Capturing Water
Campaigners in Cape Town, South Africa confront the socioeconomic and environmental problems in the city’s water management system. After three years of poor rainfall, in 2018, Cape Town announced drastic action to avoid running out of water completely. In this film, three activists fight for “water justice” and expose the socioeconomic divide and the environmental “cracks” in South Africa’s water management system. In Cape Town’s “Day Zero” water crisis in 2018, Faeza Meyer fought against water cut-offs affecting poor communities, Caroline Marx tackled sewage pollution in a local lagoon, and Nazeer Sonday defended precious groundwater from industrial developers. The film examines how market-driven water management increases the rich-poor divide and contributes to broader environmental issues in South Africa. It exposes the systemic problems behind the 2018 crisis – and the complex relationship between economic policies and access to this vital resource. It emphasises the need for sustainable solutions to growing environmental problems – and is a reminder of the importance of water management and conservation at a time of increasing climate uncertainty. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Her Name is Nanny Nellie: Reclaiming Aboriginal History
The discovery of Aboriginal statues in the archives of the Australian Museum prompts a quest to reclaim dignity. A trio of nameless statues buried in the archives of the Australian Museum triggers a great-granddaughter’s quest to honour her ancestors and reclaim their life stories. In 1925, Australia’s Census declared Aboriginal people a “dying race”. The Australian Museum commissioned three statues of Aboriginal people: a child, a man and a woman, exhibited as nameless objects to be studied. The woman was Nellie Bunjil, Irene Ridgeway’s great-grandmother. Irene embarks on a journey to retrace Nanny Nellie’s life and redisplay the statues, this time with her name, identity and dignity. Her Name is Nanny Nellie is a documentary film by Daniel King. Adblock test (Why?)
Ukraine prolongs martial law amid Russian air attacks, heavy ground battles
The measure enables Ukraine to further delay elections, despite pressure for a presidential vote from the US and Russia. Ukraine’s parliament has voted to extend martial law and military mobilisation for another three months, prolonging the wartime measures until at least August 6. Lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak said the extension of martial law passed by a 357-1 vote, while a measure to maintain troop mobilisation was approved 356-1. Under Ukraine’s constitution, elections cannot be held during martial law – a provision that remains in effect despite external calls, including from Russia and the United States, for a timeline on a future vote. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose five-year term was originally due to end in May last year, and even raised the prospect of a temporary United Nations-backed government to lead Ukraine to elections. Reacting to the martial law extension, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Kyiv of trying to “preserve its unstable structure”. In February, US President Donald Trump described Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections”, prompting Ukrainians to rally around their leader and boosting his approval ratings. Advertisement As peace talks led by the Trump administration created hopes for a potential ceasefire and eventual elections, some Ukrainian opposition politicians have grown more vocal in their criticism of Zelenskyy. Still, there is broad support for maintaining martial law. Petro Poroshenko, a former president and leader of the country’s largest opposition party, said there was no doubt martial law should be prolonged, but accused Zelenskyy of attempting to use the measure to shore up his powers. “I want to stress that we should recognise the obvious – the government has started to abuse martial law, using it not only to defend the country, but to build an authoritarian regime,” Poroshenko said during parliamentary debates on Tuesday. Uncertainty over energy strike moratorium The martial law vote came as heavy fighting and air attacks continued between Russia and Ukraine, now in the 38th month of gruelling war. An overnight Russian drone attack on the Black Sea port city of Odesa injured three people and damaged homes, while various morning air and artillery attacks killed at least one person in the southern city of Kherson, according to Ukrainian officials. A resident of Odesa stands in the back yard of his house, damaged by a Russian drone attack, April 16, 2025 [Nina Liashonok/Reuters] Meanwhile, the Russian military said its forces captured the eastern Ukrainian village of Kalynove, another small claimed advance in the embattled Donetsk region. The Russian Ministry of Defence also accused Ukraine of carrying out six attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure, despite a mutually-agreed 30-day moratorium on such strikes. Advertisement It is unclear if the pause on attacks on energy infrastructure, due to expire on Wednesday, will be extended. “We’ll keep you informed. I am not yet ready to tell you what decision has been made,” Peskov told reporters when asked about whether Russia would extend the moratorium. Adblock test (Why?)
Can Trump legally deport US citizens to El Salvador prisons?
