Chaos in Pretoria as Taxi Drivers Protest Murder of Colleague

28/08 - 15:33

Reports coming out of South Africa show chaos in Pretoria as protests by taxi drivers to decry murder of fellow driver turn chaotic.

According to News 24 the taxi found people believed to be police officers allegedly selling drugs. Shots were fired leading to the death of the taxi driver. Angry taxi operators took to the streets and blocked them roads to deal with the drug peddlers.

“A shooting which resulted in the death of a taxi driver is reported to have incited the riots, which led to two A Re Yeng buses, three Tshwane Bus Service (TBS) buses, a Gautrain bus and two trucks being utilised to blockade the roads. A Re Yeng and TBS operations were halted for the rest of the day in the interest of safety,” Tshwane Transport MMC Sheila Senkubuge is quotedto say.

Several foreign owned shops have been looted in the Pretoria city centre on Wednesday by the angry protesters. Allegedly claiming that the taxi driver was trying to stop the peddler from selling drugs to a potential buyer.

South African Police Fire Rubber Bullets in Pretoria Clashes

 30/08 - 08:59

South African police fired rubber bullets in Pretoria on Wednesday as protest erupted in the central business district, with rioters setting several small businesses alight.

Footage circulated in local media showed people who appeared to be looting during the chaos.

Authorities said criminals were exploiting the tense situation.

A local newspaper said the clashes started after taxi drivers clashed with drug dealers operating in the area.

The taxi drivers had reportedly decided to target sellers of “nyaope,” a common street drug in South Africa.

A taxi driver was allegedly shot and killed in the confrontation, thus, riots broke out and quickly escalated, with hundreds of taxis blocking major roads and the city suspending bus services.

Police urged vehicles to avoid the area.

AP

United Nations Commends Zimbabwe Government Policies

28 AUG, 2019 - 18:08
Farirai Machivenyika
Senior Reporter
Herald

Outgoing United Nations Resident Coordinator Ambassador Bishow Parajuli on Wednesday commended Government policies that include re-engagement, the anti-corruption drive and efforts to attract investment, saying these were important for the country’s development.

Ambassador Parajuli said this in a wide ranging interview with journalists to mark the end of his five-year tour of duty in Zimbabwe.

“The approach of engaging globally, the approach of attracting investors into the country, changes in the rules and regulations or policies are the right steps going forward because aid is never a solution,” Ambassador Parajuli said.

“We need to work in attracting the private sector so that there are more jobs and so on, and the same time the efforts that have been made to engage with the international financial institutions, the IMF, the World Bank, the African Development Bank are extremely important steps to get more funding and investment.

“What Zimbabwe needs at the moment is to attract investors, it needs more resources so the whole agriculture sector can be transformed. There is a huge need for investment in the agriculture sector. There is also need for investment in the infrastructure area and mobilisation of mineral resources.”

He said Government should continue in investing in education of its citizens and exploit its abundant natural resources.

Zimbabwe, Rwanda Sign Mining Agreement

28 AUG, 2019 - 00:08
 
Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando

Ishemunyoro Chingwere
Business Reporter
Herald

GOVERNMENT, through the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rwanda that will see the two countries cooperating and exchanging experiences from the extractive industries to develop their respective mining sectors.

Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando signed on behalf of the Government, while Rwanda’s Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board Minister Francis Gatare signed on behalf of his country.

The MoU is part of bilateral engagements that were initiated by President Mnangagwa and his Rwandan counterpart President Paul Kagame, which saw President Mnangagwa visiting Rwanda last month and expressing Government’s willingness to tap from the East African country’s economic revival model.

Speaking at the signing ceremony in Harare yesterday, Minister Chitando said the two countries sought to cooperate in areas of training, shared expertise to capacitate mining institutions, which allows Zimbabwe to tap best practices from Rwanda’s small scale mining sector.

“(The MoU) . . . further strengthens the economic cooperation between the Government of Zimbabwe and the Republic of Rwanda,” he said.

“In terms of the spirit of this MoU, we would like to see how the two countries can cooperate specifically in terms of sharing training facilities in the mining space.

“Secondly, we would like the two ministries, the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development in Zimbabwe and our sister ministry in Rwanda, to share expertise to capacitate the respective ministries and other institutions in the mining space to develop the potential which exist in the two countries.

“We also would like to cooperate and enhance the production of minerals in the two countries and our colleagues in Rwanda have very interesting experiences in the development of the small scale (mining) sector and we also would like to share those experiences.”

Minister Gatare said the signing of the MoU was anchored on the Africa Mining Vision, which was adopted by the African Union in 2009 and emphasises continental economic growth on the back of mineral resources.

He said for the two countries to achieve their mining sector goals, they needed sufficient private sector investment and participation, which Zimbabwe has already committed itself to facilitating under the Transitional Stabilisation Programme.

Filling Stations Closed for Rejecting EcoCash

28 AUG, 2019 - 00:08
 
 Filling stations closed for rejecting EcoCash

Fidelis Munyoro  and Wallace Ruzvidzo
Zimbabwe Herald

Government yesterday came down hard on errant service stations countrywide, closing them for refusing electronic modes of payment and only accepting hard cash.

Ruyamuro service stations in Glendale, Harare and Nzvimbo Growth Point in Chiweshe were shut down for refusing alternative payment methods, except cash.

Engen at the corner of Harare Street and Robert Mugabe Road was closed for the same reason.

Energy and Power Development Minister Fortune Chasi said Government, through the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera), was in the process of revoking licences for filling stations breaching the law, following several warnings a few months ago.

He said stern measures being taken against irresponsible filling  station operators were appropriate in the circumstances, to bring sanity in the fuel sector.

“The public has been and continues to be at the receiving end of irresponsible service station operators. This really has got to come to an end,” he said.

