The North Korean flag and embassy signage have been removed from the premises in a Kuala Lumpur suburb. Two buses ferried the diplomats and their families to the airport, where they were seen checking in for a flight to Shanghai.
Ties between North Korea and Malaysia have been virtually frozen since the 2017 assassination of the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Two days after Kuala Lumpur extradited a North Korean man to the US to face money laundering charges, a furious North Korea on Friday announced that it was terminating ties with Malaysia. Malaysia denounced the decision and, in a tit-for-tat response, gave North Korean diplomats 48 hours to leave.
Kim Yu Song (centre) counsellor at the North Korean embassy in Malaysia, reads out a statement outside the embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, Mar 21, 2021. (Photo: AP/Vincent Thian)
North Korean embassy counsellor Kim Yu Song carries a box inside the compounds of the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Mar 21, 2021. (Photo: AFP/Aliff Nor)
Kim Yu Song, the charge d’affaires and counsellor in Kuala Lumpur, said Malaysia had “committed an unpardonable crime". Echoing Pyongyang's earlier statement, he accused Malaysia of being subservient to the US and of being part of a US conspiracy aimed at “isolating and suffocating" his country.
“The Malaysian authority delivered our citizen to the US in the end, thus destroying the foundations of the bilateral relations based on respect of sovereignty," he said in a short statement outside the embassy, before heading to the airport.
North Korea has called the money laundering charges an “absurd fabrication and (a) sheer plot” orchestrated by the US, and warned Washington will “pay a due price".
Some experts say cutting ties with Malaysia was North Korea's way of showing anger with President Joe Biden's administration, without jeopardising an eventual return to nuclear negotiations with Washington.
North Korea has insisted it won’t engage in talks with Washington unless it abandons what Pyongyang’s perceives as a “hostile” policy. But experts say North Korea will eventually seek to return to diplomacy to find ways to get sanctions relief and revive its moribund economy.
Malaysia has defended its move to extradite Mun Chol Myong, saying it was carried out only after all legal processes had been exhausted. A top court ruled Mun can be extradited after rejecting his appeal on grounds that the US charges were politically motivated.
Mun, who lived in Malaysia for a decade and was arrested in May 2019, has denied US accusations that he was involved in supplying luxury goods from Singapore to North Korea in violation of United Nations sanctions while working in Singapore.
He denied laundering funds through front companies and issuing fraudulent documents to support illicit shipments to his country.
A bus carrying staff of the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur leaves the embassy compound on Sunday, Mar 21, 2021. (Photo: AP/Vincent Thian)
The North Korean flag and a plaque were taken down from the country's embassy in Kuala Lumpur and the gates were chained up. (Photo: AFP/Aliff Nor)
North Korea has long used Malaysia as a crucial economic hub where it handled trade, labour exports and some illicit businesses in Southeast Asia, but their relations suffered major setbacks over the 2017 killing of Kim Jong Nam.
Two women - one Indonesian and the other Vietnamese - were charged with colluding with four North Koreans to murder Kim Jong Nam by smearing his face with VX nerve agent. The four North Koreans fled Malaysia the day Kim died. The two women were later released.
Malaysian officials never officially accused North Korea of involvement in Kim Jong Nam’s death, but prosecutors made it clear throughout the trial that they suspected a North Korean connection.
North Korea denied the victim was Kim Jong Nam and disputed it had any role in the man’s death. Longtime North Korea watchers believe Kim Jong Un ordered his brother’s killing as part of efforts to remove potential rivals and cement his grip on power.
SINGAPORE: The run-up to the US-China meeting already foreshadowed the challenges that the actual bilateral discussions in Anchorage would encounter.
In fact, the two sides could not agree on how to call it. For the US, it was a meeting to communicate positions to the other side.
For China, it was a “high-level strategic dialogue”, a continuation from where the countries had left off before Trump entered the White House.
