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A major initiative to strengthen and cement America’s ties with Asia and counterbalance China’s expanding influence lacks robust trade incentives that are viewed as politically perilous in the United States, where protectionist sentiment runs high, experts told VOA.

The United States needs to intensify its focus on the Indo-Pacific region because of the “mounting challenges” posed by the rise of China, according to a strategy document released by the Biden administration last week.

“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] is combining its economic, diplomatic, military and technological might as it pursues a sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific and seeks to become the world’s most influential power,” the strategy document said.

That description of China largely mirrors the view taken by the former Trump administration, which often took a bluntly adversarial stance toward Beijing. Beyond rhetoric, however, Biden’s strategy seeks to shore up regional alliances and partnerships that many see as critical to U.S. strategy in Asia.

It responds to the desire of many countries in the region for the United States to play a galvanizing role in addressing common challenges such as public health, climate change and anti-corruption, Ryan Hass, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told VOA.

“It is a welcome departure from the America-first mindset during the Trump era,” Hass said.

No economic framework, leadership

The new strategy calls for advancing freedom and openness, building collective defense capacity within and beyond the region, and building regional resilience. It also embraces what the administration calls “promoting shared prosperity.”

But Hass and other observers say the Indo-Pacific strategy lacks a coherent trade framework that gives countries in the region a good economic reason to deepen relations with the U.S. They say Washington’s international economic agenda should match the leadership role the United States seeks for itself in the region.

Robert Daly, director of the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, told VOA the strategy suffers from a fundamental contradiction in that it implies that the U.S. will engage in a high degree of global activism, following years of far more isolationist foreign policy under the Trump administration. At the same time, the Biden administration has not primed the American public to shift away from the Trumpian critique of globalization.

“They’ve put themselves in a box where they, for political reasons, seem to accept the Trump view that globalization is the playground of self-indulgent coastal American elites who don’t care about the heartland [of America],” Daly said. “What was needed was a better form of globalization that serves American interests — the Biden administration has chosen not to take that on.

Preceding Trump, the former Obama administration championed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive trade agreement with 11 other countries designed to be the cornerstone of U.S. economic policy in the region. The Trump administration withdrew from the TPP in 2017, leaving the other members to sign a revised deal, called Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

With no public support for multilateral trade agreements, the Biden administration has said it has no plans to join the CPTPP and has made clear it intends to continue its predecessor’s protectionist trade policies.

The White House has not yet shared details of its Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a component of the larger Indo-Pacific Strategy. The framework, which they billed as a “multilateral partnership for the 21st century,” was scheduled for launch early this year.

“As we consult with the Indo-Pacific partners, Congress and other stakeholders, we will have more to share as the process is ongoing,” deputy White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told VOA on Thursday. “It’s underway.”

The administration said the framework would “promote and facilitate high-standards trade, govern the digital economy, improve supply-chain resiliency and security, catalyze investment in transparent, high-standards infrastructure, and build digital connectivity — doubling down on our economic ties to the region while contributing to broadly shared Indo-Pacific opportunity.”

But officials have acknowledged the framework will not include opening up American markets, the economic carrot that analysts say is missing from the strategy.

“Why would regional states agree to serious concessions on climate or labor standards if the United States is unwilling to discuss trade or investment liberalization?” asked Zack Cooper, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. “It appears that Washington is content to remain on the sidelines as Beijing integrates more deeply into the region’s economic order.”

In a briefing to reporters this month, a senior administration official acknowledged that regional countries want more but are “very realistic” about the constraints and challenges that shape the Biden trade policy.

Build Back Better World

Some analysts see the potential for incentives beyond market access.

“The promise of this [Indo-Pacific] initiative is that it will offer some other things that aren’t market access,” said Matthew Goodman, senior vice president for economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Goodman told VOA those may include improving international trade regulations or investing in infrastructure as promised in the Build Back Better World initiative.

Biden launched his Build Back Better World plan (B3W) during the June 2021 Group of Seven summit, with the goal of creating “a values-driven, high-standard and transparent infrastructure partnership” to help finance projects in developing countries.

U.S. officials led by Daleep Singh, the deputy national security adviser for international economics, have scouted several countries in Latin America and Africa to identify potential infrastructure projects, particularly those that focus on climate, health, digital technology and gender equality.

“There’s been enormous enthusiasm in every country we visited, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Ghana, Senegal, DRC [Democratic Republic of the Congo], parts of the Middle East, Indonesia, Thailand, and other parts of the world,” Singh told VOA Friday.

B3W has been framed as an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing’s international development program that has financed infrastructure projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America and has made inroads in Europe. China’s BRI investments have been criticized by outside groups for not assessing environmental and social impacts, lacking financial transparency and leaving some governments struggling to pay for costly infrastructure.