Minister Chasi said all along, Government has been engaging the fuel industry to desist from “unbecoming behaviour”.

“We have pointed out that we need order in the sector,” he said. “People must comply with the law.”

The minister said when conditions for licensing were not complied with, the regulator should take action, adding that he expected more action by Zera regarding errant filling stations.

Some filling stations, Minister Chasi said, were refusing electronic modes of payment because they wanted cash to enable them to buy foreign currency on the black market, despite accessing foreign currency through formal channels.

“This cannot go on and one hopes that other operators will learn something from the action that has been taken and is being taken,” he said.

“Now if you have one licence and you operate five service stations and you are caught at one you are still the miscreant, you are the same person, even if you are running other sites and those in this business need to take heed so that they will not say we never told them.

“Government gave warning months ago that the misbehaviour that we are seeing needs to come to an end. This is the beginning.”

A snap survey by The Herald last night established that some filling stations were insisting that motorists pay only in cash while a selected few still sold in United States Dollars.

Engen Service Station at Corner Robert Mugabe and Kaguvi and Total along Samora Machel Avenue and Chinhoyi Street opted for cash and swipe, cash and Eco-Cash respectively.

This development comes after Zera announced new fuel prices that vary depending on the location where the commodity is being sold, after the authority factored in the cost of transporting the fuel.

Bernie Sanders Leading in Poll as Biden Ratings Suffers Dramatic Slide

Morning Star, UK

Bernie Sanders on the campaign trail

DEMOCRATIC presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders received a major boost as a new poll showed him jointly leading the race to take on US President Donald Trump in the 2020 elections.

The data from Monmouth University published on Monday put Mr Sanders on 20 per cent — up six points since the last poll in June. He was level with Elizabeth Warren, who gained five points and is also polling at 20 per cent of the national vote.

The biggest loser was former vice-president Joe Biden, who dropped 13 points, slumping to third place on 19 points.

Monmouth polling institute director Patrick Murray said: “The main takeaway from this poll is that the Democratic race has become volatile.

“Liberal voters are starting to cast about for a candidate they can identify with. Moderate voters, who have been paying less attention, seem to be expressing doubts about Biden.”

Mr Biden’s supporters pointed to last week’s CNN poll which showed he had a 14-point lead over Mr Sanders. But others have noted an “enthusiasm challenge” for voters regarding the former VP, who has regularly faltered in stump speeches during his third presidential campaign.

The primaries will take place from February to June 2020.

Morning Star Editorial: We Must Beat Johnson With Democracy, Not Parliament

Morning Star, UK

BORIS JOHNSON’s intention to prorogue Parliament has provoked much contrived outrage from opposition politicians and Commons Speaker John Bercow.

But where have these self-proclaimed “defenders of democracy” been while Jeremy Corbyn and many progressive and labour movement figures have been demanding a genuine exercise in democracy through a general election?

This present parliamentary session has been one of the longest in modern British history and is not over yet, despite the current recess. The sitting government has been defeated time and again, in unprecedented fashion, and yet the Tories limp on.

It is nothing out of the ordinary that a new prime minister at the head of a new government wants to suspend Parliament briefly in order to prepare a new legislative programme.

Nor is there anything out of the ordinary about a parliamentary shutdown so that politicians can attend their autumn party conferences.

What is extraordinary is that Johnson should be prime minister at all and that the electorate should have been repeatedly denied the opportunity to bring this Tory government down.

It is also clear that Johnson has an ulterior motive, namely to squeeze the parliamentary time available to anti-Brexit MPs to legislate against a “no-deal” departure from the European Union, seek a fourth postponement of Brexit day and perhaps even revoke Article 50 and keep Britain in despite the referendum result of June 2016.

These factors make today’s announcement of a forthcoming prorogation abnormal. It comes in circumstances that have been created by anti-Brexit MPs and the House of Commons. They have had three years to agree a way to honour the people’s vote to leave the EU. Moreover, the vast majority of those MPs were elected on pledges to do just that.

Instead, they have tried every parliamentary trick in the book — in this case Erskine May's Parliamentary Practice — to block and delay any and every kind of exit from the EU. Their wealthy supporters outside Parliament have tried using the courts and launching public campaigns to the same end.

Now Johnson has decided to take them on with a trick or two of his own.

Had more MPs been honest about their full intention, their own protestations about prorogation being a “constitutional outrage” might at least have the ring of sincerity. As it is, they are the squawkings of a bunch of unscrupulous plotters who are now being played at their own disreputable game.

Speaker Bercow has already made plain that he is a pillar of the pro-EU Establishment, which is at least a move to the left since his days of demanding “hang Nelson Mandela!” and praising the murderous dictatorship of General Pinochet in Chile.

At the same time, nothing that Johnson says can be taken at face value either.

He proclaims his urgent passion to invest in the NHS, schools, infrastructure and community policing, yet his record is that of so many pro and anti-Brexit MPs: tax cuts and privatisation for the rich, cuts in public services and welfare benefits for the rest of us.

The danger remains that he and future prime ministers could see in prorogation a useful and usable device for suspending Parliament in order to impose reactionary policies without permission or accountability.

Caught as we are between those that would thwart the peoples will, expressed in the 2016 referendum, and a Tory government intent on pursing its reactionary agenda by any means, the only logical call is for a general election now.

We need the election of a government committed to a radical socialist agenda and a recognition that the chances of carrying through that agenda require our release from the straitjacket of the anti-democratic EU, anti-worker European Court of Justice rulings and the neoliberal single market and customs union.

Thousands Protest Johnson's Suspension of Parliament

Morning Star, UK

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament, London
THOUSANDS of people protested in Westminster this evening in response to Boris Johnson proroguing Parliament.

In a rally on College Green behind Westminster Abbey, dozens of people took to the microphone to condemn the PM for shutting down Parliament next month for around three weeks.

