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- A ghostly set of images, and a glimpse of border danger
- Train crashes in eastern Taiwan, killing 34, injuring dozens
- China foreign minister in talks with SE Asian counterparts
| A ghostly set of images, and a glimpse of border danger Posted: 01 Apr 2021 10:33 PM PDT PHOENIX -- A border wall. Smugglers. Small children being dropped into America in the darkness. A grainy video released Wednesday by authorities — its figures visible only in ghostly white outline, its stark storyline dramatic and obvious — captures, in mere seconds, the dangers for migrant children at the southern US border. A man straddling a 14-foot barrier near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, lowers a toddler while holding onto one arm. With the child dangling, he lets go. She lands on her feet, then falls forward face first into the dirt. The smuggler does the same thing with a slightly larger child, who falls on her feet and then her bottom. Then the smuggler and another man run off into the desert, deeper into Mexico. The simple scene caught by a remote camera is an extreme case. But it embodies so much of the saga playing out on the border amid a spike in migrant arrivals, particularly children. There is implied desperation — a family willing to subject their children to such risks in hopes of changing their future. There is the callousness of the smugglers handling kids like rag dolls. And there is that barrier over which so many have fought — a symbol of American strength for some, a decidedly un-American thing altogether for others. A fence that, despite its height, is relatively easily overcome. For immigrant advocates, scenes like this underscore why immigration laws need to be overhauled with a focus on unifying families and making legal immigration easier. For many opponents of such reform, scenes like this are confirmation that the nation's rule of law isn't being respected, that a reform of immigration policies could never even be contemplated while such things are happening. And Americans of all political stripes may debate what circumstances, if any, justify parents taking such actions. While such debates happen, thousands of migrants from Mexico, Central America, and countries further south are arriving every day to the Mexico-US border. Many are fleeing violence or other hardships in their home countries. Others are simply looking for better economic opportunities. They arrive by boat or wade through the Rio Grande River in Texas, or come on land into California, Arizona and New Mexico. Many are children traveling alone. Border authorities encountered more than 9,000 children without a parent in February, the highest single month since May 2019, when more than 11,000 unaccompanied minors came to the border. Unlike their parents in many situations, all unaccompanied minors are allowed to stay in the US. That dynamic has prompted many parents to either send kids on the journey to America alone, or get to the border and let them go the rest of the way. Most end up at least temporarily in shelters that are currently way beyond capacity. Border authorities said the children caught on video were sisters, ages 3 and 5, and from Ecuador. They were found alert, taken to a hospital and cleared or any physical injuries. As of Thursday, they remained at a Border Patrol temporary holding facility pending placement by the US Health and Human Services Department. The girls' mother is in the United States and authorities are in contact with her, Roger Maier, a spokesman for US Customs and Border Protection, told The Associated Press on Thursday. Maier couldn't provide more details. Many children arriving alone have relatives in the United States. If they are too young to remember names or phone numbers, as these girls likely were, they may come with contact information written down on paper or directly on their bodies. After being processed by the Border Patrol, they are transferred to Health and Human Services. Eventually, they will be released to a sponsor, usually a parent or close relative. The hope of those who send the children is that they will eventually be reunited with family in the US. But the risks to get to that point are enormous. They can come from traveling without parents. They can come from the actual crossing, whether by river, crammed into a vehicle or on foot through the desert and traversing a wall; last year, a woman died after falling from a barrier in the Santa Teresa area where the girls were found. Finally, the risks can come from unscrupulous smugglers. "People considering using the services of smugglers need to know that smugglers don't have the kids' best interest at heart. It's entirely too dangerous," said Maier, who added this about the girls being dropped: "Had it not been an area that was monitored, these children would have been fending for themselves." (AP)  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Train crashes in eastern Taiwan, killing 34, injuring dozens Posted: 01 Apr 2021 09:45 PM PDT TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A passenger train smashed into a truck on its tracks and partially derailed outside a rail tunnel along Taiwan's east coast Friday, killing 34 people and injuring dozens, local police said. Survivors were climbing out windows and onto roofs to reach safety. Officials in Hualien county said rescue efforts were continuing. The crash occurred near the Toroko Gorge scenic area around 9 a.m. on a public holiday. Media reported 350 passengers were on board. Reports said a truck fell from a cliff above and landed on the tracks, where a train emerging from a tunnel smashed into it. With much of the train still trapped in the tunnel, escaping passengers were forced to scale doors, windows and roofs to reach safety. The truck apparently hit after the locomotive had emerged, causing the greatest damage to cars 1-5, according to the rescue department of Hualien county. Television footage and photos posted by people at the scene on the website of the official Central News Agency showed people climbing out the open door of a railcar just outside the entrance to the tunnel. The inside of one car was pushed all the way into the adjacent seat. The accident came on the first day of the four-day Tomb Sweeping Festival. Taiwan's last major rail crash was in October 2018 when an express train derailed while rounding a tight corner on the northeast coast, killing at least 18 people and injuring nearly 200. In 1991, a collision in western Taiwan killed 30 people and injured 112 in its deadliest train accident. (AP)  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| China foreign minister in talks with SE Asian counterparts Posted: 01 Apr 2021 09:38 PM PDT BEIJING -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is meeting with counterparts from four Southeast Asian countries this week as Beijing seeks to expand its influence in the region amid a sharp downturn in relations with Washington. Talks with Singapore's Vivian Balakrishnan, Malaysia's Hishammuddin Hussein, Indonesian's Retno Marsudi and Teodoro Locsin of the Philippines are being held over three days in the southern city of Nanping in Fujian province. The official Xinhua News Agency said Thursday, April 1, that Wang told Balakrishnan that China wants to strengthen strategic communication and make joint efforts to maintain regional peace and stability. The two countries should work together to oppose vaccine nationalism, Xinhua quoted Wang as saying. He also referred to the ongoing turmoil in Myanmar, telling Balakrishnan that China supports the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in upholding the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs and in helping to restore stability in Myanmar in the Asean way, Xinhua said. China has sought to prevent the Asean bloc from taking a unified stand on China's claims to virtually the entire South China Sea, where it has territorial disputes with several Southeast Asian countries. The Philippines demanded Wednesday the removal of more than 250 Chinese boats it has spotted near six islands and reefs in the disputed waters. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying responded Thursday that Whitsun Reef, where the vessels were first spotted more than a week ago, has long been a place for Chinese fishing boats to shelter from rough waters, and that it is normal for them to do so. "We know that there are some forces that keep trying to drive a wedge between China and the Philippines by all means," she said. "We hope the Philippines will be able to tell right from wrong and not be misled." After wrapping up his meetings with his Southeast Asian counterparts on Friday, Wang is to meet South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong in the southern port of Xiamen on Saturday amid tensions over North Korea, which relies on Chinese economic and political support. (AP)  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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