After deporting 238 alleged Venezuelan gang members and 23 members of a Salvadoran gang to a maximum-security El Salvador prison last month, US President Donald Trump is now contemplating deporting criminals who are United States citizens there as well, he told reporters on Monday. But Trump’s latest plan will probably face multiple legal challenges. Forcibly sending American passport holders outside the country is likely illegal, experts say, and Trump himself signed a bill during his first term that could make such deportations even more difficult. So what is Trump’s plan, what are the legal challenges and can it ever be legal to deport a US citizen from the US? Who has Trump already deported to El Salvador? Last month, Trump deported 238 members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, as well as 23 members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 to El Salvador. These men are now being held in the Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo) or CECOT, a 40,000-capacity, maximum-security prison in El Salvador. Advertisement To facilitate this, the Trump administration struck a deal under which the US government will pay El Salvador about $6m to detain alleged Tren de Aragua members for a year. Trump also invoked a wartime “zombie” law from 1798, the Alien Enemies Act, to enable the deportations. This law permits US presidents to detain or deport noncitizens during wartime. Prior to Trump’s use of it, the Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked three times: during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. A prison guard transfers deportees from the US, alleged to be Venezuelan gang members, to the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 16, 2025 [File: El Salvador presidential press office via AP] Trump’s use of the law is controversial, as critics argue that the US is not currently under any threat of “invasion” as a result of being at war. An explainer article from the Brennan Center for Justice argued in 2024 that invoking the act “in peacetime to bypass conventional immigration law would be a staggering abuse” and such an attempt should be struck down by the courts. Another point of controversy is that, as well as the alleged gang members, Trump also deported Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran citizen who has lived in Maryland for 14 years and is married to a US citizen. In 2019, Abrego Garcia was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Maryland after an informant told the police that Abrego Garcia was an MS-13 terrorist. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have denied this allegation, citing a lack of any proof that Abrego Garcia is affiliated with the MS-13. Advertisement Later in 2019, an immigration judge granted Abrego Garcia an immigration protection called “withholding of removal”, which shielded him from being returned to El Salvador and allowed him to remain in the US. The government has described his deportation as an “administrative error”, but still claims that Abrego Garcia has ties to MS-13. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said he would not return Abrego Garcia, who is now being held in CECOT, to the US. “The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” Bukele told reporters on Monday. In an unsigned order on Thursday, however, the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled in a 9-0 decision that Trump should facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the US. The court currently comprises a conservative majority of 6-3. What has Trump said about deporting US citizens to El Salvador? Trump hosted El Salvador’s President Bukele at the White House for bilateral talks on Monday, during which they discussed the recent deportations as well as plans for more – this time of US citizens. Trump told Bukele during the meeting: “I said homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You gotta build about five more places.” By “homegrowns”, Trump was referring to criminals who hold US citizenship. The US president told reporters on Monday after that meeting that he hopes to deport US citizens who are criminals to El Salvador. Bukele said that he would be open to housing US prisoners as well. Trump acknowledged, however, that he would only be able to proceed with this plan if it is shown to be legal, and that he would only deport citizens who are “violent criminals”. Advertisement “We always have to obey the laws, but we also have homegrown criminals that push people into subways, that hit elderly ladies on the back of the head with a baseball bat when they’re not looking, that are absolute monsters,” said Trump. “I’d like to include them in the group of people to get them out of the country, but you’ll have to be looking at the laws on that.” During a media briefing on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump “would only consider this [sending US citizens to El Salvador], if legal, for Americans who are the most violent, egregious, repeat offenders of crime who nobody in this room wants living in their communities”. She did not provide additional comments about the legal considerations the administration would make. Would it be illegal to deport US citizens? When Fox News host Jesse Watters asked Attorney General, Pam Bondi on Tuesday if the plan to deport US citizens was legal, she said only: “These are Americans who he is saying have committed the most heinous crimes in our country, and crime is going to decrease dramatically because he has given us a directive to make America safe again. “These people need to be locked up as long as they can, as long as the law allows. We’re not going to let them go anywhere, and if we have to build more prisons in our country, we will do it.” However, immigration law experts say the plan would not be legal. “No, he [Trump] can’t send US citizens to El Salvador,” human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith told Al Jazeera. Advertisement Bruce
