entering the conflict zone with teams of interest you. have been shown the jungles and asking tough questions demanding. as comforts intensify our beating we keep players on the ground in the centers of. cutting through the rhetoric holding the powerful to account the conflicts. conflicts with jim sebastian. t.w. . this is t w news asia coming out to china and the digital arms race beijing has reacted angrily to claims that it's spreading disinformation but just how pervasive is china's online influence and how are foreign countries fighting back. and living with fear and fatwas indonesia's transgender community is a constant target for conservative muslims we see how some have found sanctuary at

a crime school. i'm melissa chan welcome to news asia thank you for joining us we start with china where often we've looked at how beijing polices its own citizens online activities but the country has growing digital power beyond its borders we saw that recently when pro china bots and users campaigned against american basketball executive who tweeted his support to hong kong protesters we know china is actively trying to influence the upcoming elections in taiwan and a few weeks ago facebook and twitter announced they took down thousands of state coordinated china backed pages accounts meant to influence public opinion facebook's mark zuckerberg pledged to be vigilant this week he said we face increasingly sophisticated attacks from nation states like russia iran and china

but i'm confident we're more prepared. beijing was asked about these accusations including whether china might be influencing the u. s. elections the foreign ministry denied doing anything wrong but what you that you on the show i think this is absurd and lovable china has never interfered in the internal affairs of other countries and we have never had any interest in meddling in the elections of other countries including the us election i mean if someone says china is interfering in the elections than percent the evidence. we have match traitor with the alliance for securing democracy part of the german marshall fund for more matt so we just heard that china says that they do not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries sticking to the digital space what do we know about that. china says it doesn't hurt europe the internal affairs of other

countries a lot of the truth is usually somewhat different from. so in the digital space you've already mentioned a little bit i want and that's a really interesting example because we have some evidence. from the elections. chinese state back actors may have actually done a lot onstage spoken online other social media platforms to help boost the chances of a very very pro regime and some of the tactics that they use they're actually looks a lot like what we saw in the united states in which russian actors now we've seen some pretty dramatic examples over the last few weeks of china flexing its online muscle let's talk about tick tock we've been hearing a lot about tick tock what is it and what are people worried about. this is a good question is. so it's a social me out that you install on your phone and it shows you enlist series short

videos to train 60 seconds and about a minute and if it's mostly popular among people of high school and college age right now. for saying about this app is that an algorithm decides what you see next so you don't actually issues what's the next that you're going to see as you do it . and this app is owned by a company based in china has actually already run into problems with the chinese authorities and respond to that by swearing loyalty so it's using things political agenda saying that we're going to do a better job at limiting the communist party's ideological agenda so there's obvious problems with a company this already supported the communist party that already helped censoring information inside of china control out that is it's actually the most popular social media app outside of any apps owned by facebook so you know because what's

happened is its own messaging app and is the most the most popular out. what do we know about china and the u.s. elections does beijing really benefit from a specific outcome of the elections. this one is really really hard to answer you know as somebody who's been washing prognostications in the space for a number of years now there are there are all kinds of process prognostications about whether donald trump was going to be good for the u.s. china relationship for 26. it really seemed like the chinese themselves didn't have any idea whether that was going to be a case so i think it's it's hard to say right now whether china really wants to enter security killer way. traitor thank you. as president joko widodo starts his 2nd term this week many people in indonesia

wonder just what direction he will try to take the country students have protested a proposed criminal code they say discriminates against minorities including transgender people just how is that group seen and treated we have the story of one transgender group and its attempts to build its own community. washing before prayer is a daily ritual forced into since it was called santa when she was born she changed her name but the faith remained being muslim and transgender force into this is not a contradiction she says she finds peace and security in islam and feels that spirituality is important for everyone no matter what they believe in. a book on my prayer isn't about whether you're a man or a woman but we are just people who seek an encounter with god creation meets creator completely independent of gender that's how i see it in the year

in 2008 cinta founded a koran school for transgender people it's a sanctuary where they can read sewers together far away from insults and unwanted attention and yet even here seem to is not completely free in 2016 she had to close down the school for several months because extremists threatened her and those radical voices are getting louder. that. many are easily influenced and manipulated we as transgender people are easy targets many workers street performers sometimes people throw bottles at you or landlords just keep you out of your apartment. for centuries some of the countries regions have recognized more than just 2 genders but the highest islamic council in indonesia issued a fatwa in 2015

