interactive content. next generation. using all channels of the. people. and returning to something few. is the environment series of global three thousand on t.w. and online. this is. coming up on the program on the trail of islamic state in the philippines an exclusive report from the island of mindanao and how the separatist conflict that is being exploited. plus. how a german became a social media star in china with a funny take on these chinese in-laws.

welcome to. it's good to have you with us we begin today in the philippines where the scene behind me is what many expect to see in this island nation but this beauty hides destruction of the kind last seen in the country during the second world war from the ground this is the reality this is my hobby city after a five month battle between fighters and the philippines army fought in twenty seventeen located on the southern island of mindanao the battle in but obviously was one of the most violent chapters in a conflict that has seen the deaths of more than one hundred twenty thousand people it's been the struggle for autonomy waged by the island's muslim population a struggle that could soon be subverted by the imagines of islamic state.

we are on patrol with the largest muslim rabbit group in mindanao the moro islamic liberation front or m.i.l.f. for decades they fought for independence tens of thousands were killed. but since the self-proclaimed islamic state burst onto the scene in two thousand and seventeen the muslim rebels have joined forces with the philippine army both sides feel threatened by isis fighters now laying low. so the muslim minority strongly supports the m.i.l.f. only five percent of filipinos are muslims and almost all live in mindanao their areas are among the poorest in the philippines. many here blame the christian majority government for their plight. we visit the military headquarters of the m.i.l.f. the government needs the rabbit support to secure a peace and to fight terror

a president. has promised them a far reaching autonomy is. the chief of staff isn't in uniform a sign perhaps of the shift from insurgency to politics the m.i.l.f. has seen defectors joining i-s. we are asking what might happen if the autonomy project goes badly. people really become diminished. by. all. the will. there grow. and become bigger. he tells us that they will disarm up to thirty thousand fighters but only with full muslim autonomy. not. we will not. decommission our horseless and we will not give up our

arms which we promised to the government. this is what both sides are trying to avoid and not my robby the largest muslim city of the philippines lies in ruins bombed out after a few hundred i asked if i just had occupied mahratti for five months two years ago . more than one thousand people were killed tens of thousands remain displaced. it was president to terror to who ordered the bombing but he's also a strong supporter of muslim autonomy his film a peace adviser tells us. it is a struggle signal to the bad guys. this country i have been in the peace process under several presidents and we have. far as we have this time the president feels that we can improve. if we give more of our for the locals

but it must be under one flag the philippine flag. but if the autonomy dr fay it's more disaffected muslims could join radical outfits in addition after the loss of their caliphate in syria and iraq more foreign i guess five tests might also decide that mindanao is the new front. and joining me here in the studio is one of the authors of the report. it does monsanto thank you so much for coming in but your report mentions a struggle for autonomy on mindanao the government has promised after a referendum this autonomous state to the muslims of mindanao or to be valid in the next three years does that go some distance in diffusing the threat from islamic state i think that's what they're trying to achieve it is about winning the hearts and minds of people to support government in the end you know if you want to root

out terror you need to be standing shoulder to shoulder which is government and its people which is not entirely the case in mindanao because there are grievances legitimate grievances they way back you know it is a long history of conflict dating back to colonial times so we're looking at not only decades in fact couple of decades. of conflict here and if you want to with that out if you want to bring people on board for your political plan then you've got to give them something and as we look at the regions the muslim majority regions in mindanao they're rather poor they're amongst the least developed in the whole of the philippines and that needs to change and every one of the reasons why you have this forty year long insurgency on mindanao and that is where the autonomy demand comes in and now with me nearly within reach is that the only plan that the government has to tote islamic state or is there something else as a backup it's

a big component obviously but also you're still have martial law in mindanao for the time being till the end of the year if it will be prolonged will that have to see very likely because there is a threat there are still stomachaches there are still bump loss as happened for instance in january on the neighboring island in. so that can't happen again i think the threat here is pretty much isolated incidents but they can cause. they can create so much havoc that this very delicate transition period on the road to autonomy could still go wrong and. so for the time being the military is very much a component of the plan as well very briefly speaking to people on mindanao what do they want in the future if you speak to muslims they just wish for a better life for the right to self-determination but we also visited some christian villages who are in the. home then new autonomous region and they are

rather scared because they don't know what it means to be a route by future government and they'll have to wear to another three years to see how things done how did was underbid as well thanks so much for coming into the studio for us. and if you want to know more about radical islamists in the philippines you can watch sandra's full report online that's a youtube. documentary so check that out and lots of other stories as well. we did try and on next on a job. has become a viral hit in fact he becomes a hit each time he posts a video online so how does he do it. big matted to his ideas works very well. when thomas docks also known as office throws through the streets of shanghai he

rarely goes unnoticed. thomas is a celebrity on the chinese internet seven million people follow him on social media when he posts clips about his life as a foreigner in china says it's. your shanghai accent is great your real shanghainese. really really. thomas came to shanghai as a student in two thousand and twelve he fell in love and stayed in his videos he talks and fluent chinese about a broad range of topics food. travel. health the lot of you. but it all started with a sketch about his sign on german mariage. to meet you not in a. meal and i didn't hide through all the photos.

but it all put stuff on the flyers you paid for the car you. thomas and his wife julie write and produce the clips together and they can make a living from them it all started when they came across a video by a chinese internet celebrity yet science gets. recorded a sketch about coming hung for chinese new year that's when people are us the same questions over and over again when you getting married how much do you know when you're going to buy a car when you're going to buy a flat well julie then said to me you should film a clip about marrying into a chinese family as a foreigner that. you want to go. to my mom you're going to. want to know how do you feel. more powerful i was when i told my parents i'm getting a foreigner my father chris glass down we were having lunch and he said what did

you say you were i said a foreigner he shouted are you crazy what's wrong with you all these foreigners are playboys. that. his father in law is one of the main characters in our food thomas gets he's even written a book on him but since those easy first month relationship has improved. it's true i didn't like him at the start he's fat he said he was poor and a student president talk about it's embarrassing. to continue to joke about what has now turned into a wonderful friendship for his part thomas says he's lucky to have found a chinese family who share his sense of humor one sketch at a time. ah. and this they have managed is no laughing

that story and more on our website that's the dot com. and you going to fall struck us out on our facebook page as well. that's our show for today we give you with these wonderful rituals of china's waterfall the largest among the yellow as you can see it's now. in the spring. next time i buy. the for the for. the for. the for. the for. the for.

if you ever have to cover up a murder the best way to make the accidents raring to me. is never read a book like this. mr jermyn street. go to the newsroom next to you tube channel. good line of story.

with exclusive inside. the must see concerning part culture team you're a. place to be curious minds. do it yourself networkers. subscriber and don't miss it. china says it's open to the world as it is it critics question beijing's motives behind huge credit lines handed out to eastern and central europe. as opens its books with best its we take a look at it in shambles the south bank and its ambitions to rule the road. and such a thing its goals for the workers. i mean for let's do business china is a big spender in eastern and central europe it's

a basements pretty much match those of the e.u. beijing's already announced a three billion dollar fund and ten billion in credit lines for the region now with the opening of it and you will today's summit between china and sixteen incident central european nations chinese premier wen lay concerns that his country seeks to weaken e.u. unity it promised to respect european standards and fair trade the backdrop to all this china's massive global infrastructure at a best buy program known as the belt road initiative. it might not look like much but this will soon be the site of a four hundred twenty million euro bridge spanning the adriatic. it's fine in some part with chinese money. projects like these are intended to build a bridge between.