Russia’s largest military call-up whips up fear among young men
On April 1, Russia began a new conscription drive with the goal of enlisting 160,000 military-age men between 18 and 30. It is the largest such call-up since 2011, aiming to fulfil last year’s presidential decree to boost the armed forces to 2.5 million personnel. And it is making Bogdan, a 21-year-old on the outskirts of Moscow, nervous. Some young men often try to avoid mandatory military service. But as Russia’s war against Ukraine stands at a critical juncture, with the rival sides desperately attempting to appear triumphant amid peace talks, there is a particular urgency to the matter. “I received a summons to be drafted in the spring of 2024, despite my hypertension. And by the autumn the police were searching to forcibly conscript me,” Bogdan told Al Jazeera, requesting to withhold his surname fearing reprisal. He is currently hiding from the authorities. “I hope that I will be able to register for military service in Saint Petersburg, undergo a new medical examination there and receive a military [exception] due to hypertension. Because in Moscow and the Moscow region, no complaints and court hearings have yielded results. In Moscow, they do not allow me to undergo a new medical examination and want to enlist me according to my summons.” Advertisement Rights advocates have warned that the cracks which one might have earlier been able to slip through are tightening, while being a conscript is increasingly risky. “A year ago there was an age amendment, and now summons are issued to young people from 18-30 years old,” Ivan Chuviliaev, spokesman for the organisation Go By The Forest, which helps people escape the ranks, told Al Jazeera. Previously, the maximum age for conscription was 27. “Now the decision of the draft board will be valid not until the end of the draft, but for a whole year. This means it won’t be as easy to run away by simply not showing up when you receive the summons. [Another] major change is that they’re revising the list of illnesses of those ineligible for military service,” Chuviliaev said. “Those conditions they wouldn’t accept before, they now accept. It’s clear this is simply an artificial creation of chaos, so that doctors will simply stamp Category A fitness for everyone without bothering to dig through their papers. [Thirdly,] various sanctions will be imposed for failure to appear in response to a summons, such as a ban on taking out loans, a ban on opening an individual enterprise, a ban on leaving the country, and so on and so forth.” According to an open-source tally compiled by the BBC and independent Russian outlet Mediazona, more than 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since 2022 – a figure that frightens young men like Bogdan. While conscripts are not technically supposed to be deployed to the front lines, “conscripts can be deployed in regions that border Ukraine, including the Belgorod and Kursk regions, and therefore can theoretically participate in combat operations in these regions”, Oleg Ignatov, senior Russia analyst at Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera. Advertisement “Conscripts have been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian attacks in the border regions,” he said, adding, “I have not seen any information that conscripts are being sent to the occupied territories” like Donetsk and Luhansk. Since the onset of the full-scale war in 2022, Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions have come under bombardment and cross-border raids. “If someone comes into contact with the Ministry of Defence, they will likely sooner or later find themselves in the midst of hostilities,” said Chuviliaev. “Not to mention the fact that any conscript deployment, at any time, even without your own knowledge, can turn out to be a contract.” He pointed to a recent case in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region in which the local prosecutor’s office recognised that at least 13 conscripts had contracts signed on their behalf illegally and ordered their discharge. In that case, the commandant simply ignored the court’s order. Mikhail Liberov, of the Conscientious Objectors’ Movement, told Al Jazeera that while the likelihood of someone receiving a summons actually ending up in combat is “less than one percent … any conscript can, at any time, under one or another form of duress, sign a contract, become a formal soldier and immediately be sent to that very hell”. “Practice shows that even the prosecutor’s office helps the actions of commanders to force [conscripts] into signing contracts illegally,” he continued. “The prosecutor’s office doesn’t really care about protecting citizens’ rights and does not file lawsuits in their interests. Sometimes signatures on conscripts’ contracts are simply forged.” Advertisement There are ways, lawful and otherwise, to evade military service. These include health grounds and unfitness to serve; court appeals; higher education; certain family circumstances; feigning mental or physical illness; going into hiding; leaving the country; or applying for alternative civil service. Politicians and members of certain professions – for example, in the military-industrial complex – are also exempt. “Each of these deferrals requires you to take action – the draft board won’t do it automatically,” Chuviliaev explained. “You need to go [to the office], bring all the necessary documents, [or] draw up a power of attorney, preferably for relatives, so they can present those documents to the enlistment office and not the draftee themselves.” Liberov listed a number of other complications that might arise. “[Educational] deferrals are not available to everyone, and only postpone the problem – those who have completed a bachelor’s and master’s degree inevitably face the same problem at about 22 and 24 years old, respectively,” he said. “Not everyone can afford to leave the country: often the lack of an overseas passport becomes an obstacle, the registration of which is mistakenly considered impossible without a military ID or a visit to the military registration and enlistment office.” Liberov said that while alternate civil service – for example, working in state-run services such as hospitals or libraries – is an option for conscientious objectors, whose religious or personal beliefs are incompatible with military service, in
