Alarming rates in Japan

     Suicide has always been an issue present since the beginning of time and has risen with the awareness of mental illnesses. Specifically looking at Japan, the rates of suicide have always been alarming for the country, especially for the rates revolving children. The main issue is that with the rise of COVID and countries going into forced quarantine, these rates increased by a large amount. Japan recorded 415 suicides among schoolchildren aged 6 to 18 during the 2020 school year -- the highest number since records began in 1974 (CNN). The simple fact that the suicide rates amongst adolescents have increased by more than 100 numbers shows that there is an unspoken issue with suicide rates and COVID.
     In a figure provided by CNN, it was shown that the rates were “31% higher than the previous school year, when 317 school children died” (CNN). Additionally, in another report it was stated that “more than 190,000 elementary and junior high school students were out of class for 30 days or more last school year, NHK said. That's a record high -- and about 8% higher than the previous year” (CNN). In a country where education is extremely important, students not being able to go to school and achieve these educational goals would cause stress amongst the students and parents. It was even stated by a doctor that "the results show that the pandemic has caused changes in the school and family environment and had an impact on children's behavior," Eguchi said” (CNN). 

Not only did the rates increase amongst children, but they also increased amongst women. Based on a report from BBC, “in one month, October, the female suicide rate in Japan went up by more than 70%, compared with the same month in the previous year” (BBC). These rates were also related to COVID and quarantine because most of the women who are going through something have also come out saying that they experience abuse at home. Within this article a suicide telephone operator stated “a girl I talked to the other day said she is getting sexually harassed by her father," Ms Tachibana tells me. "But because of Covid her father is not working so much and is at home a lot, so there is no escape from him.” (BBC). Adding on to that, the fact that people are now forced to stay at home due to COVID, it increases the chances of women experiencing abuse or worse which could increase the rates of depression between the women and then go on to increase the rates of suicide. 

    Despite this issue being talked about in articles and local newspapers, it is still a major problem because “in Japan, it's still not common to speak about mental health problems. "We're sending a message to students that it's perfectly OK to talk about mental health issues by using this device, and finding a way to save young lives" (NHK). The topic at hand is that students are being put under immense stress and going through situations that are affecting them mentally, physically, and emotionally without having anyone to feel free to talk to. When children, especially, feel as though they aren’t being listened to and they have no other solution, they make a solution that is the worst outcome. In order to combat this, the country would need to have a safe discussion about mental health or provide more safe spaces for people to talk about any issues that the are going through at home.

Jozuka, E. (2021, October 14). Child suicides in Japan are at a record high. CNN. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/14/asia/suicide-children-japan-intl-hnk/index.html. 

Saori, Y. (2021, July 27). Japan's child suicide crisis: NHK World-Japan News. NHK WORLD. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/1672/.

Tanaka, T., & Okamoto, S. (2021, January 15). Increase in suicide following an initial decline during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Nature News. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-01042-z.

Wingfield-Hayes, R. (2021, February 18). Covid and suicide: Japan's rise a warning to the world? BBC News. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55837160.

What is going on in Myanmar?

   Mynamar is a country in Southeast Asia, formerly known as Burma, and has been going through several crises amid the COVID-19 crisis. They were a British Colony up until 1948 (extremely recent) .Mynamar is very populated, housing 54 million people and has been subjected to a plethora of scrutiny due to current governance choices.  Mynamar's government has been experiencing a political stalemate in which passing laws that priortize those that are being governed is becoming an extremely tedious process. 

 Feburary 1st, 2021, Mynamar's turmoil begun. Aung San Suu Kyi is a political icon for Mynamar in which she advocated for human rights and believed in democratic values that would help sustain Mynamar for the long run. She ran for office and led the NLD to victory in Mynamar's first openly contested election in 25 years. She was loved by the majority Buddist population. Democratically elected members of Mynamar's ruiling party, National League for Democracry (NLD) was deposed by the Tatmadaw which is Mynamar's government. Aung San Suu Kyi won political majority from the election, but the military believed that the election was rigged and placed her under house arrest as well as removed her from her office physically. This is a sign of stratocracy in which the power lies in the military hands and not the people. 

    This event was know as the Mynamar coup and the power dynamics shifted on Feb. 1st in which Mynamar was placed on a year long state of emergency due to the government seizing human rights as well as forcefully trying to dictate the atmosphere of its country. Mynamar has been controlled by a military coup since 1962 which crushed any opposition from the people. The military promised elections in the future, but the people feared returning to the dark days of junta, where power is taken by force by the military and continued to protest, not allowing themselves to be silenced by their government like once before. The military commander-in-chief, Min Aung Hlaing, has taken power and is adament on keeping the Tatmadaw in power.

    The protests over the coup have been the largest since the Saffron Revolution in 2007, when thousands of monks rose up against the military regime. These were a series of economic and political protests due to the government removing subsidies from the sales price of fuel. With that being said, Mynamar would need substantial amounts of help from diplomatic initiatives in order for their country to be restored back to their former glory. 

