Plans are finally in motion for a railway that runs from China to Europe through Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, after being on the table for two decades. Some Central Asian residents remain skeptical of the project, while others anticipate it will be an economic boon for the region.
The deal, reached in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s summit last month, cements a feasibility study that requires the transportation authorities of all countries involved to complete an assessment of the project by the middle of next year, then begin construction.
The new route, costing roughly $4.5 billion, would be an alternative to China’s current dependence on a route through Russia and Kazakhstan for overland transit to Europe. That route has become politically problematic because of Western sanctions on Russia prompted by President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Central Asian skeptics
Some Central Asian residents say their country has been included as a means to an end for other countries and are doubtful the latest rail project will benefit them.
“Central Asians have always waved at containers carrying someone else’s freight elsewhere,” said a young attendant on Uzbekistan’s Afrosiyob domestic express train who calls himself Aziz and does not want to use his real name.
“Another document taking us nowhere,” said Hikmat, a 33-year-old trader in the Southern Uzbek city of Samarkand, who prefers not to use his last name, fearing his criticism could hurt his partnerships in Kyrgyzstan and China. “What are we getting from this? Weren’t the governments already studying feasibility?”
VOA heard similar cynicism from residents in Kyrgyzstan. Analyst Sovetbek Zikirov pointed out that many in Central Asia believe China is more interested in shipping its products through the region than in investing locally or creating jobs.
“It’s not seeking more presence in our market,” Zikirov told VOA.
Hopeful rail supporters
The adoption of a memorandum on September 14, however, has renewed hope among some officials in Central Asia that a new railway will connect their goods to faraway markets, and some urge Bishkek to move faster.
Kyrgyz observer Bektemir Ziyadinov wrote via Facebook that infrastructure projects would elevate the country’s image and credibility.
“This railway is not just a great opportunity for Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan but will create an awesome alternative for China, which currently transits goods mainly via Kazakhstan,” said Zilola Yunusova, head of the Uzbek Foreign Ministry’s research unit. “This new route is 900 kilometers shorter. Such new corridors are especially relevant now when big economies face global supply chains and pandemic bottlenecks.”
Yunusova, whose center tackles regional projects, told VOA the deal “demonstrates strong political resolve. Now, the governments will consider each other’s proposals and come to agreement on the route and investments.”
She admitted that the document lacks details but said it commits to steps for the next year so that construction can begin in 2023.
Uzbek, Kyrgyz, and Chinese officials stress that their governments are eager to collaborate on mapping and funding of the railway project.
“We all know China is very interested to realize this project as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),” Yunusova said.
Kyrgyz Transportation and Communications Minister Erkinbek Osoyev, who signed the deal, said Kyrgyz specialists are already working with Chinese counterparts.
“The deadline for the technical and economic assessment is no later than June 1, 2023,” a September 14 Kyrgyz statement noted. “The sides are to equally share the expenses for the technical and economic justification of the project.”
China’s Foreign Ministry calls the agreement “important progress in the construction of a major transport route in the Eurasian continent.”
For Bishkek and Tashkent, this “faster and shorter” railway should emerge as a southern branch of the Eurasian continental link, opening access to Southeast Asia, Western Asian and Middle Eastern markets while delivering Chinese goods to Kyrgyzstan and other parts of Central Asia en route to Europe.
Tashkent and Bishkek put high hopes on the railway’s social-economic impact, such as expanding domestic transportation services and infrastructure.
The idea for this railway has been under discussion for 20 years, but never took concrete shape until about 2018 when the leaderships in Tashkent and Bishkek started pushing for it together.
China-Central Asia relations
China’s state media Global Times quoted Zhao Huirong at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who said the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project could be “one of the most important multilateral economic cooperation projects yielded by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” although the deal only includes three of its eight members.
“More trade and logistic collaboration will develop in Xinjiang after the railway is put into operation. … The rail line is conducive to expanding the exports of the two countries’ agricultural and mineral products,” Zhao told the Global Times.
US concerns
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu said Washington is closely watching Chinese engagement with Central Asia.
“When I served as ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, I witnessed local resentment of the Chinese presence, which was often seen as exploitative, corrupt, and non-transparent,” Lu told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on September 14. “There exists a genuine fear that Belt and Road Initiative loans are creating unsustainable debt. There is fear that Chinese workers are displacing jobs for Central Asian workers.”
Lu saw significant concern in Central Asia that Beijing’s ambitions are not purely commercial.
“Fighting corrupt PRC business deals is sensitive and dangerous work. Our embassy in Kyrgyzstan has spent years working to shine a light on PRC organized crime activity, in league with former Kyrgyz corrupt officials, that robs the people of Central Asia of billions in customs revenue each year.”
