May 2022 - Page 19 of 20 - Investigative Journalism Reportika

Cambodia PM urges Myanmar junta boss to let ASEAN envoy meet Aung San Suu Kyi

Editor3 years ago04 mins

Prime Minister Hun Sen has urged Myanmar’s military junta to allow the ASEAN special envoy to visit and meet deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. In a phone call Sunday, Hun Sen called on Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, to allow the meetings and take other steps to implement a five-point agreement the junta leader reached between ASEAN’s foreign ministers in April 2021. Cambodia is the current rotating chair of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Hun Sen visited Myanmar in January and met Min Aung Hlaing and urged steps to resolve the political crisis sparked by his Feb. 1, 2021 coup. Hun Sen requested “further cooperation in facilitating the second visit to Myanmar by the ASEAN Chair’s Special Envoy special chairs envoy, possibly at the end of May,” the ministry said. “He reemphasized the importance of access for the Special Envoy to meet all parties concerned in Myanmar, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and former President Win Myint, for creating (a) conducive environment to start an inclusive political dialogue,” the ministry said. Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint are in detention and undergoing trial in military courts for what supporters say are politically motivated charges. The Cambodian leader also urged the junta chief to release political prisoners, “avoid excessive use of force in maintaining law and order” and to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance particularly in conflict areas, it said. There was no immediate comment from Myanmar, but the Cambodian statement said Min Aung Hlaing had “pledged to facilitate meetings with other parties concerned.” Hun Sen is set to attend a May 12-13 summit between the U.S. and leaders of ASEAN, where the White House is keen to advance its vision of a “free and open” Indo-Pacific and discuss efforts to counter Chinese influence, but the Myanmar conflict is likely to be discussed. No progress has been made on the five-point agreement, which included an end to violence, the provision of humanitarian assistance, an ASEAN envoy’s appointment, all-party dialogue, and mediation by the envoy. Min Aung Hlaing has escalated the military’s attack on the people of Myanmar, and continued to target and detain political opponent. Nearly 1,800 people, mostly pro-democracy protesters, have been killed by Burmese security forces, since the coup.

More than a dozen senior NLD officials sentenced for ‘graft’ in Myanmar in April

Editor3 years ago07 mins

Military courts in Myanmar sentenced a total of 14 Cabinet ministers and senior officials from the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) government to lengthy prison terms on corruption charges last month, according to data compiled by RFA’s Myanmar Service. On April 22, Deputy Minister for Construction Kyaw Lin was sentenced to 20 years in prison while directors-general Aung Mint Oo, Ye Min Zaw and Nay Aung Ye Myint were sentenced to two to four years in prison. That same day, Kachin State Chief Minister Khet Aung, Director of the State Municipal Authority Soe Naing, and ministers Wai Lin, Win Nyunt, La Sai, Naw Li, Zaw Win and Ne Win were also jailed on corruption charges. Former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, the head of the NLD who was arrested on the day of the military’s Feb. 1, 2021, coup, was sentenced to five years in prison on April 27 in the first of 11 corruption cases against her. Yangon Region Social Affairs Minister Naing Lin was also handed a prison sentence for corruption the following day. Naw Naw, the son of Khet Aung, told RFA that his father had worked tirelessly on behalf of the country only to end up jailed for 12 years on bogus corruption charges. “This sad development can be seen throughout the country, where all those who had worked in good faith are meeting the same fate,” he said. Mar La Myint, the wife of Ne Win, said her husband’s sentence was a blow to him and his entire family. “He was imprisoned before for his political beliefs, but this time it’s worse,” she said, adding that her husband was “incapable of corruption.” Other notable NLD officials who were sentenced on corruption charges last month include Sagaing Region Chief Minister Myint Naing, Bago Region Chief Minister Win Thein, and Yangon Region Transport Minister Nilar Kyaw. Plan to maintain power When asked for comment on last month’s sentences, junta deputy minister of information, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told RFA that only those who are guilty of the charges against them had been sentenced. “We have no reason to put [NLD officials] into prison if didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “If it were not for [their acts of] corruption, we wouldn’t have arrested them. No one is above the law. If you commit a crime, you will be punished accordingly.” But Win Myat Aye, minister for Humanitarian and Disaster Management for the shadow National Unity Government (NUG), told RFA the sentences were “part of the junta’s plan to hold onto power.” “They’ll do whatever it takes to reach their goal. From the very beginning, they seized state power by force. They’ll keep on using force to hold on to power,” he said. “What they are doing is illegal and not in line with the wishes of the people.” Political analyst Than Soe Naing said he sees the prison terms as part of a bid by the junta to exclude the NLD and its key party leaders from upcoming military-sponsored elections. “They are carrying out these unfair actions under unfair laws by unfair tribunals so that the NLD and all the party’s top leaders will not be able to run in the next election,” he said. “This year has seen a lot of unjust imprisonment under unjust legal procedures. I’m sure they are doing this to prevent the NLD taking part in the elections they are planning to hold.” Aung San Su Kyi, whose NLD ruled the country for five years and won re-election in November 2020 in a landslide vote that the army refused to honor, was sentenced in January to six years for violating export-import laws, the communications law and the natural disaster management law. She had already been sentenced to six years in prison on five of 18 charges lodged against her since the junta overthrew and detained her. With last week’s five-year sentence, she faces 11 years imprisonment from six charges, with 12 more charges pending. RFA records show that a total of 64 people, including NLD leaders and cabinet members, have been charged with corruption, in the 15 months since the military seized power. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

