Netherlands, Germany and Belgium are still coming to terms with their overseas legacies
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima at Bogor Palace in Indonesia on Tuesday. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock
The Netherlands
Visiting Indonesia this week, King Willem-Alexander apologised for his country’s excessive violence” in its former colony, saying the past could not be erased but must be acknowledged.
But while the Dutch view of their colonial history is shifting, the country has yet to fully acknowledge colonial harm, or the extent to which prevailing attitudes to it affect people today, sociologists and historians have said.
The general feeling is still: we did it, it was a long time ago, everybody else was doing it, it’s not that serious, there’s nothing to apologise for,” said Sander Philipse, a historian and writer.
The Netherlands became a world power in the 17th century, thanks to enormous wealth generated by its East and West India Companies which propelled it to the forefront of scientific discovery and artistic endeavour. But the period also witnessed colonial violence on a grand scale, and extensive involvement in the slave trade.Advertisement
Over the past decade postcolonial historians and former colonial subjects living in the Netherlands have steadily raised awareness of the issue, with moves to rename streets and remove statues of past heroes sparking heated debates.
Last year, the Amsterdam Museum banned the term Gouden Eeuw (Golden Age) from its exhibits as a general description of the era in which the Netherlands dominated the world stage, saying it did not do justice to those who were exploited.
But Piet Emmer, a retired history professor, has argued that present-day criticism of Dutch colonialism is absurd. You’re not allowed to say, it but colonialism introduced modern civilisation,” he has said.
Karwan Fatah-Black, a social historian at the University of Leiden, said the older generation of historians bent on protecting what they saw as the Netherlands’ colonial legacy was now mostly gone. That obviously implies a big change of attitude,” he said. But it doesn’t mean the rest of society is moving at the same pace.”
Jon Henley
Germany
Debate about Germany’s colonial history has long been overshadowed by the crimes of the National Socialist era. Only in recent years has there been an effort, largely driven by grass-roots initiatives, to bring this chapter of the past to the fore.
As a consequence of the engagement with the Third Reich, Germans are generally not very proud of their history in the late 19th and 20th century,” said Jürgen Zimmerer, a historian of colonialism at Hamburg University.
The fact that Germans questioned by YouGov were most likely to respond don’t know” when quizzed about whether they were proud or ashamed of empire also suggested a knowledge gap about Germany’s role in Europe’s colonial history.
There’s still a lack of debate about the structurally racist injustices carried out in the name of colonialism, and the violent histories of each individual colony,” said Zimmerer.
Germany only belatedly joined other European nations in the scramble for colonial expansion. But by the start of the first world war, it had the third-largest empire after Britain and France. In Namibia, known as German South West Africa, German troops carried out what has become known as the first genocide of the 20th century.
In July 2015 the German foreign minister, now president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier issued diplomatic guidelines that the 1904-1908 massacre of Herero and Namaqua peoples should be referred to as a war crime and a genocide”.
The debate had been largely led by city authorities such as Berlin or Hamburg rather than the federal government, said Zimmerer. It also remained limited to the cultural sector.
Berlin is already in the process of renaming some of the streets in its African quarter”, in the Wedding district. In April 2018, authorities announced Petersallee boulevard, named after an imperial high commissioner for east Africa with a blood-thirsty reputation, will be divided into Anna-Mungunda-Allee and Maji-Maji-Allee, named after a Namibian independence campaigner and the anti-imperialist rebellion that began in east Africa in 1905.
Philip Olterman in Berlin
Belgium
Today street names commemorating colonial heroes are being changed and statues are being fitted with explanatory panels. But it was arguably only in 1999 on publication of the bestseller King Leopold’s Ghost that critical debate ensued in Belgium over the country’s colonial legacy.
American author Adam Hochschild depicted Leopold II as a voracious king who plundered the Congo Free State, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, for rubber and ivory while his underlings mutilated, raped and murdered local inhabitants.
Up to 10 million were estimated by Hochschild to have been killed in what he suggested was a hidden holocaust.
But until 20 years ago most Belgians still thought they did nothing but good,” said Guido Gryseels, director at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren. In the 1960s, Congo had a GNP that was twice that of Italy and as large as that of Canada. So Belgians thought that if only they hadn’t kicked us out in the 1960s they would not be in the state it is today – one of the word’s poorest countries.”
In 2005, Gryseels’s museum – sited where Leopold in 1897 had imported 267 Congolese to perform in a kind of human zoo – staged its first exhibition with a critical stance on the colonial period. For a period of eight months almost every newspaper and radio station had a programme, almost every day, following the exhibition,” Gryseels said.
There are some 250,000 Congolese in Belgium, many of whom have struggled for work, faced racism, and felt understandably angry about the blindness of Belgians to their legacy. The Royal Museum for Central Africa reopened last year with a permanent exhibition that sought to assuage the diaspora that eyes were opening.
The mood is certainly changing”, said Gryseels. People still use the expression that you shouldn’t forget the positive aspects of colonialism to which we say that is like saying to a woman who has just been raped, ‘Oh but you do have a nice baby’. Most people in Belgium are not very proud.”
Referring to a video circulating on social media which shows a commotion at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) with several returnees from Italy, Vice Chairman of Airport and Aviation Services Rajeewasiri Sooriyaarachchi categorically rejected the claims that it was a forcible detention.
Speaking to Daily Mirror, he said several returnees with children, had to be temporarily detained inside a room at the Airport hotel and it was purely done on safety grounds.
https://youtu.be/NZ7cUYNZalY
It was not something forcible. We have to abide by the instructions underlined by the Health Ministry, the Vice Chairman said.
There are some returnees from Coronavirus infected countries, who are not willing and reluctant to go to quarantine centers. The group of people in the video, is also of that sort, the Vice Chairman added.
He said some factions were attempting make the incident exaggerated by claiming that BIA authorities were trying to harass them. It was nothing of that sort,” he added.
A group of people wearing masks were seemed to have been panicked and shouting in Sinhalese in the video where it was heard Open the door. We can’t breathe in here. Are you all trying to kill us? Why are you treating us cheaply like this? There are children who might get affected”.
And then it was seen that the group of people were let out of the room and were asked to go to the Immigration office.(Sheain Fernandopulle)
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and newly appointed Sri Lankan High Commission to United Kingdom Saroja Sirisena held discussions on deepening and intensifying the longstanding political, economic and cultural relations between the two countries.
This was revealed during a discussion between the Queen and High Commissioner Sirisena. Mrs Sirisena presented Letters of Credence to Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremonial event held at the Buckingham Palace.
High Commissioner Sirisena and her spouse, Dr. Sudath Talpahewa were escorted to the Buckingham Palace, accompanied by Deputy High Commissioner Samantha Pathirana, Minister (Commercial) Dr. Lakimini Mendis, Minister Counsellor (Defence) Brigadier D.B.S.N. Bothota and Counsellor (Commonwealth & Political Affairs) N.L.A. Haleem, by traditional horse carriages of the Royal Mews. High Commissioner Sirisena conveyed greetings from Gotabaya Rajapaksa, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to Her Majesty The Queen. The discussion focused on deepening and intensifying the longstanding political, economic and cultural relations between Sri Lanka and the UK, and also with the Commonwealth. She also highlighted the importance of further exploring trade and investment opportunities between the two countries post Brexit. Permanent Under Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Sir Simon McDonald was associated with the ceremony. At the conclusion of the ceremony at Buckingham Palace, a reception was held at the High Commission for Members of the House of Lords and House of Commons, representatives of the UK Government, members of the diplomatic corps based in London and British-Sri Lankan community.