After two years of war in Sudan, the world can no longer plead ignorance
Two years ago this week, a conflict erupted in Sudan that few anticipated would escalate so rapidly or persist for so long. What began as a violent power struggle has become one of the worst and most neglected humanitarian crises of our time. The country has been plunged into a state of devastation marked by mass displacement, hunger, violence and disease. The numbers are staggering. More than 30 million people need humanitarian aid. At least 15 million people are currently displaced. Some 11.3 million are displaced inside Sudan and 3.9 million people have fled to neighbouring countries, making this the world’s largest displacement crisis. More than 20 million people urgently need access to healthcare. Behind these numbers are millions of individual stories. Parents fearing for the life of their child suffering from severe malnutrition. Families stranded in areas with no food, safe water or medical care. Women, men and children dying because it is too dangerous to go to a health centre. A whole generation of children missing out on routine vaccinations. Advertisement When I visited Sudan last September, I met Soueda, a bright nine-year-old girl who fled her hometown and was living in a displacement camp in Port Sudan, where the World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting primary healthcare services. She left everything she knew behind and told me she hadn’t been to school in two years. In Port Sudan, WHO colleagues spoke with Ashwa and her youngest child, who was being treated for severe acute malnutrition at one of the WHO-supported stabilisation centres operating there. “When my baby stopped taking any food or drink, and stopped moving, with swelling in his arms, I knew his life was in grave danger,” she said, while holding her son. “I feared I would lose him until we came to this hospital where he is getting special milk and medicines. He is now able to move, has resumed breastfeeding and can even smile. Without the care at this stabilisation centre, I would have lost him.” Yet, too few of these stories reach the headlines. This silence is dangerous. It breeds indifference and will cost more lives. The war has left Sudan’s health system devastated, especially in hard-to-reach areas. In assessed states, 62 percent of health facilities are partially functional and the remaining 32 percent are not functional, with a lack of clarity from other hard-to-reach areas like the Darfurs and Kordofans. Patients can’t access basic treatments due to ongoing fighting and repeated attacks on health facilities and health workers. Two-thirds of all states in Sudan are experiencing more than three different disease outbreaks, including cholera, measles, malaria, dengue and diphtheria. Cholera alone has killed at least 1,500 people. Advertisement Malnutrition is widespread among children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. Famine has been confirmed in five areas and is projected to expand to 17, with tens of thousands of lives at immediate risk. With our partners, WHO is in Sudan, working to ensure people can access the required care. Despite severely restricted access to people in need and ongoing attacks on healthcare facilities, we deliver life-saving medical supplies, support hospitals and health centres, and run vaccination campaigns. Since the conflict started, with WHO’s support, over one million patients have received treatment in hospitals, health centres and mobile clinics. Some 11.5 million children have been vaccinated against polio and measles, and 12.8 million people have received cholera vaccines. WHO is supporting stabilisation centres, where during the last two years, 75,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition with medical complications have received treatment. WHO’s response to this crisis has been made possible by generous contributions from partners like the Central Emergency Response Fund, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, the United States and others. Yet, continuous support is critical in 2025 for WHO’s $135m response plan, 79 percent of which is unfunded. WHO is determined to continue supporting Sudan’s people but we need access to and protection of civilians, humanitarians and medical personnel. Since the conflict started, WHO has verified 156 attacks on health facilities, ambulances, staff and patients, resulting in 318 deaths and 273 injuries. Health workers and facilities must never be targets. In fact, they are protected under international humanitarian law. But there has been blatant disregard for these obligations. Advertisement Sudan’s crisis is no longer a national tragedy, it has become a regional threat. The conflict threatens to destabilise neighbouring countries and risks fuelling further displacement, disease and insecurity. A week after my mission to Sudan, I was in Chad, which is hosting over 750,000 Sudanese. I met families who had walked for days to cross the border in search of safety. Some said their homes had been burned, crops destroyed and animals stolen. They left, and arrived with nothing. When I asked what they needed most, the awful answer I heard again and again was: “Food. We are hungry.” We can’t say we don’t know what’s happening. The facts are clear and the stories are harrowing. What is missing is more action. We need sustained, unhindered humanitarian access to reach those in greatest need, adequate funding to supply life-saving aid, and above all, a high-level commitment to ending the war. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Adblock test (Why?)