The Chinese embassy has not responded to VOA’s request for comment, but Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin has said, “The so-called ‘Chinese debt trap’ is a lie made up by the U.S. and some other Western countries to deflect responsibility and blame.”
In June, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi highlighted the agreements made in the regional foreign ministers’ meeting in Kazakhstan for “win-win results.” Wang said important points at the meeting included “connectivity,” “the safe and stable operation of the China-Europe freight train,” improved customs and ensuring a “continuous supply chain.”
Hopeful skeptics
Many Uzbeks, while skeptical about the construction of a railway that has been in discussion for so many years, do hope to benefit if the cargo route becomes reality.
As Aziz, the young train attendant, remarked on the way to Samarkand, “East or West, we want the best, because we deserve the best. We want businesses transiting their goods to stop and shop here. These freight trains should finally start carrying our goods as well.”
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Google has ended its Google Translate service in mainland China, citing “low usage” of one of its flagship products by mainland China users.
The move surprised users, who said they first noticed not being able to access the function over the weekend.
“The Google Translate mobile app was also discontinued a year ago in 2021,” a Google spokesperson told VOA on Monday in response to a request for further details on the company’s decision.
The translation service had been available to mainland Chinese users since 2017.
While The Associated Press reported Monday that “it is not clear how many users were using Google Translate in China,” the South China Morning Post cited an international data tracking company’s figure of 53.5 million visits to the platform in the month of August alone.
AP noted that “the translation feature built into the Google Chrome browser also no longer functions for users in China.”
Wei Jingsheng, a leading Chinese dissident living in exile in the United States, told VOA in a phone interview Monday that in his view, Google has been trying to put on a “balancing act” — maintaining its reputation and credibility as a global internet giant operating around the world while finding a space to operate in the highly restrictive environment in China.
“It is safe to anticipate that the company is constantly under pressure from the Chinese government to meet its demands,” Wei told VOA.
“We don’t know what exactly lay behind Google’s decision to pull its translation service from China. Fifty-three-point-five million is not a small number,” he said, referring to the figured quoted by South China Morning Post.
Difficult foothold
Google said its mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” But as various media have reported, the California-based internet giant’s path to spreading its wings in mainland China over the past two decades has not been smooth.
The company pulled its search engine from the Chinese market in 2010 after the company became unwilling to abide by China’s censorship rules, AP reported on Monday.
Chinese platforms must “strictly” abide by Chinese authorities’ censorship rules and “censor keywords and topics the authorities deem politically sensitive,” AP said.
AP added that China later moved to block other Google services such as Gmail and Google Maps and noted that Google was not alone in being blocked or otherwise restricted. Chinese users are also not allowed to have Facebook accounts.
Media outlets including TechCrunch — which was the first to report Google’s shutdown of the translation platform — noted that Google’s decision came two weeks before the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, scheduled to begin on October 16.
“The Chinese government has previously blocked Google services around major political events and politically sensitive anniversaries like that of the Tiananmen Square massacre,” the online publication of high-tech news said.
Google did not respond to VOA’s question about any potential connection between the translation service being discontinued and the Communist Party Congress.
Although China boasts the world’s largest internet market, when it comes to political topics, Chinese authorities are known to impose strict limitations as to what information Chinese citizens can access or have the freedom to discuss.
Official versions of political events like the upcoming Communist Party Congress are routinely disseminated from national media down to provincial, city, county, township and village levels through a vast network of state media.
Wei explained that Chinese citizens often turn to foreign sources to get a fuller picture of what goes on behind the scenes at the Congress and other news about their own country, due to a lack of trust in official media.
“They can just copy and paste foreign-language text” and get it translated into their native language with Google Translate, he said.
“People often feel that there’s better privacy protection when they use Google and other foreign companies’ products,” Wei added, since Chinese domestic companies are uniformly obligated to comply with government requests for user information.
State institutions taking notice
Although Google Maps and now Google Translate are not accessible to ordinary Chinese users, Chinese state institutions, including state media, have been paying attention to Google’s capacity.
On April 18, two months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, People’s Daily Online, one of China’s leading state media, posted on Weibo — a Twitter- and Instagram-like social platform — a China Central Television report that Google Maps provided satellite imaging of “all of Russia’s military and strategic assets with the highest definition.”
That post received 123,000 “likes,” and was reposted more than 5,200 times. A commentator under the name of “boyfriend of the nation” wrote, “Look everyone, this is what we will encounter later on.”
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«Детективи БЕБ здійснюють досудове розслідування у 22 кримінальних провадженнях щодо правопорушень в економічній сфері, найчастіше це ухилення від сплати податків»
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Державна російська компанія «Газпром» у вівторок попередила Молдову про припинення постачання газу через несплату рахунків.