High Commissioner Sirisena joined Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1998 and served as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Republic of Austria and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office in Vienna immediately prior to her appointment in London.
Her previous diplomatic posts include Consul General of Sri Lanka in Mumbai; Minister, Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office in Geneva; Minister Counsellor, Sri Lanka Embassy in Brussels, and First Secretary, Sri Lanka Embassy in Paris.
High Commissioner Sirisena is a graduate of the University of Melbourne, Australia and the École Nationale d’Administration in France. She is a past pupil of Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo.
Sri Lankan has temporarily suspended visas on arrival for foreigners until further notice in light of coronavirus scare.
The Government Information Department issuing a statement today (11) said that under the quarantine procedure currently in place with the aim of preventing the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country, all Sri Lankans as well as foreigners arriving from Italy, South Korea and Iran are placed in quarantine facilities for 14 days.
Several foreigners who had arrived in the country from those countries are already placed in quarantine.
The statement says that no individual has any social or legal rights to reject this process which is being carried out for the safety of the country and its citizens while the government urges all relevant parties to follow the process for the safety of their loved ones as well as the other citizens of the country.
Meanwhile, the government has also decided to temporarily suspend the on-arrival visa facility for foreigners until further notice.
The public is urged to avoid engaging in foreign travel as much as possible, except for essential reasons.
In February, Sri Lanka extended the free visa-on-arrival scheme until April 30 for the citizens of 48 countries.
Sri Lanka in January suspended its policy of granting visa on arrival for Chinese travellers after the health authorities detected the country’s first coronavirus infection.
In light of the coronavirus outbreak, countries all over the world are putting travel bans and issuing travel advisories.
Qatar banned travelers from countries including Sri Lanka a few days ago to contain the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said via Twitter that COVID-19 was the first type of coronavirus to cause a pandemic. He said describing the ongoing situation as one did not change the organization’s assessment of the threat, or what WHO is doing, and it doesn’t change what countries should do either.
Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly,” Tedros said. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death.”
While the term has already been employed by many medical professionals, the WHO has avoided an official declaration before now.
The organization officially defines pandemic as the worldwide spread of a new disease,” noting that viruses that have caused past pandemics typically originated from animal influenza viruses,” which appears to the be the case with this novel coronavirus.
The assessment comes as Italy is weighing even tighter restrictions on daily life and has announced billions in financial relief to cushion economic shocks from the coronavirus.
Premier Giuseppe Conte says he will consider requests to toughen an already extraordinary lockdown.
The hardest-hit region of Lombardy is pushing for a shutdown of nonessential businesses and public transportation on top of travel and social restrictions.
The death toll in Italy has risen to 631. In the U.S., more than 1,000 people have been infected.
Kuwait has declared that it will be suspending all flights from Friday. The gulf country will, however, limit inbound trips for Kuwaiti citizens and their first-degree relatives. Cargo flights are also excluded.
It also announced a public holiday from March 12 to March 26. These steps have been taken to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Kuwait has also said that it will not allow residents to meet in restaurants, cafes and commercial centres, according to the Kuwait News Agency said.
The ministry of Islamic affairs will disseminate messages warning on the dangers of gatherings” and informing worshippers on how to avoid infections at mosques.
The measures will effectively put a halt to many public aspects of life in Kuwait in an effort to keep people isolated. Medical experts have advised social distancing is an effective way of containing the virus.
The country announced three new cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of infected individuals to 72. One of the newly diagnosed patients had recently travelled to Iran.
The other two patients had come into contact with an individual that was previously infected after returning from Azerbaijan.
Health Minister Sheikh Basel Al-Sabah announced on Wednesday that three individuals had successfully recovered from the respiratory illness, bringing the total number of recovered cases to five.
A total of 622 passengers who had arrived from coronavirus-affected countries such as Italy, South Korea, and Iran have been directed to the quarantine facilities in the country since yesterday (10).
Chairman of Airport & Aviation Services (AASL) G. A. Chandrasiri mentioned this at a press conference held this morning (11).
Four students from the University of Sri Jayawardenepura have been arrested over the alleged ragging incident which resulted in critical injuries to a first-year student at the university, stated the Police.
On March 05, Pasindhu Lakshan, a first-year student at the University of Sri Jayawardenapura was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Colombo National Hospital over injuries in an incident at the university premises.
The elder brother of the student claimed that senior students at the university had pushed a tractor tire at his brother which had resulted in critical internal injuries to his head. Reportedly, the incident had caused injuries to the student’s brain.
According to Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University Prof. Sudantha Liyanage, the final party marking the end of the ragging season had been held on March 05 and students had stayed back at the university premises until about 1 am.
Police had identified three students for being involved in the tire incident, and the Acting Vice-Chancellor stated that their studentship will be completely revoked if they are found guilty of the incident.
For the time being, we need to forget about arresting Arjun Mahendran through Interpol. Sri Lankan Police have not been able to arrest Aloysius and Ravi within Sri Lanka. As we understand, Aloysius was released on bail. Then why not arrest those who provided the bail for the release of Aloysius from Jail? Can this team extradite Arjun Mahendran ever?
The time of issuance of the arrest warrant was questionable. They obtained the arrest warrants on Friday 6 March 2020. With 9 March falling on Medin Poya, the culprits had a 3-day long period to make a mockery of law enforcement. Medin Poya celebrates Lord Buddha’s first visit to his father King Suddhodana’s Palace, after enlightenment. Thinking as a modern corollary, hopefully, Ravi is not hiding in his father’s palace??
By and large law enforcement has come under the spotlight, leaving room for several interpretations. In regard to Easter bombing, the former Defence Secretary and IGP have been arrested and released on bail, but their bosses are freewheeling.
The general public demand for justice and fair play. Continuous delay in law enforcement is more than an embarrassment for the new President and Prime Minister.
The
Gunaruwan Committee handed its supplementary report on the MCC to both the
President & Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on 17th February 2020
and had made some recommendations and comments that should awaken the
government to the dangers at stake for Sri Lanka which $480m could never cover.
However, various media reports from Government ministers claim MCC with
amendments can be accommodated. While the Gunaruwan Committee has had the
foresight to present the dangers in alongside the recommendations &
comments, any amendments the Government proposes to suggest to MCC must cover
some critical areas.
Prof. Gunaruwan describes the mandate of his team & the
objective of their role ‘national interest’ will be the top priority of our
study”
Why does Sri
Lanka need to sign an agreement with the US Govt?
Why does the
agreement need to be passed in Parliament?
