June 2022 - Page 6 of 22 - Investigative Journalism Reportika

North Korea ends COVID-19 travel restrictions as ‘fever cases’ subside

Editor3 years ago07 mins

North Korea has lifted COVID-19 travel restrictions nationwide, a sign the government may soon claim victory over the coronavirus pandemic, RFA has learned. After two years of denying the virus had penetrated its closed borders, North Korea in May acknowledged COVID had begun to spread among participants of a large-scale military parade the previous month and declared a “maximum emergency” to fight the disease. As part of its response, the government restricted movement between provinces and prohibited large gatherings. But now, after a partial lifting of the travel ban in late May, North Korea ended the limitations completely on June 12, a source from the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “Residents are able to travel to other provinces and even to the capital city, Pyongyang,” the source said. “The new order from the National Emergency Quarantine Command was given to residents of each neighborhood in Pohang district.” Each neighborhood watch unit held meetings to explain the policy change to residents, the source said. “They have been unable to travel outside the provincial borders with only the partial lifting of restrictions, so they welcome the news,” he said. “It is especially great news for merchants who rely on long-distance travel between provinces for their businesses. “But even if the restrictions are completely ended, there is still a separate procedure that requires travelers to carry a COVID-19 test certificate issued by the quarantine command. We can get a travel pass only if we have the test certificate,” he said. North Korea requires passes for travel between provinces even under normal circumstances. Residents with mobile phones can access test certificates through a smartphone app, a resident of the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA. Others must travel to receive a paper copy. “In rural areas such as Pakchon county, you have to visit the town quarantine center, which is miles away, to get a COVID-19 test certificate,” the second source said. “If a resident who wants to get a test certificate does not have a mobile phone, it is inconvenient.” But she agreed that most residents are happy the restrictions are ending. “Now they hope that the residents will have their livelihoods restored as soon as possible, but also by lifting the blockade of the border with China,” she said. After briefly restarting rail freight shipments from China earlier this year, new outbreaks in China forced Beijing and Pyongyang to suspend trade again. Aside from the short respite, trade has been suspended since the beginning of the pandemic in January 2020, with disastrous effects on the North Korean economy. The first source said that not all residents were overjoyed at the lifted restrictions, believing that the government had an underlying and unsaid motive. “There are speculations that restrictions were lifted in order to mobilize the residents,” the first source said, referring to the government practice of forcing residents to provide free labor for construction, farming and other government projects. “The COVID-19 lockdown restricted mobilizations on national construction projects and on rice planting duties,” he said. Nevertheless, the government has been saying that it is the leadership of Kim Jong Un that has eradicated the coronavirus, the second source said. Sources told RFA that North Korean traders and their Chinese counterparts are preparing to resume trade quickly once the Sino-Korean border reopens. They anticipate that cross-border trade will resume once coronavirus case numbers subside. German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported Monday, citing North Korea experts and South Korean government sources, that North Korean authorities were preparing to declare victory over COVID-19 and give the credit to Kim Jong Un. The North Korean government has only reported a handful of confirmed COVID-19 cases, but it has been tracking fever symptoms since the beginning of the maximum emergency. According to data published by the state-run Korea Central News Agency, more than 4.67 million people have come down with fever, at least 99.4 percent of whom have made full recoveries. Translated by Claire Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Myanmar junta forces kill 2 militiamen, torch villages near copper mine

