July 2022 - Page 15 of 16 - Investigative Journalism Reportika

Arrests of Vietnam environmentalists clash with carbon cutting goals

The arrest and sentencing of prominent environmentalist Nguy Thi Khanh and other rights defenders in Vietnam are in conflict with the country’s commitment to reducing its considerable carbon emissions to combat climate change, human rights and environmental groups said. Nguy Thi Khanh, an ardent opponent of Vietnam’s reliance on coal power and winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018, was arrested in January for failing to pay a 10% tax on her U.S. $200,000 prize money, equivalent to about 4.65 billion Vietnamese dong. The executive director of the environmental NGO Green Innovation and Development Centre was sentenced on June 17 in Hanoi. The Oil Change International (OIC), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders criticized the arrest and demanded Khanh’s release. “Earlier this month, Nguy Thi Khanh was sentenced to prison on trumped up tax evasion charges, which have widely been condemned as an attempt to silence Vietnam’s most influential environmental activist,” OIC said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Her arrest is the latest in a string of efforts to repress activists in Vietnam.” Khanh had been active in pointing out the negative effects of coal-fired plants and calling for clean energy use. Vietnam is the ninth-largest coal user in the world, but Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh vowed that the country would stop building new coal-fired power plants and work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050. In October 2021, Khanh and representatives from other NGOs told Pham that Vietnam needed to revise a national power development plan for 2021-2030 to meet its goals, according to the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. Two years earlier, she joined a dozen NGOs in signing the “Hanoi Statement,” demanding that the government stop funding coal-fired power plants. Khanh is the fourth environmental rights defender to be arrested this year on a tax evasion charges, the Observatory said in a statement issued on June 24. On Jan. 11, 2022, Mai Phan Loi, founder and director of the Center for Media in Educating Community (MEC), was sentenced to four years in jail, while Bach Hung Duong, MEC’s former director, received a two-year, six-month sentence. Nearly two weeks later, Dang Dinh Bach, director of the Law and Policy of Sustainability Development Research Center (LPSD), was sentenced to five years in prison. Though nonprofit organizations are exempt from paying corporate taxes in Vietnam, the tax law pertaining to NGOs receiving funds from international donors are particularly vague and restrictive, according to the Observatory. The organizations of the activists and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights believe that the arrests were triggered by their promotion of civil society’s role in monitoring the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement that came into force in 2021, the Observatory said. Both Loi and Bach were executive board members of VNGO-EVFTA Network, a group of seven development and environmental CSOs set up in November 2020 to raise awareness about the FTA and its civil society element, known as the Vietnam Domestic Advisory Group. After the organizations, including MEC and LPSD, submitted applications for membership in the advisory group, Loi and Bach were arrested in early July 2021. The Observatory, a partnership of the FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture, called on Vietnamese authorities to guarantee the well-being of Khanh and the other activists, and to immediately and unconditionally release them. “The Observatory strongly condemns the judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of Nguy Thi Khanh, Dang Dinh Bach, Bach Hung Duong, and Mai Phan Loi, as it seems to be only aimed at punishing them for their legitimate environmental and human rights activities,” the organization’s statement said. The organization also demanded that authorities stop harassing activists and human rights defenders in Vietnam, including through the court system, and ensure they can exercise their rights as citizens without any fear of reprisal. A man works in a coal yard in Hanoi, Vietnam, Nov. 9, 2021. Credit: AFP ‘Silencing those who dare to speak’ The charges against the four environmental rights defenders have raised questions about the Vietnamese government’s commitment to protect the environment at the United Nations Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021. U.S. Special Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry and his European Union counterpart, Frans Timmermans, have also called for the release of Nguy Thi Khanh and the other climate activists. A Politico report on June 26 said those calls risk derailing a deal to shift Vietnam off coal, but doing nothing would risk criticism from civil society groups that oppose helping finance climate action in countries that jail activists. In April, the Group of Seven, a political forum that includes, the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, agreed on a plan to help Vietnam, the world’s ninth largest coal-consuming nation, reach its carbon emission goals. The Politico article quoted Saskia Bricmont, a Belgian member of the European Parliament, as saying that the tax evasion allegations against the activists were “not credible” and were “clearly a deception.” Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam said at a regular press briefing on June 23 that Khanh had been investigated and prosecuted for economic crimes, specifically violating the provisions of the law on tax administration, and that she admitted to tax evasion. “Some speculations that Nguy Thi Khanh is being criminally handled for her activities and opinions related to climate change are baseless and not true to the nature of the case,” a spokesman said. Responding to the ministry’s statements, a person who used to work with the Alliance for the Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases of Vietnam — a group to which the NGOs affiliated with the sentenced activists belonged — said the environmentalists had been wrongly imprisoned. “The arrest of environmental activists aims at silencing those who dare to speak out and stands in the way of the authorities,” said the source who declined to be named for safety…

Will Southeast Asia support Russia’s war with semiconductor exports?