Tensions spilled over in public, in the first session, when under the eye of cameras from all over the world, the US and China had what in diplomatic terms can only be described as frosty.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened with criticising China for actions that “threaten the rule based order that maintains global stability.”
State Council member Yang Yiechi replied: “We believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world.”
Yang spoke for 15 minutes, well in excess of the agreed 2 minutes, sparking an unprogrammed, on-camera reply by Blinken. Suffice to say that this was an unusual start for a diplomatic meeting between the two most powerful countries in the world.
THE ROUTE TO ANCHORAGE
The Chinese side came into this meeting full of confidence. The country had managed the COVID-19 crisis well, delivered growth, and had kept its commitment to eliminate absolute poverty.
Internationally, it has just scored major political victories in the form of agreements on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with Asia-Pacific countries, and the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment with the European Union.
China’s views are that this is their time and that amid “changes not seen in a century”, it has a “strategic opportunity” to deliver on its China Dream of the country’s rejuvenation. “The East is Rising, the West is Declining”, as Xi Jinping summarises China’s views.
Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi, right, and China's State Councilor Wang Yi, left, arrive for the opening session of US-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, March 18, 2021. (Frederic J. Brown/Pool via AP)
China’s 14th Five-Year Plan - the first for the new era for socialism with Chinese characteristics as President Xi laid out in 2017 - aims to propel the country to a modern socialist state by 2035.
This is good insurance against the type of measures that the Trump administration imposed upon China, even if it may mean somewhat slower growth.
The plan doubles down on investment in technology, and in particular on basic science, to become self-sufficient in “choke-hold” technologies such as integrated circuits.
In addition, for the first time, “security” was included in the table of main indicators of the plan, with mandatory targets for food and energy security.
Nevertheless, China prefers continued engagement with the US on equal terms. As Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a media interview earlier this year, the Chinese “reject decoupling and uphold cooperation".
China’s characterisation of the Anchorage meeting as a “high-level strategic dialogue” is a clear reference to the Strategic and Economic Dialogue between the countries, which was initiated under presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao in 2009 – and was an upgrade of the former Senior Dialogue and Strategic Economic Dialogue started under the George W Bush administration.
This dialogue continued under Xi Jinping, but was abandoned under Donald Trump.
The US came to Anchorage from a very different position. After four years of the Trump presidency, it is only starting to “Build Back Better” as President Joe Biden has characterised his grand strategy.
His focus is on investing in the domestic strengths of the United States, in its R&D, in its infrastructure and in its people. The US$1.9 trillion stimulus package that had recently passed Congress is a first step, but the route is a long one.
The administration has made clear that it will take its time to develop a China strategy, but the Interim National Security Strategic Guidelines already offers a down payment: China is an adversary, a competitor and a partner, depending on the topic at hand.
The US strategy’s aim is to allow it “to prevail in strategic competition with China or any other nation.”
The Biden administration has also made clear its commitment to the status quo on Taiwan, and has sent freedom of navigation patrols through the South China Sea.
Secretary Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited Japan and South Korea first, before heading to Anchorage.
Moreover, just before the meeting, the US put several deputy chairpersons of the National People’s Congress, China’s Parliament, on a sanctions list because of their role in passing the National Security Law for Hong Kong.
ANCHORAGE IS NOT SUNNYLAND
The frank exchange in Anchorage was not necessarily a bad thing, though. First, that the meeting happened was important by itself.
Second, that the two parties were willing to express their positions and grievances, even in public, was refreshing, and perhaps healthy for a longer-term relationship, in which there surely will be more difficult issues to discuss.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (R) speaks as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on at the opening session of US-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. March 18, 2021. Frederic J. Brown/Pool via REUTERS
In addition, a meeting beats no meeting, given the downside risks of the latter.
At the same time, the gathering did not result in an agreement of any sort, nor did it set a possible agenda for future engagement, let alone a date for a future Biden-Xi summit.