Editor3 years ago07 mins

Myanmar junta soldiers killed two local militia members and torched over 20 villages near the Chinese-owned Letpadaung copper mine in northwestern Myanmar’s Sagaing region on Tuesday, forcing more than 10,000 civilians to flee, residents said. About 100 soldiers guarding the Chinese company Wanbao’s mining site fired heavy artillery shells and raided Moe Gyo Pyin village in Salingyi township and set ablaze between 300 and 400 houses, locals said. Sagaing has seen some of the fiercest armed resistance to junta rule since the military seized power from the country’s elected government in a February 2021 coup. As fighting between the military and the PDFs has intensified there in recent months, junta forces have conducted an arson campaign targeting rural villages, killing civilians and burning hundreds of homes, leaving thousands displaced. The junta stepped up raids of villages near the mine site after 16 local People Defense Force (PDF) militias opposed to the military regime issued a statement on April 21 calling for a halt to the controversial Letpadaung copper project, locals said. A Moe Gyo Pyin resident who lost his home said he had watched from a distance as the soldiers set fire to the village. “I could see my village being burned from a distance,” he said. “We were all men, not cowards, but we couldn’t do anything except just watch with clenched fists and grit our teeth, looking at each other with tears in our eyes. There was nothing we could do about it.” The exact number of houses that were burned down is unknown, but about two-thirds of the raided villages are gone, said another resident, adding that the troops left a monastery near the village untouched. “We heard they’d be coming yesterday morning and left two guys as sentries,” said the resident who did not want to be named for security reasons. “They shelled the village from afar before the raid. Some houses in the village were burned down in the morning and later, the whole village was set on fire in the afternoon. The two men we left behind as sentries were arrested and killed.” Soldiers cut off the arms of one of the guards — members of a local PDF — and stabbed the other in the abdomen, he said. After the soldiers left Moe Gyo Pyin during the night, residents returned to the village and found the bodies of the two dead PDF members and cremated them on Wednesday, the villager said. Villagers march along a road during a protest against a Chinese-backed copper mining company in Salingyi township, northwestern Myanmar’s Sagaing region, Dec. 30, 2019. Credit: Tint Aung Soe Another village raid Military troops detained about 60 people inside the monastery the same day after they entered the old village of Se-de, about two miles from Moe Gyoe Pyin, a resident there said. Others in the village fled. “We ran from the village straightaway and did not even dare to look back,” the resident said. “Some people carried some of their belongings as much as they could, but others did not. We were so afraid of them. Those who could not run got arrested.” RFA could not reach junta spokesman, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, for comment. He said on May 29 that governments have a responsibility to protect foreign investments in Myanmar. In retaliation for the military’s use of force against the villages, local PDFs said they fired 100 mortars at a power distribution site and the acid tanks inside the mine project site on Tuesday, though the extent of the damage is unknown. Zwe Htet, a member of Salingyi Revolutionary Army, a local militia group, pledged to attack the Chinese copper mine project daily if the regime’s forces continued burning down area villages. “Long-range shooting is our main strategy now,” he said. “We used 60 mm, 80 mm and 120 mm shells. The main attack was on the acid tank and the power plant. I saw some fires inside.” “The main purpose of the revolution is to overthrow the military regime,” he said. “They are now setting fire to villages in Letpadaung. Soon, the military situation will be tense.” Those who lost homes are moving to places near the monastery and other nearby villages, though Letpadaung area residents said their phone lines and internet service were still down. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane for RFA Burmese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Experts raise concern about implementation of US law on Uyghur forced labor

