Qingqiao Morning Post, January 3|The fighting in northern Myanmar has caused Chinese casualties

Equality comes from the public, and justice comes from the way

Today in history: 155 years ago today, Japan's Meiji Emperor issued the Imperial Decree and began the famous Meiji Restoration. Emperor Meiji organized the overthrow of the shogunate to defeat the Tokugawa shogunate, and under the slogan of "enriching the country and strengthening the army, cultivating industry and developing industry, and civilizing and enlightening", Japan embarked on the road of developing capitalism, which was the key to the transformation of Japanese history from a feudal society to a capitalist society.

politics

01 Thailand's Same-Sex Marriage Act is expected to come into effect in the second half of the year

According to news from Bangkok, recently, the lower house of the Thai parliament passed four same-sex marriage bills in the first reading with 360 votes in favor and 10 votes against. The four bills, introduced by the government, citizens' organizations, the opposition Move Forward Party and the Democratic Party, are essentially the same.

According to the process, after the bill is passed in the third reading, it will be sent to the upper house for consideration and published in the government gazette with the consent of the King of Thailand. At that time, Thailand will be the first country in Southeast Asia to recognize same-sex marriage. If there are no surprises, the 'Equal Marriage Act' could come into effect between June and December 2024, and many gay, bisexual and transgender couples in Thailand are ready to get married, said Ji Dinuan, president of the Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand.

However, the survey shows that there are still some MPs in Thailand who oppose the same-sex marriage bill, all of them from the National Party, which is dominated by Muslim members, and the party's MP Kamon Shah said that they will strictly abide by the principles of Islam and strictly distinguish between men and women, and also recommended that the government exclude the three Muslim-majority provinces in southern Thailand from implementing the same-sex marriage law. In addition to this, other bills related to gender equality in the same-sex marriage bill may need more time for consideration, such as the bill on gender identification.

military

01 The war in northern Myanmar caused Chinese casualties

Kokang Information Network news, on December 25, 2023, an exchange of fire broke out near the Crown Hotel in Dongcheng District, Kokang Old Street, Myanmar, and two shells from the Myanmar government army fell in the area of the Crown Hotel, killing 8 people and injuring 25 people, including Chinese.

China once again demands that all parties to the conflict in northern Myanmar immediately cease fire and cease hostilities, take concrete measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and projects in Myanmar, and prevent the recurrence of any incident that endangers the safety of Chinese personnel and property. At present, the security situation in Myanmar's Kokang Autonomous Region is grim and complex. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China also once again reminded Chinese citizens not to travel to northern Myanmar for the time being, and called on Chinese citizens in the region to take safety precautions.

02 Israel's military operation against Hamas has entered the third phase

According to Reuters, recently, the Israeli side said that Israel's military operation against Hamas is entering the third phase, and the Israeli army will withdraw part of its troops from Gaza and take more targeted actions against Hamas. Earlier, a spokesman for the Israeli army had announced that the war against Hamas would be fought in three main phases. The first was heavy shelling, clearing passages for ground forces and encouraging the evacuation of civilians. The second phase is a full-scale invasion that begins on October 27, while the third phase will involve the withdrawal of some troops to carry out intensive sweeping missions against terrorists, allowing some reservists to return to civilian life and help economic development.

At the same time, Israeli Foreign Minister Cohen said that Israel is ready to open the Gaza corridor to deliver relief supplies, and named the United Kingdom, France, Greece and the Netherlands to open special corridors. According to industry sources, the relief supplies will undergo security checks at the port of Larnaca in Cyprus before being transported to the Gaza coast, 370 kilometres away, without passing through Egypt or Israel. If implemented, it would be the first time since Hamas seized Gaza in 2007 that Israel has eased its naval blockade of Gaza.

economy

01Cambodia's cross-border e-commerce VAT revenue exceeded 68 million US dollars

Cambodia-China Times News, recently, the Cambodian National Revenue Bureau held a monthly work review and outlook meeting, the relevant report pointed out that in the first 11 months of 2023, the Cambodian National Revenue Bureau collected e-commerce value-added tax amounted to 68.28 million US dollars, Cambodian National Revenue Bureau Director Guan Weibao said that e-commerce value-added tax has become one of the potential sources of income for the National Taxation Bureau, and it may grow further in the future.

