The Boston Globe - 02.08.2019

A4 The Boston Globe FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019

GORONGOSA NATIONAL
PARK, Mozambique — Mo-
zambique’s president signed a
permanent peace accord
Thursday with the country’s
main opposition party Rena-
mo to end decades of hostili-
ties that persisted after a dev-
astating 15-year civil war that
killed an estimated 1 million
people.
The ceremony, held in a na-
tional wildlife park that was a
rebel stronghold and a center
of the conflict, brought hope
for a new era of peace and eco-
nomic growth in one of the
world’s poorest countries,
where an estimated 70 percent
of the population lives on less
than $2 per day.
It came as more than 5,
of the former rebel group’s
fighters were disarming just
weeks before a visit by Pope
Francis and a national election
that will test the resolve of the
two parties to sustain the
peace.

‘‘We are living in a moment

of hope. This is the moment of

our reconciliation,’’ President

Filipe Nyusi told a crowd in

Gorongosa National Park,

which he said was chosen for

the signing because it was

where the conflict began and

would now be a ‘‘sanctuary of

peace and biodiversity.’’

Renamo leader Ossufo

Momade also pledged that the

warring sides had put aside

their hostilities.

‘‘We are now brothers in

peace,’’ he declared. ‘‘With this

signing we are showing all Mo-

zambicans and the world that

we have buried our legacy of

violence and now we are com-

mitted to dialogue to resolve

our differences.’’

The permanent cease-fire

was the culmination of years

of negotiations to end the

fighting that has flared spo-

radically in the 27 years since

the civil war ended in 1992.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mozambiquesignspeaceaccord

China ordered television

channels to not broadcast

shows that are “too entertain-

ing,”— such as costume dra-

mas — in the months leading

up to the 70th anniversary of

the founding of the People’s

Republic.

Instead, the country’s TV

regulator provided a list of 86

programs that channels can

broadcast ahead of the Oct. 1

anniversary date, which

marks the founding of the

modern Chinese state by the

Communist Party.

The recommended shows

focus on patriotic themes,

such as the rise of the Chi-

nese nation, its growing afflu-

ence and power, and the sto-

ries of national heroes, the

National Radio and Televi-

sion Administration, or

NRTA, said in a statement

posted to WeChat on Wednes-

day.

The ban, which extends to

modern dramas as well, will

run for 100 days.

“During the 100-day peri-

od, each channel is required

to unify with the ‘Outstand-

ing programs of NRTA to cel-

ebrate the 70th anniversary

of the founding of China,’ ”

the regulator said.

Beijing is trying to

strengthen patriotic senti-

ment at home amid head-

winds that include a trade

war with the United States,

protests in Hong Kong, and a

slowing economy.

The government has taken

a tougher censorship stance

against movies — contribut-

ing to a decline in box-office

totals — and in May, radio

and television stations were

ordered to play the national

anthem every morning until

the end of year.

BLOOMBERG NEWS

Chinabans‘entertaining’TVshows

WARSAW — Poland on
Thursday scrapped its person-
al income tax for young em-
ployees earning less than
$22,000 a year, as part of a
drive to reverse a brain drain
and demographic decline
that’s dimming the prospects
of a country that is otherwise
experiencing strong economic
growth.
A new law by the right-
wing government took effect
Thursday, slashing the person-
al income tax from 18 percent
to zero for workers under the
age of 26 below the income
threshold. It is expected to
boost the earnings of nearly 2
million Poles at home, and the
government hopes it will also
persuade young Poles working
abroad to return home.
Prime Minister Mateusz
Morawiecki recently said he
hoped it would ‘‘prevent a fur-
ther loss, a bleeding of the
population that is especially

painful for a nation, a society,

when it concerns the young

generation.’’

But there were strong

doubts if the tax relief would

stop the drain of talented and

educated young Poles to Lon-

don, Berlin, and other cities

that offer higher wages and

other opportunities.

‘‘I do not think it would

stop me and my peers from

leaving,’’ said Paulina Rokicka,

a 19-year-old in Warsaw who

works part-time at a TV sta-

tion. ‘‘It seems to me that we

will want to leave anyway be-

cause there are better pros-

pects abroad than in Poland.’’

Introduced before fall par-

liamentary elections, the ex-

emption is part of a larger

package of social benefits that

has earned the government

strong voter support but

raised worries about strains on

state finances.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Polandwaivestaxonyoungcitizens

Daily Briefing

The World

BRUSSELS — The Europe-

an Union has told Britain’s

new Europe adviser that it

isn’t prepared to renegotiate

the Brexit agreement, three

months before the country is

due to leave the 28-nation

bloc.

