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SUBJECT [May 13] US-China trade war, 2019 Philippines general elections, Iran votes to confer citizenship to 'mixed marriage' children
DATE 2019-05-13
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PHOTO: Getty Images/BBC. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (left), Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (center), and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin (right) held several rounds of talks in an attempt to strike a deal.

 

Last year, the United States imposed a 10% tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese products, including fish, handbags, clothing and footwear. Last week Friday the U.S. said it was increasing tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion of goods from China.

 

Announcing the policy, U.S. President Trumps said Beijing “broke the deal” by backtracking on earlier commitments to change its policies. He said that a process had begun to place the full 25% tariff on a further $325 billion of Chinese goods, causing concern over the impact the ongoing trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies might have on global growth.

 

According to U.S. International Trade Commission reports, the 25% increase is expected to hit telecommunications equipment, computer circuit boards and processing units the hardest, totaling $37.2 billion in increased tariffs.

 

Vice Premier Liu He said that China wants a “fair and dignified trade agreement”, and that while key disparities remain, a deal must address China’s core concerns, such as lifting all additional tariffs, establishing realistic procurement expectations, and ensuring that the text in any deal is “balanced”. Upon the announcement of the 25% tariff increase, China said that it deeply regretted the U.S. action and would take “necessary counter-measures”.

 

Despite two days of negotiations in Washington last week from Thursday, there was no indication that the two sides were any closer to resolving their differences. Talks are expected to resume in Beijing, and Larry Kudlow who heads the National Economic Council said that there was a “strong possibility” that Trump would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at a G20 summit in Japan in late June.

 

Kudlow also said that contrary to U.S. President’s tweet that tariffs are paid by China to the United States and that the U.S. Treasury was benefiting from these “massive payments”, U.S. businesses will pay the import tax and that “both sides will suffer” from the escalating trade dispute.

 

 

 

 

PHOTO: Ted Alijibe/AFP/Getty Images. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech during the 121st founding anniversary of the Philippine army on March 20, 2018.

 

Millions of Philippine voters will cast their ballots today to select new lawmakers in a vote that is likely to strengthen President Rodrigo Duterte’s rule, according to analysts.

 

The vote is held roughly halfway through President Duterte’s six-year term, and is seen by some as a referendum on the president. “Mid-term elections are often a ‘referendum’ on the performance of the incumbent,” Citi analysts wrote in a note this month. “The President’s strong rating is definitely helpful for the pro-Duterte election candidates.”

 

Duterte’s approval ratings have been inching up to hit his personal best of 79%, according to the latest findings by pollsters Social Weather Stations. The President’s popularity has remained despite his controversial policies such as the country’s deadly war on drugs.

 

Philippine voters will be casting ballots for 12 out of 24 seats in the upper house Senate, and all 297 members in the lower chamber or the House of Representatives.

 

President Duterte’s party, PDP-Laban, and its allies held a supermajority in the house since the 2016 presidential election, and are expected to maintain the dominance after the midterm elections.

 

Therefore, much attention is given to the contest for Senate seats, as polling suggest Duterte’s allies are likely to secure 10 or 11 of the 12 vacancies, with even the possibility of a clean sweep due to the coattail effect of riding on the President’s soaring approval ratings. With this projection, Duterte might win the support of 18-20 of the 24 senators after the midterms.

 

Before the elections, 17 senators generally supported the President, but the upper chamber had in a number of occasions rejected the president’s proposed bills and policies. Recently, the Senate refused to pass the budget due to amendments made in the House, which contributed to the slump in the country’s first-quarter economic growth. That impasse ended in March and contributed to growth slowing to 5.6% in the first quarter to 6.5% a year ago.

 

The Senate has also blocked several promises made by Duterte during his presidential campaign, including his attempt to reintroduce the death penalty. But the midterm elections are expected to result in a Senate that is more aligned with the Duterte administration, which would make it easier for the president to implement his economic and political agenda.

 

 

 

 

PHOTO: ABC News. Vice President for Women’s and Family Affairs Masoumeh Ebtekar.

 

Iranian Parliament upheld women’s rights on May 12 by overwhelmingly voting to confer citizenship on children born to an Iranian mother and foreign father.

 

Before the law, children of “mixed marriages” were only eligible for citizenship if their Iranian parent is a man. If the parliament’s decision is approved by the Guardian Council, the body of senior clerics and judges, then the offspring of mixed marriages would be eligible for citizenship, regardless of whether their mother or father is the Iranian national.

 

The vote was reported Sunday by state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

 

Such a law would represent a significant development for women’s rights in Iran, with possible implications for the wider region, where many countries don’t give women the right to pass on citizenship to their children if the father is a foreign national.

 

The law would also give tens of thousands of children access to social and health care services.

 

Iran’s Vice President for Women’s and Family Affairs Masoumeh Ebtekar said the current legislation, dating back to 1934, was written at a time “when women were considered chattel.”

 

“Today, when women have gained dignity, respect and a higher level of education and status in the country, on the basis of what logic are we depriving a woman the right to transfer the citizenship that’s in her blood on to her child?” asked Masoumeh Ebtekar, according to IRNA.

 

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani also called for prompt action from the Judiciary on finalizing a bill to prevent violence against women as the Supreme Leader Ali Khameini was “sensitive” about the matter in a joint meeting with Judiciary officials on May 12. The aforementioned bill has been waiting endorsement by the Judiciary for the last five years.

 

 

BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)