Editor3 years ago2 years ago011 mins

A U.S. law that bans the importation of products from Xinjiang in China in response to allegations that Uyghurs in the region are being used as forced labor took effect this week, but the tough new prohibitions could prove difficult to enforce, experts said Wednesday. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) created what is referred to as a “rebuttable presumption” that assumes goods made in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are produced with forced labor and thus banned under the U.S. 1930 Tariff Act. The law requires U.S. companies that import goods from the region to prove that they have not been manufactured at any stage with Uyghur forced labor. In previous U.S. investigations of imports from China, cotton used in major clothing brands, tomatoes and polysilicon for solar panels have been linked to forced labor in the XUAR. The U.S. and several Western parliaments have said that China’s action in Xinjiang constitute a genocide and crimes against humanity. China denies that it has persecuted Uyghurs or other ethnic minority groups in the region. The new forced labor law passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress and was signed into law by President Biden on Dec. 23, 2021. But Douglas Barry, vice president of communications and publications for the U.S.-China Business Council, said the law is unclear about how companies can definitively prove that no forced labor was involved in the goods they import from China. Several Chinese companies are already on the U.S. government’s Entity List, which forbids American firms from doing business with them unless they obtain special licenses, Barry said. Beyond that, the UFLPA places the onus on the U.S. firms to provide evidence that no forced labor was involved in the production of imported goods. “That’s a challenge because of the lack of independent third party auditors on the ground in China,” he said. “At the end of the day our member companies are fanatical about working in their supply chains to make sure there is no forced labor involved,” he said. “We hope that when enforcement issues arise in the coming days, the government agencies will work with the business community to resolve the issue as quickly as possible adjusting enforcement of tactics as the facts on the ground require.” ‘Challenging but doable’ Jessica Rifkin, an attorney who leads the customs, trade and litigation team at Benjamin L. England & Associates, said that exporters could get around the law by shipping their products to another country before they arrive in the U.S. “[Y]ou have a good that’s subject to certain legal requirements based on its manufacture in one country, but then is shipped to another country, and then shipped through there to the U.S. in order to potentially evade those requirements,” she said. These types of transactions could still happen under the new law, although Rifkin said that U.S. customs officials have ways to identify those goods. U.S. companies could also divide their supply chains to get around the new requirement, presenting a major challenge to enforcement, said Peter Irwin, senior program officer for advocacy and communications at the Washington, D.C.-based Uyghur Human Rights Project. “You have one supply chain that is for the U.S. market to comply with the law, and then maybe they’ll bifurcate their supply chain and have another supply chain that doesn’t necessarily need to follow this law,” he told RFA. Since 2017, Chinese authorities have allegedly ramped up their repression of predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in the XUAR, detaining up to 1.8 million members of these groups in internment camps. The maltreatment also includes severe human rights abuses, torture and forced labor. Sophie Richardson, China director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, said the law’s implementation will be difficult but not impossible. “Some of the most complex challenges may be for companies that have, for example, taken a semi-finished product and sent it to the Uyghur region for finishing, and then sent it someplace else, and then sent it on into the United States,” she said. “Tracking the actual trajectory of the full supply chain is going to be challenging, but it is doable,” Richardson added. “Over time, hopefully what will happen is that companies will be do a better job of keeping records and sharing information about how things were produced and how they reached the U.S.” Holding China to account Rushan Abbas, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign for Uyghurs, said called U.S. Customs and Border Protection should release data about any violations to the new law it finds. “Data should be released on the Customs and Border Protection’s website on a regular basis about the goods it holds, re-exports, excludes, and seizes, including information on the company importing the banned goods, their nature, value, and why the action was taken,” Abbas said in a statement issued on Wednesday. At a regular news conference in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called the allegations of forced labor in the XUAR “a huge lie made up by anti-China forces to denigrate China.” “It is the complete opposite of the reality Xinjiang, where cotton and other industries rely on large-scale mechanized production and the rights of workers of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are duly protected,” he said. “The U.S.’s Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is built on a lie and designed to impose sanctions on relevant entities and individuals in Xinjiang,” said Wang. “This move is the furtherance of that lie and an escalation of U.S. suppression on China under the pretext of human rights. Moreover, the act is solid evidence of U.S.’s arbitrariness in undermining international economic and trade rules and global industrial and supply chains.” The U.S. government has taken measures to promote accountability in the XUAR, including visa restrictions, financial sanctions, export controls and import restrictions, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Wednesday. In July 2021, multiple U.S. agencies released an updated business advisory on Xinjiang warning of the legal risks…