If all existing
statutes and other legislation will get nullified as a result of passing the
5year valid MCC agreement by Parliament – shouldn’t the People be asked if they
want this gift” or not?
Why cannot MCC project be a BOI project?
Why is there a
need to set up a separate private company (MCA Sri Lanka)?
Why is the $480m
going to a private bank account under the private company?
Why is there
need for a ‘Inspector General of MCC’ to be created?
Why is this
Inspector General of MCC and other representatives of MCC allowed to look into Sri
Lanka’s records? Section 6.8 audit. If MCA is
set up to channel funding why should MCC arrange audits of the Government? Why
so much of US audit guidelines when money is being disbursed not to GOSL but to
MCA Sri Lanka a private company?
Why does Section
5.4 include ‘late payment interest’ under Compact and PIA? This nullifies claim
that the $480m is a gift.
What about the
MCC Presentation made at Temple Trees revealing an economic corridor (5miles to
left and 5 miles to right of railway line – an extent of 1.2million acres
(200miles x 10miles) covering the very districts MCC is proposing to digitalize
via e-registrar where the State is presently giving land right titles and
accelerated title registration. Railways will be leased out via State Land Bank
Act and MCC & its US allies will be leasing area for 100 + 100 years.
Giving a gift
but Section 6.4 says MCC is governed by international law. US are immune from
anything & everything in Sri Lanka and US doesn’t pay any levies, taxes,
duties whatsoever – what kind of gift is this?
Getting a gift
of $480m but Section 3.9 Intellectual Property
says that GoSL grants to MCC a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide,
fully- paid, assignable right and license to practice or have practiced on its
behalf (including the right to produce,
reproduce, publish, repurpose, use, store, modify or make available) any portion
or portions of Intellectual Property as MCC sees fit in any medium, now known
or hereafter developed, for any purpose whatsoever.
Is the GoSL considering to sign MCC with amendments?
This
MCC agreement was peddled by the treacherous government previously in power.
Therefore, their treacheries are known to all. However, with a change of
Government it is obvious that the officials that helped draft the Agreement
with the MCC & US Govt officials are still in office holding key portfolios.
We
have every right to know who these officials who helped draft the MCC giving
inside information and showing MCC where they can manipulate our laws. These
unknown government officials are worse than the external enemies because they
are obviously misleading the new Government into believing we are getting a
‘gift’ and totally ignoring the dangers in store given the track record of the
US (illegal invasions/illegal interventions/foreign assassinations/interference
in foreign elections/covert & overt operations/resource grabbing/coups
& regime change etc). We are told that some Sri Lankan officials have even
been flown overseas to draft the MCC! These need scrutinizing as obviously they
are giving a false legal green light based on perks given to them!
GoSL has to look at MCC as part &
parcel of US Govt strategy.
It is an arm of
its 3D policy – Diplomatic / Defense & Development. It is an integral part
of US Pivot to Asia and its National Defense Strategy. MCC is a US Govt entity
working with US companies and transnational corporations which are US-friendly.
Without
examining the LEGAL IMPLICATIONS of signing an agreement WITHOUT knowing what
the ‘undisclosed’ documents MCC will give which GoSL is bound to accept &
implement?
Why should GoSL
allow no liability for any claims or loss committed by MCC & US Govt?
Why is GoSL
waiving all claims against MCC & US Govt or any CURRENT or FORMER officer
or employees of MCC or the US Govt for loss, damage, injury or DEATH arising
out of activities or omissions under Compact? If MCC kills a Sri Lankan even by
accident, who is going to pay compensation for that loss of life? If MCC kills
a non-US by accident, who is going to pay compensation for that loss of life?
Section 6.8 – what about law of reciprocity under international law mentioned
in Section 6.4 of MCC? This loss of life and compensation is not covered by
$480million!
Hope the GoSL is
also aware that companies are now taking governments to court & this is
going to be something Sri Lankans will having to pay because of follies of government
officials and politicians.
Did Govt
officials direct present Government leaders to the 25 April 2019 Congressional
Notification Transmittal sheet? According to this $480m was to be given across
5 years via the MCA Sri Lanka private company.
Did Govt
officials show the 2 draft legislative acts that seek to convert permits &
grants to State Lands to absolute land grants and allow permit holders to sell
or lease their land?
Did Govt
officials show that in this same Congressional Notification the US aspires to
create a database gathering information on State lands and facilitate
investment in underutilized State lands. What is the benefit that Sri Lankan
citizens are getting from this privatization and sale of State land? Ultimately
what is any Government going to benefit when all State lands finds it way into
foreign possession? Ultimately the politicians themselves will be working under
foreigners!
How many in the
Govt have been informed by government officials of what MCC’s real plan is –
because the MCC by promising $480m is asking GoSL to make legislative changes
to facilitate their ultimate goal of grabbing Sri Lanka’s land. https://assets.mcc.gov/content/uploads/cn-042519-sri-lanka-intent-to-sign.pdf
If 200miles of the economic corridor results in land
owners selling or leasing land to foreign investors – what happens to around
4million people? With the State having no state lands to relocate these
displaced people where will the GoSL relocate them? What about their
livelihoods?
We are giving up our entire intellectual property
rights (present & futue) for $480million – are we insane?
Have GoSL officials briefed about the Section 3.5
‘implementation letters’ which are going to appear in MCC website and via other
letters etc which are binding though GoSL hasn’t a clue of its contents? What
kind of bilateral agreement is this?
Why is the GoSL Treasury giving full power of
attorney to US Governmental company registered as a Sri Lankan company which is
to operate superior to the GoSL? How can GoSL abdicate its sovereignty to a US
governmental company to act as primary agent? This violates article 1.4 of the
Sri Lankan constitution.
On what grounds is GoSL agreeing to 3.2 d) to fund
anything that exceeds MCC Funding while also giving tax free/minus all levies
to MCC and privatizing state land allowing Sri Lankans to sell their land and
for foreigners to buy any amount of land – what is the source of income for the
GoSL when after 5 years MCC has grabbed all land?
MCC from the point of view of the Sri
Lankan citizen
Yes, permit
holders will end up getting a piece of paper giving them ownership but they are
left on their own & poverty will encourage them to sell their land &
eventually they end up without a piece of land, without a home to live, without
a livelihood
MCC from a political point of view
How will
politicians and political parties deal with the eventuality and outcome when
MCC – SOFA –ACSA are in full force and US troops and US personnel & US
contractors land in Sri Lanka to operate projects with all immunities, with no
taxes or levies and giving full access to government institutes and records.
What is the place the politicians will have when eventually 4million or more
people end up displaced & without jobs except to act as slave labor for the
transnational companies setting up ventures along the economic corridor being
set up?
Do politicians and political parties want to risk so much for a paltry $480million – it will be the end of their political careers when people begin to realize the sellout of the country no sooner any government signs on the dotted line.
In
computer science, artificial
intelligence” or AI, refers to intelligence demonstrated by machines, in
contrast to the natural intelligence displayed by humans and other
animals. It is the ability of a computer
program or a machine to think and learn. AI is one
of the major developments of our time. Machine learning, and the implications
that go with it, are shaking up many aspects of how we do things, allowing us
to deploy AI where we previously used a human or a more inefficient process.