Anchorage made it clear that there is no return to Sunnyland, the venue of the Obama-Xi meeting in 2013. That meeting, among others, laid the basis of the Paris Climate Change Accord of 2015.
The Sunnyland spirits did not last, though, and by the time Trump took office, the US-China relationship had already soured on multiple fronts, including on industrial policy, cyber espionage, and intellectual property rights.
Trump, despite bragging about his good relationship with Xi, ran down the bilateral relationship, especially in the final year of his administration when poor management of COVID-19 started to threaten his re-election.
At the same time, Trump did China a big geopolitical favour by backing out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and by alienating America’s traditional partners as former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pointed out in his recent Goh Keng Swee Lecture at the East Asian Institute.
Anchorage saw the emergence of a new baseline in relations: One with more select engagement, and diminished expectations as to where China-US engagement may lead.
WHERE TO GO FROM HERE?
The US is likely to focus on its domestic agenda and further rebuilding of ties with its traditional allies. President Biden already reconfirmed his strong commitment to European allies and NATO at the Munich Security Conference last month.
US President Joe Biden said of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, pictured on March 11, 2021, that he didn't have a "democratic bone in his body" AFP/NICOLAS ASFOURI
He has also signalled his intend to work closely with the Quad, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, in the Indo-Pacific. The first summit of the leaders of the Quad members - the US, Japan, India and Australia - on Mar 12 signalled this could become an important tool for the Biden administration’s foreign policy.
France and the United Kingdom are already seeking closer engagement with the group, and are set to join maritime manoeuvres together with Quad countries.
Moreover, according to the summit’s joint statement, the Quad is expanding its engagement into areas such as health, technology and trade, and seeks to “uphold peace and prosperity and strengthen democratic resilience, based on universal values".
The big question is whether ASEAN countries are interested in the Quad. As observers have noted, the closing statement of the Quad leaders’ summit mentions ASEAN centrality - which is a subtle invitation of sorts to ASEAN countries to join in.
Some may well do so in select areas of concern, such as technology. For now though, the Quad falls well short of offering the economic attraction that a China has for the rest of Asia.
China has a busy domestic agenda of its own in the coming two years. This July is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, and next year, China is hosting the winter Olympics.
China's President Xi Jinping applauds after the National People's Congress votes to change the election system of Hong Kong, a concern that the United States has vowed to raise AFP/NICOLAS ASFOURI
In 2022, the Communist Party will also convene its 20th Party Congress, a once-in-every five-year event. It is of particular importance this time because it is likely to reaffirm Xi’s ambitions for another term as the Party’s general secretary as well as China’s President.
These domestic events will absorb most of Beijing’s political attention.
Having both countries focus on a domestic agenda may not be a bad thing, as long as lower-level exchanges continue.
This is particularly in areas such as the military where the risk of incidents is increasing in light of growing activities in the region from both sides.
It will also allow time to develop a more in-depth substantive agenda for any future high-level engagement. Meanwhile, big global issues such as climate change can still be addressed, but multilaterally rather than in the context of the China-US relationship.
Hopefully the next high-level meeting will come with lunch included.
KUALA LUMPUR: Carolyn Lau and Lydia Lubon from the Free Tree Society (FTS) were getting a trio of first-time participants ready for a tree-planting session at Federal Hill, a hill behind the upscale Bangsar neighbourhood.
This is the first trail planting session for the non-governmental organisation (NGO) since the restriction on social activities in Kuala Lumpur was lifted on Mar 5.
Lau and Lubon placed some saplings in reusable bags, and the group set off. They were going to plant fruiting trees such as ficus and bachang, as well as Rangoon creeper which serves as a source of pollen and food source for animals.
Along the short trail created entirely by FTS members, Lau explained that trail planting is to help repopulate the area’s biodiversity.
"Previously, Bangsar and Federal Hill used to be hectares of rubber estate during colonial times, and even though the hill is now considered secondary forest, one can still find full-grown rubber trees and rubber saplings," she said on Mar 10.
