As the death toll from the May 3 cyclone in Myanmar continues to rise—official state media list more than 30,000 dead and 35,000 missing—international relief agencies are expressing grave concern over delays in aid efforts.

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http://www.cfr.org/publication/16246/

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Trouble in Tibet

by Lee Hudson Teslik

Updated: March 18, 2008

At the top of the world, there’s trouble afoot. A weeklong conflict between Chinese authorities and Tibetan protestors escalated sharply March 17, with China’s military issuing a mandate (FT) for demonstrators to surrender—or face violent repercussions. Chinese troops also moved to seal off the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, blocking movement of people in and out of the city. An eyewitness report from the Economist’s China correspondent paints an ominous scene, with residents of Lhasa too frightened to emerge from their homes.

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Updated: February 22, 2008

Author: Jayshree Bajoria

http://www.cfr.org/publication/15499/

Even as China released two jailed reporters (Reuters) this month, it seized another on charges of “inciting subversion of state power,” a charge that Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch calls “the weapon of choice to silence dissent ahead of the [Olympic] Games.” After winning the bid to host the games, Beijing pledged in its Olympic strategy “to be open in every aspect to the rest of the country and the whole world.” In January 2007, Beijing even loosened regulations (China Daily) for foreign journalists, allowing them to report throughout the country without the permission previously required.

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http://www.cfr.org/publication/15528/

Author: Stephanie Hanson

When Cuban leader Fidel Castro temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul in July 2006, speculation ran rampant about just how ill he was, how Cubans would react, and whether U.S. policy toward the island would change. As it turned out, life in Cuba (and U.S. policy toward it) remained largely the same. But Fidel’s formal resignation, announced in the state-run Granma newspaper on February 19, is sure to set off another round of conjecture. Experts say the comandante’s legacy will loom large for the foreseeable future, but are divided on whether Washington will change its tack toward Cuba.

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Democratic Candidates on U.S.-Cuba Policy

Hillary Clinton 

Sen. Clinton supports the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Sergio Bendixen, an pollster for Clinton's campaign, has said Clinton “is going with the status quo” on Cuba. In a 2000 speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, Clinton said she was opposed to lifting the economic embargo (NYT) on an undemocratic Cuba.

In a recent Senate vote, Clinton supported maintaining funding for TV Marti, television programming that the U.S. attempts to broadcast in Cuba. The Castro government has been successfully blocking the signal for this programming, and viewership of TV Marti in Cuba is estimated to be extremely low.

Barack Obama 

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