Myanmar junta representative attends ASEAN defense meeting

Editor3 years ago06 mins

A representative of Myanmar’s military regime attended the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh on Wednesday, despite an appeal from hundreds of pro-democracy organizations in the war-ravaged country that the Southeast Asian regional bloc not engage with the junta. Myanmar Gen. Mya Tun Oo became the most senior official to represent the self-styled State Administration Council (SAC) at a ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations since the military ousted the country’s democratically elected government in February 2021. The 10 ASEAN member states have appeared divided on how to deal with the junta, with some fearing that engagement might signal acceptance or endorsement of the regime and its bloody crackdown on its opponents. Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia have all expressed to the 2020 ASEAN chair Cambodia that the junta should be excluded until there is an indication that hostilities in Myanmar will end. “Even though there is participation from Myanmar involving a representative from the State Administrative Council in the meeting today, this does not mean that Malaysia has recognized the SAC as the legitimate Myanmar government,” a statement from Malaysia’s Defense Ministry said. “Malaysia has always stressed that SAC should expedite the enforcement of the matters which were agreed on based on the 5 Point Consensus to find a solution to the political crisis in Myanmar,” it said, referring to the agreement reached between ASEAN’s leaders and Burmese military chief Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on April 24, 2021. The agreement sought an end to violence in Myanmar, the provision of humanitarian assistance, the appointment of an ASEAN envoy, and talks among the various groups in Myanmar to be mediated by the envoy. Cambodia’s Defense Minister Tea Banh, meanwhile, said that Mya Tun Oo’s participation in the meeting showed that the regional trade bloc is unified on security issues. “This is a participation to find solutions and this accusation, that accusation, we can’t respond to all of them,” he said during a news conference, responding to criticism over including Myanmar in the meeting. Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto told his counterparts to put aside their differences to safeguard their mutual interests. “We must not allow outside powers to divide ASEAN and drag us into their competition. The future of ASEAN and our people rests on our shoulders, and I believe we all share the same view that we want peace and not conflict, cooperation rather than competition,” he said. A coalition of 677 pro-democracy organizations in Myanmar last week co-authored an open letter to the ASEAN defense ministers, urging them not to invite a representative from the junta. The organizations said Mya Tun Oo’s representation would be inconsistent with other ASEAN decisions to exclude representation from the junta, such as at the 2021 ASEAN Summit and the 2022 Foreign Minister’s Retreat. “ADMM’s engagement with the junta, which has included military exercises, may likely amount to the aiding and abetting of the junta’s war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the letter said. “In allowing the junta to participate in ADMM, ASEAN is further risking complicity in the junta’s atrocity crimes by providing support and legitimacy to the military and emboldening a military that is waging a nationwide campaign of terror.” Cambodian state media reported that the ministers agreed in a joint declaration issued after the meeting to enhance cooperation between ASEAN defense forces for COVID-19 containment, boost support for ASEAN Women Peacekeepers, further collaborate between defense-oriented educational institutions, and share information to enhance maritime security. Additional reporting by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

Tortured dissident Xu Zhiyong stands trial in China’s Shandong for ‘subversion’