Free Tree Society's executive committee member Carolyn Lau (right) shows two volunteers how to clear and plant a new sapling along the Pulai Trail at Federal Hill in Kuala Lumpur. (Photo: Vincent Tan)
The saplings were planted at different parts of the trail as Lau led the volunteers further in. The Rangoon creeper, the last to be planted, took some time as the group discovered household waste buried at the spot, presumably dumped by irresponsible parties in the past.
Vivitha Naidu, a volunteer who took part in the trail planting, found the experience rewarding and an educational one.
"It's not just about planting trees, but learning about our own country and the implications of clearing forests."
"You get to learn about biodiversity and our own tropical rainforests. It was an eye-opener for me. I only thought we only had one kind of palm - the oil palm, but I'm surprised to learn we had so many types of palm trees growing here," she said.
In the Klang Valley and across the country, organisations such as the FTS and private corporations are attempting to repopulate the land with native trees in an attempt to reforest and restore Malaysia’s biodiversity.
Replanted forests help to maintain endangered and endemic flora and fauna. (Photo: Global Environment Centre)
Usually, tree-planting events are done with public participation in an effort to get more saplings planted, as well as to spread the environmental message to the wider Malaysian public.
Although COVID-19 and the resulting lockdowns since last year have put a damper on some of these public events, some efforts have managed to go on. With movement restrictions eased in most parts of the country, organisers are up and at it again with physical workshops and tree-planting sessions.
Despite last year’s lockdowns, FTSfounder Baida Hercus said the NGO still managed to plant more than 400 native trees and other plants along the Pulai trail at Federal Hill.
While the land is government owned, FTS actively maintains the trail.
“One goal of the Pulai trail exercise is to help repopulate its biodiversity. The other is to make sure it becomes beloved by the community, as with another part of Kuala Lumpur where the community came together to protect their green space,” said Hercus.
“All (of the replanting) is aimed at supporting wildlife in the area, and eventually increasing biodiversity in what used to be a rubber estate and now a recovering jungle,” she said.
Not enough importance is given to secondary forests in urban areas, she continued, for potential rehabilitation and conservation.
Saplings are being dispatched for replanting efforts along the Kinabatangan river in Sabah. Nestle Malaysia's current nationwide RELeaf project builds on its earlier, smaller-scale RiLeaf which took place along the same river. (Photo: Nestle Malaysia)
“But they are important as carbon sinks and flood mitigators in cities like Kuala Lumpur, and as they are undervalued, they become very vulnerable to threats like unchecked development,” she said.
It was hoped, Hercus said, that by maintaining the trail and planting a diverse range of local plant species, more people would grow to appreciate such green spaces in the city.
“So far we've been seeing increased attention to the trail on neighbourhood Facebook pages with people from the surrounding community coming to walk the trail and participate in trail maintenance, which is very encouraging,” she added.
All in all, Hercus said, FTS has given away over 40,000 plants since they started in 2013.
For other corporations, the number of replanted trees are targeted in the millions.
For instance, Nestle Malaysia Berhad aims to replant 3 million trees in Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia by 2023 through its RELeaf Project which kicked off last September.
For Nestle Malaysia CEO Juan Aranols, this project has proceeded in sequence since October with field planting activities in Sabah’s Kinabatangan Wetlands and Merisuli in Lahad Datu.
The company’s replanting effort has also seen local Orang Asli communities living on the fringes of the Klang Valley being engaged for the reforestation project as well.
Minister for Energy and Natural Resources Shamsul Anuar Nasarah and Nestle Malaysia CEO Juan Aranols mark the start of the RELeaf Project with the planting of Jelutong trees. (Photo: Nestle Malaysia)
“By mid-2021, we aim to commence reforestation efforts along the peninsula’s Central Forest Spine, and the riparian (wetlands adjacent to rivers) and forest reserves around oil palm plantations,” said Aranols.