European Commission

spokeswoman Mina Andreeva

said adviser David Frost held

‘‘introductory meetings’’

Wednesday and Thursday

with senior officials from the

EU’s executive body, which

manages Brexit negotiations

on behalf of EU member coun-

tries.

Andreeva says ‘‘both sides

reiterated their positions.’’

She says the Brexit ‘‘with-

drawal agreement is not up for

reopening.’’

Andreeva said British

Prime Minister Boris Johnson

and European Commission

President Jean-Claude Juncker

would have ‘‘the opportunity

to speak’’ about Brexit in

France on Aug. 24-26 on the

sidelines of a summit of lead-

ers of the Group of Seven pow-

ers.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Brexitnotnegotiable,advisersays

By Anna Fifield
WASHINGTON POST
BEIJING — The top Chinese
military official in Hong Kong
has called the violent protests
of recent weeks ‘‘absolutely in-
tolerable,’’ in a threatening
speech that coincides with the
release of an extraordinary vid-
eo showing Chinese soldiers
practicing firing on demonstra-
tors.
Together, the speech and the
video served as a thinly veiled
warning to the protesters in
Hong Kong that China’s pa-
tience is growing thin and that
it is becoming increasingly will-
ing to use force to quell the
demonstrationsinthesemiau-
tonomous territory.
‘‘We resolutely support the
action to maintain Hong Kong’s
rule of law by the people who
love the nation and the city, and
we are determined to protect
national sovereignty, security,
stability, and the prosperity of
Hong Kong,’’ said Major Gener-
al Chen Daoxiang, commander
of the People’s Liberation Army
Garrison in Hong Kong.
He described the demon-
strations, which have contin-
ued for eight consecutive week-
ends, as ‘‘absolutely intolera-
ble.’’ The protests began as
demonstrations against an ex-
tradition bill but have morphed
into wider calls for democracy.
The demonstrations have
turned violent at times and
have become increasingly dis-
ruptive, but protesters have
vowed to continue agitating for
greater rights and fewer restric-
tions imposed by Beijing.
Chen made the remarks at a
reception in Hong Kong on
Wednesday night to mark the
92nd anniversary of the PLA’s
founding, which fell on Thurs-

day. Carrie Lam, the Beijing-

backed chief executive of Hong

Kong, attended the event.

‘‘The incidents have serious-

ly threatened the life and safety

of Hong Kong citizens and vio-

lated the bottom line of ‘one

country, two systems,’ ” Chen

said, referring to the principle

that Hong Kong is supposed to

enjoy a high degree of autono-

my from the mainland.

At the same time, the Hong

Kong garrison released a pro-

vocative video on its Weibo mi-

croblogging page that showed

soldiers shouting into a loud-

speaker in Cantonese, the lan-

guagespokeninHongKong:

‘‘At your own peril!’’

The soldiers, dressed in

combat gear and holding

shields, march forward and fire

warning shots to disperse a pre-

tend crowd in the streets. Some

of the soldiers are carrying red

banners that read, ‘‘Stop charg-

ing, or we use force,’’ in English

and Chinese.

The caption on the video

says: ‘‘The PLA’s Hong Kong

Garrison is an important em-

bodiment of China’s national

sovereignty, a vital force of safe-

guarding the ‘One Country, Two

Systems,’ and a cornerstone in

maintaining Hong Kong’s pros-

perity and stability. What we

have been doing is preparing

for war, training hard on ene-

my-killing skills, and keep our

weapons ready and always

ready to attack!’’

The foreign minister of Tai-

wan, Jaushieh Joseph Wu,

wrote on Twitter that ‘‘Beijing is

celebrating Armed Forces Day

in a most uncivilized fashion.’’

‘‘The people of #HongKong

are gifted a video of vile threats!

The PLA is supposed to protect

the people, not pound them in-

to submission. It’s time for au-

thoritarianChinatobackoff!’’

Wu wrote in remarks that were

sure to antagonize Beijing.

The Communist Party views

Taiwan as a renegade province

that belongs to mainland Chi-

na. Beijing has been making its

unhappiness with the island’s

independence-minded govern-

ment increasingly obvious in

recent days, especially as Tai-

wan and Hong Kong’s protest-

ers appear to band together in

the name of democracy.