At bilateral meet, Japanese, Thai PMs urge end to war in Ukraine

Editor3 years ago2 years ago09 mins

Japan and Thailand urged an end to the war in Ukraine and discussed working with the international community to provide humanitarian assistance, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-Cha said after he met with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, in Bangkok on Monday. The two countries also signed a defense deal as they reaffirmed their bilateral relationship during Kishida’s trip to Thailand, which coincides with the 135th anniversary of diplomatic relations and ten years of the strategic partnership between the two countries. Kishida arrived in Thailand Sunday evening for a two-day trip after visiting Vietnam, a staunch Russian ally, which nevertheless announced a humanitarian aid package worth U.S. $500,000 to Ukraine during the Japanese leader’s trip. “Concerning the situation in Ukraine, Thailand and Japan reaffirmed the principles of territorial integrity, international law, and the United Nations Charter. Both sides expressed concern over the escalation of tension in the situation and urged all relevant parties to cease all hostilities and violence and exercise utmost restraint,” Prayuth said in the statement. Japan condemned Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and joined a slew of Western nations in imposing sanctions on Moscow. Thailand, meanwhile, abstained from a United Nations resolution vote to suspend Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council for alleged human rights abuses in the war in Ukraine. It did however support a strongly worded U.N. resolution that “deplored” the aggression by Russia against Ukraine. Kishida said Japan admired Thailand for supporting the latter resolution. “I agree with Prime Minister Prayuth to denounce the violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity, unilateral use of force in any region, and disapproval of the use of weapons of mass destruction or the threat to use it,” the Japanese PM said. Prayuth also said he had proposed a “new approach towards ending confrontation which calls for the need to change the narrative of the Ukraine situation from conflict to humanitarian consideration for those who are affected by the Ukraine situation.” He said he had a similar approach “to resolve the situation in Myanmar and attached importance to humanitarian assistance for the people of Myanmar.” He did not give details about the so-called approach. Thailand shares a 2,400-kilometer (1,500-mile) long border with Myanmar. It has not outright condemned the coup in Myanmar or the actions of its security forces, which toppled the elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government on Feb. 1, 2021. Before arriving in Bangkok, the Japanese PM visited Hanoi where he spent fewer than 24 hours. He was received by all three of Vietnam’s top leaders, including the prime minister, the president, and the chairman of the national assembly. Speaking about Vietnam’s commitment of humanitarian aid for Ukraine, a Vietnamese analyst, Le Dang Doanh, said that Kishida’s visit helped Russian ally Vietnam “adjust its stance towards the Ukrainian war.” South China Sea At a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh and the other Vietnamese leaders, Kishida also discussed the issue of the disputed South China Sea, and the need for a free and open Indo-Pacific. Vietnam shares interest with Japan in safeguarding maritime security in the South China Sea, where China holds expansive claims and has been militarizing reclaimed islands. China is involved in maritime disputes with Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, where Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all have claims. In Bangkok Monday, Kishida said that Japan along with Thailand hoped to “achieve the goal of [a] free and open Indo-Pacific and will closely cooperate to handle the matters of the South China Sea and North Korea and nuclear weapon and ballistic missile tests.” Defense deal Meanwhile the new defense equipment deal announced by Kishida and Prayuth would help facilitate the transfer of hardware and technology from Japan to Thailand, but the leaders provided no details. The deal “would support the strengthening of defense cooperation between the two countries and incentivize Japanese investment in the Thai defense industry, which is one of the targeted industries,” Prayuth said in a joint press conference held at the Government House in Bangkok on Monday evening. “The signing of our defense equipment and technology transfer agreement is a major step forward in expanding bilateral defense cooperation,” Kishida said. The two countries will later decide on the specific types of equipment for transfer. Apart from the defense deal, the two leaders also witnessed the signing of agreements to deepen financial cooperation between Japan and Thailand. Additionally, Japan gave Thailand COVID-19 emergency support worth 50 billion yen (U.S. $384 million) in loans and 500 million yen in grants aid, according to a joint statement. The two leaders discussed improvements in agricultural supply chains and agreed to continue working together on the Mekong sub-region, “particularly in promoting connectivity, human resource development, and sustainable development,” the statement said. Japan is Thailand’s biggest foreign investor, followed by the United States and Singapore. According to the Thai commerce ministry, Japanese investors represented 28.6 percent of the overall foreign investment in Thailand, worth more than 82.5 billion baht (U.S. $ 2.39 billion), in 2021. Japan’s investments, especially in the automotive industry, have been vital to Thailand’s economic growth in the last several decades.

