Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
July 16, 2018
HK court upholds ruling in favor of same-sex couple
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal has ruled that the
same-sex partner of a British expatriate is entitled to equal treatment under
immigration law, marking a significant step for gay rights in the Chinese
territory. The unanimous judgement said the woman identified only as “QT”
should be issued the same dependent visa that spouses and children of other
foreigners working in the Asian financial hub are entitled to. The ruling is seen
as a landmark for Hong Kong, a Chinese territory and former British colony that
maintains its own distinct western-style legal system. Although same-sex
unions aren’t recognized under Hong Kong law, the city is broadly liberal in its
social values and has a large foreign population. “This judgement is a milestone
for Hong Kong and a watershed moment for the rights of LGBTI people across
Asia,” said Jan Wetzel, senior legal adviser at Amnesty International, in an
e-mailed statement. “The government must now follow up and end the
discrimination same-sex couples face in all walks of life.” The ruling says the
policy of accepting only opposite-sex spouses as eligible for a dependent visa
“constituted indirect discrimination.” QT entered into a same-sex civil
partnership in England with her partner, identified as “SS,” but was given only
a visitor’s visa when the couple entered Hong Kong in 2011. That did not permit
her the right to work or study, despite SS meeting the financial and other
requirements for sponsoring a dependent. QT’s application for a dependent visa
was denied by a lower court but approved by the Court of Appeal. The
immigration department appealed that ruling, arguing that Hong Kong law
only recognized marriages between men and women, but the judgement turned
that down. The head of the immigration department “failed to justify the
discriminatory treatment,” the ruling stated.
Bishops call for three-day fast after Duterte says god stupid
MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — Philippine Catholic bishops have called for
fasting and prayers after the president called god “stupid” and questioned god’s
existence in profane remarks that set the foul-mouthed leader on a collision
course with Asia’s largest Catholic church. Archbishop Romulo Valles, who
heads the country’s association of bishops, called for a day of prayers on July 16
to invoke “god’s mercy and justice on those who have blasphemed god’s holy
name, those who slander and bear false witness, and those who commit murder
or justify murder as a means for fighting criminality.” Valles asked Filipino
Catholics to join bishops in three more days of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving
starting July 17. Duterte has had a thorny relationship with Catholic bishops,
who have criticized his bloody anti-drug crackdown and vulgar language.
110 hospitalized in Afghanistan after drinking from river
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says that at least 110 people
have been hospitalized after drinking from a river in northern Parwan province.
Abdul Khalil Farhangi, the head of the main hospital in Charakar, the
provincial capital, said it was not clear what caused them to become ill. The
symptoms included vomiting and headaches. Afghanistan’s infrastructure has
suffered from decades of war, and many rural communities do not have access to
electricity or clean, running water.
Myanmar court rules Reuters reporters can face full trial
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A judge in Myanmar has ruled that the
prosecution of two Reuters journalists charged with illegally possessing official
information can go to full trial. The case of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo went
through several months of hearings to determine if there was enough evidence
to support the charges, which the reporters denied. The two had been working on
stories about the Rohingya crisis in western Myanmar, where state security
forces are accused of carrying out massive human-rights abuses that caused
about 700,000 of the Muslim ethnic Rohingya to flee across the border to
Bangladesh. The charges carry a punishment of up to 14 years in prison.
U.S. Navy dedicates Japan-based destroyer
YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — The head of the U.S. Navy has dedicated one of
two destroyers involved in fatal accidents in the Pacific last year to U.S. senator.
John McCain. Navy secretary Richard Spencer added McCain’s name to a
Japan-based warship that was already named for the Arizona senator’s father
and grandfather. He said after a ceremony aboard the USS John S. McCain that
recommended changes to naval practices since the accidents have been 78
percent implemented. Seventeen sailors died after the McCain and the USS
Fitzgerald collided with commercial vessels in separate incidents. The ship was
named after McCain’s father and grandfather when it was launched in 1994.
McCain is a Navy veteran. He is battling brain cancer. Spencer said McCain
always put country first, as a warrior and a statesman.
