Friday Five: January 4, 2013

In Myanmar, the government has admitted that significant military force has been utilized against the Kachin rebels in the northern part of the country. This week China understandably filed a diplomatic complaint about three bombs that were dropped into its own territory along their shared border. The renewed conflict threatens to compromise Myanmar’s significant reform progress in 2012.

Newly elected Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, waded into controversy this week discussing the issue of World War II era comfort women, which drew the ire of citizens in South Korea among others. Abe did sent a special envoy to Seoul to deliver a message to South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye in an attempt to modulate rhetoric in ongoing territorial disputes.

A growing row between China and the foreign journalist community escalated after New York Times correspondent Chris Buckley was unable to renew his visa at the end of 2012. The latest expulsion has press questioning media relations between the two countries following a series of in depth articles on Chinese Communist Party leaders by U.S. outlets such as Bloomberg and the New York Times.

In North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un gave a rare public, televised speech to bring in the New Year, which focused on economic “reforms” and North-South relations.  Readers can watch the video with English translation here.

An ongoing gang rape investigation in New Delhi continued to capture national headlines and has triggered a broader conversation about women’s rights in India.  A woman died on December 16 from injuries sustained in an alleged gang-rape on a bus by a group of men, 5 of whom were charged this week.

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