China’s Xi hails ‘new golden era’ with Malaysia during trade tour
Xi’s visit to Malaysia is part of a regional diplomatic charm tour amid stinging US tariffs. Chinese President Xi Jinping has met Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur as part of a regional push to shore up Beijing’s trade relationships. The diplomatic stop on Wednesday marks the second leg of Xi’s three-nation tour, which also includes Vietnam and Cambodia, and comes amid sharp tariffs imposed by the United States that are reshaping the global economic landscape. Sultan Ibrahim welcomed Xi in a colourful ceremony at the golden-domed Istana Negara palace before his meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the administrative capital of Putrajaya. Xi touted a “new golden era” of Chinese-Malaysian relations, following the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties last year. The king announced new cooperation between the countries in various fields, including artificial intelligence. Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects an honour guard during the official welcoming ceremony at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 16, 2025 [Vincent Thian/Pool via Reuters] “This is a hugely significant visit,” said Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Putrajaya. “It takes place during this unprecedented trade war that is developing with the United States, with both Malaysia and China finding themselves in the middle.” Advertisement Khoo Ying Hooi, an associate professor in the department of international and strategic studies at Malaya University, said the visit offered a chance to “test the waters for regional solidarity” amid the US trade disruptions. “It’s not just about friendship, it’s about realigning the regional centre of gravity towards Beijing,” she said. ‘Wake-up call’ Malaysia is the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, whose members are among the hardest hit by new US tariffs. ASEAN member Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, was slapped with 46 percent tariffs, and Cambodia, a significant producer of low-cost clothing for big Western brands, was hit with a 49 percent duty. Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy, was hit with a lower tariff of 24 percent. Though the measures have been paused for 90 days, President Donald Trump has warned that no country is “off the hook”. McBride said Malaysia, a longstanding US ally, was likely “genuinely alarmed to find itself on this list of reciprocal tariffs” and saw it as “a wake-up call … to deepen ties with its biggest trading partner”, China. Despite robust economic ties, the two countries have had tensions over the South China Sea, where Beijing claims sweeping sovereignty over waters also claimed by Kuala Lumpur. “There has been an extraordinary sea change here, with a lot of the norms of international trade completely upended in a few short months,” McBride said. In Asia Pacific generally, he added, countries that usually align with the US economic model are increasingly turning to Beijing as a reliable trade partner. Advertisement Xi’s next trip will be to Cambodia, one of China’s staunchest allies in Southeast Asia and where Beijing has also extended its influence in recent years. On Thursday, he is expected to meet Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni as well as the prime minister and head of the senate. Adblock test (Why?)