“The reason there’s so much enthusiasm is that countries do want a choice,” Singh said. “For a long time. China has been the only game in town for many of these countries, and in many cases, they have buyers regret.”

Last year the administration promised to include details of some initial projects during the formal launch of the initiative, originally scheduled for early 2022.

“We will have more details to come in the coming months on how to continue to implement this initiative, and the projects the U.S. government is investing in with allies and partners,” Jean-Pierre said to VOA Thursday. “This is something that the president is committed to.”

Allies and partners

Biden’s Indo-Pacific strategy promises steps to deepen America’s existing treaty alliances with Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand. It also aims to strengthen relationships with regional partners such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Pacific Islands.

Continuing Trump’s approach, the administration is putting strong emphasis on the Quad – a regional grouping among the U.S., India, Japan and Australia.

Much of the strategy rests on the presumption of what the other actors will do, according to Aparna Pande, director of the Hudson Institute’s Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia.

“Japan and South Korea should get along, ASEAN should remain central, India should play a bigger role,” she told VOA, pointing out that with India’s plummeting economic growth, New Delhi may not be able to accept that challenge.

The strategy also aims to strengthen deterrence of military threats, with Japan and South Korea to pursue denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang has taken a series of provocative steps while ignoring Washington’s offer of talks without preconditions.

North Korea conducted 11 missile launches in January, a record in a single month, including a new type of “hypersonic missile” able to maneuver at high speed. It has also raised the possibility of restarting nuclear or intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

Military deals

While the Biden administration is not offering greater access to American markets, it has been handing out military deals.

Earlier this month, the administration approved a possible $100 million sale of equipment and services to Taiwan to “sustain, maintain and improve” its Patriot missile defense system.

The sale is in line with the Indo-Pacific Strategy goal of supporting Taipei’s self-defense capabilities in hopes of promoting peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. However, it has triggered an angry threat of retaliation from Beijing, which claims the democratically self-governed Taiwan as its breakaway province.

Earlier this month, the administration also approved the potential sale of F-15ID aircraft and related equipment to Indonesia in a deal valued at up to $13.9 billion, despite human rights concerns that have delayed previous arms sales to the country. The last arms deal made by Washington and Jakarta was in 2011.

Other deals include AUKUS, the September trilateral security pact with Australia and the United Kingdom to provide Canberra with nuclear-powered submarines.

More deals are expected and sharper contours of the Indo-Pacific Strategy may take shape as Biden hosts ASEAN leaders in Washington in the coming months and travels to the region for summits later in the year.
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India and the United Arab Emirates signed an agreement Friday that the two countries expect will increase bilateral trade to $100 billion in five years.  It is the first of several free trade deals that New Delhi is racing to conclude this year to expand its pandemic-hit economy.  

Economists say it reflects a significant change from the past, when India, which has protected several sectors of its economy with high tariffs, was slow to conclude free trade pacts.   

The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was signed during a virtual summit between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan. 

“This is reflective of the new emerging world order, the post-COVID world, which will see new alignments and realignments in which we see the UAE and India as strong partners,” Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said after the pact was signed.  

The UAE is India’s third-largest export partner after the United States and China, with bilateral trade of about $60 billion.   

While the UAE hopes the pact will help make it a business hub, India says it will give it access to markets in Africa and West Asia and create more than a million jobs in labor-intensive sectors such as the auto industry.   

In 2019, worries about cheap imports from China led India to exit the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world’s largest trade pact, which took effect this year among Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and 10 other Asian countries. That prevented India from gaining preferential access to fast-growing markets and led to concerns that one of the world’s major economies was turning more protectionist.  

Goyal said that India is no longer signing trade pacts to join a group but looking at agreements with nations that have values of democracy, transparency and mutual growth.

“We are talking not of closing India’s doors but actually opening India’s doors wider for greater international engagement,” he said.   

New Delhi hopes that the bilateral trade pacts that it is negotiating with countries such as Britain, Australia, the European Union and Israel will help it get greater market access.  

For many of those countries, building closer economic ties with New Delhi would help reduce their huge trade dependence on China, which they want to do amid unease about Beijing’s rise in several countries.    

After suffering a major contraction last year, India’s economy grew by about 9% last year, the fastest among major economies.  

“Exports have been buoyant since the beginning of last year when India started coming out of the economic downturn and the government is trying to see what more can be done to get additional market access. They really want to push forward and aim for greater exports,” Biswajit Dhar, Professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning at Jawaharlal Nehru University told VOA.

India aims to close trade agreements with Australia and Britain by the end of this year to boost exports to $500 billion by 2023.  

Even before hammering out a more comprehensive deal, New Delhi hopes to clinch a limited trade pact, termed an “early harvest agreement,” with Australia next month. Both countries are members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad along with the United States and Japan, formed with an eye on China.  

The grouping has also given an impetus to trade relations between the member countries, Australian Trade, Tourism, and Investment Minister Dan Tehan, said in New Delhi earlier this month during a visit to discuss the free trade pact.