This RELeaf Project is an extension or an earlier, small-scale reforestation effort called “RiLeaf” which took place in the Kinabatangan River area.
These two efforts, Aranols said, would result in a total of 4 million trees being planted by the target year of 2023.
In Peninsular Malaysia, another environmental NGO, the Global Environment Centre also has tree-planting goals. Its spokesperson said that over the next two years, it was working with the various corporate social responsibility (CSR) arms of Malaysian and international corporations to plant over 100,000 trees.
At the same time, the effort would include fire prevention, rewetting (especially for degraded and dried-out peatland, which is a fire hazard), post-planting care and maintenance.
Although no specific trees were listed, GEC said the species selected for restoring the degraded forest and riverine areas are local ones which can tolerate hot and wet conditions and thrive in degraded areas.
As Malaysia underwent its first and second lockdowns, traditional public outreach programmes such as tree planting and sapling or plant giveaways had to be reworked to comply with social distancing limits, or cancelled entirely.
In GEC’s case, tree-planting in 2021 was currently being done at a very small scale for select degraded mangrove and peatland sites.
Restored peat swamp forest in North Selangor, following replanting efforts by GEC and volunteers after a devastating peat fire in 2012. (Photo: Global Environment Centre)
“The tree planting is mainly conducted by trained local communities at the adjacent forest reserves, and not open for public participation due to COVID-19 and movement control rules,” GEC’s spokesperson said.
In addition, the NGO had prepped items such as personal protective equipment, comprising face mask, hand sanitiser, gloves and drinking water for the local community members taking part.
Planting time is limited to one hour, involving 10 to 20 people. In one session, 300 to 600 trees are planted.
For FTS, it pivoted online to continue its public outreach efforts, hosting online programmes and workshops on topics like composting, planting and gardening basics, and environment-themed talks.
Free Tree Society members Carolyn Lau (left) and Lydia Lubon (right) lead trail planting participants Vivitha Naidu (in pink) and Peter Jan on to the Pulai Trail to plant some saplings. (Photo: Vincent Tan)
“Our nurseries (at Bangsar and Taman Tugu) are actually rather full at the moment, but we can’t conduct mass giveaways because of the pandemic. Likewise, our usual hands-on environmental stewardship programmes have been impacted as well,” said Hercus.
Despite the lack of physical programmes, FTS’s employees and volunteers still tended to the new Pulai trail and the nurseries.
And as of Mar 9, the NGO had restarted its physical workshops and trail plantings.
Meanwhile, Nestle's RELeaf project, which is still in its early phases, has been proceeding apace.
Free Tree Society's Bangsar nursery, which is teeming with saplings and other plants ready to be given away to the public. (Photo: Vincent Tan)
Nestle and its project partners are currently working with the local communities they have engaged to maximise seedling production, which will then feed into the reforestation effort.
“These activities are proceeding, and haven’t been much impacted by the movement restrictions,” Aranols, the CEO, said.
MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
Although reforestation efforts are always encouraged, it is only one half of the equation for activists like Hercus.
“We need to emphasise that the best strategy for ensuring our forests’ survival is to stop logging and conserve the forest areas we have left,” she said.
Free Tree Society's Lydia Lubon dispenses fertiliser to some fruit tree saplings at the NGO's Bangsar nursery, which abuts Federal Hill in Kuala Lumpur. (Photo: Vincent Tan)
While FTS was proud of its work in contributing towards replanting and rehabilitation, these were still actions taken after destruction had been wrought already. Hence, a lot of its programmes focus on knowledge sharing to prevent the loss of trees in the first place.
As with other NGOs last year, the economic downturn accompanying the pandemic meant funding was tight. In addition, Hercus had to manage donors’ expectations.
One of the areas Nestle Malaysia aims to help restore is the riverbank of Sabah's Kinabatangan river. (Photo: Nestle Malaysia)
Sponsorship, she said, was often tied to donors’ wants.