Editor3 years ago2 years ago08 mins

Rights groups called for the release of Chinese dissident Xu Zhiyong, who has reported being tortured in detention, as his trial for “subversion” went ahead behind closed doors on Wednesday. “The hearing ended,” Xu’s lawyer Zhang Lei said in comments reported by the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network on Twitter. “Once it was decided that in the name of the law that they announced the trial would be non-public, a lawyer can just be a witness, to witness that [Xu] doesn’t just enter darkness,” Zhang said. CHRD said police had also harassed Xu’s sister who traveled to attend the trial at Linshu County People’s Court in Linyi city, Shandong province, raiding her hotel room in the middle of the night and forcing her to leave. “Is there any humanity left in the [ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)] totalitarian state?” Xu’s U.S.-based wife Luo Shengchun said via Twitter. “Not only was she unable to attend her brother’s trial; she wasn’t even allowed to stay in the area,” Luo tweeted. “Does this darkness mean that dawn is coming soon? I hope so!” Luo said the trial had been moved to Linshu county to keep it out of the public spotlight. “In order to prevent witnesses from testifying in court, they put them all under house arrest; in order to prevent the media from reporting it, they kept proceedings secret and forced lawyers to sign non-disclosure agreements,” Luo wrote. “They tortured to extract confessions, fabricated evidence and lies, and I will carry on exposing them to the rest of the world!” she tweeted. Xu’s trial on charges of “subversion of state power” has been widely criticized by rights activists as resulting from a trumped-up charge. “The Chinese government is making a grave and shameful mistake by proceeding with the trial of Xu Zhiyong,” Liesl Gerntholtz, director of the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Center at PEN America said in a statement. She added: “Xu has not committed a crime. He is a leading public intellectual using his words to try to hold the Chinese government accountable to Chinese citizens.” Rights groups say Xu’s case has been marred with due process violations, including torture and incommunicado detention for nearly two-and-a-half years. “We call on the Chinese government to immediately drop all charges against Xu and release him from detention. We also urge an independent review of the harrowing reports that Xu has been tortured,” American PEN said. CHRD has echoed calls for the release of Xu and rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, whose trial is scheduled for June 24. “CHRD urges the Chinese government to immediately and unconditionally release the two human rights defenders,” the group said in a recent statement. “The Chinese government must heed the opinions of UN experts who found that Xu and Ding are being arbitrarily detained in violation of international law.” The trials come ahead of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, CHRD said, adding that Ding had also reported being tortured while in detention. The entire case against Xu and Ding stemmed from the men’s “peaceful advocacy,” the group said. It cited Ding’s wife Luo Shengchun as saying that neither man’s lawyers have been allowed to meet with them during the past three months, and had been barred from making copies of the case files. “Not allowing lawyers to make copies means that lawyers may have to read and take notes on hundreds of pages of case files at one fixed time in an office, which obviously impairs their capacity to adequately prepare for a legal defense,” CHRD said. Ding’s lawyers say he was restrained in a “tiger chair” between April 1 and 8, 2020, and interrogated for 21 hours a day, subjected to sleep deprivation and limited food and water. Ding and Luo have both filed applications to exclude the evidence against him as having been obtained illegally, under torture, but with no success. Xu has told his lawyer that he was subjected to similar treatment in the “tiger chair” while detained in Shandong’s Yantai city. Xu, who has already served jail time for launching the New Citizens’ Movement for greater official accountability, was detained in early 2020 and held on suspicion of “subversion of state power” alongside Ding and other activists who held a dinner gathering in the southeastern port city of Xiamen on Dec. 13, 2019. Both men were held incommunicado, denied permission to meet with either family members or a lawyer for two years, under “residential surveillance at a designated location” (RSDL) and criminal detention. They haven’t been seen or heard from since their indictments in August 2021. Activists and rights lawyers say Xu has never advocated violence, and has paid a very heavy price for advocating for his personal ideals. They say the charges against those who attended the Xiamen dinner are a form of political persecution by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Protest in Malawi over Chinese video showing children saying anti-Black racial slur