“I think the Quad has just added to the strength of the relationship. My hope is within 30 days we will have an announcement [on an interim trade agreement] with India. Then we can start to build the economic cooperation within the Quad,” he said.  

British Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan also visited India last month to start negotiations on a free trade agreement between the two countries.

While Britain hopes to double its exports to India by 2035 by tapping into its large middle class, New Delhi wants greater opportunities for Indians to study and work there.    

“The government has adopted a very interesting pathway for agreements with Britain and Australia. They are trying to do an early harvest agreement for sectors that are ready at this point to accept reciprocal market access as they are confident to face competition from imports,” said Dhar.

“This will lead to some forward movement in terms of working toward broader free trade agreements,” he added. 

Suhasini Sood contributed to this story.
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U.S. auto safety regulators have launched another investigation of Tesla, this time tied to complaints that its cars can come to a stop for no apparent reason.  

The government says it has 354 complaints from owners during the past nine months about “phantom braking” in Tesla Models 3 and Y. The probe covers an estimated 416,000 vehicles from the 2021 and 2022 model years.  

No crashes or injuries were reported. 

The vehicles are equipped with partially automated driver-assist features, such as adaptive cruise control and “Autopilot,” which allow them to automatically brake and steer within their lanes. 

Documents posted Thursday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration say the vehicles can unexpectedly brake at highway speeds.  

“Complainants report that the rapid deceleration can occur without warning, and often repeatedly during a single drive cycle,” the agency said. 

Many owners in the complaints say they feared a rear-end crash on a freeway. 

The probe is another enforcement effort by the agency that include Autopilot and “Full Self-Driving” software. Despite their names, neither feature can legally drive the vehicles without people supervising. 

Messages were left Thursday seeking comment from Tesla. 

It’s the fourth formal investigation of the Texas automaker in the past three years, and NHTSA is supervising 15 Tesla recalls since January 2021. In addition, the agency has sent investigators to at least 33 crashes involving Teslas using driver-assist systems since 2016 in which 11 people were killed. 

In one of the complaints, a Tesla owner from Austin, Texas, reported that a Model Y on Autopilot brakes repeatedly for no reason on two-lane roads and freeways. 

“The phantom braking varies from a minor throttle response to decrease speed to full emergency braking that drastically reduces the speed at a rapid pace, resulting in unsafe driving conditions for occupants of my vehicle as well as those who might be following behind me,” the owner wrote in a complaint filed February 2. People who file complaints are not identified in NHTSA’s public database.  

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been fighting with U.S. and California government agencies for years, sparring with NHTSA and the Securities and Exchange Commission.  

Last week, NHTSA made Tesla recall nearly 579,000 vehicles in the U.S. because a “Boombox” function can play sounds over an external speaker and obscure audible warnings for pedestrians of an approaching vehicle. Musk, when asked on Twitter why the company agreed to the recall, responded: “The fun police made us do it (sigh).” 

Michael Brooks, acting executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said it’s encouraging to see NHTSA’s enforcement actions “after years of turning the other way,” with Tesla. But he said the company keeps releasing software onto U.S. roads that isn’t tested to make sure it’s safe. 

“A piecemeal investigative approach to each problem that raises its head does not address the larger issue in Tesla’s safety culture — the company’s continued willingness to beta test its technology on the American public while misrepresenting the capabilities of its vehicles,” Brooks wrote in an email Thursday. 

Other recent recalls by Tesla were for “Full Self-Driving” equipped vehicles that were programmed to run stop signs at slow speeds, heating systems that don’t clear windshields quickly enough, seat belt chimes that don’t sound to warn drivers who aren’t buckled up, and to fix a feature that allows movies to play on touch screens while cars are being driven. Those issues were to be fixed with online software updates. 

In August, NHTSA announced a probe of Teslas on Autopilot failing to stop for emergency vehicles parked on roadways. That investigation covers a dozen crashes that killed one person and injured 17 others.  

Thursday’s investigation comes after Tesla recalled nearly 12,000 vehicles in October for a similar phantom braking problem. The company sent out an online software update to fix a glitch with its more sophisticated “Full Self-Driving” software. 

Tesla did a software update in late September that was intended to improve detection of emergency vehicle lights in low-light conditions. 

Selected Tesla drivers have been beta testing the “Full Self-Driving” software on public roads. NHTSA also has asked the company for information about the testing, including a Tesla requirement that testers not disclose information. 

 
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One of the key highlights of the 2022 Chicago Auto Show is the display of new, all-electric vehicles coming to dealer showrooms soon. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more from the McCormick Place Convention Center.

