rival you are watching d w. news coming up next in d. w. news, asia fi sing for recognition and election and power g y. could see taiwan lose another diplomatic ally and how industrial pollution is threatening life and livelihoods on a major river in bangladesh. that more coming up next sunday, w news. asia with melissa cham. i'm and nicholas mckennon. thanks for your time and have a lovely day. thank guardians of truth. my name is jolanda and i have paid almost every price of being a journalist in a country like turkey taking all the powers that be they risked everything.

john dunbar asked activists, journalists and politicians living in exile with too much on my shoulders. but i have to hold this weight because i'm responsible for the future fall country for the people who are behind the bus. they move for their mission. people need to know what is happening there in our series guardians of truth, watch, know on youtube, d. w documentary you're watching d. w. news asia coming up today. time one fights for friends and allies. taipei is rolling out the red carpet to keep its diplomatic ties intact. but elections a world away could see another country switch allegiance to beijing. and what happens when government officials fail to protect

a major river from solution in bangladesh? it's the people who suffer. ah, my name is melissa chan. thanks for joining us. we take a closer look at ty, wine, which defacto operates as an independent country, but is not diplomatically recognized by most other countries around the world. that makes its few diplomatic relations extra important, especially because beijing has been on overdrive to pick off tie ones allies one by one in recent years and get them to switch recognition in the attempt to isolate the island. this week guatemalan president alejandro jermanti visited taipei. he was received by taiwan presents high in when, with full military honors and

a state banquet jama, take hold tight, not to worry, and that his country would stand with taiwan. or he's there in europe, a war, guatemala supports ty, ones, diplomatic objectives, which are aggressively securing national sovereignty. and protecting the entirety of the territory level, almost normal, promoting peace and taking part in international society as a sovereign country. laconia raw. the brazen china protested the guatemalan president's visit to taipei, of course, and beijing is watching another country in the central and south american region. paraguay. the country is holding elections and just a few days and the results could determine whether taiwan will lose yet another diplomatic ally. this would be a foreign policy set back, but there is also a human cost w's charge when yet reports. ah,

pablo is one of the few tangible size of a friendship between ty one and pero glide. he student a p h. d in asia pacific start east here in taipei. today, he's focused on what's happening at home. the opposition party in paraguay wanted to cut ties with taiwan and switch allegiance to china because i am in my 3rd year already in my major. so it's like a lot of time that i've invested here in a lot of effort. and i would not like to you, seattle, because so far, oh, in the end up, ah, paraguay in taiwan on like can break in their diplomatic ties. most power lay of the students here receive a scholarship, friendly, taiwanese government. if the opposition we use the election, dia on 38th april and breaks ties with ty, one lay oh, may have to go back. i think that the law,

me personally and most of our students, we are all afraid that we could go through the same path stuck on doris took. it was only last month that home do rest, change size officially recognizing china and cutting diplomatic relations with taiwan. that left tie with just 13 sovereign states as official allies. none of these places have major global influence. if paraguay also switches to china, they will leave tie with only 12 diplomatic allies, left and not at all in south america. or waykell is an expert in latin american studies from taiwan tongue come university. he said, the 65 year old diplomatic friendship with paraguay careful becton to economic

considerations by wishes. rather, paraguay is a major exporter of soybeans and beef that they've wanted to enter the chinese market for a long time. but the trade of agricultural products is very delicate and strict. and if you don't have diplomatic relations and no signed agreements on quarantine, he probably cannot export to mainland china. taiwan officials say lay will not try to compete with wiley co, china's bother diplomacy. lacey, they are confident, paraguay, well, we men and allied, you all go away go worse. fat tie one must not become numb to losing allies. that each loss no matter how small is important. well the i, one says we were sovereign an independent country. but if no one recognizes you, you're just talking to yourself. people here in time, one should pay attention, says gone. he says, the more diplomatically isolated island becomes,

the more vulnerable they will be to aggression from china. joining us in the studio is did use clifford conan, formerly based in aging, a. clifford, it seems a bit crazy that events all the way across the pacific could impact taiwan and in turn regional security in the, in the pacific. well, it is a bit crazy. i think, you know, when you go to visit taiwan or you see these flags, you know, in front of the, of the foreign ministry in the presidential palace and there for places like as what you need to value a palau vatican city. these are some of the smallest countries in the world and clearly, you know, no disrespect to the countries obviously, but they're not a major geo political importance. so tiwana clinging to these countries in some ways is quite surreal in a way. and it highlights, i think, just how fragile tie wants position is because it's being squeezed out of

