply, Australian PM Says Katharine Murphy, The Guardian Malcolm Turnbull says China must step up and contain North Korea economically, including by cutting off the regime’s oil supply. The best chance of resolving the crisis on the Korean peninsula without conflict was to make sure the regime..
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  CHINA   China Says Korean Tensions At “Tipping Point” Al Jazeera China has warned that tensions on the Korean Peninsula have reached a “tipping point” after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan. Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, urged all sides on Tuesday to avoid provocations, repeating Beijing’s call for Pyongyang..
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BELARUS   Watchdog Condemns Belarus’s Persecution Of Independent Journalists RFE/RL The journalism watchdog group Reporters Without Borders on August 24 condemned the increasing persecution of independent journalists in Belarus, citing the ongoing trials of five journalists. The group said that correspondents for Belsat TV, a Belarusian satellite TV channel that was forced to flee to..
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