“Having to navigate these kinds of issues is more commonplace as corporations are increasingly seeking to align themselves with environmental causes, while lacking the knowledge to create an effective environmental programme.”
“As such, we do our best to create the most impactful programme with receptive corporations or channel their funds into our existing programmes that are already effective in reaching the people and changing mindsets to build a greener Malaysian society,” Hercus explained.
Patience or instant gratification is also a factor NGOs have to navigate.
“There needs to be a better understanding of the time scale we’re working with when it comes to forests and trees. Forest replanting and rehabilitation are not quick work, as it takes decades for a forest to grow,” Hercus said.
Restoring a degraded forest can be challenging and complicated, the GEC said, as the effort involved a variety of ecological and social systems which were not always fully accounted for or understood.
The edge of North Selangor Peat Swamp Forest with peat water irrigating paddy fields after restoration efforts. (Photo: Global Environment Centre)
Besides managing participation and knowledge transfer by and to the local community and stakeholders, replanting is also fraught with issues such as weather, fires, pests and regular maintenance.
However, more fundamental was the objective of reforestation itself.
“It’s not just a matter of tree species, but environmental ethics. Deciding what tree species to plant leads one back to the question of what is the reason for reforestation,” the GEC spokesperson said.
“More recently, we have seen large reforestation projects taking place under the Voluntary Carbon Market, where the purpose is to create large banks of carbon offsets.”
“The type of trees planted then become important in terms of which species absorb the most carbon and are the fastest growing species,” GEC added.
TOKYO: Overseas fans will be barred from this year's pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics because of ongoing coronavirus concerns, organisers announced Saturday (Mar 20).
"In order to give clarity to ticket holders living overseas and to enable them to adjust their travel plans at this stage, the parties on the Japanese side have come to the conclusion that they will not be able to enter into Japan at the time of the Olympic and Paralympic Games," the Tokyo 2020 organising body said in a statement.
The International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee "fully respect and accept this conclusion", the statement added.
TICKET REFUND
Around 600,000 tickets for the Games and another 300,000 for the Paralympics will be refunded, the chief executive of the organising committee said.
Speaking in a news conference on Saturday, Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said the organising committee would not be announcing how much the refunds would cost.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have been pushed back a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While overseas spectators will now be barred, organising committee president Seiko Hashimoto said in February the Games should still have fans in the stands.
While the outbreak has chilled public opinion toward the event, both organisers and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga have vowed to press ahead with the Games.
The decision on international spectators will "ensure safe and secure Games for all participants and the Japanese public," Tokyo 2020 organisers said in a statement following five-way talks that included the head of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, and the Tokyo governor.
"People who are involved in the Olympics in some way may be allowed to enter the country, whereas regular visitors will not be able to," Tokyo 2020's Muto said.
He said costs for hotel cancellations would not be covered. Organisers may also consider cutting the number of staff members who will participate in the Games.
The Games are scheduled for Jul 23 to Aug 8, and the Paralympics from Aug 24 to Sep 5.
Media polls have shown that a majority of the Japanese public are wary about letting in international spectators to watch the Games as the country grapples with the tail-end of a third wave of the pandemic.
STRIPPED-DOWN GAMES
A stripped-down Games means the government will not get the tourism boom it had long counted on. Japan has grown increasingly reliant on foreign tourists, particularly from Asia, to bolster its weak domestic economy.
Like other countries, it has seen tourism unravel with the pandemic and its hotels and restaurants have been hit hard.
Saturday's decision did not cover local spectators. Muto said organisers will decide next month on caps for spectators in venues.
"It's very unfortunate," Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said of the decision on international spectators, speaking to reporters after the meeting.
But she added that the conclusion was "unavoidable" given that the main priority for holding a successful Games would be the health of the athletes and the Japanese public.
Kyodo news service earlier reported that organisers were leaning towards barring overseas volunteers from helping at the Games.