Camera: Kane Farabaugh, Mike Burke Produced by: Kane Farabaugh, Rob Raffaele
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Finance ministers from the Group of 20 industrialized nations began a two-day meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, amid a growing debt crisis. The coronavirus pandemic has seen many poorer countries build up large debts — and campaigners say it is undermining their ability to provide basic services like health care and education. In an interview with VOA, the secretary-general of the United Nations’ Conference on Trade and Development warned that creditor nations must take urgent action to avoid a “lost decade” in the developing world.
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Finance ministers from the Group of 20 industrialized nations will begin a two-day meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Thursday as many poorer nations deal with a growing debt crisis.

The coronavirus pandemic has seen many developing countries build up large debts, which debt-relief campaigners say undermines their ability to provide basic services such as health care and education.

In an interview with VOA, Rebeca Grynspan, secretary-general of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said that debt levels were already high before the pandemic but that the situation had worsened rapidly.

“You have them building up their debt, and their export earnings not being enough to pay for their debt load. So this situation is really dramatic already for many of these countries,” Grynspan said.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s golden beaches and tropical jungles normally attract millions of tourists every year. The pandemic cut off that source of income while successive global lockdowns disrupted trade. Sovereign bond ratings have been downgraded, and economists fear it could be the next country to default.

The coronavirus pandemic has driven total global debt to its highest level in more than half a century, according to the World Bank. Lebanon, Suriname, Venezuela and Zambia have already defaulted on their sovereign debt.

Figures from the International Monetary Fund show Ethiopia, Tunisia, Argentina, El Salvador, Ghana, Republic of Congo, Tajikistan and Mozambique are also at high risk of being unable to pay their debts.

Eric LeCompte, executive director of the Jubilee USA Network, which campaigns for debt relief for poorer nations, said creditors must act now.

“The G-20 needs to offer speedy and deep debt relief and compel private creditors to match it. History teaches us that the longer we wait to address a debt crisis, the more difficult it becomes to solve the crisis,” he wrote in an email.

Growth slowdown

Many developing nations took out loans during the pandemic. They now face big repayments, estimated by the World Bank at $35 billion in 2022 — an increase of 45% from the previous year, with almost half of that owed to China. Meanwhile, economic growth forecasts have been cut. Last month, the International Monetary Fund said global growth is expected to slow to 4.4% in 2022, down from 5.9% last year.

“For the first time, the rate of growth of the developing countries is less than the rate of growth of the developed countries, so in terms of the sustainability of this debt burden, we have where we are in a very high-risk space,” Grynspan told VOA.

Debt relief

The G-20 has launched debt relief programs, including the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, which have frozen debt repayments during the pandemic.

“It is in the right direction, but it has two problems,” Grynspan said. “One is that it’s a suspension, so the countries will have to start paying in June this year while the crisis is not over. And, secondly, that the impact in terms of debt servicing with respect to the total debt servicing of the developing countries is very, very small.”

The G-20 also launched a debt reduction program in November 2020 known as the Common Framework. In the program, participating countries would agree to debt restructuring with bilateral creditors and the IMF and then aim to secure the same debt relief on private-sector loans. However, only three countries — Chad, Zambia and Ethiopia — have come forward for help. So far, none has received any debt relief.

Grynspan said many indebted nations are nervous about the consequences.

“Many countries don’t want to come in, because they will be punished by the markets,” she said. “And if they are punished by the markets, their access to a private bond and the possibility of going to the markets to finance themselves will be really hindered.”

IMF

In response to the pandemic, the IMF issued Special Drawing Rights — an emergency currency, effectively — worth $650 billion. Wealthy nations were the main recipients, however, drawing $400 billion from the fund.

LeCompte of the Jubilee USA Network said the G-20 should rectify the imbalance.

“The G-20 could affirm the direction of a pandemic response vehicle that could accept donations of Special Drawing Rights from wealthy countries. The IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust could fund long-term, affordable loans to developing countries,” he said.

The warnings of a debt crisis come as borrowing costs are rising sharply, with central banks ramping up interest rates to tackle inflation. Grynspan said creditor nations must take urgent action on debt relief. The alternative, she warned, is a “lost decade” for developing countries.
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The accounting firm that prepared former President Donald Trump’s annual financial statements says the documents, used to secure lucrative loans and burnish Trump’s image as a wealthy businessman, “should no longer be relied upon” after New York’s attorney general said they regularly misstated the value of assets.

In a letter to the Trump Organization’s lawyer February 9, Mazars USA LLP advised the company to inform anyone who had gotten the documents not to use them when assessing the financial health of the company and the ex-president. The firm also said it was cutting ties with Trump, its highest-profile client.

Mazars’ letter, made public in a court filing Monday, came just weeks after New York Attorney General Letitia James said her civil investigation uncovered evidence that Trump and his company used “fraudulent or misleading” valuations of its golf clubs, skyscrapers and other properties to get loans and tax benefits.