AI can be quite helpful to businesses,
educational institutions, and every-day life.
Companies are implementing voice recognition and speech recognition
software across their phone and internet-based customer service systems
allowing people to interact with computers as if they were human. It’s one
thing for people to talk to computers, but can computers talk to people and
talk like people? That’s what developers of natural language generation
software are trying to accomplish – create artificial intelligence that can
generate text that reads with the same nuances of human speech.
Artificial
Intelligence represents a huge opportunity across virtually every development sector. Developers are designing intelligent machines that
make decisions based on logic and rules. Soon, these decision-making machines
may be running major companies, military agencies, and government departments
all by themselves. Recent advances in artificial intelligence are not likely to
lead to world-dominating machines any time soon.
Some think that AI can be a real danger to
humanity if it continues to progress at its current pace. An extreme goal of AI
research is to create computer programs that can learn, solve problems, and think logically. Eventually researchers hope to
create a “general artificial intelligence” which can solve many
problems instead of focusing on just one. Researchers are also trying to create
creative and emotional AI which can possibly empathize or create art. Artificial intelligence involves many different
fields like computer
science, mathematics, linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy among others.
Professor Yuval Noah Harari (https://twitter.com/harari_yuval?lang=en) is an Israeli historian who has written two
bestsellers: Sapiens, which examined
the course of early human history, and Homo Deus, which speculated
on where we might be heading as a post-human species. His new book, 21
Lessons for the 21st Century, is an exploration of the difficulties that
confront us at the present. Professor Yuval Nova Harari says that the race
to develop artificial intelligence (AI) is gathering momentum, and as the
United States and China pull ahead, other countries, especially in the
developing world, are lagging far behind. If they don’t catch up, their
economic and political prospects will be grim. AI already makes it possible to
hack human beings—to collect data about individuals and then use it to
decipher, predict, and manipulate their desires. All countries, regardless of
whether they are tech superpowers or not, will feel the effects of the AI
revolution. To hack humans, governments and corporations need access to
enormous amounts of information about real-life human behavior, which makes
data perhaps the most important resource in the world. But most of the world’s
data is mined by the United States, China, and companies based there.
If this trend continues, the world could soon
witness a new kind of colonialism—data colonialism—in which raw information is
mined in numerous countries, processed mainly in the imperial hub, and then used
to exercise control throughout the world. For example, data giants in San
Francisco or Shanghai could compile the entire medical and personal history of
politicians and officials in distant countries and use it to influence them or
manipulate public opinion about them. Beyond that, those who control the data
could eventually reshape not only the world’s economic and political future but
also the future of life itself. The combination of AI and biotechnology will be
critical for any future attempts to redesign bodies, brains, and minds. Elites
in the United States and China who have access to those technologies could
determine the course of evolution for everyone, according to their particular
values and interests. Abilities they deem useful, such as discipline and rote
intelligence, might be enhanced at the cost of attributes believed to be
superfluous, such as spirituality.
Professor Yuval Harari, cautions us that
artificial intelligence, biotechnology and ever-sophisticated algorithms are tapping
into our values, habits, tastes, desires and the very thought patterns that define us — all to control how we
shop, what we read, and whom we vote for. The notion of free will is defunct.
And the grand project of liberalism, with its focus on the individual, is worn
out. In past generations, when people talked about
freedom they mostly meant the freedom to express your feelings and realize your
desires. But with the rise of Big Data algorithms, it becomes increasingly easy
to hack humans, manipulate their feelings and control their desires. It means
an external system can know you better than you know yourself. It can predict
your choices and decisions. It can manipulate your emotions, and it can sell
you anything, whether a product or a politician. Previously in history the most
important resource was land. Then it was machines. Now data is the most
important resource. Politics is becoming the struggle to control data, and the
future belongs to those who monopolize the data. One of the biggest political
questions of our era is, How do you regulate the ownership of data?
Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel /former Chairman Consumer Affairs Authority and former Ambassador to UAE and Israel
World
consumer day
World consumer day is the opportunity for the consumer to show strength by flexing muscles agitating their power and rights of the consumer always in the receiving end worldwide- mostly in Sri Lanka with lack of powers to organize and agitate the legitimate needs of the consumer/citizen as every citizen is a consumer at some stage of life. Initiated by John Kennedy in 1963 and the process continues worldwide organizing consumer movement by world consumer movement and many other organizations including Sri Lanka led by the Consumer Affairs Authority the main Regulator in the country and other organizations. It is still not known what steps CAA has taken though celebrated this year whereas previously various programs were organized with the consumer, public, students and the citizen at large. A topic is chosen for this year to work around such as junk food generation, and the current topic discussed are current and timely benefits to the citizen and an eye-opener to the rest of the world including the governance and the trader. This agitation and the process by the consumer international and activism has benefited the citizen directly and indirectly in order to avoid exploitation and unfair trade practices of the trader and industrialist worldwide. The consumer must be alert and vigilant when the trader is expected to be fair and reasonable to strike a balance for a better world and society to live in. citizen/consumer is the most neglected group in the society as stated by Kennedy in 1963 in the USA which is in the lowest ebb in Sri Lanka and many parts of the world. Obviously the world action will have a ripple effect on the genuine needs of the consumer as a result of the worldwide organized consumer movement in which the zenith is on the 15th of March every year at various organized events worldwide.
Sustainable
Consumer -Theme of the World consumer day 2020-
Emphasis and priority this year is given to global changes to avert environment breakdown where the consumer has to play a main and vital role to play to avoid the destruction of our global leading to slow and fast suicidal effects due to self-destruction by greedy politicians and industrialist’s consumers included. Consumer Education and organization are vital to avert the self-destruction of ourselves knowingly and unknowingly leading the slow death of the citizen and the globe with irreparable damages to the future mother of earth and the generation to see the daylight. This is a timely and current topic at the doorsteps of the destruction of the mother earth due to unplanned developments and it is the duty of the public bodies to engage in the world consumer movement in the organization of the movement for sustainable consumer movement in the process of saving the planet from destruction in addition to the movement to protect the consumer from exploitation by the enemies of the mankind. Culprits and those responsible are all over – worldwide in this sad destruction process. Forest cover in Sri Lanka is decreasing fast daily due to jungle clearing, forest fire and unplanned developments leading to floods uneven climatic changes disasters due to side effects of man-made disasters for which the man is responsible due to over greed. This could be averted by changing the lifestyle and style of governance. Sand mining is rampant with the assistance and patronage of errant and corrupt politicians and government servants. The Main regulator Consumer Affairs Authority appear to be in a deep sleep occasionally counting the price of vegetables with no vision for their main vision towards the nation! Other regulators such as the local authorities, ministries, appear to be engaged in political strategies and collection of funds for the future. World-famous attractions are in danger due to vandalism and damages by the owners of the land when destruction continues at random with the existence of the number of ministries and departments with enormous powers and funds available when the danger has reached the doorsteps faster than expected. Consumer goods are poisonous and no proper regulation by CAA and other regulators in the no-man arena. It is a sorry state which needs revival by a proper leader as the regulator with a vision and collective action by the consumer organizations and the public.