Sources told Reuters earlier this month that the Japanese government had concluded it will not be able to allow spectators from abroad.
TOKYO (AFP, REUTERS) - Overseas fans will be barred from this year's pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics because of ongoing coronavirus concerns, the organisers announced on Saturday (March 20).
"In order to give clarity to ticket holders living overseas and to enable them to adjust their travel plans at this stage, the parties on the Japanese side have come to the conclusion that they will not be able to enter into Japan at the time of the Olympic and Paralympic Games," the Tokyo 2020 organising body said in a statement.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) "fully respect and accept this conclusion", it added.
Olympic and Paralympic tickets purchased by overseas residents will be refunded, according to the statement released following a five-party meeting including the head of the IOC, Thomas Bach, and Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.
“It’s very unfortunate,” she said of the decision to reporters after the meeting, but added that the conclusion was “unavoidable” given that the main priority for holding a successful Games would be the health of the athletes and the Japanese public.
The Olympic Games, postponed last year due to the pandemic, are now scheduled for July 23 to Aug 8, and the Paralympics from Aug 24 to Sept 5.
Earlier on Saturday, Kyodo news service also reported that the organising committee is leaning towards barring foreign volunteers from helping at the Games.
Sources told Reuters earlier this month that the Japanese government has concluded it will not be able to allow spectators from abroad.
The Beijing 2022 organisers, meanwhile on Saturday released the latest version of the competition schedule for the Paralympic Winter Games, with the first gold to be won in para Alpine skiing downhill.
The new update was released following approval by the IPC, and is still subject to change as preparatory work progresses.
The Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games will be held from March 4 to 14, with top athletes to compete in 78 events across six sports, namely para Alpine skiing, para snowboard, para ice hockey, wheelchair curling, para biathlon and para cross-country skiing.
The world wheelchair curling championships are scheduled to be held in Beijing in October 2021, subject to agreement between the IPC, the World Curling Federation and the Beijing 2022 organising committee.
The final decision over the event will be made three months beforehand after evaluating the coronavirus pandemic and associated restrictions on international travel.
Test runs for snow sports were completed in February, and those for para ice hockey and wheelchair curling will be held in April, all of which are restricted to domestic athletes given Covid-19 considerations.
Opponents of Myanmar's coup protested again on Saturday (Mar 20) as international pressure on the military junta to halt its repression of pro-democracy supporters increased, with Asian neighbours joining Western countries in condemning lethal force.
A young man was shot and killed in one of the most turbulent neighbourhoods of the main city of Yangon, a resident and media reported, taking the death toll since the Feb 1 coup to 238, according to a tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group.
Two people were killed when soldiers opened fire overnight in the northern ruby-mining town of Mogok, the Myanmar Now news portal reported. Those shot were night guards, according to the portal.
"One died on the spot last night while two others are in critical condition in the hospital," a rescue team member confirmed to AFP, declining to give more details.
The bloodshed has not quelled the anger over the ouster of the elected government and the detention of its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, though some protest organisers say they have had to adapt their tactics.
"We protest where there are no police or military, then when we hear they're coming, we disperse quickly," campaigner Kyaw Min Htike told Reuters from Dawei in the south before he and others staged a brief rally outside the town centre.
"I don't want to lose a single one of my comrades but we'll protest any way we can until our revolution prevails."
"Who says we have to give up because of unequal weapons? We are born for victory," tweeted prominent activist Ei Thinzar Maung, with the hashtag #SpringRevolution.
Protesters prepare to defend themselves as they gather in Tarkata township, Yangon, Myanmar, Mar 20, 20201. (Photo: AP)
Some groups gather at night with candles and placards, then melt away after taking photographs. People also stage "unmanned" protests, with rows of placards with messages like "We will never stop until we get democracy" set up on a street.
