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US Asks Nations to Reevaluate Ties with Burmese Military

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Washington, DC – The United States on Wednesday (May 19) urged other nations to reevaluate ties with the Burmese military, while reiterating tough talk on junta’s coup and denouncing the atrocities on political protests against it.

Answering a question from IAT (Tejinder Singh), Jalina Porter, Principal Deputy Spokesperson at the State Department briefing told journalists: “We condemn the Burmese military’s brutality and we encourage all countries to evaluate any links to the Burmese military, and we will continue to support the will of the people of Burma.”

On whether the US was considering sanctions on top Burmese brass, Porter replied that she didn’t “have any sanctions to preview from here (the podium).”

Hundreds of protestors across Burma have been killed since the February 1 military coup. There are protests taking place across the nation since the military seized control of the South East Asian country and declared a year-long state of emergency. There are also protests happening in Washington, DC, where Burmese diaspora is protesting in front of the Chinese embassy and monuments of national interest.

US Still Contemplating Vaccines for Other Nations

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Washington, DC – The United States is in the planning stage on the decision to send vaccines to other countries, and hence no quantity has been sanctioned for going to India or any other country, according to Jalina Porter, the Principal Deputy Spokesperson at the State Department.

Answering a question from IAT (Tejinder Singh), Spokesperson Porter told Journalists on Wednesday (May 19) during the daily State Department briefing, “The United States will send 80 million U.S. vaccines to help countries battling the pandemic by the end of June of this year.”

Porter elaborated, “This equates to all that’s manufactured – 60 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses – as soon as they’re reviewed by the FDA, as well as another 20 million doses that are authorized for use in the United States. We’ll continue to donate from our excess supply as that supply is delivered to us.”

On the allotment to various countries, Porter added, “As far as distribution, we’ll have more to say about how they’re distributing the vaccines in the coming weeks.”

The United States recently advised its citizens to leave India as soon as possible as the country battles a devastating second coronavirus wave.

India has been breaking global records with daily new infections and single-day death tolls. With visual reports of dead bodies floating down the rivers like the Ganges and the Yamuna, the rural population is exponentially affected by the epidemic.

Moreover, the Level 4 “do not travel” advisory, the highest of its kind issued by the Department of State, reflected the severity of the problem in India.

Stop Asian Hate Crimes

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Washington, DC – It’s been more than a year since the pandemic took hold of North America, and it has been almost the same amount of time that an infodemic of misinformation and fear mongering has been spreading, leading to an increase in hate crimes against Asians in the United States.

An analysis of official preliminary police data by the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, shows anti-Asian hate crime in 16 of America’s largest cities increased 145 percent in 2020 with the first spike occurring in March and April amidst a rise in COVID cases and negative stereotyping of Asians relating to the pandemic.

In addition to politicians labeling COVID-19 as the ‘China Virus’ and Kung Flu, a recent tweet by former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee adds fuel to the fire of anti-Asian hate: “I’ve decided to ‘identify’ as Chinese. Coke will like me, Delta will agree with my ‘values’ and I’ll probably get shoes from Nike & tickets to @MLB games. Ain’t America great?”

The problem is much deeper as Senator Tammy Duckworth expressed in a tweet, “The attacks, stabbings, shootings—we’ve seen similar veins of this discrimination against our fellow Americans before. From segregation to immigration to the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. Uproot this racism. End the prejudice. #StopAsianHate.” Senator Duckworth – an Iraq War Veteran, and Purple Heart recipient who served in the US Army for 23 years, still gets asked, where are you really from?

While reporting on President Biden and Vice President Harris’ reaction to the Atlanta attacks, Paris Huang, White House correspondent for Voice of America, shared a disturbing incident on social media. We are quoting his tweets:

“Ironically this happened the day everyone is talking about prejudice against #AAPI . Behind this photo was a disturbing experience. I was getting ready for my TV live shot at BLM (Black Lives Matter) Plaza, 3 female Korean reporters were setting up at my left. Two people, the man was filming with an … iPad, the woman w/ a microphone, self-identified as “independent media”, asked the female reporters: “Are you Korean or Chinese?” then interrupted their work, told them: “We are American, you are foreigners, we have the right to stop you from filming our White House”.”

“In my crew were 3 men, Asian, Latino & Middle Eastern. I told my camera crew I think they will come back when they hear me speak in Mandarin. I went live at 6PM, started my broadcast in Mandarin, talking about President & VP’s reaction to the Atlanta shooting, those 2 came back”

“… got really close to me ’cause I can hear them talking loudly & disruptivly right next to me when I was on air. 1 of my crew stopped them & shielded me w/ his body. We packed & left quickly. I am really disturbed. Hope my @aaja brothers & sister never have to encounter the same.”

We stand with the Asian American community. We all have a responsibility to stand up to false and divisive statements, erroneous claims and misinformation whenever we come across it. Let’s all take action to #StopAsianHate.