What is the
possible remedy to prevent the imminent disaster and destruction?
The remedy is with us and among over selves to change the lifestyle and style of governance locally and globally. Efforts of the world consumer day and the world consumer movement are to organize the working citizen by education and other awareness devices to inform and warn to be careful and be in the preventive process. Consumer rights and duties are recognized by the United Nations, governments, and d organizations as inalienable rights and duties of the citizen and governments in the interest of the future generation to come. Act no 7 0f 2003 has provided a powerful tool as the Consumer Affairs Authority Act in order to mobilize the citizen and educate them in right directions via workshops and consumer organizations as provided by the Act and one wonders how many consumers have been formed by the CAA act to educate and organized the consumer and interact with trader and manufacturer on order to strike a balance among the groups known as the consumer, trader, manufacturer and the regulators. It is the duty and the practice of the CAA to organize the WCD event annually and one wonders what CAA has done or done at this end and if nothing is done let them start the process at least from next year. CAA and the regulators must mobilize all segments of the society in this direction and the best groups are NGOs, Schools, Universities, Places of work and religious centers media and generally the citizen included aiming at education and researched based movements and workshops. The finger is aimed at CAA as it has been given a lot of funds and power with a mission embodied in the act as a powerful tool with many precedents and examples from the world including the World Consumer movement ever prepared to help us. When Co Cola used water from Thames River it is media that came forward for the consumer to make Cola to kneel down. WHICH magazine in the UK is at the forefront of the consumer movement protecting the consumer and guiding the trader with powerful media colleagues? In Sri Lanka Media and NGOs have different priorities on political and human rights issues which are more lucrative and powerful than engaged on consumerism which is not lucrative enough.
Way forward
State media NGOs and the general public must give priority to consumerism movement as their savior to avoid the destruction of the lives, planet and the future generation by educating and organizing ourselves with the proper guidance of the CAA and other main regulators. It is the duty of all individuals, organizations, states, to be a part of this, the process of saving the citizen and the planet from destruction man-made as well as due to manmade disasters. The current trend of the young generation society and the governance is encouraging and the participation of the consumer individually and collectively is encouraged and admirable. It is a good sign that the media is also involved in many projects in small and large scale. Media is full of disturbing and destructive news on environment disasters with adverse trends and opposition form social media as FB and other means of communication. We wish and hope the trend to continue as a force with the blessings and encouragement of the Regulator headed by the Consumer Affairs Authority the consumer is dependent on.
(Reading
materials -Today is World Consumer Day- 15/3/18/Mirror-Consumer Justice
-15/3/2013 consumer justice now-Guardian-12/3/2115 Guardian Healthy Food- Guardian
– 15/12014 Guardian Fix your Phones Right- Telegraph 15/3 /2016 Antibiotic off
the Menu -Daily News Junk Food-Wise Consumer 19/ 12/2018mirror – Guardian 21/ 3
/2011Fair Financial service- Observer 6/
1 /2008 Alert Consumer and powers of CAA
all by the author who could be
reached on sarath7@hotmail.co.uk)
ENGLISH EDUCATION IN SRI LANKA – AN
OVERVIEW
Sarath Wijesinghe President’s
Counsel- former Ambassador to UAE and Israel
English
inherited by British
English is a language inherited by The British currently used as a link language and a National Language which is commonly used in education and private sector in Sri Lanka fast spreading due to the unprecedented demand as a stepping stone on education and a symbol of social recognition with less resistance by the students and parents as in the decades 50/60/70 with less encouragement by the citizen. Today English has transferred to be a craze and a need with growing demand mainly by the younger generation in this competitive society at the doorsteps of the computer age. It is spoken in India (125million-Pakistan 94 million-and Philippines 95.46 million with percentages 95.46 in the USA, 10.60 in India, 56.72 in Nigeria indication how the language is spread in the English speaking world as a link and a working language showing to what extent the language is penetrated to the life of the citizen. Meyler who searched on spoken English in Sri Lanka says English spoken in Sri Lanka is clear and understood. The expression of the Sri Lankans living abroad especially in the west is clear and understood unlike other ethnic groups with mixed and complicated dialects’. It is said that 23.8 of the population could speak English with the least efforts whereas the young generation educated at international schools speak and perform day to day jobs at ease setting as an example to the unemployed graduates fighting on the road for government jobs in any capacity. Currently, there is a trend to learn English and classes and courses are conducted island-wide by schools and private institutions which need regularization and supervision and it is time for the Ministry of Education to draw up a program which is the need of the hour.
English
Language – Origin
English was originated in the 5th century with the advent of the German Tribes introducing Old English Middle English and Modern English with developments from era to era. It is an official language in 38 countries including Sri Lanka and a world and a computer language which is an important tool to reach the world, trade commerce, international organizations, travel, and a mode of communication with the rest of the world spreading to 360 million citizens used as the first language. British invaded Sri Lanka in 1796 and in 1833 Colebrook Commission made recommendations for reforms and education when the entire system of Education was in the hands of the British Empire. Sinhala and religious education were in the hands of Bikkues” and Pirivanas and the British introduced educational institutions and Churches with state patronage creating a privileged class of citizens educated in English to serve the state and the governance. Education including English Education was in the hands of the government and churches were allowed to start schools with the patronage of the government. Emphasis was given to grammar in English Education as English was spoken wildly by the elite including a different class of strata in the society and English and Education was confined to a separate class with resentment from the rest of the population until 1956 changes brought about by SWRD transferring the medium of education to Sinhala and Tamil when India continued the system of Education in English and local languages with options to students to choose the medium of instructions. 1971 insurrection was created by a frustrated group of youth taking the country back to three to four decades with destruction deaths and destruction who were not in favor of English Education claiming to be a stepping stone to be in a different class of English Educated group of the privileged class. Under the 1978 constitution, Sinhala and Tamil were made official languages by the 13th amendment elevating the position of Tamil as a link language. From 2000 onwards much was spent and steps are taken to improve English Education with no success and today the English Language has reached the apex of the pyramid with a craze to learn English spoken and written.
Need and
Craze of English today
Undoubtedly English is the passport and the stepping stone for education foreign employment and in-country job avenues further education included. International schools of no class and standards are doing a great service-producing students with reasonable knowledge of English and capable of conversing in English enable to obtain employment in private establishments setting as example to the unemployed graduates agitating for government jobs of any kind due to lack of vision exposure and a sound knowledge of English for exposure and capability to be employed in the private sector or self-employed as any other graduates worldwide not demanding employments from governments. Obviously it is not fair on their part to demand employment from the governance after having provided free education from childhood to university education which is a rare privilege given to Sri Lankan youth. Media is full of advertisements on classes conducted countrywide on residential, non-residential, classes at all levels by teachers attracted by the students on their talents and capabilities. Whether English is taught properly correctly are matters to be supervised by the regulators end educationists in order to regularize English Education which is the need of the hour to avoid misleading and exploiting the students in need to learn correct English to cater to their needs. There are more mobiles available than the population for Lanka and computer literacy is satisfactory and improving among the citizen which is a good sign.
