Á

"Chuột chạy bờ ao chó chạy hàng rào, chỗ nào cũng thúi".

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Vietnam’s addiction to coal shows tough climate choices developing Asia faces on emissions pledges

• Coal already accounts for about a third of the country’s operational energy mix and its capacity is set to increase by 2030 under a new draft development plan
• Most of Vietnam’s operational coal capacity has been funded by firms from China, Japan, South Korea, and to a smaller extent, the US – all countries that are trying to decarbonise

"...
A recent report from non-profit financial think-tank Carbon Tracker showed that five Asian countries – China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam – are responsible for 80 per cent of the world’s planned coal-fired power stations.
..."

(more)

Vỏ tàu, ruột Đức.
Đồng tiền là tiên là Phật. Việt Nam nên đi biểu tình
trước nghị viện Châu Âu bài xích Đức bán động cơ
tàu chiến, tàu ngầm cho Trung Quốc.

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German engine technology found in Chinese warships

Engines developed in Germany can evade export control bans due to their status as a so-called dual-use technology, a German media investigation has revealed.

https://static.dw.com/image/43370917_303.jpg
The Chinese navy has been carrying out maneuvers in the South China Sea

Several types of Chinese navy warships are powered by engines that were either developed or built by German manufacturers, an investigation by public broadcaster ARD and the Welt am Sonntag newspaper revealed Saturday.

The two companies involved are MTU in Friedrichshafen and the French branch of the Volkswagen subsidiary MAN, according to the report.

Both companies told the media they have always complied with export control regulations and have put into the public record that they have been involved with China's military.

The details on MTU's engine deliveries in China were found on the publicly available website of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

SIPRI catalogs arms deals and weapons transfers for publications and reports.

Dual-use technologies fall into a 'gray area'

According to SIPRI, MTU was a regular supplier of engines for Luyang III class missile destroyers through a licensed production plant in China until at least 2020.

https://static.dw.com/image/59741167_401.jpg
China's Luyang class destroyers are equipped with state-of-the-art weapons systems

Additionally, MTU reportedly supplied engines that were used in China's Song-class submarines.

However, the company's headquarters told ARD and Welt am Sonntag that they had "definitively stopped" supplying engines for the submarines.

The company claims it had not "entered into any contracts with the Chinese Defense Ministry or armed forces."

Yet, with the establishment of a joint venture in China in 2010, the head of the company known as Tognum at the time had noted deliveries of "marine engines for the Chinese navy and coast guard."

Likewise, in 2002 SEMT Pielstick, the French subsidiary of MAN, published news of its delivery of PA6 engines manufactured for a new frigate generation under license in China on the company website. That item can still be located on the site's archive pages.

SIPRI noted that the MTU engine installed on China's warships is a so-called dual-use technology not requiring an export license.

"There's a gray area there," said Siemon Wezeman of SIPRI.

EU's toothless arms embargo

The Chinese navy is commissioning more Luyang III destroyers this year. Ships in this class come equipped with surface-to-air missiles and cruise missiles.

China commissioned the Kaifeng in July to commemorate 100 years since the founding of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

Following the massacre of students and others protesting for democracy in Tiananmen Square in 1989, the EU imposed an arms embargo but with limited binding effect.

Sebastian Rossner, a Cologne-based lawyer and export expert, told Germany's ARD public broadcaster: "Because the EU arms embargo on China was not formally decided in accordance with the European treaties, certain exports of ship engines may also be permissible for the Chinese navy."

"If you want to change this, the EU must either amend the Dual-Use Regulation or formally impose an arms embargo," he added.

China has aggressively asserted territorial claims to disputed islands in the South China Sea in recent years, raising tensions with the United States and its European allies.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned one year ago of "rapidly increasing arms dynamics" in the Indo-Pacific region.

In August, the German frigate Bayern set off from Wilhelmshaven for a six-month journey to the Indo-Pacific.

Germany has sought to strengthen its presence in the region, and a Chinese stop was meant to help defuse tensions over the naval mission. But in September, China denied Germany's request to allow the Bayern to make a port call in Shanghai.

/* src.: https://www.dw.com/en/german-engine-...ort/a-59740301

Thu tiền khờ:

Singapore to start charging Covid patients who are ‘unvaccinated by choice’
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ated-by-choice

Quote:

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Singapore will no longer pay the Covid-19 medical bills for people “unvaccinated by choice”, the government said, as the country grapples with a surge in cases.

The government currently covers the full Covid medical costs for all Singaporeans, as well as permanent residents and long-term visa holders, unless they test positive soon after returning home from overseas.

However from 8 December, the government said it will “begin charging Covid-19 patients who are unvaccinated by choice”.

Covid-related medical bills will still be paid for people who aren’t eligible for a vaccine. The government will also foot the bill for individuals who are partially vaccinated until 31 December, giving them time to get a second dose.

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Có chích thì chích cho xong
Đừng để mắc dịch đau lòng bà con
(Corona dao)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoRQtmopp-s

Bóc lột: thời giờ là tiền... lương.

