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The highlights from APEC, does releasing Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller improve North Korea’s human rights image, and has the time come to clear the streets in Hong Kong. These stories and more are on the November 14th edition of Asia News Weekly.
Highlights from APEC
For the past week, all eyes have been on Beijing as some of the most influential men and women of the world met for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC Summit. It’s one the last such meeting of the year for the these leaders, and as expected, some major announcements and handshakes were made. Returning to the podcast is Curtis S Chin, Inaugural Asia Fellow with the Milken Institute. Host Steve Miller chats with Mr. Chin about the meeting and learns why he feels the main sessions aren't as important as the discussions taking place on the sidelines. It's a discussion especially relevant as many leaders stayed in the region to participate in the ASEAN Summit, East Asian Summit, and upcoming G20 Summit to put the meeting into context.
Does releasing American prisoners improve North Korea’s human rights image?
North Korea unexpectedly released Americans Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller. Bae had already served two of his fifteen years for his alleged crimes agains the state and Matthew Miller was beginning his six year sentence. It’s unclear what led to their release, but it’s undoubtedly related to closed-door negotiations by U.S. Director of Intelligence James Clapper, which culminated in the highest-level visit yet to North Korea.
Joanna Hosaniak, Deputy Director General, of the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights joins Miller on the podcast, lending her insights about the release, and more importantly, if the action will changes the hearts and minds of U.N. General Assembly members scheduled to take a vote on referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to stand trial for crimes against humanity.
Is it time to clear the streets of Hong Kong?
As Hong Kong authorities are poised to take definitive efforts to clear the streets, student protesters are looking at what may be a Hail Mary pass, and are organizing a plan to occupy roads surrounding the city's British consulate. Anna-Kate Choi, the coordinator for the Occupy British Consulate group said, “We are angry at the way that the British government has for many years denied that China has actually breached the declaration by interfering with Hong Kong politics. They have the responsibility to make sure that the joint declaration has been implemented properly and that democracy and the high degree of autonomy of Hong Kong has been protected.”
Miller notes that from the beginning, protesters were naive to believe they could sway Beijing’s mind so easily agrees with Deputy Secretary Carrie Lam's statement that at this juncture, talks are pointless since neither side is will to discuss a middle ground where each side could walk away with a "win." What would such an agreement look like? Miller shares his opinion.
The Weekly Brief
In The Weekly Brief, Miller wraps up the podcast with several additional stories from the Asia-Pacific region making the headlines. These include an update on the rebuilding efforts in The Philippines, one year after Super Typhoon Haiyan, called Yolanda in the Philippines, nearly wiped Tacloban off the face of the earth. Japan's Kagoshima prefecture has okayed the restart of two nuclear reactors, despite reservations from residents. Stories from China, Malaysia, and Thailand also make the list.
The podcast concludes with feedback and comments from the week's podcasts. If you have a thought on one or more of the stories from the episode, you can share them by podcast@asianewsweekly.net or Tweeting @SteveMillerANW.
© Japan Today
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