Way Forward
for the improvement of English Education as a grave need for the Nation
No doubt it is the priority as it will provide opportunities to improve education standards, employment opportunities locally and abroad, afford self-made opportunities as in the Philippine where English Education and training for employment are scientifically conducted by the government providing 30percent of the population in foreign employment of high standards. Thousands of students are studying abroad and many are exploring avenues to find opportunities worldwide for themselves which is the current need of the hopes and boom for the young with hopes and plans for them and the nation. Eglsi obviously a vehicle for development growth and future prospects individually and collectively a dit is the duty of the regulators, teachers, and Educationists to be more proactive and launch a collective effort in this exercise on providing better English to the needy for a better day for Sri Lanka.
Ranjith Naranpanawa President. The Global Peace Congress of Australia Incorporated
The Global Peace Congress of Australia Incorporated wishes to extend our heartfelt appreciation and congratulations to our Organisations Patron: COLONEL RATHNAPRIYA BANDU On his recent nomination for a seat in the Sri Lankan Parliament.
Colonel Bandu is held in the highest esteem amongst the Tamil population residing in the North-East of Sri Lanka, whilst being respected by all.
Upon reassignment to another position, the outpouring of tears from adoring citizens was quickly circulated around the world. Sri Lankans living overseas were as equally touched by the citizens’ combined love and adoration.
Pivotal in the difficult process of reconciliation and rehabilitation post-war is an office that most would have reservations to fill, however that did not deter Colonel Bandu, as his passion for peace has been longstanding.
If it had not been for the Colonel’s due diligence to take command of his position, the people’s sufferings definitely would have been compounded instead of being alleviated.
The Executive Committee and members of our Global Congress, lift up with the utmost of confidence, our support for the candidate as a worthwhile, trustworthy, candidate of integrity above reproach.
Many accolades to those former rehabilitated cadres’ who have been able to turn their shattered lives around are true testimony by their support for this nomination.
Good luck Colonel Bandu, with the 2020 General Election. You will be an incredible Politician to continue our democracy into the exciting progress of our country.
Authorized by the Executive Committee and signed by:
Historically, the West has always had an equivocal attitude towards China, not to mention the non-white world. A fear, a suspicion, a fascination, an uncertainty, a sense of superiority and even a loathing reserved for an undeserving competitor pervaded its dealings. Perhaps, resulting from perceptions that evolved on the basis of the writings of 19th century visitors, missionaries, diplomats, traders, et al who came to China pompously full of their own socio – religious values and found a wealthy society that simply did not fit into their preconceptions and that did not seem willing to accommodate their prescriptions. Instead the Chinese stayed with their own values. These prejudices have lasted to this day and self-serving commentators and politicians have not missed any opportunity to embellish them, even in the midst of the CORVID 19 epidemic which is now threatening the world.
Marco Polo’s travels along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295 and his tales of wealth and grandeur of China, Cathay of the Yuen Dynasty, were largely dismissed with disbelief as fantasy. His record The Travels of Marco Polo (also known as Book of the Marvels of the World and Il Milione, c. 1300, a book that described to an incredulous Europe the mysterious culture and inner workings of the non-white and non-Christian Eastern world, including its wealth, superior organisation and the great extent of the Mongol Empire, provided the first comprehensive look into China, India, Japan and other Asian cities and countries. Over the centuries, largely based on a lack of understanding, the common perception that took hold was that of the Chinese as a toiling, poverty stricken mass of untrustworthy sexual predators who needed to be treated with caution and suspicion. Prejudice relating to China and the Chinese has undergone a recent revival. Many commentaries, including from journalistic sources and hastily compiled messages on the electronic medium have not missed the opportunity to revive the image of the nasty untrustworthy Chinaman.
It took two centuries and the painstaking work of intellectual giants like Joseph Needham and many university studies to almost convince a self-absorbed Europe and later the United States that a sophisticated, complex and powerful culture had been existing in the East for millennia and much of what we take for granted today, paper, gun powder, silk, tea, porcelain, the compass, cast iron, the ploughshare, the stirrup, printing, clockwork escapements and even the passport (paiza or paizi or gerege in Mongolian) were known to the Chinese centuries earlier.
According to Professor Mahbubani, Singapore’s former Permanent Representative to the UN, China produced over 25% of the world’s production in 1840 and was incredibly wealthy but this share was to be reduced to less than 2% due to colonial depredations and the decline of the Chinese state.
The appallingly racist term “Yellow Peril”, which seems to be undergoing a revival, gained currency in the 19th century. This term became widely used in Europe and the US during the Boxer Rebellion. The Boxer Rebellion gained momentum in 1900 and Beijing fell to the Boxers. In July 1900, Kaiser Wilhelm II gave the Hunnenrede (Hun speech) exhorting his soldiers to barbarism, “Imperial German soldiers depart Europe for China and will suppress the Boxer Rebellion, by acting like “Huns” and committing atrocities against the Chinese (Boxer and civilian): When you come before the enemy, you must defeat him, pardon will not be given, prisoners will not be taken! Whoever falls into your hands will fall to your sword! Just as a thousand years ago the Huns, under their King Attila, made a name for themselves with their ferocity, which tradition still recalls; so may the name of Germany become known in China in such a way that no Chinaman will ever dare look a German in the eye, even with a squint!”
The Kaiser ordered the expedition-commander, Field Marshal Alfred von Waldersee, to conduct himself barbarously, because the Chinese were, “by nature, cowardly, like a dog, but also deceitful”. The Kaiser’s best friend, Prince Philip von Euenburg wrote to another friend that the Kaiser wanted to raze Beijing, and kill the populace to avenge the murder of Baron Clemens von Ketteler, imperial Germany’s minister to China. In August 1900, an international military-force of Russian, Japanese, British, French, and American soldiers captured Beijing, before the German force arrived in the city.
The Eight-Nation Alliance sacked Beijing in vengeance for the Boxer Rebellion; the magnitude of the rape, pillage, and burning indicated “a sense that the Chinese were less than human” to the Western armies. About the sacking of the city, an Australian writer said: “The future of the Chinese is a fearful problem. Look at the frightful sights one sees in the streets of Peking. … See the filthy, tattered rags they wrap around them. Smell them as they pass. Hear of their nameless immorality. Witness their shameless indecency, and picture them among your own people – Ugh! It makes you shudder!” The attitude of superiority, loathing and suspicion adopted then, seems to have persisted mostly below the surface and erupts not so infrequently. The façade of Western civilization appears to be only skin deep!
Despite this history, and the tribulations visited on China by Western Powers, today China having pulled itself up by its bootstraps, has become the second biggest economic power in the world but the Western world and its glassy eyed admirers in the East continue to look at China and the Chinese with the same historic mistrust.
