Asian Studies 2020

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-47238540  Akila the elephant and her caretaker on a retreat! India is a fun and culturally diverse are known for many things! One of which includes the wildlife and more specifically--elephants. 😍 India is home to over 27,000 elephants and roughly 2,500 of them are kept in captivity. Local activist throughout the (impressively large) country finally made headway in their fight for better treatment of captive elephants and after thousands of cases reporting elephant abuse broke out...the government stepped in. As a result, elephants like Akila are brought to a "rejuvenation camp" each year; and, for several weeks, the animals get to relax in a peaceful, six-acre clearing in a forest away from the lime-light.  The camps are referred to as part of an animal welfare initiation program and a costly one, but supporters say that it's worth it.  While on vacation, the elephants are bathed twice a day and fed a nutritious diet

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51204323 Byun-Hui was a male soldier in the South Korean military serving out his mandatory 2 year service required for all South Korean males. After suffering severe depression he was advised to do what was best for him which was to become a her .  Byun-Hui went through a successful sex change operation in Thailand. She was then discharged the day after she told her troop about her decision. Her response was to immediately fight back and try to get reinstated as a female soldier. She accused the military of a, "deep rooted intolerance of sexual minorities," and followed up by stating that she is more than willing to take this matter to the Supreme Court.  The military has been very vocal in their response by arguing that she gave them a reason of being unable to continue service. It's the military's stance that she was discharged because of her documented depression prior to her sex change on top of the fact that t

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/taiwan-president-urges-china-to-review-policy-after-election-win Tsai Ing-wen urges China to review Taiwan policy after an impressive election win. She says that the country is already independent because of their successful democratic system and fairly decent economy. China's response...it doesn't matter. China claims that, "differing political systems does not equate an obstacle to unification nor an excuse," to become independent. President Tsai then continues by elaborating/explaining how and why the country doesn't need to formally declare independence because of their government success. She was quoted making these claims a mere four days after her re-election with a sweep of over eight million votes. The capital of China--Beijing--have openly expressed their irate attitudes towards the President's comments as well as others, however she maintains that it should be seen as, "the Republic of China, Ta