Author wanted by Singapore for draft-dodging

Kevin Kwan is an author originally from Singapore, but he's lived in the U.S. since about 1990. He wrote the novel Crazy Rich Asians, which is the basis for the now-popular movie of the same name.

Now the government of Singapore - a dictatorship so extreme that it outlawed chewing gum - is accusing Kwan of dodging the draft, an offense that carries up to 3 years in prison and a fine of thousands.

In Soviet fashion, the totalitarian Singaporean government is also accusing Kwan of staying out of the country without permission. Seriously. This is just like how the Soviet Union wouldn't let its citizens emigrate. Also, in 1994, Singapore rejected Kwan's bid to renounce his Singaporean citizenship.

It's unknown how Kwan is responding to Singapore's plan to reach into the U.S. to punish him for what he allegedly did 30 years ago. Considering perennial U.S. support for right-wing foreign dictatorships, I wouldn't be surprised if the U.S. agrees to extradite him - which would be yet another smudge on America's increasingly sad human rights record.