The Queen approving his request sparked outrage across Britain.

Anna, a citizen from Poland, said in addressing Mr Johnson: “We are going to occupy, strike, and do whatever it takes because if you disrespect Parliament and democracy, we will disrespect you.”

She said that a number of MPs were planning to “occupy” Parliament while it is suspended and urged protesters to write to their MP to ask them to do so.

“Let’s not just march and then go home. Let’s organise wherever we can to get this movement going,” she added.

Pro-EU protesters with placards saying “this is what democracy looks like” and “stop the coup” blocked the roads on their way to Parliament Square and Downing Street.

The Greens’ deputy leader Amelia Womack told the crowd: “You look like a ginormous beacon of hope.

“Our parliamentarians are the representatives of the people and they have been disregarded by a government that doesn’t care about the MPs or the people.

“Boris Johnson’s latest move is an outrage and a cynical attempt to divert Parliament. He is using this prosecute to take away our democratic rights.

“He has suspended Parliament. We shouldn’t use archaic words like prorogue to cloud what he’s really trying to do – which is to appease people like fascists and the far-right.”

Lana from Chechnya said she came to Britain 10 years ago to start a new life away from a country that would “kill you off if you protest.”

She added: “This makes me shiver with anger. This is not the reason I left. I want to live in a free country.

“This country does not belong to Boris Johnson. It belongs to you and me, the people who voted for Brexit and for Remain.”

A protester who referred to himself as Michael said: “All day at work I’ve been trembling with rage.

“This is much bigger than Brexit. The government has no plan and have no intention of doing anything at all except sell us out to US corporations.”

A petition started soon after Mr Johnson sent the request to the Queen to approve his plans to suspend Parliament has received almost 650,000 signatures by 7pm.

As it amassed more than 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate by MPs.

The petition, which was created by Mark Johnston on Parliament’s website, states that Parliament should not be prorogued unless there is another extension of the Brexit deadline or the idea of leaving the European Union is scrapped altogether.

Johnson Accused of Behaving Like a Dictator

Queen rubber stamps the unelected Prime Minister's request to suspend Parliament

A man in a giant Boris Johnson ‘head’ digs a grave at the foot of a pretend tombstone outside Downing Street

Morning Star, UK

OPPOSITION leaders accused Boris Johnson of behaving like a dictator and conducting a “smash-and-grab on our democracy” today after the Queen rubber-stamped his request to suspend Parliament for more than a month.

As the Morning Star went to print, swathes of People’s Assembly and Momentum activists were heading to a protest in Parliament Square while a series of emergency “stop the coup” rallies were kicking off in cities across Britain.

The Prime Minister’s unprecedented move will mean MPs have even less time to enact cross-party legislation to prevent a no-deal Brexit once Parliament re-opens next week.

Mr Johnson now plans to shut down Parliament just days after it resumes sitting and keep it suspended until mid-October.

His hatchet job on British democracy was signed off by the Queen after the PM’s Old Etonian pal Jacob Rees-Mogg turned up at Balmoral with the papers for her to sign.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn voiced outraged at what has been described as a turn towards dictatorship.

It also piles pressure on him to push through a vote of no confidence in Mr Johnson, having placed that option on the “back burner” after a meeting with other party leaders earlier this week.

Mr Corbyn now pledges that “the first thing we’ll do is attempt legislation to prevent what [Mr Johnson] is doing” followed by a vote of no confidence at a later stage.

He said he had “protested in the strongest possible terms” on behalf of Labour in a letter to the Queen and called for a meeting alongside other opposition members of the Privy Council.

He said: “Suspending Parliament is not acceptable, it is not on.

“What the Prime Minister is doing is a smash-and-grab on our democracy to force through a no-deal.”

“This is extraordinary. He needs to be held to account by Parliament.”

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell dubbed the move a “very British coup.”

“Whatever one’s views on Brexit, once you allow a prime minister to prevent the full and free operation of our democratic institutions, you are on a very precarious path,” he said.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said Mr Johnson was “acting like a dictator” in using the Queen’s Speech on October 14 as “cover” to shut down Parliament and “force through an extreme Brexit.”

He said: “This is a dark day for democracy in the UK. The Tory leader has no mandate, no majority and is acting like a dictator by attempting to curtail Parliament to get his way.”

Mr Johnson denied that the suspension was intended to allow him to force through a no-deal Brexit.

He said he did not want to wait until after Britain leaves the EU — which is due to happen on October 31 — “before getting on with our plans to take this country forward.” He insisted there would still be “ample time” for debate.

He received support from US President Donald Trump, who also tweeted that Mr Corbyn’s chances of winning a no-confidence vote were slim.

Mr Corbyn responded: “I think what the US president is saying is that Boris Johnson is exactly what he has been looking for, a compliant Prime Minister who will hand Britain’s public services and protections over to US corporations in a free-trade deal.”

A snap poll by YouGov found that 47 per cent of Britons felt it was unacceptable for the government to suspend Parliament in the run-up to Brexit, compared with just 27 per cent who supported it.

A petition on the Parliament website started this morning to oppose the proroguing already had more than 500,000 signatures by the time the Star went to print.

People’s Assembly organiser Shabbir Lakha said: “The neutral Queen has just allowed Boris Johnson, leading an unelected government with a confidence and supply majority of one, to suspend the country’s main democratic institution. This is beyond unacceptable.”

Labour’s Jamie Driscoll, mayor of the North of Tyne, called for action and said: “Boris Johnson’s attempt to derail democracy by proroguing Parliament has all the trappings of a coup.

“Our parents and grandparents did not fight dictators to see it happen here.”

Rail union Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: “Whatever your views on Brexit, the democratic process must underpin what is done in all our names — or civil unrest will be the result.

“It is disturbing that a Prime Minister, who only has a mandate from the Conservative Party and not from the electorate, is trying to undermine the foundations of our democracy.”