Zero-COVID policy in Chinese border city stops freight to North Korea

Editor3 years ago05 mins

North Korea and China are again suspending rail freight as Beijing’s zero-Covid policy spreads to cities on the Sino-Korean border, sources in both countries told RFA. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China announced at an April 29 news briefing that it would temporarily suspend all freight transportation between China’s Dandong and North Korea’s Sinuiju because of the COVID-19 situation in Dandong. Dandong and Sinuiju lie on opposite sides of the Yalu River that separates the two countries, and are the key hubs in Sino-North Korean trade. “The Dandong-Sinuiju freight train … will operate until the end of this month and will be suspended again from May 1,” a source from the North Korean province of North Pyongan told RFA’s Korean Service last week. “Since COVID-19 is spreading in Dandong … the city government began to lock down the city from the 25th and restricted residents’ movement. Because Dandong is locked down, our side is also suspending freight trains to prevent COVID-19,” said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons. The rail stoppage comes as tens of millions of residents of major Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are facing rigid lockdowns and strict testing regimens as the country tries to stop the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19 under the Communist Party’s zero-COVID policy. At the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020, Beijing and Pyongyang closed the border and suspended all trade, a move that was disastrous to the North Korean economy. Rail freight finally resumed on a limited basis almost two years later in January 2022, only to be shut off again after less than four months due to the lockdowns Days before the closure, traders made preparations for the last shipments, the source said. “The freight station is now filled with fertilizer, pesticide and food purchased by North Korean trading companies as national emergency goods. The last trains will be shipped to a quarantine facility in Uiju either tomorrow or the day after,” he said. RFA reported last year that North Korea had completed a new rail line between Sinuiju and a quarantine facility in Uiju, in anticipation of trade reopening prior to the end of the pandemic. The new facility allows entire trainloads of cargo to be sterilized prior to distribution to Pyongyang and the rest of the country. A second source familiar with Sino-North Korean trade in Dandong confirmed that rail freight would stop at the beginning of May. “North Korea urgently needs farming materials and fertilizer, so the two sides have both agreed to bring the supplies to Sinuiju by the end of this month,” he said. “People expect that the freight train between Dandong and Sinuiju will resume only after COVID-19 disappears and the city lockdown is lifted throughout China.” The lockdown in Dandong forbids all 2.2 million residents from leaving their homes and requires them to submit to daily testing. Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Philippines vote: Marcos seen as pro-China; Robredo will likely test Beijing ties