Editor3 years ago2 years ago012 mins

Civic groups in Lilongwe, Malawi, marched in protest over the actions of Chinese national Lu Ke, who was arrested by Zambian authorities after filming a racist video involving local children, calling for him to be tried in the country rather than sent back to China, the Nyasa Times reported on Wednesday. Protesters from the University of Malawi Child Rights Legal Clinic and other civil society organizations also called for compensation and psychological support for the children exploited by Lu and made to say racist things about themselves in Chinese, the paper said. The Maravi Post cited clinic supervisor Garton Kamchedzera as saying that Lu’s treatment of the children was in breach of the Malawian constitution. The group said it would also deliver a petition to the Chinese embassy. The paper said Lu had been “using violence to force the children say the phrases he wanted.” Lu fled the country after being outed by BBC journalist Runako Celina as the maker of a video in which children from Lilongwe’s Njerwa village said “I am a black ghost. I have a low IQ” to camera. The phrase “black ghost” is considered the Chinese equivalent of the N-word. Lu’s video was far from being a one-off. Celina’s documentary also uncovered a lucrative industry in short videos featuring Africans. “There’s something inherently sinister in swanning into a village somewhere in Africa, tossing a few coins at people less privileged than you and being able to instruct them to do whatever you want,” Celina wrote in an article on the BBC website after the documentary aired. “If the price (or pay off) is high enough, or the sense of humor crude enough the possibilities are endless.” “It’s this exact boundless freedom, plus a deeply ingrained racist ideology that has made an online Chinese industry I’ve spent the last year investigating possible,” she wrote. A social media post with a commenter in blackface supporting anti-black racist commenters. Weibo. Anti-Black racism remains uncensored Immigration authorities in Zambia confirmed they had arrested Lu on June 21. Ghanaian YouTuber Wode Maya told the Black Livity China podcast that the Chinese term “heigui,” or “black ghost,” is equivalent to the N-word in English. Guests told the show that anti-Black racism remains largely uncensored on China’s tightly controlled internet, and that the video was part of a lucrative industry exploiting African adults and children with custom-made greetings videos. Not everyone in China likes the videos, which have been sold on online stores, but many believe they are a harmless and fun way to send a novelty greeting, while others see anti-Black racism as a function of Chinese colonial power in Africa, according to views expressed on the podcast and on social media. One video resulting from a keyword search on Wednesday showed young black men dressed in coordinated clothing, performing to camera to cheer up residents of Shanghai during the grueling COVID-19 lockdown in April. Another showed black children dressed in red holding flowers and chalk boards with birthday messages for a Chinese woman called “Xingxing.” The Malawian Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has called on the Chinese embassy in Malawi to apologize to black Malawians over the racist video filmed by Chinese national Lu Ke, and called for an immigration sweep for Chinese nationals who remain illegally in the country. “CDEDI is hereby challenging both the Malawi and the Chinese governments to treat this matter with the urgency and seriousness it deserves,” Namiwa said in a June 17 statement posted to the group’s website. A screenshot of the Chinese embassy statement on Twitter on June 13 that it had “noted with great concern” the findings of the BBC documentary Racism for Sale. ‘Zero tolerance’ “It should be emphasized that any attempts to downplay the issue or help the suspect to beat the long arm of the law will only succeed in stirring avoidable actions with far-reaching consequences,” Namiwa said, but said the group didn’t want anyone targeting the Chinese community for retaliation as a whole. “Since the matter also borders on aspects of profit-making, CDEDI is urging the relevant authorities to ensure that survivors of the exploitative filming should benefit by way of compensation,” it said. The Chinese embassy said via Twitter on June 13 that it had “noted with great concern” the findings of the BBC documentary Racism for Sale. “We strongly condemn racism in any form, by anyone or happening anywhere,” it said. “We also noted that the video was shot in 2020. It shall be stressed that Chinese government has zero tolerance for racism.” It added on June 17: “We demand internet & social media platforms to strictly prohibit the dissemination of all racist contents.” The BBC documentary found that two Douyin accounts were sharing the video in question, along with other anti-Black racist content, and that Lu had bribed the kids with food and candy to take part in the shoot. Shih Yi-hsiang of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights said China’s response to the incident was inadequate. “The Chinese government is condemning this matter and also saying that China has zero tolerance for racism, which is ridiculous, because what the Chinese regime has done to Tibetans [and] Uyghurs … for a long time is seriously racist,” Shih said. “What we actually see behind [these words] is exploitation and oppression,” Shih said. “Chinese people are abusing these kids.” Shih called for further investigation into the exploitation of African children by Chinese content creators. Blackface on CCTV Taiwan strategic analyst Shih Chien-yu cited the use of blackface on the CCTV Lunar New Year TV gala, as well as costumes associating black people with monkeys. Chinese people go to Africa to shoot these videos to make money, rationalize racism, which is clearly colonialism with Chinese characteristics, Shih Chien-yu said. “They believe that the local people are poor and they will be obedient if you give them some small benefits,” Shih said. “We see the 19th century colonial mentality being replicated in 21st century China.” Gong Yujian, a Chinese dissident now living in democratic Taiwan, said…