Brexit and Suspending Parliament: What Just Happened?

BBC World Service

The House of Commons could sit empty for five weeks if the extended suspension goes through
In a dramatic move on Wednesday morning, Britain's new Prime Minister Boris Johnson set in motion the suspension of the UK Parliament - which means MPs have much less time to debate Brexit, the process of the UK leaving the European Union.

Parliament is to be suspended for five weeks ahead of 31 October, the day the UK is due to leave the EU.

That's just nine weeks away.

People who want the UK to remain in the EU are calling it a coup - and even some in favour of Brexit have criticised the move.

Mr Johnson wants to start a new parliamentary session, with a fresh programme, from 14 October. Instead of a normal three-week autumn recess, parliament will now wrap up some time around 10 September.

With so little time, MPs would find it difficult to stop the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Wait, what just happened?

Parliament always stops work for a few weeks in the autumn. But this isn't a normal recess: Mr Johnson is cutting short the current parliamentary session at a critical time.

The UK was originally scheduled to leave the EU on 29 March. After Parliament rejected the deal negotiated with the EU three times, that deadline was extended. Departure day is now 31 October.

Mr Johnson, who was one of the key figures in the Leave campaign, has promised to complete Brexit "do or die" - with or without a deal.

However, most opposition members of Parliament (MPs) and many from the governing Conservative Party don't want to leave the EU without a deal. They fear it would damage the British economy, putting up prices and limiting access to the UK's biggest market.

They've threatened to bring legislation ruling out a no-deal Brexit. Failing that, they could also call a vote of no-confidence in the government.

Is it legal to suspend Parliament?

Yes. It's what normally happens between the end of one session and the beginning of the next. However, the circumstances are unusual.

A legal challenge would be difficult, since the government isn't breaking any law. It's just using parliamentary procedure, as Mr Johnson tries to fulfil his campaign promise to get the UK out of the EU.

MPs could either go along with the suspension, with the risk of a no-deal Brexit, or they could trigger an election with a vote of no confidence in the government.

The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has called the suspension a "constitutional outrage" designed to prevent MPs from debating Brexit.

How do you suspend Parliament?
What about the Queen?
She does have a say, but it's limited. Technically, the government had to ask her for permission to suspend Parliament.

This is normally a formality: the Queen keeps out of politics. If she had refused, that would have been unprecedented.

She did not refuse.

What happens next?

Good question.

Parliament will go back to work next Tuesday 3 September, but will then go into recess.

If Mr Johnson gets his way, Parliament returns on 14 October, two-and-a-half weeks before the UK leaves the EU.

However, if MPs pass a vote of no-confidence before 10 September, there could be a general election in October.

If there's an election, will Brexit still happen?

That depends. If the Conservatives win, then yes. They're ahead in the opinion polls, at about 31% last week, after Mr Johnson took over from the previous Prime Minister, Theresa May, in July.

The main opposition Labour Party is trailing by 10 to 12 points, on about 21%. Labour is divided between traditional working-class areas, which tend to support Brexit, and voters in cities like London who are more in favour of remaining in the EU.

But a Conservative win is not necessarily in the bag. Other parties, including the centre-left Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Nationalists, are all staunchly opposed to Brexit on any terms.

And then there's the Brexit Party under Nigel Farage, whose central policy is to get the UK out of the EU.

The fluid political situation and tight opinion polls make it difficult to say who might get a majority, if anyone.

This makes any election difficult to predict. Just ask Mrs May: she called an early election in 2017 but returned with a reduced majority, dependent on 10 MPs from Northern Ireland.

As a result, she had to agree to a deal which would keep the UK aligned with EU rules for longer than Brexit supporters would accept.

And so here we are.

Successful Test-fire of Newly Developed Super-large Multiple Rocket Launch System Held

Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, Chairman of the DPRK State Affairs Commission and Supreme Commander of the armed forces of the DPRK, oversaw the test-fire of a new super-large multiple rocket launch system on August 24.

Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un learnt about the new weapon development and gave an order to fire.

The test-fire proved that all the tactical and technological specifications of the system correctly reached the preset indices.

He gave high appreciation, saying that it is, indeed, a great weapon, our young defence scientists are so clever as to conceive out of their own heads and design and complete the weapon system at one go-off although they have never seen it, and that they have done a great work.

What made him happy today is that a contingent of young and promising talents who will shoulder upon the rapid development of the Juche-oriented defence industry grow in the course of the new weapon development, he noted, saying with pride that they are precious treasure and wealth of the country which can be bartered for nothing and that the Juche-oriented defence industry will steadily be developed by the talented defence scientists and technicians faithful to the Party.

Each Juche-oriented weapon developed and completed by us reflects the greatness of the WPK which provided a powerful war deterrent capable of firmly defending Korean-style socialism with the responsibility for the destiny and future of the country and the people and the ennobling loyalty of our defence scientists who are working with patriotic devotion in support of the Party’s leadership, he said.

August 24 is, indeed, an unforgettable good day and that day three years ago we succeeded even in the underwater launch test of ballistic missile from a strategic submarine which only a few countries have in the world, he noted, recollecting with his dear comrades-in-arms the unforgettable days of developing and completing strategic weapons by braving every manner of trial.

The crucial mission of our defense industry, he stressed, is to make the national defence capability impregnable enough to defend the Party, revolution, country and people, to guarantee the final victory of the revolution and to lead and give a strong impetus to the building of a powerful socialist nation. He then underscored the need to push ahead with an indomitable offensive to put our strength onto the level desired by us so as to continue to step up the development of Korean-style strategic and tactical weapons for crushing the mounting military threats and pressure offensive of the hostile forces.

While in his guidance he was accompanied by leading officials of the WPK Central Committee and the field of defence science, including Ri Pyong Chol, Kim Jong Sik, Jang Chang Ha, Jon Il Ho and Jong Sung Il.