“While we have not concluded that the various financial statements, as a whole, contain material discrepancies, based upon the totality of the circumstances, we believe our advice to you to no longer rely upon those financial statements is appropriate,” Mazars General Counsel William J. Kelly wrote to his Trump Organization counterpart, Alan Garten.

Kelly told Garten that Mazars could no longer work with Trump because of a conflict of interest and urged him to find another tax preparer. Kelly said several Trump-related tax returns still needed to be finished, including those of the former president and first lady.

The Trump Organization said in a statement it was “disappointed that Mazars has chosen to part ways,” but took Kelly’s letter as a positive because the accounting firm hadn’t found material discrepancies in Trump’s financial statements.

The letter “confirms that after conducting a subsequent review of all prior statements of financial condition, Mazars’ work was performed in accordance with all applicable accounting standards and principles and that such statements of financial condition do not contain any material discrepancies,” the Trump Organization said. “This confirmation effectively renders the investigations by the DA and AG moot.”

Kelly said Mazars performed its work on Trump’s financial statements “in accordance with professional standards” but that it could no longer stand by the documents in light of James’ findings and its own investigation. Kelly said Mazars’ conclusions applied to Trump’s 2011-2020 financial statements. Another firm handled Trump’s 2021 financial statement.

James’ office included a copy of Kelly’s letter in a court filing as she seeks to enforce a subpoena to have Trump and his two eldest children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka, testify under oath. A state court judge, Arthur Engoron, is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday in the subpoena dispute.

James, a Democrat, said Monday that given the evidence, “there should be no doubt that this is a lawful investigation and that we have legitimate reason” to question Trump, a Republican, and his children, both of whom have been Trump Organization executives.

Trump’s lawyers have argued that any testimony they give could be used against them in a parallel criminal investigation being overseen by the Manhattan district attorney’s office — a probe that led to tax fraud charges last year against the Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg, its longtime chief financial officer.

Trump has given his Statement of Financial Condition — a yearly snapshot of his holdings — to banks to secure hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of loans on properties such as a Wall Street office building and a Florida golf course, and to financial magazines to justify his place among the world’s billionaires.

In a court filing last month, James’ office detailed several instances in which Trump misstated the value of assets on financial statements given to banks.

Deutsche Bank accepted Trump’s financial statements without objection in a deal for $300 million in loans for three of his properties and, in internal memoranda, emphasized Trump’s reported financial strength as a factor in lending to him, James’ office said.

Another bank said it received financial statements in 2014 stating Trump had a net worth of $5.8 billion and liquidity of $302 million. A bank official involved in that deal told James’ office that if he were aware of misstatements on Trump’s statement of financial condition, he would have killed the deal.

James’ office said its investigation started after Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, told Congress in 2019 that Trump had a history of misrepresenting the value of assets to gain favorable loan terms and tax benefits.

Cohen gave copies of three of Trump’s financial statements to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Cohen said Trump gave the statements to Deutsche Bank to inquire about a loan to buy the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and to Forbes magazine to substantiate his claim to a spot on its list of the world’s wealthiest people.

Cohen served time in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2018 to tax crimes, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations, some of which involved his role in orchestrating payments to two women to keep them from talking about alleged affairs with Trump.

Trump’s lawyers have portrayed Cohen as having a vendetta against Trump and said in a recent court filing that it “stretches all credibility to believe that” James’ office put “any legitimate stock” in his testimony.

James’ office responded Monday that not only did it rely on Cohen’s testimony, but that his testimony is “vindicated by the evidence obtained to date and Mazars’s notification that those statements should not be relied upon.”
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Japanese drinks giant Kirin said Monday it would withdraw from Myanmar, after a failed bid to disentangle its operations from a joint venture with a junta-owned company after last year’s coup.

With international pressure building against the military since it ousted and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and waged a widespread crackdown on dissent, the brewery becomes the latest foreign company to pull out of Myanmar.

Kirin said its decision came after months of wrangling following last February’s coup, which prompted the company to express concerns about human rights and eventually seek to end its joint venture Myanmar Brewery Limited.

It had decided “to withdraw from the business in Myanmar in order to urgently terminate its joint venture partnership” with military-linked MEHPCL, the company said in a statement.

Myanmar Brewery, whose beverages include its flagship and ubiquitous Myanmar Beer brand, boasted a market share of nearly 80 percent, according to figures published by Kirin in 2018.

Kirin’s attempts to terminate the partnership with MEHPCL were unsuccessful, and the Japanese drinks maker said in November it would contest a bid to dissolve their joint brewery over fears liquidation proceedings would not be fair.

On Monday, Kirin said it had taken “every measure to find a way forward that would allow it to continue to contribute to Myanmar’s economy and society.”

That included filing for arbitration in Singapore in a bid to end the joint venture and proceed without the military-linked partner.

“In the end, Kirin Holdings determined that it would be difficult to quickly terminate the joint venture in the manner it desires,” the company added.