everything. internet every international arena by beijing, which wants to reduce its influence as to as little as possible, excuse me, and am. and so they're trying to isolate them on the global stage, but they're also in the united states at the same time is trying to shore up at security standing. so it's in a very difficult position. and but do diplomatic relations actually matter? when you look at ty, ones, economy, it's often it's usually in the top 20, it's 20 largest economies in the world. so it seems to be doing okay without. well, i think so. i think that's it. i mean, whatever. but the diplomatic ties, the thing is that taiwan is most important. partner is a country with which it doesn't have diplomatic ties, which is the united states as the irony writer. and so when it has that, it can basically, it gives it all kinds. it gives it, it, it allows taiwan to punch above its weight and economically, as you pointed out, it's, it's, it's, it's a very rich country. it's supplying a huge amount of micro chips now, which makes it strategically important on

a global player on that something which is a of major irritation to beijing, which is struggling to keep up in the innovation sphere and in the technological sphere when it comes to microchips so i think it's, it's basically flourished under these american security guarantees and under america's protection. and i mean, chinese and game ultimately like what if we're in a situation where taiwan is left with one diplomatic ally or, or 0 and what happens then? i think am, there's been a couple of theories about this. one is that we're going to start looking at something called you recognition, where countries can recognize both china and taiwan. and it's unlikely though, the china will go for that. i think what i, what i want is going to do now is start to try and focus more on international organizations on keeping its profile high without going the traditional route of diplomacy. the traditional diplomatic route is, is, is, is closed off. so it's,

it has to look at alternatives, and beijing has squeezes out of things like the intern, the international in committee, and it's not on the w. hey, joe, which we saw during the pandemic, that it's the fact that it wasn't in the world health organization was a problem. and, and taiwan reminded people of that. and i think what it's going to do is start looking to boost its reputation internationally. and really am but through less traditional channels, because ultimately that will, that will, that will help it maintain this because as we know, i mean, as we mentioned, the of the economy is strong and he has a lot to offer am and it needs to keep its profile high because recent geopolitical events, since i've seen taiwan come under a lot of pressure, we had to visit by nancy pelosi which saw the the island basically being an it was a patrol around the island or me have them. i mean issues like possibly economic block blockades, so it really does need to keep its profile high in order. people don't forget that that taiwan is still there and that it needs assistance very quickly. any

predictions for the next country china might target after paraguay. i am, it's hard to say, i mean, i think it's what he need given that it's the last african stays, you know, it would sort of, maybe if there was pressure put, there could be some of the beijing seeks to try and close down. but i think beijing is just going to just keep focusing on all of them until it eventually isolates taiwan diplomatically. clifford can and thank you so much for joining us as always ah, in bangladesh, untreated waste from the country's garment industry is destroy the capital's bery ganga. river banging these factories, waste disposal in 2 rivers has failed, and it is locals that are harmed, breathing toxic air and drinking toxic water. while moore's feast often at this stretch of filth along the booty younger river,

once an artery of life cutting to the captain's city, the river to day is considered a dead zone ruined by unchecked industrial waste. a large section of dark us population still depends on the body ganga as a water source, but rampant garbage disposal and lack of water treatment. nene fishing is a thing of the past or with about 20 to 30 years back. the reverse water was good. i used to catch all different kinds of fish mala wrong. now it is polluted as factors discharge their waste into the river. there aren't any fish in the river to day on in london with one of many people to put the blame on garment factories that lined the believe on the vanity. she law require these factories to treat the waste before dumping. but the

government cannot always keep watch, and so these factories often flowed the laws. communities living on the river banks also seemed no option but to dump their refuse into the bully gone gas, water, which they drink. colquitt bathed and defeated public water treatment facilities are non existent. that is, knob is single out. wisdom being chain is available, are provided by the cd corporation. so that is obviously what i need coming it is they are discharging their solid was to that or to this river expert. say that brigham, that troubles are manmade and could be held if target channels to waste to a nearby water treatment plant. but no such plans have been announced. that's it for wednesday. there's more stories from the region on our website, d, w dot com, forward slash a check in follow up on social media. i'm melissa chance,

thanks for watching and we'll see you tomorrow. goodbye. eco africa cushioning. it's the traditional in liberia that the sale and consumption of it has been forbidden for several years. the goal is to preserve the bio diversity and prevent the spread of diseases. how would

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