«Одночасно з вини молдавської сторони досі не укладено угоди про врегулювання історичної заборгованості за поставлений газ у попередні роки. З цієї причини «Газпром» має право будь-якої миті розірвати чинний контракт», – повідомила російська компанія у телеграмі.
У «Газпромі» додають, що залишають за собою право на повне припинення поставок у разі порушення зобов’язання щодо оплати газу до 20 жовтня.
Молдова наразі не реагувала на це повідомлення російського газового монополіста.
Проблеми щодо газопостачання та оплати за російський газ у Молдови почалися ще минулого року.
Деякі спостерігачі стверджують, що Росія використовує енергетику проти бідної країни, затиснутої між членом Євросоюзу Румунією та Україною, через обрання прозахідної президентки Майї Санду в 2020 році замість підтримуваного Росією тодішнього президента Ігоря Додона. Росія відкинула ці звинувачення.
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Молдова є однією з найбідніших держав Європи. Вона зіткнулася з одними з найважчих наслідків семимісячного повномасштабного вторгнення Росії в сусідню Україну, включаючи значні потоки українських біженців і занепокоєння, що російські військові можуть потім спробувати окупувати її територію.
Проєвропейський уряд у Молдові прискорив подачу своєї заявки на вступ до Євросоюзу після того, як Росія вторглася в Україну, і разом з Україною отримав статус кандидата.
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Вибух стався на заводі з виробництва зброї «Арсенал» у місті Казанлик
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Former German chancellor Angela Merkel has won the prestigious Nansen Award from the U.N. refugee agency, for providing a haven for more than 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers fleeing violence and persecution in Syria.
Angela Merkel welcomed the desperate people at the height of the Syrian conflict in 2015 and 2016, when other countries were turning their backs on them.
In announcing the award, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said Merkel displayed great moral and political courage by helping more than a million refugees survive and rebuild their lives.
UNHCR spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh says Merkel has helped to highlight the plight of refugees globally. He says she has shown what can be achieved when politicians work to find solutions to challenging situations rather than shifting responsibility to others.
“As well as protecting people forced to flee war, persecution and human rights abuses, the former chancellor was the driving force behind Germany’s collective efforts to receive them and to help them integrate into their new homes through education and training programs, employment schemes, and labor market integration,” said Saltmarsh.
The award is named after Norwegian explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen. It is given to an individual, group or organization that has gone above and beyond the call of duty to protect refugees.
The award selection committee also has honored four regional winners. They are an all-volunteer refugee firefighting group in Mauritania in West Africa; a refugee support cacao cooperative in Costa Rica in the Americas; humanitarian organization Meikse Myanmar that assists internally displaced people among others in Asia and the Pacific; and an Iraqi gynecologist who provides medical and psychological care to Yazidi girls and women in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Nansen award will be presented to Merkel and the four regional winners at a ceremony in Geneva October 10. For Merkel, the award carries a cash prize of $150,000. Each of the regional laureates will receive $50,000.
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«Президент ще раз розставив крапки над і… Донецьк, Луганськ, Херсон, Запоріжжя, Крим – юрисдикція виключно України» – прокоментували указ Зеленського в Офісі президента
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Бойко Борисов (на фото) каже, що готовий відмовитися від посади прем’єра, якщо це необхідно для створення коаліції
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Як оголосив 4 жовтня Нобелівський комітет, їх нагородять за «експерименти із заплутаними фотонами, відкриття порушення нерівностей Белла і новаторство у квантовій інформатиці»
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У серпні минулого року слідчі СБУ завершили досудове розслідування щодо Безлера. Нинішнє місце його перебування невідоме
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«Хранителів клятви» звинувачують у змові про штурм Капітолію з метою перешкодити Конгресу сертифікувати перемогу Джо Байдена на президентських виборах
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Albanian authorities Monday denied the country’s police system was hacked after local media reported that data on people being investigated for crimes was released from an Iranian hacking group.
Albanian media reported a leaked file with a list of suspected people, from allegedly the police database, who are being probed on different crimes.
Ervin Karamuco, a criminology professor, was quoted in social media as saying a channel called Homeland Justice had published 1.7 gigabytes of criminal data from the Memex police system.
State police denied its Memex system was damaged but urged local media not to publish data from hackers.
Interior Minister Bledi Cuci said that list had not come from the criminal police database. He said Microsoft and the FBI were helping Albanian authorities recuperate the affected systems.
Speaking at the Parliament, Prime Minister Edi Rama said the list aimed at creating social disturbances by issuing a “photo-edited list mixing criminals with politicians, with journalists.”