KCNA

Japan’s Military Moves Will End Up In Ruin

The Japan Defence Ministry announced recently that it officially decided to introduce F-35B to the air "Self-defence Force".

This reckless act is aimed at turning the country into a military power and realizing its overseas expansion at any cost by bolstering the attack ability of the SDF.

The introduction of the fighter also aims at the operation of carrier-level Izmo escort ship.

Military experts comment that the combination of F-35B with an attack landing ship will help the fleet acquire a "qualitative surge" in attack capability, contending that their overall combat power will be no less than a US carrier equipped with F/A-18E/F.

Japan armed the air SDF with the state-of-the art fighter and made the naval SDF's possession of a carrier a fait accompli. This shows the true colours of Japan as an aggressor country which has thrown off its mask of "exclusive defence" that had been so far kept for mere form's sake.

Japan is rushing headlong into a war state to inflict disaster on humankind again, indifferent to the trend of regional situation.

Under the excuse of coping with "threats" from someone, the Abe group has increased the military spending to hit the historical high for seven consecutive years and recently announced that it would include the record of over 5 300 billion yen to the estimated budget for the next year.

By setting up a "space operational force" with a basic mission of constantly monitoring space and an electronic warfare unit in the ground SDF, Japan intends to expand the military operational theatre of the SDF to space and cyber space, to say nothing of the sky, the land and the sea.

Today, the SDF have turned into aggressor forces capable of fighting a war at any time in any place beyond the boundary of the archipelago.

It is the invariable ambition of the Abe group to retake the status of former colonial power with samurai descendents overheated with reinvasion aboard carriers equipped with preemptive attack capabilities under the fluttering "flag of a rising sun shedding rays" as the Japanese imperialists did in the last century.

Too much obsession with ambition will lead to ruin.

It is a lesson taught by the shameful defeat of Japan that defiance of people's warnings, greed for aggression and reckless frenzy will bring only miserable ruin.

Not only the Asian people who underwent pain and misfortune at the hands of the Japanese imperialists in the past but also the international community will never remain an onlooker to Japan's moves for becoming a military power and the unrestricted overseas advance of the SDF.

Japan is well advised not to forget that its push for becoming a war state will end up in the ruin of the island country.

KCNA

Rodong Sinmun Delegation Meets Head of Publicity Department of CPC Central Committee

A delegation of the Rodong Sinmun of the DPRK headed by Deputy Editor-in-Chief Kim Jin Su on a visit to China met and had a talk with Huang Kunming, member of the Political Bureau, member of the Secretariat and head of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on August 23.

Huang Kunming said that the friendly relations between China and the DPRK, common precious wealth provided by the leaders of the elder generations of the two countries, open a new historic chapter thanks to the five rounds of meetings between General Secretary Xi Jinping and Chairman Kim Jong Un.

He hoped that the Korean people would achieve excellent successes in the struggle for implementing the five-year strategy for national economic development under the wise leadership of Kim Jong Un. He expressed his expectation that the party papers of the two countries would boost exchange and cooperation to promote the development of traditional friendship between China and the DPRK.

Present there were the DPRK ambassador to China and officials of the People's Daily of China.

KCNA

Ri Yong Ho Issues a Statement against Pompeo

DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho made public the following statement August 23:

US State Secretary Pompeo, during an interview with a US newspaper on August 21, said if the DPRK does not set out to denuclearize itself, the US will maintain the strongest sanctions in history to make it confirm that the denuclearization is the right way.

Just as a saying goes "A crow never becomes whiter for often washing", he is the diehard toxin of the US diplomacy.

On April 24 he talked about a "lane change" in an interview with the US media, only to be snubbed.

Nothing decent can be expected from Pompeo, a man subject to strong censure from many countries for adopting the most wicked methods of the CIA as diplomatic means in every part of the world. But what arouses concerns is a string of senseless remarks made by the man leading the US negotiation team now that the DPRK-US dialogue is high on the agenda.

There is a proverb saying "Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind". Now that he made a rhetoric about the DPRK without elementary obligation as a human being, losing his face as the diplomatic leader of a country, I cannot but respond to it in kind.

Is he really the man who would beg for denuclearization and pledge the establishment of new DPRK-US relations when he met the Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK during his several visits to Pyongyang?

He who has no shame has no conscience. He is truly impudent enough to utter such thoughtless words which only leave us disappointed and sceptical as to whether we can solve any problem with such a guy.

The whole world understands that the US is the chieftain which spawned the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula and which makes its solution difficult.

Furthermore, what the US has done since the adoption of the June 12 DPRK-US joint statement was the  holding of war exercises against the dialogue partner nonstop on and around the Korean peninsula and the shipping of strategic assets to it only to make the issue further complicated.

Now he repeats to resort to the hackneyed sanctions rhetoric, misleading the truth. He must be a trouble-maker bereft of sensible cogitative power and rational judgment as he only casts dark shadow over the prospect of the DPRK-US negotiations.

All things to which Pompeo has thrusted himself go wrong and end up in failure though they showed signs of positive developments. He surely seems to be more interested in realizing his future "political ambition" rather than the current foreign policy of his country.

We have already given ample explanation enough to be understood by the US side and also given it enough time out of maximum patience.

If the US still has a pipe dream of gaining everything from sanctions, we are given the alternatives of leaving it dreaming that same dream to its heart's content or to wake it up from the dream.

We are ready for both dialogue and stand-off.

The US is sadly mistaken if it still thinks of standing in confrontation with the DPRK with sanctions, not dropping its confrontational stand.

Then, we will remain as the biggest "threat" to the US for long and long and will make it understand for sure what it has to do for the denuclearization.