Editor2 years ago012 mins

Despite the efforts of Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the war in Ukraine continues. Whether governments in Southeast Asia are willing to admit it or not, the war matters, as it threatens the liberal international order, creates a dangerous precedent for other aggressor states, and harms the fragile post-pandemic economic recovery by causing inflationary pressures in energy and food. Southeast Asian states, apart from Singapore, have eschewed sanctions and continue to trade with Russia. But as the war drags on, that will have consequences in terms of secondary sanctions and other penalties imposed by the west. Russian supply chains run through Southeast Asia, and the United States and other western governments are have made the targeting of Russian sanctions evasion operations a top priority. One area where Southeast Asian actors may be tempted into sanctions evasion – or where, conversely, they could help pressure Russia economically – is in the export of semiconductors. A Protracted War Initially, Ukrainian forces successfully repelled the Russian invasion near the capital Kyiv and other cities in the north. Now, the Russians have advanced in the east and south, where the flat terrain favors the offense and provides little security for the defense. Tens of thousands of soldiers and over 4,500 civilians have been killed in 120 days of fighting. The United States estimates that the Ukrainians are losing 100 to 200 men a day. Cities, such as Mariupol, have been leveled by artillery fire and depopulated. Mass graves are being discovered, and the evidence of Russian war crimes is mounting. While Ukrainians are maintaining the will to fight, the costs are rising. Indonesian President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo visits an apartment complex destroyed by Russian airstrikes in Irpin, Ukraine, June 29, 2022. Credit: Handout/Press Bureau of the Indonesian Presidential Secretariat Trying to Weather the Economic Storm The initial shock of sanctions on the Russian economy has been stemmed. The ruble has not only recovered after its initial drop, but, buoyed by $150 million a day in oil and gas exports, it’s stronger than before the war began. Indeed, according to a recent report in The New York Times, in the first 100 days after the invasion, Russia netted $98 billion. Nonetheless, on June 26, Russia defaulted on $100 million in sovereign debt. While the economy reeled from the immediate or planned departure of about 1,000 western firms, over half of the 300 Asian firms have remained and continue to do business. Where Russia is going to start to feel the economic pinch is in its manufacturing sector, as it is highly dependent on the import of inputs such as European machine tools and Asian semiconductors. Though Russia has five foundries, they produce very low quality products and Moscow is highly dependent on imports. In 2020, Russia imported nearly $1.5 billion in semiconductors. The largest producers of high-end circuitry, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and most importantly Taiwan, remain firmly committed to the sanctions regime. But firms in China and Southeast Asia may try to fill those critical supply chains for Moscow. In 2020, China accounted for one-third of Russian semiconductor imports. Since the Russian invasion, China has complied with international sanctions, for fear of secondary sanctions and the loss of market access. But diplomatically, China remains firmly in Russia’s camp, and continues to espouse the Russian justification for and narrative of the war. President Xi Jinping stated that there are “no limits” on the bilateral relationship and no “forbidden” areas of cooperation, suggesting frustration with western sanctions. On June 29, the U.S. Treasury department added five Chinese electronics manufacturers to an export blacklist, which will deny them the ability to sell in the U.S. market, for their sales to Russian military industries. This should have a chilling effect on other Chinese suppliers. Southeast Asia’s Role in Moscow’s Supply Chain In 2020, Malaysia exported some $280 million worth of semiconductors to Russia, making it the second largest source after China, according to the Financial Times. The Philippines and Thailand exported over $60 million each; Singapore exported roughly $10 million. In all, Southeast Asia accounted for nearly a third of Russian semiconductors. Malaysia has already been called out for announcing their intentions to sell semiconductors to Russia as part of their policy of “strategic neutrality.” On April 23, the South China Morning Post reported that the Malaysian ambassador to Moscow told state-owned media that Malaysia would “consider any request” and continue their exports to Russia. Malaysian manufacturers were warned that they could face secondary sanctions and loss of market access, threatening future investment in a nearly $9 billion export market. Similar warnings were made to manufacturers in the Philippines and Thailand. Although Vietnam remains close to Russia, its semiconductor manufacturing is directly controlled by foreign investors. Intel, which is amongst the most prestigious foreign investors in the country, made an additional $475 million investment in 2021; bringing their total investment to $1.5 billion. As companies continue to decouple from China, Vietnam is eager to increase high-tech manufacturing and is cognizant of the costs of trying to evade sanctions on Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Indonesian President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo at the Kremlin in Moscow, June 30, 2022. Credit: Sputnik via Reuters Evading Sanctions But Russia is desperate to revive its manufacturing and, as the war drags on, it will try to get countries to evade sanctions and/or use straw purchasers. Countries including Indonesia that are hard-hit from soaring energy prices have already looked to Russia for below market energy supplies. Jokowi’s trip to Moscow and his defiant willingness to include President Putin at the G-20 summit in Indonesia in November, are clearly intended to curry favor with Moscow for narrow economic gain. Indonesia’s leadership seems unable to grasp the fact that soaring food and energy prices that are hitting the public so hard have been caused by Russia’s illegal war of aggression. And sadly they are not alone in Southeast Asia, where the governments continue to view the war in Ukraine as a remote European crisis that doesn’t impact them or have other geo-strategic implications for the region. Southeast Asian countries can profess their neutrality,…