Last month Albania cut diplomatic ties with Iran over a July 15 cyberattack that temporarily shut down numerous Albanian government digital services and websites. Rama called the disruption an act of “state aggression.”
After Tirana severed ties with Tehran, a second cyberattack from the same Iranian source struck an information system that records Albanian border entries and exits, creating delays for travelers.
NATO, the United States and the European Union denounced the attack and supported Albania’s move to cut diplomatic ties with Tehran. The U.S. government-imposed sanctions on Iran’s intelligence agency and its leadership in response to the July cyberattack.
Albania, a NATO member, is being helped by the alliance, the U.S. and the EU to investigate and install better cyber defenses.
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Afghanistan’s National Institute of Music has performed its first concert in its new home of Lisbon, Portugal. Members of the exiled school are determined to keep Afghan music alive even though they can’t play in their homeland. VOA’s Farkhunda Paimani and Munaza Shaheed attended the concert in Lisbon and filed this report narrated by Amy Katz. Camera: Nawid Orokzai
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За даними ЗМІ, це був п’ятий запуск за тиждень
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Глава Офісу президента Андрій Єрмак оприлюднив фото зустрічі
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«Коли хтось намагається вкрасти колеса вашої Tesla, це не робить їх законним власником автомобіля чи коліс»
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Новий пакет військової допомоги США, як очікується, буде оголошено вже у вівторок, 4 жовтня
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The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will hear two cases seeking to hold social media companies financially responsible for terrorist attacks.
Relatives of people killed in terrorist attacks in France and Turkey had sued Google, Twitter and Facebook. They accused the companies of helping terrorists spread their message and radicalize new recruits.
The court will hear the cases this term, which began Monday, with a decision expected before the court recesses for the summer, usually in late June. The court did not say when it would hear arguments, but the court has already filled its argument calendar for October and November.
One of the cases the justices will hear involves Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen studying in Paris. The Cal State Long Beach student was one of 130 people killed in Islamic State group attacks in November 2015. The attackers struck cafes, outside the French national stadium and inside the Bataclan theater. Gonzalez died in an attack at La Belle Equipe bistro.
Gonzalez’s relatives sued Google, which owns YouTube, saying the platform had helped the Islamic State group by allowing it to post hundreds of videos that helped incite violence and recruit potential supporters. Gonzalez’s relatives said that the company’s computer algorithms recommended those videos to viewers most likely to be interested in them.
But a judge dismissed the case and a federal appeals court upheld the ruling. Under U.S. law — specifically Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — internet companies are generally exempt from liability for the material users post on their networks.
The other case the court agreed to hear involves Jordanian citizen Nawras Alassaf. He died in the 2017 attack on the Reina nightclub in Istanbul where a gunman affiliated with the Islamic State killed 39 people.
Alassaf’s relatives sued Twitter, Google and Facebook for aiding terrorism, arguing that the platforms helped the Islamic State grow and did not go far enough in trying to curb terrorist activity on their platforms. A lower court let the case proceed.
your ad hereU.N. economists warn the monetary and fiscal policies of advanced economies risk plunging the world into a recession worse than the financial crisis of 2008. UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has issued its annual Trade and Development Report 2022.
The authors of the report warn the world is teetering on the edge of a recession due to bad policy decisions by advanced economies, combined with cascading crises resulting from climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine.
They project this year’s global growth rate of 2.5 percent will slow to 2.2 percent in 2023. This, they say, will leave a cumulative shortfall of more than $17 trillion, close to 20 percent of the world’s income.
The report finds the slowdown is hitting countries in all regions, especially developing countries. It says growth rates in the poorer countries are expected to drop below three percent, damaging development and employment prospects.
UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan says middle-income countries in Latin America, as well as low-income countries in Africa, will register some of the sharpest slowdowns this year.
“In Africa, an additional 58 million people will fall into extreme poverty in 2022 adding to the 55 million already pushed into extreme poverty by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Grynspan said.
Grynspan says developing countries are facing alarming levels of debt distress and under investment. She says 46 developing countries are severely exposed to multiple economic shocks. She adds another 48 countries are seriously exposed, heightening the threat of a global debt crisis.
“So, countries that were showing signs of debt distress before COVID are taking some of the biggest hits, with climate shocks further threatening economic stability,” Grynspan said. “This is increasing the threat of a global debt crisis. So, countries urgently need real debt relief.”
Grynspan says there is still time to step back from the edge of recession if countries use available tools to calm inflation and support vulnerable groups.
Among its recommendations, UNCTAD urges a more pragmatic strategy that deploys strategic price controls, windfall taxes, anti-trust measures and tighter regulations on commodities speculation.
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