Laos shuffles top Cabinet posts amid economic slowdown

Editor3 years ago05 mins

The Lao government this week reorganized its ruling Cabinet, adding two new deputy prime ministers and replacing heads of the national bank and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce as an economic crisis grips the Southeast Asian country. The move, approved on Monday by the Lao National Assembly, comes just a year into the new administration of Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh. Laotians say it has become increasingly difficult to eke out a living in the one-party communist country, given the rising costs of gasoline, food and other daily necessities. Laos’ inflation rate stood at 12.8 percent in May — one of the highest in Southeast Asia. Hundreds now line up each day outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vientiane to renew or apply for passports to search for jobs in neighboring Thailand. And a government plan to increase the country’s minimum wage from 1.1 million kip (U.S. $75) to 1.3 million kip (U.S. $88) per month may not be enough to keep them home. The number of deputy prime ministers in the Lao government has now moved from three to five following the promotions of former Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith and former Minister of Public Security Vilay Lakhamfong. Governor of the Bank of the Lao PDR Sonexay Sitphaxay has now been replaced by Deputy Minister of Finance Bonleua Sinxayvoravong, while President of the State Audit Organization Malaythong Kommasith has now replaced Khampheng Saysompheng as Minister of Industry and Commerce. Speaking to RFA on Wednesday, several Lao residents said they welcomed the shuffle of top leadership jobs but voiced caution as to the chances for positive change in the near term. Monday’s switch of Cabinet posts shows the government is now fully focused on the country’s economic and financial problems, said one faculty member at the Lao National University. “This is a period of transition, and the government will make some changes to the economy. However, everything will probably stay the same for now,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely. “Whoever takes these posts, it seems that things may stay the same,” agreed another Lao citizen, also declining to be named. “I will have to wait to see how decisive he or she will be in solving our problems. “The government should recruit talented and educated people to put in these positions,” he added. Another Lao citizen said the government should do more to encourage participation by the country’s young in managing the economy. “Our problems will not be solved just by people with a strong spirit of nationalism,” he said. “There will be solutions only when we encourage our young people to also take responsibility. But if things continue as they are, I have no idea how all of this will turn out. “There is nothing I can do myself,” he said. Translated by Phouvong for RFA Lao. Written in English by Richard Finney.

80,000 tons of Chinese diplomacy

Editor3 years ago01 mins

China has launched a third aircraft carrier, a Type 003 christened the Fujian, firming up its place in an elite group of countries led by the United States that are able to deploy huge seaborne military airports. The Fujian–which follows the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s Liaoning carrier in 2012 and the Shandong in 2019–will “enhance the ability to safeguard world peace,” said a Chinese Embassy spokesman in Washington. Taiwan, which has come under intense Chinese political and military pressure aimed at unifying the island with the mainland, views the vessel differently than Beijing.

A Buddhist shrine at Mes Aynak. (creadits : nationalgeographic.com)

Mes Aynak Threatened By Chinese Copper Mines

Editor3 years ago2 years ago07 mins

Mes Aynak Threatened By Chinese Copper Mines Mes Aynak (meaning “little source of copper“), also called Mis Ainak or Mis-e-Ainak, was a major Buddhist settlement 40 km (25 mi) southeast of Kabul, Afghanistan, located in a region of Logar Province. The site is also the location of Afghanistan’s largest copper deposit. Located at the confluence of Hellenistic and Indian cultures, Mes Aynak near Kabul was once a vast city organised around the extraction and trade of copper. The site of Mes Aynak possesses a vast 40 ha (100 acres) complex of Buddhist monasteries, homes, over 400 Buddha statues, stupas and market areas. The site contains artifacts recovered from the Bronze Age, and some of the artifacts recovered have dated back over 3000 years. As its name suggests, the presence of copper at Mes Aynak has been known about for some time, while the site’s archaeological wealth had been discovered by Russian and Afghan geologists in 1973–74. Mes Aynak was at the peak of its prosperity between the 5th and 7th centuries AD. A period of slow decline began in the 8th Century, and the settlement was finally abandoned 200 years later. Archaeologists believe that Mes Aynak is a major historical heritage site. But the need for the Taliban, who returned to power in August last year, to find new revenue streams after international aid was frozen has made mining the project a priority, and could put an end to further archaeological work. In November 2007, a 30-year lease was granted for the copper mine to the China Metallurgical Group (MCC) for US$3 billion. Fifteen years later, the mine still does not exist — insecurity and disagreements between Beijing and Kabul over financial terms of the contract have caused delays. The project is once again a priority for both parties. All of this historical material is in imminent danger of destruction by the mining endeavor. Many experts are comparing the Chinese mining company to those who destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Despite the imminent danger, negotiations between Afghanistan’s new Taliban government and China’s state-owned MCC and its publicly listed subsidiary Metallurgical Corp. of China are underway over the resumption of mining activity at the Mes Aynak Logar copper project. The discussions are about “80% finished“, says the Taliban spokesman, with only technical points remaining to be settled, which should be done soon. The Taliban are demanding that the contract, which includes the construction of a power station to supply the mine and Kabul, and a railroad to Pakistan, be respected. They also insist that the copper be processed locally with an Afghan workforce. China, whose economy is in dire need of copper, is reluctant to meet these demands. MCC, which did not respond to AFP, also continues to demand a reduction in royalties due. When it was last in power the Taliban shocked the world by dynamiting the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan in March 2001, but today they say they are determined to preserve the findings of Mes Aynak. “It is the duty of the Ministry of Information and Culture to protect them,” Esmatullah Burhan, the spokesman for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, told AFP. But while the rhetoric seems sincere, many of the remains are simply too bulky or fragile to be moved and seem destined to disappear. The Chinese favors open-pit rather than underground mining. If this goes ahead, it would open up the copper mountain and bury all the fragments of the past. The Taliban hope to earn more than $300 million a year from Mes Aynak. This is about 60% of the full state budget for 2022. Therefore, it wants to speed up the process undermining the environmental consequences and cultural values attached with the place. Mes Aynak would qualify as a World Heritage site if the government of Afghanistan were to apply for that status. This is an outstanding and complex archaeological landscape, with astounding quality of preservation. archaeologist and UNESCO advisor Tim Williams in 2017 So instead of destroying a potential UNESCO World Heritage Site with emotional and cultural connect of the Buddhist World, it should be preserved as a Buddhist Civilizational Wonder of the world.