Thai prime minister downplays Myanmar aircraft entering nation’s airspace

Editor2 years ago07 mins

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and the Royal Thai Air Force chief on Friday played down a brief incursion by a Burmese fighter jet into the nation’s airspace amid fierce fighting across the border, saying Myanmar and Thailand have “a good relationship.” Thailand’s air force scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to its northwestern border on Thursday after radar captured a Myanmar air force jet briefly violating Thai airspace during an aerial assault against Karen rebels, according to an air force statement that day. It also said Myanmar helicopters were detected in the area but did not appear to enter Thai airspace. “[They] admitted it and apologized. No intention, no determination so,” Prayuth said Friday, adding that the jet turned and overshot into Thailand. “We scrambled our aircraft to warn him as standard operating procedure. Today the military envoys have talked, and they apologized. “It looks like a big deal but it’s up to us to not make a mountain out of a mole hill – we have a good relationship.” Meanwhile, Thai Air Chief Marshal Napadej Thupatemi said he was irate over the incursion, but it was inadvertent. “I tell you frankly, like you, I was irate too, perhaps even more than you people. But we have contacted top commanders of Myanmar forces, asking them be mindful about their operation,” he said. “In air defense, there are three steps – identify friend or foe, intercept, and destroy if necessary,” he said. “Bear in mind, Myanmar is a friend. If a friend inadvertently trespasses our turf and we shoot him dead, that is way too excessive.” Fierce clashes The incursion occurred a day after Myanmar’s junta chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, hosted a delegation headed by Lt. Gen. Apichet Suesat of the Royal Thai Army in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw for the 34th meeting of the Thailand-Myanmar Regional Border Committee, according to a report by the official Global New Light of Myanmar. The two sides discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between defense forces and anti-terrorism measures to improve stability along the border, the report said. Days of fierce clashes between Myanmar’s military and anti-junta forces in Kayin state have left more than a dozen anti-junta fighters dead and several wounded on both sides of the conflict, sources in the region said Thursday. The fighting began on June 26 when pro-democracy People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitaries and fighters with the ethnic Karen National Defense Organization/Karen National Liberation Army (KNDO/KNLA) launched a joint attack on a military outpost near Myawaddy township’s Ukrithta village, according to a report by the pro-military Myawaddy newspaper. The attack prompted a military retaliation that included artillery fire and airstrikes, and more junta troops were being deployed to the area, the report said. A rebel officer said junta jets were attacking positions in the area “nine or ten times a day.” About 200 residents of Myanmar fled across the border into Tak province on Wednesday, and two injured Burmese civilians were treated in Phob Phra district, local Thai officials said. Border communities Thai border communities have been affected by intermittent fighting in neighboring Myanmar since the 2021 coup, and in previous clashes between rebel groups and the Burmese government. A Karen source in Tak province’s Mae Sot district said more than 1,000 Karen refugees who fled the current conflict were still in Thailand. Southeast Asian countries have been criticized for not doing more to pressure Myanmar to return to democracy after the military coup in Feb. 2021 that ousted an elected government, and amid a brutal campaign to suppress protesters and armed opposition to the junta since then. A “five-point consensus” agreed by the 10-member regional bloc ASEAN in April 2020 to put Myanmar on the road to democracy was never enacted, in part, critics say, because the bloc operates by consensus and includes authoritarian governments that remain friendly with the junta. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.

