Asia Undercovered #41

This week: More evidence of a Uyghur genocide, India’s plan for Kashmir, and why fake news is getting worse in the Philippines.

Forced sterilization and illegal deportations of Uyghurs

The news keeps getting worse for Uyghurs. First, a Uyghur man living in Pakistan arrived in the US after a tense few hours in Qatar, where he risked deportation (and certain imprisonment) to China. He spoke to RFA of deportations of Pakistan-based Uyghurs to China as the reason for fleeing.

This week also saw a confirmed report from a former camp detainee that adds evidence to claims that China might be conducted forced sterilizations of Uyghur women. That is genocide.

The question remains – how much evidence will it take before a single country actually holds China accountable?

Undercovered this week

Meanwhile, here’s another reason for India’s move to remove Kashmir’s special status.

The situation there remains tense. Fahad Shah broke through the communication cuts to file this report for Time from Kashmir, finding that fear is pervasive and few have any idea what will come next.

I had no idea that the Philippines is one of just two nations in the world that does not allow for divorce. Today, a majority of the population support changing the law and a new multi-partisan effort is pushing for a revision through the legislative process (Rappler).

China is undergoing an energy transformation. Marco Polo decodes the country’s shift away from coal and towards natural gas and renewables in this chart-driven feature.

Al Jazeera just released this excellent visual story on the plundering of Cambodia’s forests, profiling Ouch Leng, a man who is trying to save the country’s remaining trees.

Geopolitics

International NGOs play a key role in both advocacy, information gathering, and promoting human rights at the rule of law. For as short time, China allowed some of these NGOs to operate domestically. That window is closing, writes Siodhbhra Pakin, as China has strengthened its grips on all civil society within its borders (SupChina).

Meanwhile, China is upset about India’s move to take control of Kashmir, which it fears could put its own occupied regions of Xinijang and Tibet in danger (Fahran Bokhari, Nikkei).

Elections

Misinformation got Rodrigo Duterte elected. Now, according to this report from New Mandala, it’s gotten worse due to fake news evolving. This played a key role in Duterte’s mid-term elections sweep earlier this year.

Asia Undercovered: Journalist Nithin Coca's weekly roundup of the news, events, trends and people changing Asia, but not getting enough attention in the US media.