Sinophobia, that is the feeling of being hostile to China, its people, overseas Chinese, or Chinese culture, including food habits, is alive and well and has been given a fresh boost since the outbreak of CORVID 19 and is thriving in the West with its colonial and imperialist legacies, and generations of racism. Today the Western media, and their outlets which depend on them, subtlely and not so subtlely pander to Sinophobia. The deeper prejudices and the ready willingness to blame the Chinese Government, its people, their food habits, etc, exposed by the coronavirus epidemic are symptomatic of a long history of demonising the Chinese people.
On 26 January 2020, two of Australia’s highest circulating newspapers, Melbourne Herald Sun’s headlined, “Chinese virus pandamonium”, an insensitive misspelling of “pandemonium” (alluding to China’s pandas), while Sydney Daily Telegraph’s headline read, “China kids stay home.” One of the outcomes of these headlines was a petition of over 51,000 signatures demanding an apology. Good people still inhabit this earth.
In France, Le Courrier Picard featured an Asian woman wearing a mask on its front page on 26 January with a headline “Yellow Alert”. The paper also titled an editorial “A New Yellow Peril”. The expression Yellow Peril has a long and wicked history. The publication drew condemnation from French Asians who started the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus (“I Am Not A Virus”). One begins to wonder whether the liberal façade of the West is just skin deep.
Chinese businesses in the United Kingdom, including the busy Chinese takeaway segment and businesses in Chinatown, London, recorded significantly reduced customers in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak compared to usual elevated sales during the Chinese New Year celebrations, due to fears of coronavirus spreading through food or unhygienic working practices. In general, there was a widespread rise in anti-Chinese sentiment reported in all forms of public transport.
The racist commentary used following the COVID 19 outbreak, persisted despite the WHO reminding the world of the commitments that all countries undertook at its creation. On 30 January, the World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee issued a statement advising all countries to be mindful of the “principles of Article 3 of the IHR [the International Health Regulations],” which the WHO says is a caution against “actions that promote stigma or discrimination,” when conducting national response measures to the outbreak.
Britain’s first sustained attempt to build ties with the Qing imperial court, initially rebuffed, in the eighteenth century was focused primarily on trade. Over the next 150 years, Britain was at the forefront of some of the most painful experiences of Chinese encounters with the outside world, from the Opium Wars, the sacking of the Summer Palace, and the reparations imposed on China for the Boxer rebellion of 1900 and the rape and pillage of Beijing, to the maintenance of Hong Kong as a colony. The Chinese call this the century of humiliation. Since the return of Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997, while clamouring for democracy for Hong Kong which the British never conceded, policies of engagement have gradually replaced those of confrontation. As China’s economy has eclipsed that of the UK, the transformation of that relationship has become imperative for the UK. The roles having changed, now it is Britain that is the supplicant at the gates of Beijing.
Britain, nervous with Brexit jitters, is more anxious than ever to keep Chinese cash flowing. Critics have commented that London is already less willing to criticise Beijing because it is aware how much it will need Chinese funds.
The British sense of superiority, vis-a-vis China, began with the victory in the First Opium War 1839-42. After bombarding Canton from its fleet causing thousands of civilian deaths, Britain forced on the Chinese the Convention of Chuenpi, which was never ratified. In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking ended the war and Hong Kong Island was ceded to the British, and five treaty ports were opened to international trade. (For the British, it meant the right to sell opium to the Chinese). In 1843, the Treaty of the Bogue supplemented the Treaty of Nanking by granting extraterritorial status to British subjects in China and most favored nation status to Britain. 1856-60 consequent to the Second Opium War, the Treaty of Tientsin was signed by Lord Elgin on behalf of Britain (who, incidentally, took the Elgin Marbles to Britain). In October 1860, the Old Summer Palace was looted and burned by British and French troops, resulting in the Convention of Peking and the cession of the Kowloon Peninsula to Britain and Britain opened a Legation in Beijing (Peking). In the following years British consulates were opened throughout the Chinese Empire, including Hankou (Wuhan!), Takao (Kaohsiung), Tamsui (near Taipei), Shanghai and Xiamen.
Anti-Chinese sentiment in the US has existed at least since the mid 19th century when Chinese migrants began arriving in the United States and contributed significantly to building the First Transcontinental Railroad. Thousands died in this effort. It surfaced with a vengeance in the 1860s and culminated in the racist Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (repealed only in 1943), prohibiting Chinese immigration and naturalization. Its origins are traceable to the American traders, missionaries, teachers and diplomats who sent home from China relentlessly disparaging reports of the “inscrutable” people they encountered. These attitudes were transmitted to Americans who never left North America, triggering talk of the Yellow Peril, and continued through the Cold War during McCarthyism.
During this period, the phrase “yellow peril” was popularized in the U.S. by newspapers owned by newspaper moghul Randolph Hearst. It was also the title of a popular book by an influential U.S. American Adventist pastor, G. G. Rupert, who published The Yellow Peril; or, Orient vs. Occident in 1911. Based on the phrase “the kings from the East” in the Christian scriptural verse Revelation 16:12, Rupert, who subscribed to the doctrine of British Israelism, suggested that China, India, Japan and Korea will be attacking England and the U.S., but that Jesus Christ would stop them.
The Naturalization Act of 1870, extended citizenship rights to African Americans but barred Chinese from naturalization on the grounds that they and other Asians could not be assimilated into American society. Chinese immigrants were prohibited from voting and serving on juries, and dozens of states passed alien land laws that prohibited non-citizens from purchasing real estate. In particular, even in his lone dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), then-Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote of the Chinese as “a race so different from our own that we do not permit those belonging to it to become citizens of the United States. Persons belonging to it are, with few exceptions, absolutely excluded from our country. I allude to the Chinese race.”
The Trump administration has demonstrated an inexplicable hostility to China, but Beijing’s increasingly authoritative approach at home and assertiveness abroad has also alarmed many. The West is unfamiliar with Asians who strike back.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the administration’s most vocal China critic, took China to task for its apparent failure to be open and transparent when Corvid 19 hit, saying, “It took us too long to get the medical experts into country. We wish that could have happened more quickly.” The effort to gain propaganda mileage is obvious but the same reservations could be applied to the current lack of cohesion in the US policy approach and the uncoordinated response to the increasingly menacing spread of Corvid 19 in the US.
The China hawks say privately that they see the virus weakening the Party’s legitimacy (and hoping) but this may be a vain hope.
The expression of such hostility in the midst of a global health emergency was unfortunate. The Administration’s lack of sympathy for China was quickly picked up by the Western media and accusations of a lack of transparency, a belated and high handed response, paucity of medical care, etc, were freely bandied around in the media despite clear statements to the contrary issued by the World Health Organisation. Critical and derogatory videos produced for propaganda purposes were freely disseminated on the electronic media. Now that China appears to have brought the spread of Corvid 19 under control and the virus has begun to seriously affect Western countries, Western media has modified its commentary. It has begun not to use the same harsh, derogatory and unsympathetic commentary. On the contrary, the reporting has become more balanced and should have been used when China was first confronted with CORVID 19 in early December.
China’s rise as a major world economic and military power, which followed neither the economic nor the political prescriptions of the West, clearly appears to have contributed to the contemporary anti-Chinese sentiment. The emergence of China has been seen to be at the expense of countries such as the US.