“Therefore, Kirin Holdings has now commenced and is proceeding with discussions with MEHPCL in order to withdraw from the business in Myanmar, giving top priority to the termination of the joint venture as soon as possible.”

A junta spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Firms withdrawing

With the economy tanking and pressure mounting from rights groups, companies from France’s TotalEnergies to British American Tobacco and Norway’s Telenor have upped sticks or announced they will leave Myanmar.

After the coup and arrest of the country’s democratically elected leaders, Kirin said it was “deeply concerned” by the military’s actions.

The brewery had been under pressure even before the coup over its ties to Myanmar’s military, and launched an investigation after pressure from rights groups over whether money from its joint venture had funded rights abuses.

In a statement, Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung welcomed Kirin’s decision to withdraw from the country, praising the firm for “listening to the voice of Myanmar people and Myanmar, Japanese and global civil society.”

“Kirin should never have entered into business with a brutal and corrupt military conglomerate,” she added, accusing the brewery of having “financed atrocity crimes and enriched top generals.”

The activist group urged other Japanese firms doing business with the military to cut ties, and called on Kirin to avoid payments to MEHPCL or the military during the withdrawal process.

Investors piled into Myanmar after the military relaxed its iron grip in 2011, paving the way for democratic reforms and economic liberalization in the country of more than 50 million people.

They poured money into telecoms, infrastructure, manufacturing and construction projects, but the coup upended the democratic interlude and damaged the economy.

The pandemic and supply chain disruptions have also hit the country, with Kirin saying in its earnings report released Monday that Myanmar’s beer market had shrunk by about 20%.

It said Myanmar Brewery’s sales volumes had decreased by around 30 percent compared with the same period last year.

Japan’s government is a major provider of economic assistance to Myanmar, and Tokyo has long-standing relations with the country’s military.

After the coup it announced it would halt all new aid, though it stopped short of imposing individual sanctions on military and police commanders, as some other nations have.

Tokyo has repeatedly called for Suu Kyi’s release and the restoration of democracy, and last year the country’s foreign minister said dialogue with the junta was ongoing but warned all foreign aid could be halted if rights violations continued.
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Super Bowl advertisers this year want Americans to forget about pandemic woes and focus on the future: of electric vehicles, mind reading Alexas, robots and cryptocurrency — and also to harken back to the nostalgic past of ’90s movies like “Austin Powers” and “The Cable Guy.” 
The Los Angeles Rams are taking on the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl 56 on Sunday at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. But for many, the big show of the night will be the commercials.

Advertisers are hoping to deliver a dose of escapism with light humor and star-studded entertainment amid the pandemic, high inflation and tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

“Marketers are recognizing Americans have had a very heavy, difficult two-year period and are responding by bringing some good old-fashioned entertainment for Super Bowl Sunday,” said Kimberly Whitler, marketing professor at the University of Virginia.

NBC sold out of its ad space briskly and said an undisclosed number of 30-second spots went for $7 million, a jump from the $6.5 million that last year’s ads went for. 

Super Bowl viewership has declined in recent years. Last year, 92 million people tuned in, according to Nielsen, the lowest viewership since 2007. But viewership at other big live events like the Grammys and the Oscars has also plummeted. Ratings for the Olympics — which NBC is broadcasting concurrent with the Super Bowl — are way down, too. So the Super Bowl remains the biggest night for advertisers. 

“It’s the only game in town,” said Villanova marketing professor Charles Taylor.

This year’s ads will be amusing and warm, leading Kelly O’Keefe, CEO of brand consultancy Brand Federation, to dub this year the “Ted Lasso Super Bowl.” It’s not just because two of the Apple+ sitcoms’ stars are starring in ads — Jason Sudeikis for TurboTax and Hannah Waddingham for Rakuten.

It’s because the ads, like the sitcom, will be “nothing too heavy,” O’Keefe said. “It’s funny, positive, and makes you happy — but doesn’t go too deep.”

Future forward

What does the future look like? Electric, if automakers have anything to do with it. With automakers back in full force this Super Bowl, BMW shows Arnold Schwarzenegger as Zeus, the god of the sky (or in this commercial, the god of lightning) whose wife, Salma Hayek Pinault, gives him the EV BMW iX to spice up retirement.

Kia showcases the Kia EV6, the brand’s first battery electric vehicle, in its ad, along with a cute “robo dog.” Nissan gives a nod to its all-electric 2023 Nissan Ariya.

A first-time advertiser, Wallbox, showcases an actual survivor of being struck by lightning in its ad for its home electric vehicle charger.

Other advertisers are future forward, too. Amazon’s spot shows real-life spouses living in a world where Amazon’s digital assistant Alexa can read your mind. In a regional ad, Samuel Adams shows Spot, the dancing robo-dog from Boston Dynamics, getting down with the brewer’s employees.