Japan Urged to Drop Bad Habit of Faulting Others and Redress Past Crimes

"Specified missing persons", who were suspected "to have been abducted by north Korea," have been found one after another in Japan.

The police of Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan recently announced that a man in his seventies who had gone missing in 1974 was found and that the findings ruled out the possibility of being abducted.

The man who, Japan asserted, had been "abducted" by the DPRK was found to live in his own country for decades, which leaves no excuses for Japan to defend itself.

It clearly shows once again that "the issue of Japanese abducted by north Korea" much touted by Japan was an absurd make-up.

It comes to be another occasion to vividly expose the sinister intention of Japan persisting in the already worn-out "abduction issue", bringing a disgrace on Japan drawing the international community's ridicule.

The "abduction issue" is one of the most flagrant means exploited by the Japanese reactionaries to stifle the DPRK.

It is a stereotyped trick of Japan to groundlessly connect suicides and missing persons, inevitable products of its social evils, with the DPRK and spread "rumors about suspicion of abduction by north Korea."

Years ago, a member of the House of Representatives of Japan was so angry with the Japanese team's defeat in a World Cup qualifier against the DPRK team to say that if Japan had won, the Japanese players would have been abducted and that the coach did much for preventing the abduction. Such reckless remarks show the absurdity of Japan's clamour for "abduction".

The Abe group has become all the more desperate in the "abduction issue" campaign with each passing day.

Setting "the settlement of abduction issue as its most important task," the Abe group is concentrating all the efforts of the government, the Diet and non-governmental organizations on it and, at the same time, is going to internationalize and politicize it.

The Japanese reactionaries tried to put the "abduction issue" on the DPRK-US negotiating table, which was snubbed only. Their despicable behaviour is a manifestation of the cunning nature of islanders who are accustomed to care only for their own interests by pulling up others.

Japan's cheat never works on anyone.

Clear is the aim sought by the Japanese authorities in misleading the world public opinion with the already settled "abduction issue".

It is their sinister intention to defame the dignified DPRK by branding it as a "terrorist state", act the part of "victim" in the eyes of the international community and thus get rid of the responsibility for the past crimes.

As acknowledged by the international community, the unethical crimes committed by the Japanese imperialists in the last century are the heinous ones to which no statute of limitations is applicable.

In particular, the hideous abduction of Koreans by Japan can never be buried in oblivion.

Japan must clearly understand that the liquidation of the past is its unavoidable responsibility.

Japan's desperate efforts to cover up its past crimes with the deceptive "abduction" farce will only double the will of the Korean people to settle accounts with it.

Japan had better abandon its bad habit of faulting others and properly liquidate its dirty past.

KCNA

Defender of Socialist Cause

Chairman Kim Jong Il’s visit to Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division of the Korean People’s Army on August 25, Juche 49 (1960) was a significant event that proclaimed the start of his Songun-based revolutionary leadership.

From that meaningful day until the last days of his life, he defended his country and people and socialism and ushered in a new era of building a powerful nation under the uplifted banner of Songun.

Having made it his lifelong mission to carry through President Kim Il Sung’s idea of giving priority to arms, he, with a deep insight into the demands of the rapidly-changing era and the developing revolution, formulated the Songun idea in an all round way through his energetic ideological and theoretical activities. He also established a system of state administration in which national defence is given priority, which embodied the theories and principles of the Songun revolution, and reorganized and readjusted all fields in line with the requirements of Songun, thereby providing a sure political and institutional guarantee for realizing the cause of Songun.

The harsher the trials facing the Korean revolution were, the more he placed the Korean People’s Army in the vanguard as the main force and buttress of the revolution, and wisely led all the Korean people in the struggle to firmly defend socialism.

He inspected the Dwarf Pine Post in the mid-1990s when the imperialists went to extremes in their attempts to isolate and stifle the DPRK. This constituted the declaration of his steadfast will to firmly grasp the arms and invariably follow the road of Songun until the days when the revolution would win final victory.

He gave ceaseless on-site guidance to KPA units including those over Chol Pass, on Mt Osong, Cho Island and in Panmunjom, and shattered the enemies’ moves to start a war against the DPRK at every step through his matchless courage and mettle, ever-victorious strategies and tactics.

He in his field wear visited wherever there were his soldiers even in the face of biting cold in midwinter and scorching weather in midsummer, taking good care of their combat and political training as well as living conditions and cultural and leisure activities.

Thanks to his energetic leadership, the KPA developed into a powerful army in which the unified command system of the Workers’ Party of Korea was thoroughly established and which is armed fully with the spirit of the defending the leader to the death and the spirit of implementing his instructions whatever the cost.

The Chairman’s unshakeable faith and painstaking, patriotic efforts to increase the country’s defence capabilities without any delay whatever the harsh trials and difficulties and whatever the cost bore good results; the DPRK’s defence industry developed into an industry that can readily manufacture any modern and powerful military hardware capable of destroying the enemies at a stroke.

Kim Jong Il ushered in a new era of building a powerful socialist nation and laid lasting foundations for its implementation on the strength of Songun.

Having unfolded during the days of the Arduous March and forced march a grand plan for building the best country in the world, one with great national strength that is ever-prospering and whose people are living happily without envying anyone in the world, he put forward the People’s Army at the forefront of creating miraculous achievements and wisely led all the people in their effort to bring about great leaps and great innovations on all the fronts of socialist construction by emulating the revolutionary soldier spirit.

The Kanggye spirit was created, the torch of Songgang was kindled and the hot wind of the revolutionary upsurges swept across the country—all these remarkable achievements are ascribable to the Chairman’s continued forced march of field guidance with super-human energy. Amid the flames of the industrial revolution in the new century flaring up, breakthroughs were made for the era of the knowledge economy, modern production bases mushroomed and signal successes were achieved in succession including the manufacture and launch of artificial satellites. The land across the country was realigned as befits socialist Korea, invaluable assets for improving the people’s living standards were created and model works representative of socialist culture were created in large numbers.