Editor3 years ago09 mins

China would likely enjoy friendly ties with the Philippines if Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wins next week’s presidential election, while his main challenger, Vice President Leni Robredo, has vowed to seek help in protecting Philippine waters in the South China Sea, American analysts said. They say Marcos Jr. closely hews to the stance of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, who chose to ignore the 2016 Hague tribunal ruling that threw out China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea as Beijing promised rivers of money for infrastructure development. “Marcos is the most pro-Beijing of all candidates,” said Greg Poling, a Southeast Asia analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based policy research organization. “He is the most pro-Chinese in a system where most people are anti-Chinese. He avoids the press and debates, and what we have are these off-the-cuff remarks that are pro-Chinese. He is a friend of the Chinese embassy,” said Poling, director of CSIS’s Southeast Asia Program and Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. He was referring to anti-Chinese government sentiment among much of the Philippine population who see their fishermen’s livelihoods being threatened and lives being endangered by alleged harassment on the part of Chinese navy and coast guard ships. Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the country’s late dictator deposed by a people power revolt in 1986, has consistently led opinion polls ahead of the May 9 general elections to replace Duterte, who is limited by the constitution to a single six-year term. The latest survey conducted by independent pollster Pulse Asia from April 16-21 showed Marcos Jr. in the lead with 56 percent support, and Robredo in second place with 23 percent. The eight other candidates competing, including boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao, are already out of contention, according to experts. Marcos Jr. is running alongside Sara Duterte-Carpio, Duterte’s daughter, in what they tout as a continuity ticket that would safeguard the outgoing leader’s legacy. Pundits say that a Robredo government would take a tougher stance on Beijing over the sea dispute, and put an immediate stop to the Duterte government’s deadly war on drugs, which has killed thousands and battered the country’s international image. ‘Not a man of strong opinions’ Poling said that Marcos Jr. does not appear to “have many political beliefs” when it comes to the South China Sea, while Robredo has said she would enforce a 2016 arbitral ruling invalidating China’s claims to almost the entire, mineral-rich South China Sea. Robredo has stressed repeatedly that the West Philippine Sea, or that part of the South China Sea that falls within the country’s exclusive economic zone, belongs to the Philippines, and that she “will fight for that.” And she has put forward an idea never even entertained by the Duterte administration: that the ruling could be used to create a coalition of nations to pressure China. Poling said Robredo may not be ideologically pro-American or a “cheerleader for the alliance,” but she appears to be a nationalist who could tap allies for help in the territorial row that has dragged on for years. “She is pragmatic about the South China Sea. [She believes] China is a threat and violates the rule of law in the South China Sea,” Poling said, adding that there was reason to believe that her victory could strengthen the Philippine-U.S. alliance. Manila is Washington’s biggest ally in Southeast Asia, where an increasingly assertive China is encroaching on other claimant nations’ exclusive economic zones in the disputed South China Sea. Duterte tested the U.S.-Philippines relationship, threatening to drop one of many bilateral security agreements and vowing never to set foot in the United States while president. Marcos Jr. has said he would not rock the boat if he won, and would largely continue with Duterte’s policies. But, unlike the outgoing leader, he does not appear to have animosity towards Washington, analysts point out. “The impression you get of him is that he does and says things not of his own initiative but based on what people around him say. He is not a man of strong opinions,” said Vicente Rafael, a professor of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Washington. Both candidates have little foreign policy experience, though in this election that area does not carry enough weight to swing votes, analysts said. Domestically, the Philippine economy is just recovering after being in one of the world’s longest lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Foreign policy “is not a big deal in these elections,” according to Andrew Yeo, a senior fellow at The Brookings Institute. “The biggest issue is recovering from the pandemic.” Yeo said that relations with the U.S. are unlikely to get worse under Marcos Jr., because “the Philippine military is very supportive of the alliance with the U.S. and so is the foreign policy establishment.” “Marcos Jr. would have to calibrate his policies carefully, because he has to rely on the military and defense and foreign policy establishment for military and foreign policy. He will have to play some politics to keep them satisfied,” Yeo said. On Robredo, the Brookings fellow said that it is clear she would support the alliance with the U.S., which supports the rule of law and freedom of navigation in the seas. “She won’t bend to the will of China, like Duterte who gave up on the Hague ruling. She won’t do that,” he said. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.