Bud Light NEXT, a new zero-carb Bud Light brand expansion, showcases an NFT in its ad. And Facebook gives a glimpse of its vision of the metaverse in a humorous ad that shows a discarded animatronic dog meeting up with his pals again in the metaverse.

Crypto bowl

Among the 30 new advertisers are several cryptocurrency exchanges. Advocates of the blockchain-based digital currencies that have captured the interest of investors and financial service firms alike, want to lure regular Americans too. Exchanges Crypto.com, FTX and eToro have all announced Super Bowl ad plans, and others have been rumored but not confirmed.

While the Super Bowl can be a good place to launch a new brand or category into the public consciousness, there are risks of getting lost in the shuffle as first-time advertisers. And they have a big task with 30 seconds.

“They need to educate the public on what their product is, why it’s not risky, and where they can access it,” Villanova’s Taylor said.

Pop culture nostalgia

Nostalgia is always a safe bet to win over viewers, and this year’s Super Bowl is no different.  

In a teaser, Verizon hints that it’s bringing back Jim Carrey to reprise his loathsome 1996 “Cable Guy” character for their ad. GM has enlisted Mike Myers for an “Austin Powers”-themed ad that features a reprise of his role as Austin Powers’ nemesis, Dr. Evil. Sidekicks played by Rob Lowe, Seth Green and Mindy Sterling also join.

And some ad executives are hoping people can still remember iconic advertising as well. ETrade hinted in a teaser that it’s bringing back the spokesbaby that appeared in its Super Bowl ads from 2008 to 2014. A Hellmann’s ad shows former New England Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo tackling unsuspecting people who waste food. The ad is an homage to a 2003 Reebok Super Bowl ad starring a fictional linebacker named Terry Tate who tackled office workers who weren’t being productive.

Celebrity overload

A well-liked celebrity generally adds some goodwill to a brand message. So how about three to five of them? Super Bowl ads are always stuffed with celebrities, but this year, many ads are overstuffed with them.

“I’ve ever seen anything like this number of A-List celebrities,” said Villanova’s Taylor.

Uber Eats wanted to get across the message that you can order household items and other sundries from its delivery service, not just food. So its ad shows celebrities and other actors trying to eat everything from cat litter to diapers. “If it was delivered by Uber Eats, does that mean I can ‘Eats’ it?” White Lotus actor Jennifer Coolidge asks. Gwyneth Paltrow tries to eat a candle, Trevor Noah tries to eat a light bulb and Nicholas Braun from “Succession” tries to eat dish soap.

In Michelob Ultra’s ad, a bowling alley run by Steve Buscemi unites superstar athletes from across sports enjoying some bowling in their off time: tennis great Serena Williams, former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, the NBA’s Miami Heat all-star forward Jimmy Butler, WNBA star Nneka Ogwumike, top golfer Brooks Koepka and U.S. women’s soccer star Alex Morgan.

Planet Fitness’ ad has narration by William Shatner and shows Lindsay Lohan working out, winning Jeopardy against Dennis Rodman and bedazzling Danny Trejo’s ankle bracelet.

And in Nissan’s ad, a straight-laced Eugene Levy is transformed into an action hero by taking a drive in a 2023 Nissan Z sports car, alongside stars Danai Gurira and Dave Bautista. Levy’s “Schitt’s Creek” co-star Catherine O’Hara appears in Nissan’s new Ariya electric car.

Social messages

Most advertisers are steering clear of sentiment.

“People are avoiding the deeper issues,” said Brand Federation’s O’Keefe. “People aren’t going to try to unite us or divide us or get us to think deeply. Ads will be much more amusing. But also very safe.”

A few, though, are delivering heartfelt messages.

The Budweiser brand, absent last year, returns with a spot centered on one of its Clydesdale mascots. After it’s injured by jumping a barbed wire fence — a not-so-subtle reference to the U.S. and the coronavirus pandemic — another Budweiser mascot, a Labrador, a stableman, and a vet, help the Clydesdale recover and gallop again. Budweiser wanted to return “with a message of strength and resilience,” said Daniel Blake, group vice president at Anheuser-Busch.

Google’s ad for the Pixel 6 stars the singer Lizzo and focuses on how the phone’s camera highlights darker skin tones. And Toyota’s ad, which debuted during the Olympics but will also run during the Super Bowl, tells the story of the McKeever Brothers, cross-country skiers who have won 10 Paralympic medals together.
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In a bid to boost agro-tourism, the Botswana government is offering wildlife start-up stock to farmers to keep in their ploughing fields. The government says the move will give locals an improved stake in the lucrative tourism sector.

Botswana’s National Parks and Wildlife director, Kabelo Senyatso, said the government will run a pilot project between February and July this year, where farmers will receive start up stock.

Each farmer will get five animals per species, Senyatso said.