In this way, he corroborated the truth that socialism can surely be defended and advanced victoriously in any adversity by relying on the force of arms through his Songun-based revolutionary leadership.

The Korean people significantly celebrate August 25 as the Day of Songun.

HK Should Get on Technology Fast Track with Mainland

By Wong Tsz Yuen
Global Times
2019/8/28 19:13:41

Hong Kong lagging in technological development; cooperation with mainland necessary

At the end of July, Hong Kong installed 50 "smart lamp posts," which have several features including a Bluetooth detector for traffic flow, a sensor for weather and an artificial intelligence, panoramic camera. The devices installed have triggered the concerns of some younger generations, who worry that their privacy may be invaded and monitored. During a protest on Saturday, the smart lamp posts became the targets of certain radical protesters' vandalism. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government has condemned the protesters' violence. Vandalism is unreasonable given that the HKSAR has repeatedly clarified the purpose of installing the smart lamp posts.

The incident also showed that many Hong Kong residents are not accepting of new technologies. Hong Kong has been lagging in terms of technology innovation.

The erection of smart lamp posts is part of a plan in the Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong. The HKSAR government plans to install 400 such lamp posts in batches, alongside 5G mobile communication infrastructure, providing convenient information services and collecting real-time city data. However, the plan has faced challenges as it is put into practice. Apart from the distrust of Hong Kong residents, Hong Kong's technology development faces several other obstacles, including a lack of digital development prospects, a straggling scientific innovation atmosphere, a limited market size and relatively weak technology education.

Despite the fact that Hong Kong has been competitive as an international financial center, the city doesn't show strong innovative capabilities and lacks a sufficient supply of technology workers and engineers, according to The Global Competitiveness Report. After manufacturing industries moved northward, Hong Kong has appeared de-industrialized and the city's manufacturing sector has hollowed out. The Chinese mainland, on the other hand, has been making great strides in the technology world, with its Global Innovation Index ranking climbing from 43rd place in 2009 to 14th in 2019.

Since the establishment of the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Bureau in 2015, the HKSAR government has spent its time building innovation platforms, setting up innovation investment funds and launching technology talent entry plans. These moves focus on eight aspects of Hong Kong's bid to become an international innovation and science center, including the development of resources, talent and research infrastructure. But Hong Kong has smaller research circles than other international metropolitans. Its earlier research and development (R&D) investment environment is due to mature further. Students who graduated from university majors related to R&D have less attractive career prospects than those who studied business and finance, law or medicine. This has formulated a vicious cycle in Hong Kong's R&D staff shortages.

In fact, Hong Kong has advantages in talent and internationalization, and also benefits from the "one country, two systems" principle. What the city needs to do is release its R&D potential and promote its own influence.

The HKSAR government should nurture a comprehensive R&D environment. It also needs to draft a long-term development strategy that includes the addition of grants to universities, pushes international-level cooperation with local R&D institutions, fosters a greater space for sustainable development and releases more preferential policies.

Through favorable policies, a suitable business environment, education system and multi-level cooperation, Hong Kong can push forward all-around technology innovation.

Additionally, the central government has been supporting Hong Kong's innovation development. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area aims to build a Chinese Silicon Valley. Hong Kong should seize the Greater Bay Area opportunity, achieve complementary development with other cities in the region and break the ceiling of its economic development.

Colleges and universities in Hong Kong should engage in cooperation with mainland enterprises. Moreover, Hong Kong and the mainland should form partnerships in financial technology, artificial intelligence and the pharmaceutical industry.

Throughout history, every technology revolution has reshuffled the global economic structure. Now, a new technological revolution has emerged and the Greater Bay Area era is approaching. Every revolution has its dividends. These dividends have been laid in front of Hong Kong - whether it will choose to live off its past achievements or take its chance and get on the fast development track will determine the city's destiny.

The author is a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong & Macao Studies and a senior reporter from Hong Kong Phoenix Television. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn

Tracking Development: Railway is the Key

By Ding Gang
Global Times
2019/8/28 19:23:40

It was a wonderful experience traveling from Zhangjiakou, a city in North China's Hebei Province, to Beijing by train K42. Although high-speed trains have become a popular choice for foreign visitors, the slower "green trains" can help them see a fuller picture of China. The sights through the windows of high-speed and slower trains can offer a 360 degree view of China.

Railway is a benchmark for the development of rising powers, especially those with large populations and expansive territory. It is also a scale to measure the level of industrialization.

The K42 train runs though high mountains and lofty hills of northwestern Beijing, and crosses the Yongding River several times, at a speed of around 40 kilometers per hour.

The line was prospected and chosen by China's famous railway engineer Zhan Tianyou more than a century ago. But due to the mighty challenge and high costs, Zhan gave up this track and selected another route through the Badaling Great Wall.

In 1940, Japanese aggressors attempted to build this railway in a bid to loot coal resources in Datong, North China's Shanxi Province, but had to abandon the construction after some piling works were completed.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the central government restarted building the 121-kilometer-long railway. The construction began in September 1952 and the line was opened to traffic three years later. The line was then built as a double-track railway in 1972 and was electrified in 1984. Renovations had continued until 2017, when it was moved underground to ensure the western extension of Chang'an Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Beijing.

Meanwhile, another high-speed rail line that will run through the mountains of northwestern Beijing is under construction, and is expected to begin operations by the end of 2019. It will serve the 2022 Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou.

By then, it will take only around 50 minutes to travel from Beijing to Zhangjiakou, while the K42 train I rode took around 3.5 hours.

This is the epitome of the history of China's railway development in the past seven decades and also presents a miniature view of China's industrialization process. Although every step forward came with hardships and even deadlocks, China continued to advance and eventually achieved its goal.