It is understood that a total of 83 foreign e-commerce companies have registered with the Cambodian National Taxation Bureau, including Google, Microsoft, Meta, Netflix, TikTok, etc. The Cambodian government will implement the VAT collection and management regulations for cross-border e-commerce from April 1, 2022, requiring that if the annual revenue of foreign e-commerce business in Cambodia exceeds 250 million Cambodian dollars, or the turnover exceeds 60 million Cambodian dollars for three consecutive months, it must register with the IRS and make monthly tax declarations under the "simplified VAT registration" mechanism.

It is worth mentioning that in the first 11 months of 2023, the National Tax Bureau of Cambodia collected a total of US$3.347 billion, achieving 93.71% of the annual tax target. Tax performance has slowed significantly in 2023 compared to 2022. In the first 11 months of 2022, the Cambodian National Revenue Service (IRS) collected US$3.214 billion in tax revenue, meeting its annual tax revenue target ahead of schedule.

safety

01Malaysia once again banned illegal immigrants and arrested more than 100 people

Kuala Lumpur reported that on January 1, Malaysian authorities banned illegal immigration in Kuala Lumpur and arrested more than 100 illegal foreign workers. The operation included 224 officers from the Department of Immigration, the Civil Defence Force and the National Registration Department, who carried out enforcement operations at 15 Monuments, known as "Little India" in Kuala Lumpur, raiding 30 shops and checking 370 people.

Speaking at a news conference, the deputy director of immigration for the crackdown, Jefiri, said that the people questioned were mainly from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, and ranged in age from 25 to 77, including 335 men and 35 women. A wide range of offences were unscathed, including undocumented, contravention of the Permit Ordinance, overstaying, possession of forged or suspicious identity documents, and contravention of other laws. Previously, Malaysia's Deputy Police Chief had announced that the police had targeted more than 10 major illegal immigration villages and were preparing to launch a large-scale crackdown to solve the problem of illegal immigration and the proliferation of illegal foreign workers.

02A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, and nearly 100,000 people were evacuated

According to Lianhe Zaobao, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake occurred on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan at about 4 p.m. on January 1, killing 30 people. The Japan Meteorological Agency predicted that the earthquake would trigger a tsunami with waves of 5 meters high, and quickly issued a "large tsunami warning" for the Noto area, the first "large tsunami warning" issued in Japan since the 2011 311 earthquake. Ten minutes after the earthquake, a tsunami with waves over 1.2 meters high was observed at Wajima Port in Ishikawa Prefecture, followed by a tsunami of varying wave heights over a wide area of the Japanese archipelago from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu Island in the south.

The Japanese government said it had ordered more than 100,000 people in nine prefectures on the west coast of Japan's island of Honshu to evacuate to safe places. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged residents to pay attention to their lives and prepare for subsequent earthquakes, and called on coastal residents to continue to be vigilant.

culture

01 The original Mickey Mouse's 95-year exclusive copyright expired

Lianhe Zaobao reported that the copyright of the original Mickey Mouse, which is famous all over the world under the entertainment giant Disney, will expire on January 1, 2024. That is to say, Disney's "Steamboat Willie", the original Mickey Mouse, has been exclusively copyrighted by Disney for 95 years, and began to become a cartoon character in the public domain, and the cartoon character who entered the public domain with it is also the shipmate in the same animated short film, that is, the earliest version of Minnie.

While Disney can continue to produce and market products related to the Steamboat Willie film and its characters, the end of this deadline also means that others are free to use these cartoon characters as they see fit, as Disney seems. But it's worth noting that it's only the Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie that expires, and the rights to Mickey Mouse's different looks are still in Disney's hands.

In this regard, Disney issued a statement saying that the modern version of Mickey Mouse will not be affected by the expiration of the copyright of "Steamboat Willie", and Mickey will continue to be the global ambassador of the Disney company, he is not only the representative of Disney's animation industry, but also the symbol of global animation culture.

Financial Newsletters

According to the Wall Street Journal, recently, the settlement price of COMEX February gold futures closed down 0.56% at $2,071.80 per ounce, and the main contract has risen 13.45% in 2023.