Australia plan to reclaim port control criticized by ChinaーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
Australia’s government is planning to take back control of a port lease to a Chinese company. The plan is drawing criticism from Beijing. Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albani made an election pledge last month to bring Darwin Port back under Australian control. He said the move was to protect national interests. The site has a strategic location as Australia’s nearest port to Asia. It’s also in close proximity to an Australian naval base used by US forces. a Chinese firm entered into a 99-year lease for the port in 2015. Washington expressed concern about the move at the time. Australian media recently reported that a company associated with US President Donald Trump has shown interest in acquiring the site. Beijing has come out against Australia’s plan to reclaim control. The company obtained the lease through the market. Their legitimate interest should be fully protected. China’s ambassador to Australia, Shiaoen, also said that the firm turned the port’s financial situation around and contributed to the area’s development. He added that it was ethically questionable to try and reclaim the site after it had become profitable. The leaders of Indonesia and France have held bilateral talks in Jakarta and agreed to boost defense cooperation. Indonesian President Pobo Subanto met with French President Emanuel Mcron on Wednesday. France is a key partner in modernizing Indonesia’s defense equipment, including the development of the industry through joint production and technology transfers. Ali joint production than Alish technology. The Indonesian defense ministry says the two nations signed defense cooperation documents that could lead to the procurement of French fighter jets and submarines. Just days before the meeting, PBO met with Chinese Premier Liang. The two agreed to deepen economic cooperation. It is believed that Indonesia is trying to balance its ties by cooperating with major European nations on defense. The Bengal region of eastern India suffered an unprecedented famine in 1943 during World War II. To avoid an invasion by the Imperial Japanese Army, the British who ruled India destroyed bridges and boats cutting off the food transport network in Bengal. This combined with a cyclone resulted in an estimated 3 million deaths. Now one man is determined to pass on memories of this tragic episode. HK World’s Abishek Doulia reports. 98-year-old Malti was a teenager at the time of the famine. She says the situation was so dire that she had to eat grass to stay of hunger. Villagers became like skeletons after starving for so long. Some of the dead were thrown into rivers. The river water was contaminated and we couldn’t eat the fish. Retired school teacher Salin Circar collects firsthand accounts from survivors like Miti. His aim is to pass on the memory of the famine. Back then the British authorities restricted reporting on the issue. Photographs of my father. Sirkar heard about it from his father who was involved in a local charity that provided relief during the famine. While conducting research, Sircar found out that many of the victims were among the most vulnerable in society. The famine victims were mainly lowercast Hindus, Muslims, the marginal peasantry. The government never bothered about them. The urban districts were also affected. Large numbers of people from rural areas flocked to Kolkata to find [Music] food. Many dead bodies were left on the streets resulting in widespread disease. Suddenly the whole town was filled with beggars. I saw people lying on top of human feces. They had lost the energy to even wake up and stay clean. Last year compiled the results of more than 10 years of interviews into a book of testimonies. After the publication of the book, I understood that many people had an interest in this topic. Sirar is now committed to passing on the memories of the famine to the younger generation. On this day, students accompany him to an interview with a famine survivor. A lot of people have to die for hunger especially those who are poor landless or say no profession. Our current situation or whatever it is we should learn from the history that war has done never like no good has been done from war. The famine occurred because of various factors like war, natural disasters, human intervention. We need to make a consensus against war. Sirar wants the younger generation to never forget this tragedy and to promote peace by listening closely to the voices of the survivors. Abishek Dulya NHK World West Bengal state bulletin in Bangkok.
May 28 NEWSROOM TOKYO Bangkok Live Lineup:
00:00 Australia plan to reclaim port control criticized by China
01:15 Indonesia, France agree to strengthen defense ties
02:13 Gathering testimonies of 1943 Bengal famine
#indonesia #india #china #europe #asia #australia #france #security #politics
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