World

A free press for a free world

Editor3 years ago01 mins

In honor of the United Nations’ World Press Freedom Day, we reflect on media targeted by the restriction and destruction of press freedom, as well as remember the journalists who have died in the pursuit of a story.

Uyghurs warned against divulging ‘state secrets’ before UN right chief ‘s China visit

Editor3 years ago010 mins

Chinese officials in Xinjiang are warning Uyghurs not to divulge “state secrets” during a visit by United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet this month, officials in the western region said. A Chinese government video instructing Uyghurs on 10 things not to do has been shared widely on Douyin, a Chinese version of the TikTok short video app, in Xinjiang, the sources said. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Committee of Yarkand (in Chinese, Shache) county in Kashgar (Kashi) prefecture recently uploaded the video to social media. It features 10 female CCP officials from the county reciting the “10 commandments” and warning Uyghur residents not to disclose so-called state secrets. Chinese officials in Xinjiang told RFA that a government notice with the same title had been issued two months ago. “It’s been around two months since we received it,” said a female police officer from Yarkand township. When RFA pointed out that the same directive was previously in place, the officer said it was renewed because of the U.N. delegation’s visit. A five-member advance team from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) arrived in China last week to prepare for a visit by Bachelet expected in May, though the dates have not yet been disclosed. The U.N. human rights chief and former Chilean president first announced that her office sought an unfettered access to Xinjiang in September 2018, shortly after she took over her current role. But the trip has been delayed over questions about her freedom of movement through the region. Uyghur activists and other rights groups are pressing for Bachelet to have independent and unfettered access to Xinjiang to conduct a meaningful investigation of alleged atrocities in the region. Human rights activists say that by issuing such notices and promotional videos, China is threatening the region’s residents not to disclose any information about the government’s widely documented repression of Uyghurs. A directive not to take calls RFA contacted Chinese government offices in several cities in Xinjiang to ask officials about the preparations that were underway before Bachelet’s arrival. Most said that authorities have warned locals not to accept calls from unknown phone numbers and not to answer questions from the U.N. human rights team without approval from the government. “We have a directive to not answer phone calls starting with zero,” said a female official from Yarkand county’s Dongbagh village, referring to international calls in China. A security chief from the No. 2 village of Imamlirim township in Aksu (Akesu) prefecture’s Uchturpan (Wushi) county said people were informed about the directive at a village meeting. “Don’t talk to any foreigners and don’t answer phone calls starting with zero. This was told to us at the village meeting,” he said. In the Yarkand county CCP video, authorities warned Uyghurs in sometimes threatening manner not to divulge, question or argue about “state secrets.” A male police officer from the Dongbagh village police station said he was worried about answering questions from RFA because of the government directive. “We have a directive on not answering questions from unknown and strange phone calls and people,” the officer said. Zumret Dawut, a Uyghur who was held in an internment camp and says he was forced to undergo permanent sterilization surgery, said Chinese authorities have always required Uyghurs in Xinjiang to keep quiet whenever U.N. human rights commissioners have visited the region. “Similar directives existed when I was there,” Dawut said. “They asked us the same things before flag raising ceremonies in the morning. They would ask us not to speak to foreigners and not to talk to them about the [internment] camps, and so on.” Up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and others have been held in a vast network of internment camps operated by the Chinese government under the pretext of preventing religious extremism and terrorism among the mostly Muslim groups. China has said that the camps are vocational facilities for Uyghurs and meant to deter religious extremism and terrorism. “They would ask us to stay away from foreigners and if asked about China, they would say talk to them about positive things about the country,” Dawut said. ‘China is afraid’ Bachelet will be the first U.N. human rights commissioner to visit China since 2005. Her office has been under pressure from rights activists to issue an overdue report on rights violations by Chinese authorities targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic communities in the Xinjiang. Uyghur groups have demanded that office issue the report before her visit. RFA previously reported that since 2009, Uyghurs arrested on charges of “leaking state secrets” have been sentenced to more than seven years in prison. Uyghurs are sensitive to the consequences of saying too much, Dawut said. “Despite this, the authorities still felt it was necessary to continue such propaganda,” Dawut told RFA. “The need for this Chinese heightened alert on tightening the information leaks on of state secrets may have been the result of the forthcoming visit by a U.N. investigation team.” Ilshat Hassan Kokbore, a Uyghur political observer who lives in the United States, said a country’s state secrets should only be known by high-ranking officials or institutions that govern that country, and not the public. “If the Chinese government is urging the rural population of the Uyghur region not to divulge so-called state secrets, then what is being hidden here is not a secret, but all the policies and practices of the state — which is the Uyghur genocide,” he told RFA. “China is afraid that the U.N.’s Bachelet will discover the truth if Uyghurs speak out about the Chinese policy of genocide,” Kokbore said. “That’s why they have initiated this campaign of deception.” Translated by RFA’s Uyghur Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Vietnam ‘opinion workers’ push Russian fake news on Ukraine on social media