On Saturday, dozens of demonstrators gathered in the second city of Mandalay. Several were injured when a vehicle drove into them and when police fired rubber bullets, a city news portal reported. It was not clear why the vehicle hit the protesters.
There were small protests in other towns, including Kyaukme and Hsipaw in the northeast, Kawlin in the north, Hpa-an and Myawaddy in the east, Labutta in the Irrawaddy river delta, Myeik in the south and the central town of Yay Oo, according to news portals and social media images.
Hundreds marched in the town of Monywa and burned a copy of the 2008 Constitution, which was drafted under military supervision and limits the powers of elected civilians, the Irrawaddy news portal reported.
Local media showed protesters in gas masks gathering in northern Shan state, while in Dawei, motorists hoisted posters of Aung San Suu Kyi and signs that said: "End the dictatorship".
The protesters in Shan state hoisted homemade shields that said: "Protect unarmed civilians".
Vinyls featuring protest slogans, seen in Yangon, on Mar 17, 2021. (Photo: Naung Kham)
Outside of protests, crackdowns by security forces continue on the streets and residential areas across Myanmar, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group.
"Casualties and unprovoked shootings are increasing day by day," it said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday condemned what he denounced as the military's continuing brutal violence. A "firm, unified international response" was urgently needed, his spokesman quoted him as saying.
UN rapporteur Tom Andrews called for sanctions in response to what he called the generals' ruthless attacks on the people. "The world must respond by cutting their access to money and weapons. Now," he wrote on Twitter.
The US House of Representatives approved legislation condemning the coup, and lawmakers decried the increasingly harsh tactics against the demonstrators.
Riot police officers detain a demonstrator during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, Mar 19, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS/Stringer)
Authorities have tightened restrictions on Internet services, making information increasingly difficult to verify, and have clamped down on private media.
Facebook has banned all pages linked to the military over guidelines on inciting violence. On Saturday, Twitter said it had suspended the information ministry's page under the company's "platform manipulation and spam policy".
The ministry has been posting news daily.
ASIAN ANGER
Ambassadors of Western countries condemned as "immoral and indefensible" the violence in the Hlaing Tharyar industrial district of the commercial capital Yangon, where dozens were killed over several days after Chinese-owned garment factories were torched last weekend.
"Internet blackouts and suppression of the media will not hide the military's abhorrent actions," they said in a statement on Friday.
Asian neighbours, who have for years stuck to a code of not criticising each other's internal problems, have also been speaking out to urge an end to the violence.
Shuttered businesses in Yangon amid protests against the military coup in Myanmar, Mar 20, 2021. (Photo: Naung Kham)
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, in some of the strongest comments yet by a regional leader, said he would ask Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, the chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to call an urgent meeting.
"Indonesia urges that the use of violence in Myanmar be stopped immediately so that there are no more victims," Jokowi said in a virtual address.
Backing Indonesia's call for a meeting, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said he was appalled by the persistent use of lethal violence against unarmed civilians.
"We in Malaysia, and the larger ASEAN community, cannot afford to see our brotherly nation of Myanmar become so destabilised at the hands of a selected few, who seek to promote their own vested interests," he said.
People lining up to withdraw cash out of KBZ Bank ATMs in Yangon, on Mar 17, 2021. (Photo: Naung Kham)
Philippine foreign minister Teodoro Locsin said that ASEAN had to act. Singapore has also spoken out against the violence and the coup that triggered it, calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
But the military has shown no sign of being swayed and has defended its takeover, which derailed a slow transition to democracy in a country that was under strict military rule from a 1962 coup until the generals began democratic reforms a decade ago.
The junta says a Nov 8 election won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy was fraudulent and its claims were ignored by the electoral commission. It has promised a new election but not set a date.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, faces accusations of bribery and other crimes that could see her banned from politics and jailed if convicted.
Her lawyer says the charges are trumped up. The Nobel peace laureate, who has campaigned for democracy in Myanmar for three decades, is being held at an undisclosed location.