Chinese firm told to suspend $20B Malaysia rail project
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Chinese company building a key rail
link in Malaysia says it has been told to suspend work pending negotiations. It
urged the new government elected months ago to honor the contract. The
suspension came a day after the government called for a sharp reduction in cost
for the 430 miles East Coast Rail Link. Officials say the project’s actual cost is 81
billion ringgit ($20 billion), nearly 50 percent more than estimated by the
previous government. China Communication said the suspension could add to
costs, losses, and damages. It called for a “win-win situation” in negotiations and
urged the government to “honor and respect” the deal. The project is part of
China’s regional “Belt and Road” infrastructure initiative.
TRAPPED TEAM. In this July 3, 2018 image taken from video provided by the Royal Thai Navy Facebook Page, a
Thai boy smiles while a Thai Navy SEAL medic helps other injured youth inside a flooded cave in Mae Sai, northern Thai-
land. The daring rescue mission to extricate 12 boys and their soccer coach from the cave came to a close after 18 gruel-
ling days. The extraordinary tale riveted people worldwide. (Royal Thai Navy Facebook Page via AP)
A Thai cave, an extraordinary
tale, and a captivated world
By Ted Anthony
The Associated Press
n the darkness, down the twisting stone
tunnels and through the murky water,
they awaited an uncertain future.
Outside, under the skies of a modern planet,
cameras and bystanders and a rapt global
audience of many millions looked toward the
remote hills of northern Thailand, connected
by cables and satellites and wireless signals
and gadgets in their pockets. For two weeks
and more this went on.
We only have a hint of what the 18-day
ordeal was like for the 12 young Thai soccer
players and their coach. But for the rest of us,
watching from afar as an uneasy planet’s
media juggernaut beamed us live shots and
the unknowable was revealed drip by
tantalizing drip, we knew one thing: It was
hard to look away. Particularly when these
two words were splattered across the world’s
websites and mobile apps in impactful
typefaces: “WATCH LIVE.”
Were they even alive at all in there after so
many days? Probably not. And yet they were.
Could we get a glimpse? There they were,
captured on video, waving tentatively to what
had fast become their public. Could they be
pulled out, through water that rose and fell
and threatened to rise again? That question,
drawn out for so many days as the clock ticked
menacingly, found its answer with a
resounding yes.
“We really needed something to cheer for
right now. We needed some positivity. We
needed a good headline that could carry the
day,” said Daryl Van Tongeren, an associate
professor of psychology at Hope College in
Michigan who studies how humans build
meaning in their lives.
“People started believing, like a snowball
I
rolling down a hill: ‘Maybe they WILL get out,’”
he said.
First, the obvious. These were children who
did nothing wrong, and we love tales of
innocents. Plus, it was easy to conclude for
several days that they’d met their end
prematurely and unfairly. When they did not
— when children not unlike those in our own
lives had a fighting chance at being OK —
many eyes locked in on the story.
At that point, the saga was also fuelled by
hope, and by a possibility of a good outcome —
both elements of any memorable human tale.
There are other reasons this particular story
was so captivating, though. They cast light on
some things about ourselves and about the
strange forces — sometimes wonderful and
sometimes destructive — that shape our lives
in a modern media society.
The storyline couldn’t
have been more Hollywood
It’s become cliché to compare the real world
to showbiz. (“It was like something out of a
movie,” so many witnesses to disaster say.)
But even bearing that in mind, it would have
been impossible to craft a Hollywood
treatment that felt more cinematic.
For several decades in the American film
industry during the 20th century, a production
code made sure that the bad guys couldn’t win
and that bad things couldn’t be shown. What’s
less known is that the code discouraged
ambiguity and subtly encouraged sharp,
distinctive resolutions to plotlines —
something that came to be known as the
“Hollywood ending” and endures to this day.
That’s what we got out of northern Thailand
— a satisfying, all-tied-up-in-a-bow Hollywood
ending, the kind that would make a reality-TV
producer salivate.
Continued on page 3
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83.773
4051.9
6.6899
2.1093
7.8489
68.543
14355
43215
112.38
8419.5
4.0428
110.13
121.48
3.2624
53.517
62.13
3.7554
1.3645
1130.9
159.55
30.545
33.232
23107