Editor3 years ago2 years ago010 mins

Vietnamese “opinion workers” who promote the Communist Party and protect its image on social media now have a new role: spreading fake or misleading reports that support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Facebook. Facebook groups like “Đơn vị Tác chiến Mạng” (Cyber CombatUnit), “Truy quét Phản động” (Elimination of Reactionary Forces), “Bộ Tự lệnh Tác chiến” (Combat Command), and “Trung đoàn 47” (Regiment 47) that have worked to counter criticism of the Communist Party all now post information in favor of Russia. For example, Trung đoàn 47, which is believed to be part of a cyber combat force in the Vietnam People’s Army, posted this justification for the invasion: “Mr. Putin said: ‘Moscow has done everything it can to maintain Ukraine’s territorial integrity as well as protect the interests of Donetsk and Lugansk’s people but Kiev had blocked Donbas, suppressing local residents and shelling Donbas.’” Đơn vị Tác chiến Mạng posts fake news on a nearly daily basis. One video clip shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting with members of his Cabinet and a close-up shot of a handful of white powder on his desk that looks like heroin. Đơn vị Tác chiến Mạng claimed that Zelensky posted this video on his website before it was quickly deleted. Facebook attached an alert on the video to let viewers know it is an altered recording, though it is still available. Even wider of the mark has been coverage of the massacre in Bucha, a town outside the capital Kyiv where hundreds of Ukrainians were killed by Russian soldiers. The torture and murder of Bucha residents apparently carried out by Russian soldiers before Ukrainian forces retook the town has drawn international calls to bring perpetrators to justice for war crimes. But Don Vi Tac Chien Mang said the atrocities were faked by Ukraine officials and soldiers, who, the Facebook group claimed, transported the corpses to Bucha from another location. RFA sent evidence to prove the video was fake to Meta, Facebook’s parent company, asking for comment as to why the social media platform had not yet identified it as such. A team representative said a response would be forthcoming within 24 hours, but RFA did not receive a reply. ‘It cannot discourage me’ The pro-Russian disinformation comes from a force of tens of thousands of cyber troops created by the Hanoi regime to watch and attack people online for posting information seen as detrimental to the Vietnamese Communist Party. Targets include individual netizens like Phan Chau Thanh, a Vietnamese businessman living in Poland who along with his friends began to organize the delivery of relief aid to Ukraine refugees in Poland right after the war broke out. “I find this war extremely unjustifiable,” Thanh said. “How can Russia carry out an invasion of another country right in the middle of Europe in the 21st century? Therefore, I want to provide Vietnamese people with updates about the war through the eyes of a person living in Europe.” Posts from his Facebook account garner thousands of views among Vietnamese, including government officials and the army of official influencers. “Since the war started, or over the past 60 days, my Facebook account has been blocked four times,” he said, due to reports accusing him of violating Facebook’s community standards. In December 2021, Meta, Facebook’s parent, announced that it had removed from the site a network of users who attacked political dissidents in Vietnam through similar methods. Thanh said he has also received a flurry of obscene and nasty comments, a typical tactic of Vietnamese cyber troops. “Of course, it makes me feel down, but it cannot discourage me,” he said. “It irritates me, but in many cases it gives me stronger determination to keep going.” RFA sent Facebook a message containing Phan Chau Thanh’s complaints but did not receive a response. In many cases, Vietnamese opinion workers are amplifying fake news created by Russian propagandists. Their influence could be seen recently when a video of four Ukrainian men ripping apart Vietnamese flags went viral on Facebook, passed on as “evidence” of the Ukrainian government’s hostile view toward the Southeast Asian nation. The video fueled a wave of criticism against Ukraine and served to support the Vietnamese government’s decision to maintain neutrality in the face of Russia’s brutal attack. It turned out the flag-tearing incident occurred in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv 16 years ago. Fallout from the video Oleksandr Gaman, Ukraine’s ambassador to Vietnam, was forced to address the fallout from the video on the embassy’s Facebook page. “The information war, part of the burning war in Ukraine, has come to Vietnam. Russia is making every effort to create frictions between Ukrainian and Vietnamese people,” Gaman said in a video speech posted on April 19, adding that old videos and photos and fake facts were being presented as the official position of Ukraine. A representative from the Ukrainian Embassy in Hanoi told RFA that Russia also has a large army of fake newsmakers. Natalia Zhynkina, the embassy’s temporary chargé d’affaires, said Russia was taking advantage of the image of the former Soviet Union, a country that supported Vietnam during its war with the United States, to make its propaganda appealing to the Vietnamese. But she questioned the effectiveness of Russia’s tactics. “A question should be asked about the effectiveness of Russia’s communication attempts in Vietnam,” she told RFA. “I believe that the information created by Russia has failed to attract the attention of young people. A communication campaign based on hostility and a war will never succeed.” Despite Russia’s efforts, many Vietnamese have shown support for Ukraine in various ways. Hundreds of people in Hanoi have taken part in events at the Ukrainian Embassy and fundraising events to raise money for those affected by the armed conflict. Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Laos shrugs as villagers lose farms to dam reservoir