Trump believes it’s up to China to open talks on trade, White House says
Hong Kong’s postal service says it will no longer accept US-bound goods in response to US ‘bullying’. United States President Donald Trump believes China must take the initiative to find a resolution to trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, the White House has said. In a statement on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quoted Trump as saying that “the ball is in China’s court”. “China needs to make a deal with us, we don’t have to make a deal with them,” Leavitt told a media briefing in remarks that she said came directly from Trump. “There’s no difference between China and any other country except that they are much larger. And China wants what we have – every country wants what we have – the American consumer. Or to put it another way, they need our money,” Leavitt said, adding that Trump had made it “quite clear” that he is open to a trade deal with China. Trump’s statement came shortly after he accused China of reneging on a deal with US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, following a report by Bloomberg that Beijing had directed Chinese airlines to stop taking deliveries of Boeing planes. Advertisement Boeing shares fell 2.36 percent after the report, which cited “people familiar with the matter”. Boeing and Chinese authorities have not confirmed or commented on the report. “They just reneged on the big Boeing deal, saying that they will ‘not take possession’ of fully committed to aircraft,” Trump said on Truth Social. The US and China have been locked in an escalating trade war since Trump’s return to the White House. Despite pausing most of his “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of trading partners, Trump has ramped up import taxes on most Chinese goods to 145 percent. China has, in turn, hit US exports with a 125 percent tariff. In the latest escalation on Wednesday, Hong Kong’s postal service said it would stop carrying US-bound mail in response to the tariffs. “The US is unreasonable, bullying and imposing tariffs abusively. Hongkong Post will definitely not collect any so-called tariffs on behalf of the US and will suspend the acceptance of postal items containing goods destined to the US,” Hong Kong Post said in a statement. It added that it would stop taking surface mail with immediate effect and stop accepting airmail from April 27. China has said that it opposes protectionism but it is willing to “fight to the end” if the US continues to escalate its trade salvoes. In an op-ed published in Vietnam’s Nhan Dan newspaper on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that trade wars “yield no winners” and protectionism “offers no solutions”. “There is a need to resolutely protect the multilateral trading system, sustain the stability of global production and supply chains, and maintain an open and cooperative international environment,” Xi said in the op-ed, which was published to coincide with the Chinese leader beginning a five-day tour of Southeast Asia. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Xi arrives in Malaysia with a message: China’s a better partner than Trump
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – China’s President Xi Jinping has arrived in Malaysia as part of a Southeast Asian tour which is seen as delivering a personal message that Beijing is a more reliable trading partner than the United States amid a bruising trade war with Washington. Xi arrived in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, on Tuesday evening in what is his first visit to Malaysia since 2013. He flew in from Vietnam where he had signed dozens of trade cooperation agreements in Hanoi on everything from artificial intelligence to rail development. On touching down, Xi said that deepening “high-level strategic cooperation” was good for the common interests of both China and Malaysia, and good for peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world”, according to the official Malaysian news agency Bernama. Xi’s three-country tour and his “message” that Beijing is Southeast Asia’s better friend than the truculent administration of US President Donald Trump comes as many countries in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc are unhappy with their treatment after the US imposed huge tariffs on countries around the world. Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shakes hands with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, left, as he arrives for a three-day state visit, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia, on Tuesday evening [Handout/Department of Information Malaysia via Reuters] “This is a very significant visit. You can read many things into it,” said Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, a former Malaysian ambassador to the US and minister of legal affairs. Advertisement “China is telling us they are a reliable trading partner, more than the US. We never had problems dealing with them,” Abdul Aziz told Al Jazeera. “Under PM Anwar, Malaysia is getting very much closer [to China]. It’s a good thing,” he added, noting that “in the long run”, Washington’s “influence will be reduced”. With China, however, trade relations and diplomatic ties are getting stronger and both countries are benefitting, the former ambassador said. “We are very focused on China. That’s our mentality,” he said. Washington hit Malaysia with a 24 percent trade tariff, accusing it of imposing a 47 percent tariff on US imports, a rate that Malaysian officials rejected. Trump has more recently brought in a 90-day moratorium on the highest US tariffs imposed on countries around the world. Instead, they face a 10 percent tariff on goods exported to the US. That is except for China, which has been hit with levies of 145 percent on its goods. ‘Bypass America’ Xi will be in Kuala Lumpur for three days, during which he will meet with Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim ibni Iskandar and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and attend state banquets before heading to Cambodia on Thursday. During his earlier visit to Vietnam, Xi urged Hanoi and China to “jointly oppose hegemonism, unilateralism and protectionism” and pushed for “economic globalisation that is more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all,” the official Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported. Trump was quoted by The Associated Press news agency as saying that China and Vietnam were trying “to figure out, how do we screw the United States of America?”