In April 2019, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that China posed a “whole of a society threat”. In May 2019, Director of Policy Planning Kiron Skinner said that China “is the first great power competitor of the US that is not Caucasian. Of course, he appears to have forgotten Japan which not only challenged the US but was nuclear bombed in 1945. In the 1980s, Japan was the target of US ire for its relentless economic outreach.
The US position may sometimes appear to be contradictory and difficult to explain. It was the US that pushed for China (the Republic of China, ROC) to be given the status of a veto wielding member of the UN Security Council. The ROC had collaborated with the US in its war against Japan. But were there other factors. Did the US want a non-European state to balance the three veto wielding Europeans already in the UN Security Council? There were effective people to people and missionary ties with China. President Chiang Kai Shek was a Methodist. Did these factors influence American thinking at the time? However, Relations soured rapidly once the godless and non-cosmopolitan Communists under Mao Tse Tung took over China and evicted Chiang to Taiwan. Added to the pain, Communist China militarily thwarted US ambitions in the Korean Peninsula. The thought of nuclear bombing China did cross the minds of some US decision makers at the time. In Vietnam, Chinese support was a critical factor in the eventual defeat of the US backed South Korean regime in 1975. Despite the Nixon-Kissinger rapprochement with Communist China, essentially as a counter to the Soviet Union, suspicions appear to have remained. China used the warming up of relations to seek investments and technology from the US and the West and create the most impressive economic miracle in history. Not only that, it has deployed its newly gained wealth to create a zone of joint prosperity in the wider region, extending to Africa, expanding its diplomatic clout way outside its traditional sphere of influence. China is now a major economic competitor of the West. Unfortunately, this development has been openly interpreted as a threat to the West and the US, in particular. The thought of a non-European competitor on the world stage may be unbalancing the thinking of European and US policy makers. The US has begun to employ each and every means available to vilify and counter China. The US has now begun to identify China and Russia as strategic competitors making US relations with China a discomforting factor to others who wish to benefit from China’s munificence.
It is against this background that CORVID 19 has been used as another weapon to vilify China. David Fidler, Council for Foreign Relations, says, “we are seeing the weaponisation of the outbreak in the misinformation being circulated for different political purposes. For me, this outbreak is different in that the weaponisation has connected to the change in geopolitics, with the rise of China and worries about China’s growing power and influence sharpening and broadening criticism of China’s response to the outbreak. Here, unlike Ebola in Africa, we have the outbreak entangled with the increasing rawness of balance of power politics between the United States and China”.
The deterioration of relations between the US and China is unfortunate and is unlikely to benefit either country or, for that matter, the world. Both possess enormous potential to collaborate for the good of each other and the rest of the world. But history and deep rooted suspicions of ambitious politicians who play on the uncertainties and fears of ordinary people may result in misery for the vast majority who might get sucked in to an unfortunate confrontation unwittingly.
Twenty six former ministers had not vacated their official residences, and the Ministry of Public Administration would file legal action against them, in the coming weeks, Secretary to the Ministry S. Hettiarachchi told the media yesterday.
Hettiarachchi said that the former ministers were yet to vacate those official bungalows though four months had elapsed since the change of government. Ministers were usually given a three-month grace period to vacate their official residences, but the ministers concerned have outstayed that period.
Hettiarachchi said that Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had been earlier informed of the issue. “However since Parliament has been dissolved, we have written to the Secretary General of Parliament stating that we will take legal action against the 26 former ministers if they do not vacate these official residences by the end of this week.”
Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya Courtesy The Daily Mirror
The Mirihana Crimes Division is investigating into the incident where a first-year student of the Sri Jayawardenepura University was hit on the head with a tyre thrown at him by a group of senior students.
The victim, 20-year-old Pasindu Hirushan, was admitted to the ICU at the National Hospital, Colombo following the ragging incident on March 5.
Hospital sources said the student is suffering from brain injuries and internal bleeding.
The police said statements would be recorded from the students and medical officials of the ambulance who rushed the student to the hospital.
They said they would also inform the Nugegoda Magistrate over the incident.
PC Agency, a firm in UK has recommended Sri Lanka and the Caribbean’s as two of the safest places for UK citizens to travel to escape from the Coronavirus (Covid19) outbreak, foreign media reported.
The two countries where the heat is on, seemed to be reporting very few cases of coronavirus,” the Agency’s Chief Executive Paul Charles said.
The PC Agency provides expert, premium PR consultancy, trade representation and crisis communications to airlines, hotels, tourism boards, tour operators, cruise lines, spas and restaurants around the world.
Earlier today, it was reported that group of passengers who are being directed to the Batticaloa Campus and Kandakadu Rehabilitation Centre had raised objections over being charged a fee for daily provision of meals at the quarantine facilities.
According to reports, the expatriates and foreigners, who are being quarantined at these two centres for 14 days, were asked to pay a total amount of Rs 7,500 for the meals they are provided with during their stay.
However, the Army Chief assured that these individuals will not be charged any fee at the quarantine centres.
On Saturday, Director-General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe announced that Batticaloa Private University and the Kandakadu Rehabilitation Centre have been converted into quarantine facilities for passengers arriving in the country from coronavirus-hit countries.
Accordingly, all passengers from Italy, South Korea, and Iran will undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine at these two facilities.
A total of 179 Sri Lankan expatriates and 2 South Korean arrived in the island early this morning (10), and they were directed to the quarantine centre at Batticaloa Campus.
The Colombo Permanent High Court-at-Bar today re-issued an arrest warrant on the Secretary of the Presidential Commission appointed to investigate alleged incidents of political victimization, Pearl K. Weerasinghe.
The three-member judge bench ordered police to arrest the Secretary of the commission before March 12 and produced her before the court and warned that the Acting IGP will have to personally appear before the court and show cause if they fail to do so.
The arrest warrant was re-issued today when the when the case filed against ‘Ali Roshan’ and seven others over the alleged illegal possession of five elephants was taken up for hearing.
Chair of the bench Justice Vikum Kaluarachchci declared that it is a grave issue that the police are unable to arrest a public official and questioned as to how the Police Chief prevents serious crimes and terrorism when they are unable to even arrest a state official.
The court had initially issued the warrant on march 06 for police to arrest and produce her before the court, for ignoring the notice issued by the same court ordering her to appear before it on that date while the court also barred her from leaving the country.
The court issued this order when the case filed against Samarappulige Niraj Roshan alias ‘Ali Roshan’ and seven others over the alleged illegal possession of five elephants, was taken up for hearing.
The Attorney General had filed 27 charges against ‘Ali Roshan’ and six other defendants under the Offences against Public Property Act, with regard to the possession of five elephants without licenses and racketeering.
Based on a complaint filed by the defendants of this case, the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed to probe alleged incidents of political victimization had commenced an investigation into this case and had taken the relevant documents into its custody.
However, the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar had issued notice on the Secretary to the commission to present the documents before the court.
The Secretary to the commission had reportedly failed to appear before the court last week while the judge bench deemed this contempt of court and issued a warrant for her arrest.
