An Asia Summit Meeting Is Overshadowed by Scalia
International New York Times | 15 February 2016
[excerpts]
“At this summit, we can advance our shared vision of a regional order
where rules and norms, including freedom of navigation, are upheld, and
where disputes are resolved through peaceful, legal means,” Mr. Obama
said at Sunnylands... [Attn Vietnam re Cambodia]
But the nations are divided over how hard to push back on China.
Maritime countries like the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, which see
China as threatening their sovereignty, favor a more aggressive
approach. Other nations, like Cambodia and Laos, which have close trade
ties with China, are reluctant to risk an open confrontation. That
divide is likely to play out in the statement, which will probably
embrace broad principles but avoid specific references to Beijing. ...
But several leaders brought unsavory reputations with them. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha of Thailand seized power in a coup
in May 2014. Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia has ruled with an iron
hand since 1985. When Cambodian-Americans began organizing protests
timed to his visit, he warned that pro-government forces would carry out
demonstrations against the political opposition at home.
“We
reject that type of effort to intimidate, and have similarly expressed
concern over threats made to opposition figures inside the country,”
said Benjamin J. Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser. On Monday
morning, a few hundred people gathered in a parking lot to protest
several of the leaders.
Scalia was a bad Supreme Court Justice judge.
ReplyDeleteHe was supposed to rule on a case in which Dick Cheney was the Defendant, and yet Scalia and Cheney spent a whole weekend hunting together ! And later Scalia dismissed the case.