Asia
Margaret Thatcher’s support for Afghan jihadists covered up by UK censors
How MI6 backed ‘right-wing religious fanatics’ in Afghanistan
Britain in Afghanistan: Unprepared then, unprepared now
Afghan refugees have asked for sanctuary for a long time — only now do we listen
Arming the Philippines: It’s a Duterte job, but does Britain have to do it?
Thousands of people have been killed in the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte, but the UK has massively increased arms exports to his authoritarian regime and is prioritising trade and investment with the country — partly as a post-Brexit bulwark against China.
As the UK hypes the China ‘threat’, it sells the country billions in military-related equipment
While British ministers claim China is an increasing threat to UK interests, they have approved the sale of £2.6bn worth of military and dual civilian/military equipment to the country in the past three years. The exports will likely benefit China’s navy and airforce — as the UK government laments the rise of Chinese military power.
Burma bloodbath is a lesson Britain must learn from
The terrible scenes of young people being gunned down by Burma’s military junta should make British diplomats think hard about why their policy of aiding and trading with the regime went so wrong.
Who will really benefit from Britain’s tilt towards trade with Asia?
The UK has just requested to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership but this trade deal could deepen the influence of multinational companies over Britain’s economy, make it harder to regulate Big Tech, and lower food standards and workers’ rights protections.
Revealed: British mercenaries linked to brutal crackdown on left-wing activists in Sri Lanka
A British mercenary kept working at Sri Lanka’s military headquarters in the late 1980s during a bloody crackdown on left-wing activists from the country’s Sinhalese majority, new evidence obtained by Declassified UK reveals.