China's Foreign Crackdown

Published on Jul 17, 2012 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — China is well known for its wrongs. An appalling human rights record and endemic corruption come to mind.But China is also known for its opaque top-down political leadership, which makes it impossible for any outsider to know exactly what’s going on within the communistic monarchy.It’s possible, therefore, that when it comes to reading the tea leaves on China, the rest of the world could get it wrong — China’s so-called “three illegals” immigration crackdown on foreigners, currently underway, could very well be one such case.Read more in the Global Post..

Chinese Spy Reveals Much

Published on Jul 14, 2012 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — A Chinese spy’s defection to Australia after growing too close to a female Falun Gong target has lifted the veil on Beijing’s network of agents used to monitor overseas dissidents, and the tactics used to ensure their obedience. The man’s dramatic inside account – accepted by the most senior officer of the Refugee Review Tribunal – reveals how the defector was recruited from a police academy and required to pose as an international student to observe other young Chinese overseas. Read more in The Australian. .

Clinton Talks Cash

Published on Jul 12, 2012 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday told delegates at the ASEAN Regional Forum her country would put “our money where our mouth is” with its regional development assistance, starting with a down payment she would announce in coming days. Read more from The Phnom Penh Post. .

ASEAN Sidelines Journalists

Published on Jul 12, 2012 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Many years ago, two colleagues were wrongfully jailed in Laos for murder and as president of the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia (OPCC), I did my best to lobby for their release, a job that was made all the more easier by the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) which was holding its annual summits in Cambodia at the time. My part in obtaining their release was very small. Others like the photographer Dan White did much more. But the incident and the ability of journalists to make themselves heard and demand answers to awkward questions highlighted the type of relationship that existed between the media and the leaders of the day. A decade ago....

East Timor Moves on

Published on Jul 12, 2012 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Former resistance leader and head of the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT), the charismatic Xanana Gusmao, will again lead East Timor with officials confirming he won more than 36 percent of the vote at last weekend’s general elections. However the result falls short of an absolute majority in Parliament, meaning a coalition government is all but assured and leading to calls for a rainbow government of national unity made up of all political parties which contested the poll. Read more in The Diplomat. .