Many of the world's vast emerging economies have yet to achieve industrialization, and some of them have even regressed. This can be seen from the development of railways.

By the year 1989, Argentina's total length of usable railways was 35,000 kilometers. By 2003, it shrank to more than 1,000 kilometers. When Indian won independence in 1947, its total length of railways was over 53,000 kilometers, far more than China's 21,000 kilometers when the People's Republic of China was established in 1949. But now, although the length of Indian railways has increased by more than 10,000 kilometers, electrified railways span just more than 20,000 kilometers. The length of China's electrified railways has already reached 87,000 kilometers.

There is a powerful and effective system behind the development of Chinese railways. The system can not only bring together human, material and financial resources to construct railway projects, but can also maintain long-term and continued upgradation.

When the system frees the Chinese people's hard-working spirit through reform and opening-up, China's development will step on the gas. This is an important experience that China's development went through.

Other developing countries, especially large countries such as India, Argentina, Brazil and Indonesia, must first stop the backset of deindustrialization, no matter what development mode they choose. Second, they need to set policy foundation for the start of industrialization. Third, they should cultivate system and values that keep promoting industrialization and prevent it from retroversion.

From this perspective, although China's experience is hard to use for reference, it can be an important inspiration. The Belt and Road Initiative that China is promoting also spreads important ideas of how to realize industrialization.

The author is a senior editor with People's Daily, and currently a senior fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China. dinggang@globaltimes.com.cn. Follow him on Twitter @dinggangchina

Vietnam Can’t Cut China Industry Links over 5G Issue

By Hu Weijia
Global Times
2019/8/28 20:58:40

Viettel Group, Vietnam's largest mobile telecom operator, has reportedly excluded China's  Huawei from its 5G rollout. If Vietnam bans Huawei because of geopolitical considerations, the Vietnamese economy will be hit harder by such action than the Chinese one.

Vietnam has the possibility of being the biggest winner from the shift in supply chains caused by the trade war between China and the US, as some manufacturers relocate their production to the Southeast Asian country. The reorganization of the Asian industrial chain provides Vietnam with an opportunity to renew its role as an increasingly important import source for the US. According to data from Vietnam Briefing, Vietnam's exports to the US rose 28.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019.

However, Vietnam has a population of just about 95 million. It's impossible for the small Southeast Asian nation to build an all-encompassing industrial chain like the one that has been established in China.

Vietnam has to purchase components and parts from other Asian countries, adding to evidence that its manufacturing rise cannot survive without the Asian supply chain.

If Vietnam wants to make itself a processing base for the US, the country needs the support of Chinese suppliers. In the first quarter of this year, when Vietnam exported more goods to the US, Vietnam's imports from China rose 12.3 percent year-on-year. It's impossible to cut the industrial, capital and technology links between China and Vietnam.

Viettel insisted its decision not to use Huawei equipment was a technical one and not tied to geopolitical considerations, according to Bloomberg.

However, it will take more time to say if this statement is credible. The US has significant clout in Southeast Asia, and it is an important export destination for Vietnam. It's difficult for Vietnam to remain unaffected by Washington's hostility toward Huawei.

If Vietnam excluded Huawei from its 5G rollout because of geopolitical considerations, it will be seen as a signal that Vietnam is choosing sides between China and the US. Such actions will hit its industrial cooperation with China. Frankly speaking, Vietnam can't afford that. The country will lose the opportunity offered by the China-US trade war.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn

Philippines Avoids Being US Pawn

Global Times
2019/8/28 21:23:41

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte began his visit to China on Wednesday. Recently, strong opinions on the South China Sea issue inside the Philippines have increased, and the US has been urging the Philippines to take a tougher stance on China. Some in the US and the Philippines are thus observing Duterte's visit from these perspectives. However, a larger theme of China-Philippines relations is strengthening cooperation. Whether Duterte's visit will succeed depends on whether the two sides can make progress in this regard.

During President Xi Jinping's state visit to the Philippines in 2018, the two countries signed major cooperation agreements, including one on joint development of oil and gas in the South China Sea, which is of great significance to the region.

Duterte's visit is expected to further promote the implementation of this decision.

Since Duterte took office in 2016, he has changed his country's pro-US route to a pragmatic South China Sea policy, greatly easing China-Philippines tensions. The new route has brought about rapid development of China-Philippines economic cooperation, made the Philippines a key country along the routes of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, and attracted more Chinese investment. The Philippines' foreign relations have thus been reshaped.

Cooling down the South China Sea issue, promoting China-Philippines cooperation, stopping to serve as a US pawn in the South China Sea, and formulating the Philippines' own geopolitical initiative undoubtedly maximize Philippine interests.

Duterte has more than once criticized the US for the latter's attempts to make use of the Philippines as a bait - inciting Manila to confront Beijing on the South China Sea issue. This stems from his personal strategic awareness. It is also the country's wisdom. Once the South China Sea issue is intensified, the situation will be unfavorable to the Philippines. And the US will never take responsibility for its "bait." Duterte has made this clear.

But the Philippines copies the US political system. By hyping the South China Sea issue, the opposition is not aiming at benefiting the Philippines, but at expanding its own influence. Moreover, the US is desperate to reactivate the Philippines as a pawn.

Yet it is believed that China and the Philippines will continue to expand cooperation, no matter how much interference there will be.

Duterte won an overwhelming victory in the midterm elections in May, although the opposition fiercely attacked his policy toward China. This shows that pro-US public opinion does not represent the majority of the Philippine people.

The development of China-Philippine relations should be controlled by the two countries and peoples. It should not be hijacked by a few people or even by a third party.

In the US-launched trade war against China, Washington needs new leverage against Beijing. For the Philippines, maintaining its resolve is essential to protect its own interests. It is pathetic to be a pawn. The world's geopolitical history has repeatedly proven this.