Editor3 years ago06 mins

Developers who built Laos’ Nam Khan 3 dam have not compensated farmers who lost crops to rising water in the reservoir, sources living near the dam told RFA. A Lao government official said the displaced villagers were unlikely to get any more money. The dam, which sits on the Nam Khan River, began operating in 2016, and the villagers were relocated downstream to a newly built resettlement village. While they received money for lost homes, they were never given any compensation or new plots of farmland. Instead, they were told that they could continue to work at their farms upstream from the dam. But those farms are now flooded. “The dam owner recently made a survey. When they close the waterway, the water in the reservoir is on the rise and floods the villagers’ farmland,” a villager living near the dam in the province’s Xieng Ngeun district in the northern part of the country told RFA’s Lao Service on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. “The villagers have not received compensation like a plot of new cultivated farmland in a resettlement village. It seems like the dam owner just got their land for free and they get nothing at all,” the villager said. According to the villager, the dam has negatively affected more than 650 people in 10 villages. “There are only a few parts of the farmland that are not completely flooded. The villagers have not received money for their lost farmland, but all of them want it. If we do not get the compensated, for our lost farmland, it will be so sad,” a second villager said. A Xiengngeun district official confirmed to RFA that the rising water in the reservoir has damaged farmland and trees and caused landslides. “The dam owner has to investigate and solve these problems, and the district has informed them they should do this,” the official said. An official at the province’s Energy and Mines Department, however, told RFA that the villagers were not entitled to compensation for flooded farms because the dam owned the land and had allowed the farmers to cultivate it. The Nam Khan 3 Dam is a 60-megawat dam, designed and constructed by the Sinohydro Corporation of China and owned by the state-run Électricité du Laos, which financed the project by borrowing about $130 million from China’s Exim Bank. The Nam Khan River, where the dam was built, meets the Mekong River at the ancient city of Luang Prabang in the northern part of Laos. The project is one of dozens of dams that Lao has constructed on the Mekong River and its tributaries under its controversial economic strategy to become the “Battery of Southeast Asia” by selling electricity to neighboring countries. But displaced villagers commonly complain that they are not sufficiently compensated for what they have lost in the name of development. The energy official said the villagers would not be able to cultivate any of the land near the reservoir without permission. “Water is rising in the areas belonging to the dam owner, so there is no problem,” the energy official said. “As there is no farmland left in the resettlement village, there will be no compensation to those villagers who are affected by the dam,” said the energy official, who pointed out that the villagers already received compensation for their houses, as well as some of the trees on their property. From the local government’s point of view, the issue of compensation has already been settled, he said. When villagers who said they were told they could continue to farm on land that has now been flooded complained to the National Assembly for relief, they were told that the issue of compensation had been resolved and they were not eligible for additional relief. Reported and translated by RFA/Lao service. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Vietnam protests as China declares annual South China Sea fishing ban