New entreaty by ASEAN envoy to meet Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi

Editor2 years ago011 mins

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Special Envoy to Myanmar has again requested that the junta let him speak with detained opposition chief Aung San Suu Kyi, amid criticism that his mission to resolve the country’s political crisis will be fruitless without meeting all stakeholders. ASEAN Special Envoy Prak Sokhonn held talks on Friday with representatives of seven ethnic armed groups in the capital Naypyidaw on the third day of his second visit to Myanmar since assuming his role with the bloc. Leaders of the armed groups told RFA Burmese that during the two-hour meeting Prak Sokhonn explained that he is working to achieve three goals: a dialogue on conflict resolution with all stakeholders, a nationwide ceasefire, and providing humanitarian assistance to those in need. He also told the groups that he wants to meet with the head of the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) Aung San Suu Kyi, but that doing so “is very difficult,” they said. Nai Aung Ma-ngay, a spokesman for the New Mon State Party (NMSP), an opposition party that signed the Myanmar government’s nationwide ceasefire agreement in 2018, told RFA that the ASEAN envoy claimed to have asked for a meeting “with those whom he deserved to meet” during talks with junta leader Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on Thursday. “He said he is trying his best on the prison issue. He said he met with the [junta] chairman yesterday and talked about these issues. He said they also talked about a dialogue,” the NMSP spokesman said. “Regarding the matter of Aung San Suu Kyi behind prison walls, he told us today ‘it is very difficult’ and ‘will take a lot of time.’” Nai Aung Ma-ngay noted that during Prak Sokhonn was also denied access to Suu Kyi by the junta during first visit to Myanmar as special envoy in March. “He said he is still trying and that he has about six months left in his current role [before the ASEAN chair rotates at the end of the year],” the NMSP spokesman said. “He told us that he would try to find a way to do it before his tenure ends.” During an emergency meeting on the situation in Myanmar in April 2021, Min Aung Hlaing had agreed to a so-called Five-Point Consensus to end violence in the country, which included meeting with all stakeholders to resolve the political crisis, but has failed to keep that promise. Observers say that peace cannot be achieved without including the NLD leadership and other powerbrokers in the process. In addition to the NMSP, the ethnic armed groups that met with Prak Sokhonn on Friday included the Shan State Reconstruction Council (RCSS), Democratic Karen Army (DKBA), Arakan State Liberation Party (ALP), Karen National Peace Council (KNLA/PC), Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) and Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO). All seven are among groups that have signed a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the government since 2015. Saw Mra Yazarlin, vice-chairwoman of the ALP, told RFA that Prak Sokhonn also asked the groups for their thoughts on who else should be included in talks aimed at resolving the country’s political stalemate. “Some answered him, saying representatives of the government, parliament, and [military],” she said. “[But there also] must be all political parties, and all ethnic armed groups, and civil society organizations, and other stakeholders included. Our side told him such a situation is necessary.” National League for Democracy party leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in a file photo. Credit: AFP ‘No one is above the law’ Prior to Prak Sokhonn’s ongoing five-day trip, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen — whose nation holds the chair of ASEAN — and the special envoy had requested that he meet with Suu Kyi and NLD president Win Myint but were refused by the junta. The pair are among several NLD officials who were arrested in the immediate aftermath of the military’s Feb. 1, 2021, coup and face multiple charges widely viewed as politically motivated. Prak Sokhonn has also requested that Suu Kyi be returned to her original place of detention after she was transferred last week to a Naypyidaw prison, prompting concern for the 77-year-old’s well-being due to poor conditions and lack of access to health care at the facility. That request was denied Friday by junta Deputy Minister of Information Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, who told a press conference that “no one is above the law,” and said special arrangements had been made to provide Suu Kyi “with proper food and healthcare needs.” Multiple attempts by RFA to contact Zaw Min Tun for comment on Prak Sokhonn’s visit went unanswered Friday. Earlier this week, the junta spokesman said that “those facing trials” will not be allowed to meet with the ASEAN envoy, adding that the military regime is “working with certain groups” to end the conflict in Myanmar, which has claimed the lives of 2,053 civilians since the coup, according to Bangkok-based NGO Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The military has said it plans to allow the envoy meet with “some NLD members” during his visit but has not specified who they are. When asked on Wednesday who will hold talks with Prak Sokhonn, NLD central working committee member Kyaw Htwe said he could not comment on the matter. No solution likely Speaking to RFA, Naing Htoo Aung, permanent secretary of the shadow National Unity Government’s (NUG) Ministry of Defense, described Friday’s talks as “a sham,” and said they won’t produce a practical solution to the political crisis in Myanmar. “It is very important that all those who deserve to be involved in the talks are involved,” he said. “A sham political dialogue is not a solution to the country’s political and armed conflict, and such talks could have more negative consequences.” Ye Tun, a Myanmar-based political analyst, said that Friday’s meeting failed to include armed groups fighting junta forces in Kayin, Kachin, Chin, and Kayah states, and Sagaing and Magway regions, and that therefore it would do little to…

