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FILE PHOTO: Myanmar's army chief General Min Aung Hlaing inspects troops during a parade to mark the 67th anniversary of Armed Forces Day in Myanmar's capital Naypyitaw March 27, 2012. The event commemorates the Burmese army's rising up against Japanese occupiers in 1945.
Myanmar launches census that rebels say will be used against them
On Tuesday, Myanmar’s ruling junta officially launched a census aimed at creating election rolls for a promised vote next year, but the armed opposition tied to the former democratic government of Aung San Suu Kyi, known as the National Unity Government, is urging citizens to comply with caution. They allege the military is using the census to collect information on the whereabouts of potential political dissidents as well as create lists of men eligible for military conscription.
The survey seems virtually impossible to complete accurately. The junta set a deadline of Oct.15 for most of the country but says it will wait until December for areas with intense fighting. They’ve hired just 42,000 employees to process over 56 million people, usually going door-to-door, when over half the country is under the control of hostile militias. If the junta creates voter rolls without a reliable census, it would delegitimize the election but may allow the military to retain power with a veneer of popular mandate.
The junta is hoping to change the dynamic of the war, which has shifted against them over the last year. Ethnic militias have united to seize border areas crucial for trade, and urban rebel groups are bringing violence into the junta’s core areas. A day before the census began, two bombs in the commercial capital Yangon injured 11 people in administrative offices. A guerilla organization known as Mission K claimed responsibility and specifically said it was over the census. We are watching whether the survey attracts more violence.Sign encouraging participation in the US Census in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Hard Numbers: US Census bungle, US election workers afraid, Sweden ups defense spending, Oz beefs up army
18.8 million: The 2020 US Census reportedly miscounted a whopping 18.8 million people. The miscount underrepresented people of color while overcounting whites. This raises questions about the Census numbers’ validity as a basis for reallocating congressional and state Electoral College votes.
20: That’s the percentage of US election workers who plan to leave their jobs before the 2024 presidential election. Many cited increased levels of harassment and intimidation.
2: Sweden will raise its defense spending to 2% of GDP — it’s currently spending 1.3% — as soon as possible in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. “Sweden’s defense capability must be greatly strengthened,” said PM Magdalena Andersson.
80,000: Australia will up its standing army by one-third to almost 80,000 troops over the next two decades. The Aussies are a crucial US ally and members of the AUKUS and the Quad initiatives to counter China’s rise in the Indo-Pacific.China's 7 million census-takers start counting world's largest population
SHANGHAI • Millions of census-takers began knocking on doors across China yesterday for a once-a-decade head count of the world's largest population that for the first time will use mobile apps to help crunch the massive numbers.
China starts once-a-decade census of world's largest population
Millions of census-takers began knocking on doors across China on Sunday (Nov 1).
Tokyo gets more crowded as Japan hollows out
TOKYO - The number of Japanese citizens fell for the 10th straight year to 124.8 million as of Jan 1, government data showed on Wednesday (July 10), proving yet again that there is no magic bullet to resolving Japan's dire ageing crisis.