Citations: 

Yeung, Jessie. “Myanmar to Release 5,600 Prisoners Held for Anti-Junta Protests.” CNN. Cable News Network, October 19, 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/18/asia/myanmar-junta-prisoner-release-intl-hnk/index.html.

Cuddy, Alice. “Myanmar Coup: What Is Happening and Why?” BBC News. BBC, April 1, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55902070.

Dr Gareth Price Senior Research Fellow. “Myanmar Faces Perfect Storm as Political Stalemate Deepens.” Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank, July 7, 2021. https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/06/myanmar-faces-perfect-storm-political-stalemate-deepens?

“Aung San Suu Kyi: Myanmar Democracy Icon Who Fell from Grace.” BBC News. BBC, March 5, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11685977.

 

Incoming Transmission: China’s New Technology Ban Sends Underage Gamers to the Gulag

10/19, James Z

The gulag? Are gamers getting sent to prison? While the answer is no, the potential deprivation of individual rights may give many the same bitter taste in their mouths. In the latest step in China’s long battle for gaming censoring, China seems to be pushing for new regulations restricting underage gamers from playing video games extensively with the use of a face recognition system. Tencent, a major corporation in China, is responsible for a majority of the revenue that China makes in the videogame industry yearly. However, Tencent is also well known as the spearhead influencer that Chinese lawmakers target in order to control the gaming market. By heavily investing in the company, the Chinese government is able to manipulate Tencent and thereby ensure that new regulations and expectations are conveyed swiftly. This is a tactic which many critics point out as the Chinese government's invisible hand in ensuring an authoritarian rule by using proxies to enact the will of the ruling party. While Tencent has successfully helped many requirements such as the implementation of a personal identification number verifier into gaming registration, the backlash from this new regulation seems to have been more than Tencent and the Chinese government had prepared for.



Many may be familiar with games such as Genshin Impact or PUBG mobile. The gaming industry in China can massively influence the gaming industry of other countries as well considering that "China's domestic video gaming revenue in 2020 rose to 278.7 billion yuan (around 41.82 billion USD) with almost half of the county now playing video games" This was around the same amount of money that was used to manufacture covid-19 vaccines globally this year and it appears that the gaming industry has only been growing in size.

China's gaming industry isn't something to brush off the table. With such a big influence on the gaming market, China's gaming regulations could likely influence the gaming regulations of other countries including the United States. However, why would the Chinese government want to hinder the development of such a promising market? A possible explanation may be that from a traditional Chinese view, video games and leisure lead to laziness and failure. By preventing the younger generation from integrating gaming into their schedules, they are also controlling the generation's unconscious mind by hinting at the idea that video games are bad. This way, when the generation grows up, they will use less time for relaxation and more time for production. Even so, with China's development, an increasing number of the Chinese population are slowly changing their more strict and traditional Chinese views towards a more accepting western view when it comes to privacy and individual rights as they slowly realize the ghost hand in play and are trying to stop it.



Mandatory face recognition is different than the kind of face recognition that we use on our mobile devices' home screens. The function is mandatory whereas we always have the option of unlocking our phone with a password or another method. Additionally, Tencent is notorious for being known as a company which supposedly sells information from its clients. Therefore, the collection of facial scans is something that a lot of the people in China- gamers and non gamers alike- are speaking up against.

China has 12 fundamental values for three different aspects: a national level, a social level, and an individual level. On a national level, China values prosperity, democracy, civility, and harmony. The social values include freedom, equality, justice, and the rule of law. Finally, the individual values mention patriotism, dedication, integrity, and friendship. Surprisingly, many of these values sound similar to American ideals but perhaps the most unexpected of them all is the mentioning of freedom in an authoritarian state. The idea of freedom is similar to the Western idea of freedom in that freedom means the ability for individuals to pursue their goals within the boundaries of the law. However, when it comes to China, law restrictions prevent Chinese citizens in far more ways than many countries and many of our generation are starting to realize this situation and appear to be trying to make a change. By pushing back against these regulations, there are signs that the Chinese population may be slowly straying away from following an authoritarian rule.



If this movement against the mandatory face scan succeeds, it may be the largest victory in Chinese history for individual rights in gaming history which may also be a signal of how China's views have been changing over the years. The ability for bottom-up change to occur in the face of strict regulations is something that is quite rare in authoritarian states. This may force the leaders of the gaming industry and even the Chinese government to reconsider the guidelines they will implement in the future for individual rights and freedom. Overall, the decision of when and how to relax is a choice that should be given to underage gamers to help them realize the responsibilities that come with their decisions. While the eruption of the call for individual rights and more individual freedom seems to be causing waves on China's traditional views and methods, it remains to be seen if or to what extent this movement may influence future policy making for the Chinese market.





Sources:

https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/9/22567029/tencent-china-facial-recognition-honor-of-kings-game-for-peace

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3146437/chinas-video-game-industry-stormy-waters-country-grapples-its-love

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/31/tech/china-ban-video-games-minor-intl-hnk/index.html

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-05-08-chinas-games-market-expected-to-reach-usd42-billion-by-2022