. Advertisement Xi’s visit to Malaysia is in part an effort to “reinforce” the view that China can “offer to bypass America”, said James Chin, professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania in Australia, via a different international order such as BRICS – the 10-country intergovernmental organisation comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China, among others. There is also the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement – arguably the largest in the world – of which all 10 ASEAN nations are members along with China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. “Basically, this is all architectured to build a new international order… Trump has given China the excuse to push harder amongst countries around the world, especially developing countries,” Chin said. “One of the things they [the Chinese] are trying to do is to set up a bilateral trading system where they can stop using US dollars. Any country that trades with China can do a currency swap [where] you pay in your own currency or swap with the [Chinese] renminbi,” he added. ‘We make money’ with China Of the three countries Xi chose to visit this week, analysts said Malaysia is deemed to be the most important for China, given its sizeable 32 million population, its developing high-tech base and its current chairmanship of ASEAN. China is also Malaysia’s largest trading partner since 2009, and in 2024, China-Malaysia trade reached $212bn. “China hopes to jack up trade with Malaysia, which will make up for the expected downgrading of exports to the US,” said Willy Wo-Lap Lam, a senior China analyst with the US-based Jamestown Foundation and author of the book, From Confucius to Xi Jinping. Advertisement “Politically, Malaysia has a lot of influence among all 10 ASEAN states,” Lam said. “Including how countries that have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea should respond to Beijing’s aggressive tactics in bolstering its hold over.” Alfred Muluan Wu, associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, agreed, saying that Beijing also views Malaysia as being within its traditional sphere of influence, regionally. That includes economically in terms of Chinese investments and the “China Plus One” strategy, which involves Chinese companies diversifying their manufacturing bases and supply chains and setting up plants outside of China. Beijing sees the establishment of business enterprises in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries as a way “to spread” China’s influence, Wu said. Ei Sun Oh, principal adviser at the Pacific Research Center of Malaysia, a think tank, also believes that Xi’s visit is about encouraging Kuala Lumpur to look more towards Beijing and “not unduly take the US side”, which is something that may suit Malaysia, too. “Geopolitically, Malaysia might still toy with the idea of having a fling with China to deliberately antagonise the US over very remote
Sudan paramilitary declares rival government two years into civil war
Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces declares rival authority in areas under its control, as the United States expresses alarm over its alleged targeting of civilians in Darfur. Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has announced the formation of a rival government, two years since the country descended into a brutal war that has left tens of thousands dead and triggered what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — also known as Hemedti — declared on Tuesday the establishment of the “Government of Peace and Unity” in areas under its control. The move directly challenges the army-led administration headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. “On this anniversary, we proudly declare the establishment of the Government of Peace and Unity, a broad coalition that reflects the true face of Sudan,” Dagalo said on Telegram. The RSF and its allies had already signed a charter in Nairobi in February, laying out their intention to form an alternative authority. Dagalo said they had now endorsed a transitional constitution, which he described as a “roadmap for a new Sudan”. The document proposes a 15-member presidential council representing all regions of the country. Advertisement Experts have long warned that the protracted conflict risks permanently fracturing Sudan. Sharath Srinivasan, a Sudan specialist at the University of Cambridge, told the AFP news agency that the RSF’s entrenchment in Darfur could result in “de facto separation.” Since war erupted on 15 April 2023, nearly 13 million people have been displaced, with no political solution in sight. The fighting began after months of tension between Sudan’s military and the RSF, once close allies who jointly led the 2021 coup that derailed a civilian-led transition. US condemns RSF violence in Darfur As the RSF seeks to consolidate control in western Sudan, the paramilitary and its allied militias are facing renewed international scrutiny over their conduct in the war. The United States on Tuesday criticised the RSF for attacking civilians in and around the Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps – home to hundreds of thousands of displaced people – in the North Darfur region in recent days. The UN said at least 300 civilians were killed in the RSF attacks on the camps on Friday and Saturday. “We are deeply alarmed by reports the RSF has deliberately targeted civilians and humanitarian actors,” said US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce. She called for all parties to respect international humanitarian law and face accountability for violations. Donor conference With Sudan’s humanitarian crisis deepening, the United Kingdom hosted a donor conference in London, where international partners pledged to ramp up support. Advertisement The European Union pledged over $592m, while the UK committed an additional $158m. “We do need patient diplomacy,” UK Home Secretary David Lammy said. “We cannot resign ourselves to inevitable conflict. We cannot be back here, one year from now, having the same discussion.” Sudan’s military-aligned government criticised the gathering, noting that no representatives from either faction were invited. The conference’s co-chairs issued a unified call for an immediate ceasefire and a transition to civilian rule, stressing the importance of preventing Sudan’s partition and keeping external actors from interfering. Adblock test (Why?)