[Asia Round-up] Slap in the face for women

Editor’s note: Followings are summaries of editorials from major Asian media on current issues.

Slap in the face for women
[India, Hindustan Times, 15-05-2013]

After the huge demonstrations following the December 16 Delhi gang rape incident, many hoped that the police’s attitude toward crimes against women and women’s rights might change. However, the recent case of cops beating a woman for allegedly drinking in a car shows there is a still a long road for women’s rights.

A woman was arrested by the Ghaziabad police and brought to the police station after sunset, in clear violation of the norms, slapped by the police officer in front of other women officers and allowed to be slapped by a local resident. The police have the right to enforce the law as she did violate it by drinking in public, but the police do not have a right to resort to arbitrary and illegal behavior.

The often uttered phrase ‘sensitization of the police’ in relation to women’s safety and rights appears to be meaningless. Not only are women in India vulnerable to the hostile environment, but also do not have the sympathy of even the police, who should be working to make the society a safer place for them.

UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi recently expressed her concern over violence against women and encouraged the civil society to work for the creation of a safe environment for women at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi.

Small schools owed reprieve
[Thailand, Bangkok Post, 16-05-2013]

The Education Ministry in Thailand has softened its stance to close 17,000 small primary schools by asking primary education offices in 182 areas across the country to devise management plans for these small schools by May 24, which will decide each school’s fate. However, this deadline does not leave much time to properly understand the needs and parents’ concerns in each community.

The ministry’s main argument for closing the schools down is their low standards of education and inability to be cost-effective. Yet, these claims seem to be dubious as according to the community schools network, many small schools rank in the top 10 in their region on the Ordinary National Education Test (Onet) exams. Also, closing down these schools will lead to the more expenses as the government plans to purchase and operate 2,000 minivans to transport the children affected by school closures to their new schools.

Instead of closing down these schools, which are bringing education to children in remote areas who would otherwise have none, they should be providing more. The Community Schools Network of Thailand recently submitted a proposal to fund these small, remote schools with 200,000 baht per year to improve facilities and education materials.

With Thailand’s education quality lagging behind many of its neighbors, the Education Ministry, the largest recipient of government funding, should rethink this sad state of affairs.

Official falls via Internet
[China, China Daily, 14-05-2013]

Liu Tienan, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, and former director of the powerful National Energy Administration until March is under investigation for suspected “grave violations of discipline,” China’s top anti-graft authority has revealed on its website.

On Dec 6, Luo Changping, deputy editor-in-chief of Caijing, a popular investigative magazine, alleged in his real-name micro blog that Liu was involved in multiple offences, including huge bank loan frauds, fabrication of his academic qualifications and having shady ties with a businessman whose company, which includes Liu’s wife and son as shareholders, bought and merged many State-owned paper manufacturers.

Since China’s new leadership has shown its determination to root out corruption, the public has launched a fierce anti-corruption campaign on the Internet. Several lower-level officials have been investigated and brought to justice based on evidence of their corruption posted on the Internet.

Liu is the first ministerial-level official to be investigated as a result of corruption claims on the Internet. This case supports Party chief Xi Jinping’s promise to crack down on both corrupt “flies” and “tigers” and it also inspires hopes that the authorities and the public can work together in the joint fight against pervasive corruption.

Japan must deepen cooperation with US to deter cyber-attacks
[Japan, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 15-05-2013]

The Japanese and US governments recently held their first bilateral “cyber dialogue”. Bilateral cooperation in the new field of cyberspace security will help both nations deepen the Japan-US alliance as a whole, just as cooperation on space and maritime security has done.

It is imperative that Japan share an awareness of the threat posed by North Korea’s latest cyber-attack on South Korean financial institutions and TV stations on March, 2013. Japan should reinforce its defences through information exchanges and cooperation with the United States, a “leading nation in cyberspace.”

Japan also needs to earnestly foster professional engineers in this field and strengthen the protection of infrastructure through joints efforts by the government and private sector. It is important for Japan to cooperate with the United States and European countries and get involved in drawing up the international rules on cyberspace security.

In an annual report released last week, the US Defence Department singled Beijing out for criticism by stating that last year numerous computer systems were targeted for intrusions, “some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military”.

It is vital for the international community to stand united in guiding China into abiding by international rules, just as it must on security issues in the East China Sea and South China Sea.

In working out and implementing measures against cyber-attacks, it is important for ministries and agencies concerned to act as a single team by sharing relevant information, rather than getting bogged down by bureaucratic sectionalism. It is significant that not only officials from Foreign Ministry but also from other government bodies including the Cabinet Secretariat, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, the Defence Ministry and so on attended the latest Japan-US dialogue.