a legal text claiming same sex relations are an attack on indonesia's dignity hardliners demand the death penalty cinta calls this a political game saying when you get there and stand being transgender is my destiny god decided it for me it is god's will according to my understanding islam accept transgender people because they already existed here in the times of the prophet so it is compatible with islam to be transgender however the front jihad islam sees being transgender as a sickness that can and must be healed through prayer. thinks everyone should stick to their birth gender he says god did not investigate people to be half man half woman. and his men are collecting money for their own religious school. they see themselves as

a civil patrol against sin. in indonesia many people claim to be muslims but what sort of muslims are they they do not know much about our religion we see it as our task to explain the true islam and its rules to the people. in calls for evening prayer while people in many countries around the world are becoming increasingly open to same sex relationships and various gender identities indonesia seems to be taking the opposite path. cinta observes this very closely but hopes it's only a phase and i still believe the. indonesia can maintain a balance between democratic and conservative forces the pendulum sometimes swings more to one side sometimes more to the other but in their hearts indonesians are

people who respect and accept others. a festival for minorities in yogyakarta performing are hindus christians and transgender people. it has become politically opportune to be against transgender people yet they feel that they are just as good muslims as many other indonesians. joining us in need of amnesty international indonesia is one we have seen a rise in violence and discrimination against the transgender community have a we. yeah we did a thing with seeing a rise in recent years in the specially in 201-5016 i think the report written by local transgender community has noted at least 100 cases taking place in the 1015 in 2006 didn't they also have done

a research document thing at least a 172 persecutions criminalisation against transgender community in indonesia over the last 8 years and the worst one i think in amnesty or poor is taking place in 2018 it started in china. and then it moved to other provinces in in sumatra where many transgender women transgender people have been. facing. jail treatment torture and also closure of their hair into silence so indeed we have seen a rise in violence and discrimination against the transgender community now which laws apply in indonesia i think a lot of the worst outside the country that don't necessarily understand the laws would want to get clarification to report mentioned a fatwa but are there secular laws in the secular government inflates to protect

minority. well the front doesn't have any legal weight i think it's issued by indonesian islamic councils or the muslim organizations but they do not form as a part of indonesia as a free shuttle and only in that year where there is the bible which is actually a regional government regulation based on sharia with space a fake provision on or discriminatory to today as you can see i think there are at least 4 to 5 local by littles that are deemed to be discriminatory against the transgender community however in the nation's constitution i think. the national law basically protects every individual including minorities and indonesian constitutions including in the nation lol on human rights prohibits

discrimination against transgender community although aren't fortunately there's not enough you know implementation or law enforcement to prevent crackdowns against the ability and transgender community. honeyed of amnesty international indonesia thank you. that's a show for today and you can find more on our website e.w. dot com for slash asia and on facebook and twitter as well thanks for watching see you next time and goodbye. i'm secure in the fire were not hard and in the end these are me you are not allowed to stay here anymore we will send you back. are you familiar with this. with the smugglers were alliances of the what's your story ready.

i mean when i was in women especially in victims of violence and. take part and send us your story we are trying in all weathers understand this new culture. for you are not in return nothing yet you want to become a citizen. in 4 migrants your platform for reliable information. we. don't leave africa to china russia is pushing for close of business ties with african countries and more geopolitical sway government putin is hosting the 1st russian africa summit as he seems trying to influence on a continent where the west and china already have a firm foothold. chocolate lovers start saving an indian company

has launched the world's most expensive truck. welcome to business as on the w.r. . it's a premier aimed at making a big impact hoess by russian president vladimir putin. african leaders are gathering in the russian resort town of sochi this week for the 1st ever russia africa some as russia's attempt to jumpstart relations with the continent 3 decades after the fall of the soviet union when which then was a major player in africa. but russia does not want to stand aside while other powers like the u. china and india strategically increase their influence and investment on the continent putin has big plans for africa especially with its rich mineral resources that's a quick look at selected activities of russian companies on the continent as energy

multinational luko which is involved in a natural gas development project in the republic of congo in sudan and the central african republic.