Japanese train driver sues after wages docked 28p over one-minute delay
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...e-minute-delay

Quote:

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The driver, who has not been named by Japanese media, is seeking the ¥43 plus ¥13 overtime, as well as ¥2.2m damages for the mental anguish caused by his employer’s decision, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

The dispute arose after the driver, who had been scheduled to move an empty train to a depot at Okayama station in western Japan, realised he was waiting at the wrong platform.

His mistake held up the driver transfer at the correct platform by one minute and caused a further one-minute delay to the train’s arrival at the depot, the newspaper said.

The firm initially withheld ¥85 for the two-minute delay but reduced the penalty to correspond with a one-minute delay after the driver complained to the local labour standards office.

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Của một đồng, công một phút.

Chó chết:

Covid health workers kill dog while owner was in quarantine
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-in-quarantine

Quote:

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On Friday a resident of Shangrao, in Jiangxi province, posted allegations on Weibo that her pet dog was beaten to death by health workers inside her apartment while she was quarantining in a hotel that didn’t allow animals. In video purportedly from her apartment’s security camera posted online, one of two PPE-wearing individuals is shown hitting the dog with what looks like a crowbar.

It follows a similar case earlier this month when cats belonging to a Chengdu resident quarantining as a close contact were euthanised. The animals had not been tested for the virus.

In September, Harbin officials were accused of overreacting when they euthanised three cats that had returned positive readings for the virus while their owner was in hospital.

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Sát sinh chi vị dịch.
(Kinh Dịch 2019)

Cha chung không ai cười:

North Korea bans laughing, drinking for 11 days on 10th anniversary of Kim Jong-il's death
https://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-b...185544410.html

Quote:

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For the 10th anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s death, North Koreans were required to enter an 11-day mourning period and adhere to several bans the government imposed, such as laughing, drinking alcohol and participating in leisure activities, a resident of Sinuiju told Radio Free Asia (RFA).

“In the past many people who were caught drinking or being intoxicated during the mourning period were arrested and treated as ideological criminals. They were taken away and never seen again,” the source said, adding that celebrating birthdays and mourning lost loved ones are also not allowed during this period.

Local police were also informed to stay vigilant for anyone “who fail[s] to appear appropriately bereaved,” another source said.

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Một nụ cười là mười viên thuốc độc.

Phá tượng:

Jesus statue smashed in spate of attacks on India’s Christian community
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...tian-community

Quote:

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Amid growing intolerance and violence against India’s Christian minority, who make up about 2% of India’s population, several Christmas events were targeted by Hindu right wing groups, who alleged Christians were using festivities to force Hindus to convert.

In Agra in Uttar Pradesh, members of right wing Hindu groups burned effigies of Santa Claus outside missionary-led schools and accused Christian missionaries of using Christmas celebrations to lure people in.

In Assam, two protesters in saffron, the signature colour of Hindu nationalism, entered a Presbyterian church on Christmas night and disrupted proceedings, demanding that all Hindus leave the building.

In state of Haryana, on Christmas Eve, an evening celebration at a school in Pataudi was disrupted by members of a right wing Hindu vigilante group. Storming into the school shouting slogans such as “Jai Shri Ram”, now a clarion call for Hindu nationalism, they claimed that the festive event, which included Christmas songs and dance and teachings of the bible, was being used for “religious conversion under the garb of celebrating Christmas” and alleged they were “brainwashing children through drama and speeches into accepting Christianity”.

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Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us, above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace
(J. Lennon)

Con Sen: Cao mên sắp thành Cao ly?

PM’s son anointed as Cambodia’s next leader
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...as-next-leader

Quote:

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At last week’s congress, the Cambodian People’s party (CPP), which holds every parliamentary seat, voted unanimously for 44-year-old Hun Manet to succeed his father.

In 2017, Hun Sen had the main opposition party dissolved amid accusations of a plot to overthrow the government, meaning life under Hun Manet is almost inevitable. The burning question now among observers is whether he will follow in the dictatorial path of his father.

Very little is known about Hun Manet, says Dr Lee Morgenbesser, senior lecturer at Griffith University’s school of government and international relations in Australia.

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Con như cha là nhà có gốc.

Nghèo còn gặp cô vi:

Covid crisis leaves Sri Lanka on brink of bankruptcy
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ic-food-prices

Quote:

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The meltdown faced by the government, led by the strongman president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is in part caused by the immediate impact of the Covid crisis and the loss of tourism but is compounded by high government spending and tax cuts eroding state revenues, vast debt repayments to China and foreign exchange reserves at their lowest levels in a decade. Inflation has meanwhile been spurred by the government printing money to pay off domestic loans and foreign bonds.

Inflation hit a record high of 11.1% in November and escalating prices have left those who were previously well off struggling to feed their families, while basic goods are now unaffordable for many. After Rajapaksa declared Sri Lanka to be in an economic emergency, the military was given power to ensure essential items, including rice and sugar, were sold at set government prices – but it has done little to ease people’s woes.

In an usual approach, government minister Ramesh Pathirana said they hoped to settle their past oil debts with Iran by paying them with tea, sending them $5m worth of tea every month in order to save “ much needed currency”.

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Kiếp này nợ trả chưa xong
Làm chi thì cũng nợ chồng kiếp sau
(Đoạn trường tân thanh)