Editor3 years ago08 mins

China has once again announced a unilateral fishing moratorium in the South China Sea, to vigorous protests by Vietnam but the Philippines has so far not reacted. The three-and-half-month ban began on Sunday and covers the waters north of 12 degrees north latitude in the South China Sea which Vietnam and the Philippines also call their “traditional fishing grounds.” Hanoi spoke up against the fishing ban, calling it “a violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty and territorial jurisdiction.” The moratorium applies to part of the Gulf of Tonkin, and the Paracel Islands claimed by both China and Vietnam. The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman said: “Vietnam requests China to respect Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Paracel Islands, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its maritime zones when taking measures to conserve biological resources in the East Sea (South China Sea), without complicating the situation towards maintaining peace, stability and order in the East Sea.” Spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said Vietnam’s stance on China’s fishing ban “is consistent and well established over the years.” Meanwhile the Philippines, which holds a presidential election next weekend, hasn’t responded to the moratorium. In the past, Manila has repeatedly protested and even called on Filipino fishermen to ignore the Chinese ban and continue their activities in the waters also known as the West Philippine Sea. Vietnamese foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang speaks at a news conference in Hanoi, Vietnam July 25, 2019. Credit: Reuters. Risks of overfishing China has imposed the annual summer fishing ban since 1999 “as part of the country’s efforts to promote sustainable marine fishery development and improve marine ecology,” Chinese news agency Xinhua reported. A collapse of fishery stocks in the South China Sea due to overfishing and climate change could fuel serious tensions and even armed conflict, experts said. “Overfishing is the norm in open-access fisheries, so restrictions on fishing represent a sensible policy,” said John Quiggin, professor of economics at the University of Queensland in Australia. “But China’s decision to impose such restrictions implies a claim of territorial control which other nations are contesting,” Quiggin told RFA. “The best outcome would be an interim agreement to limit over-fishing, until boundary disputes are resolved, if that ever happens,” he added. China’s fishing ban in the South China Sea is expected to end on Aug. 16. It also covers the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, with a later end-date. Chinese media said this week that the South China Sea branch of the Coast Guard and local authorities will patrol major fishing grounds and ports “to ensure that the ban will be well observed.” At the end of last year, Beijing issued a new regulation threatening hefty fines of up to tens of thousands of dollars on activities of foreign fishermen in China’s “jurisdictional waters.” The self-claimed “jurisdictional waters” extend to most of the South China Sea but the claims are disputed by China’s neighbors and have been rejected by an international tribunal. Rashid Sumaila, a professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada and author of a 2021 report on the fishery industry in the East and South China Seas, said in an interview with RFA that “the simmering conflict that we see in the South China Sea is mostly because of fish even though countries don’t say it out loud.” “Fishery is one of the reasons China’s entangled in disputes with its neighbors in the South China Sea,” Sumaila said. A file photo showing Chinese fishing boats docked in Jiaoshan fishing port in Wenling city in eastern China’s Zhejiang province on July 12 2013. Credit: AP. Distant-water fishing Meanwhile, China’s distant-water fishing causes serious concerns across the world, mainly because of the size of the Chinese fleet and its “illegal behavior,” according to a recent report. The report released in March by the Environmental Justice Foundation, a U.K. non-profit organization, traces “China’s vast, opaque and, at times illegal global fisheries footprint,” using mainly China’s own data. It found that China’s distant-fishing fleet that operates on the high seas and beyond its exclusive economic zone is “by far the largest” in the world. The number of Chinese distant-water fishing boats is unknown, but could be around 2,700, according to some estimates. China is responsible for 38 percent of the distant-water fishing activities of the world’s 10 largest fleets in other countries’ waters, the report said. Chinese fishing vessels operate “across the globe in both areas beyond national jurisdiction and in the EEZs of coastal states.” Researchers who worked on the report have identified “high instances of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, destructive practises such as bottom trawling and the use of forced, bonded and slave labour and trafficked crew, alongside the widespread abuse of migrant crewmembers.”

Month: May 2022