“The species that the department would be availing are impala, gemsbok, zebra, eland and warthog. It is important to clarify that applicants should not restrict themselves to these species, people can keep whatever wildlife that they are keen to keep. It is also important to clarify that the scheme that we are referring to relates to keeping of herbivores. It excludes carnivores,” said Senyatso.

He said farmers must meet certain water, fencing and space requirements depending on the species they want to keep.

Randy Motsumi, a professional hunter, is keen to keep animals within his holding.

However, he is concerned the costs will be prohibitive due to start-up capital required.

“This is a very good initiative. But the problem now is the expenses. It is going to be very expensive for an ordinary Motswana. Just fencing will cost an ordinary Motswana over P1million [approximately $100,000]. So this initiative is good, but it needs a lot of funding,” he said.

According to requirements, game keepers must ensure there is adequate fodder and reliable water supply.

The fence height should be between 1.5 and 2.4 meters depending on the species kept.

Conservationist Map Ives agrees that the venture requires a lot of resources.

“Wildlife farming or keeping is a highly specialized business, which requires huge capital outlay. If you are going to keep animals like eland which are capable of jumping extreme heights, you are going to need infrastructure. You will also need reliable water infrastructure supplying fresh portable water. A lot of water in western Botswana is quite saline,” said Ives.

He adds the initiative might end up benefiting an elite few who have access to resources.

“I understand the principle of spreading the ownership or keeping wildlife to the people. They are also trying to spread tourism away from national parks or wildlife management areas into other parts of Botswana but again, I believe this is not well thought through and will probably benefit only elites who can afford to have large tracts of land, high quality infrastructure and people to look after that wildlife,” he said.

In announcing the initiative in 2020, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said it was one of the ways to revive a tourism sector hard hit by COVID-19.

Botswana is one of Africa’s leading tourism destinations, with the sector contributing 13% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
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Afghanistan’s former president, Hamid Karzai, joined the Taliban rulers Sunday in urging the United States to review its decision to allow half of the roughly $7 billion in his country’s foreign frozen assets to be reserved for families of victims of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

“The people of Afghanistan share the pain of the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in the tragedy of September 11. We commiserate with them,” Karzai told a news conference in Kabul.

However, the “Afghan people are as much victims as those families who lost their lives,” Karzai said. “Withholding money or seizing money from the people of Afghanistan in that name is unjust and unfair and an atrocity against the Afghan people.”

Da Afghanistan Bank, that country’s central bank, had funds on deposit at the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The money has been frozen since August, when the U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban seized control of the country.

Critics say the U.S. freezing of Afghan funds has worsened an already bad humanitarian situation in the conflict-torn country and pushed its foreign-aid dependent economy to the brink of collapse.

On Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order calling on banks to set aside $3.5 billion of the frozen assets in a trust fund slated for humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan. The remaining funds, $3.5 billion, would stay in the United States to finance payments from lawsuits by U.S. victims of terrorism that are still working their way through the courts.

“I ask the U.S. courts to do the opposite, to return the Afghan money back to the Afghan people. This money does not belong to any government. Much of this money was collected during my time in office. This is the property of the Afghan people,” Karzai said.

Karzai served as president for 13 years starting December 2001, shortly after the U.S.-led foreign military invasion ousted the then-Taliban government from power for harboring al-Qaida planners of the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States.

Washington and the global community at large have not recognized the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

U.S. officials have said Biden’s executive order also “is designed to provide a path for the funds to reach the people of Afghanistan, while keeping them out of the hands of the Taliban’s malicious actors.”

Taliban authorities condemned the unilateral U.S. move, saying it “shows the lowest level of morality and humanity of a country and a nation.”

Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban permanent representative-designate to the United Nations, on Sunday reiterated his government’s call for Washington to release the Afghan funds, saying using them for any other purpose was unacceptable.

“It is only used for implementation of monetary policy, facilitation of trade and boosting financial system of the country,” Shaheen argued.

“It is never intended to be used for any other purpose rather than that. Its freezing or disbursement unilaterally for any other purpose is injustice and not acceptable to the people of Afghanistan,” the senior Taliban official wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi traveled to Doha on Sunday for meetings with representatives of European Union, Gulf countries, and foreign diplomatic missions to Afghanistan operating out of the capital of Qatar after the fall of Kabul to the Islamist group last summer. Taliban sources said Muttaqi would also raise in the meetings Biden’s controversial order on frozen Afghan funds.

Protesters gathered in the Afghan capital Saturday, asking for financial compensation for the tens of thousands of Afghans killed during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.

The U.S. withdrawal last August ended the nearly 20-year war. but United Nations and other international relief groups say Afghanistan faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, which stems from more than four decades of conflict and natural calamities.

More than half of the country’s poverty-stricken population, or an estimated 24 million Afghans, face an acute food shortage and some one million children under age 5 could die from hunger by the end of this year, according to U.N. estimates following the U.S. withdrawal from the country.
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