12 militia members killed in Magway region shootout

Editor3 years ago04 mins

Twelve members of a People’s Defense Force (PDF) have been shot dead and three others arrested after fighting near Mae Zali Bridge in Myanmar’s central Magway region, according to police, a PDF official and local residents. Locals said a six-wheeled red truck driving from Salin township was inspected by junta security forces at around 6 a.m. Wednesday. Fighting then erupted on Pathein-Monywa road in Pwint Phyu township, killing 12 PDF members in the vehicle. PDF official Ko Kyar Gyi confirmed the incident and told RFA that the PDF members were not from Pyint Phyu Township. He said the PDF is still trying to find out where they came from. “PDF groups from other townships confronted the junta forces at the Mae Zali bridge. There were some casualties and arrests from our side by junta forces and also their side had some casualties,” he said. “Our township’s PDF group was asked for some help after the fighting and we are assisting. We can explain in detail when the remaining members are safe. It will be announced on our township [social media] page.” The local news outlet Myay Latt Voice said that the PDF members killed Wednesday morning were from Thayat and Kanma Townships in Magway region. It said the vehicle was carrying weapons from Sagaing region and was attacked by the military forces on the way back. A confidential telegram from Pwint Phyu Police, seen by RFA, stated that a red-six-wheeled vehicle driving along the Pathein-Monywa road from Salin township was stopped by junta forces led by Brigadier General Min Paing Soe near Mae Zali bridge and fighting broke out. It says that 12 PDF members were shot dead and three captured alive. Two of the arrested are said to be in critical condition. Rifles and a grenade launcher captured by security forces after the shootout. CREDIT: Citizen journalist Police confiscated 25 KA-25 rifles and a 40 milimeter grenade launcher according to the telegram. Residents said 12 people died when a rocket propelled grenade was fired at the vehicle carrying PDF members by security forces guarding the Mae Zali bridge. They said the vehicle was carrying weapons provided by the National Unity Government. RFA could not independently verify the claims and calls to a military council spokesman went unanswered. Photographs from pro-military websites show the bodies of the 12 dead PDF members were badly mutilated. Myay Latt Voice quoted a PDF spokesman as saying members were killed when their vehicle was shot by heavy artillery at close range by military forces. Magway is Myanmar’s second largest region and PDFs there have fought fiercely with junta forces since the coup on February 1 last year.

Month: June 2022