A Chinese warship collided

with a Taiwanese cargo ship in

the Taiwan Strait on Wednes-

day night, Taiwan’s Coast

Guard Administration reported

Thursday. The Taiwanese ship

was damaged, but none of its

crew were injured, according to

local reports.

The PLA’s video also showed

tanks conducting maneuvers

around the pretend streets, in

scenes that left little room for

misinterpretation.

Asked how the world should

interpret the video, Chinese

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman

Hua Chunying said that people

should ‘‘go ask the military.’’

She added, ‘‘We believe the PLA

garrison in Hong Kong will con-

tinue to be the anchor for sta-

bility and prosperity in Hong

Kong.’’

Separately, about 190,

armed police officers have been

conducting summer drills in

Guangdong, the southern Chi-

nese province bordering Hong

Kong, in exercises designed to

prepare for National Day cele-

brations to be held in October.

The exercises involved armored

vehicles and helicopters.

While the drills themselves

are not unusual, the location is.

Analysts noted that the celebra-

tions will be concentrated in

Beijing, in the north of the

country, and the soldiers began

their drills by swearing to in-

crease security in the days lead-

ing to the grand parade in Bei-

jing.

In Beijing, the ruling Com-

munist Party celebrated the an-

niversaryofitsmilitary’sestab-

lishment with great fanfare.

President Xi Jinping, who is al-

so head of the Communist Party

and the Central Military Com-

mission, said that building a

well-rounded, world-class army

was essential for ‘‘realizing the

Chinese dream of the great re-

juvenation of the Chinese na-

tion.’’

The party even opened a

new television channel dedicat-

ed entirely to the PLA. The

channel, which replaced one

devoted to agriculture, featured

military documentaries and in-

terviews with veterans, as well

as three episodes of a PLA-

themed TV series, ‘‘Hot Blood

Military Flag.’’

Army in Hong Kong calls protests ‘intolerable’

Chinese garrison

offers apparent

warning in speech

ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

People held up umbrellas and lights during a protest against a controversial extradition bill in Hong Kong on Thursday.

By Matthew Lee

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BANGKOK — Secretary of

State Mike Pompeo said Thurs-

day the Trump administration

remains ready to resume talks

with North Korea now, al-

though he regretted that a

meeting between the two sides

is unlikely at an Asian security

conference this week in Thai-

land.

Pompeo said he and the ad-

ministration’s chief negotiator

Stephen Biegun had hoped to

meet with a senior North Kore-

an official while in Bangkok for

the annual Association of

Southeast Asian Nations fo-

rum. No such meeting had

been formally scheduled and

the North’s foreign minister

was not expected at the three-

day event in the Thai capital,

but Pompeo said it looked in-

creasingly like those hopes

would be dashed.

‘‘We stand ready to continue

our diplomatic conversation

with the North Koreans,’’

Pompeo told reporters at a joint

news conference with the Thai

foreign minister. ‘‘I regret that

it looks like I’m not going to

have the opportunity to do that

while I’m here in Bangkok, but

we’re ready to go.’’

Meanwhile, South Korea’s

military said Friday that North

Korea fired unidentified projec-

tiles twice into the Sea of Japan

in its third weapons test in just

over a week.

The Seoul Joint Chiefs of

Staff said the launches were

conducted from an eastern

coastal area but did not imme-

diately confirm how many pro-

jectiles were fired or how far

they flew.

The North also fired short-

range ballistic missiles last

Thursday and conducted what

it described as a test firing of a

new multiple rocket launcher

system on Wednesday.

Experts say the North is

demonstrating its frustration

over planned US-South Korea

military exercises and stalled

nuclear negotiations with the

United States and that its

weapons tests could intensify if

negotiations do not proceed

rapidly over the next few

months.

The annual ASEAN security

meeting has been used in the

past as a venue for US-North

Korea talks and although the

North had signaled that its top

diplomat would not attend this

year, Pompeo had held out

hope for a change of heart.

Despite the apparent stand-

up by the North, Pompeo said

he believed a new round of

working level talks led by Bie-

gun and his North Korean

counterpart could happen

soon.

‘‘I am optimistic that that

will happen before too long,’’ he

said. ‘‘We’re looking forward to

a chance to reconnect with

them in a formal way diplomat-

ically.’’

Pompeosayshe’s

willingtorestart

talkswithN.Korea

South reports

more missile tests

inSeaofJapan

AFP PHOTO/KCTV

An image from broadcaster

KCTV showed North Korean

leader Kim Jong Un watch-

ing a ballistic missile launch.

VIRGINIA MAYO/ASSOCIATED PRESS