Chinese fans clash with rights protesters at basketball game in Australia

Editor2 years ago05 mins

Chinese fans clashed with human rights protesters at a basketball game between China and Australia on Thursday in Melbourne, at a time when the two countries are trying to ease a number of policy disputes. During the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Cup qualifier, activist Max Mok, a Hongkonger-Australian, was shoved by a Chinese fan as the activist shouted, “free East Turkestan,” a reference to Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and “Hong Kong independence” during the game. The incident was captured by a cell phone video and posted on social media. Mok also was holding a sign demanding the release of Mirzat Taher, an Australian-Uyghur who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in China in April 2021. The sign showed a picture of Mirzat created by Chinese dissident artist and political cartoonist Badiuca, who is based in Australia. Mirzat, a permanent resident of Australian, married Australian-born Mehray Mezensof of Melbourne in Xinjiang in August 2016. A year later, the couple was going to fly to Australia to live, but police detained Mirzat two days before their scheduled departure. Authorities have detained Mirzat two other times since then. Australian political activist Drew Pavlou, who has spoken out against the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party over their policies on Hongkongers, Tibetans and Uyghurs, attended the game and alleged that security guards dragged him down a flight of stairs, as captured on a cell phone image and posted on Twitter. “Security didn’t take any action against this violent attacker but they did drag me backwards down a flight of stairs for holding signs supporting Australian political prisoners in China and calling for an end to Uyghur Genocide,” Pavlou tweeted. The United States and the legislatures of some Western countries have issued determinations that China’s maltreatment of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang constitutes a genocide and crimes against humanity. Beijing has angrily denied accusations of severe rights abuses in the region. Another protester displayed the flag of Tibet, which is banned in China because it considers the western region to be part of the country. Security personnel said they removed seven people involved in the incidents from the arena and that no one was physically hurt, according to local news reports. More than 8,100 spectators were in attendance at John Cain Arena. The Australian team won the game 76-69 and is now 4-0 in its qualifiers. The incident came about a week after Xiao Qian, who was appointed China’s ambassador to Australia in January, was hectored by human rights protesters during a speech about improving relations between Beijing and Canberra under the new Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “The recent years our relationship has been a difficult period, nonetheless, China’s policy of friendship towards Australia remains unchanged,” Qian said during his speech at the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney on June 24. “Looking into the future, China and Australia relations enjoy great potential for cooperation and bright prospects.” The human rights demonstrators interrupted the event several times to criticize Chinese government policies in Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang. They were escorted from the event.

Junta troops kill 9 unarmed civilians, including 4 teens, in war-torn Sagaing region

Editor2 years ago06 mins

Junta troops in Myanmar’s embattled Sagaing region captured and killed nine unarmed civilians, including four teenagers, as they traveled to receive medical training, according to an official from their group and a family member of one of the victims. The nine medics with the Wetlet township branch of the Generation Z Special Task Force, an organization aligned with the anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary group, were detained by the military, and shot dead on Wednesday near Shwebo township’s Kunseik village while enroute to southeastern Sagaing’s Ayadaw township, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) away. A spokesman for the Generation Z Special Task Force told RFA Burmese that those killed included four women: Pa Pa Khine, 14, Win Ei Kyaw, 15, Naing Naing Aung, 24, and Thit Thit Hlaing, 34; and five men: Pho Htaung, 17, Phone Kyaw, 17, Thein Than Oo, 21, Aung Kyaw Moe, 27, and Pho Nyein, 27. The spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that his group confirmed the identities of the victims after obtaining photos of the slaughter. “They didn’t have any weapons on them. They were going for medical training in an area where there was no fighting,” he said. “We sent for them after notifying our allied groups as there were no military activities around here [and could safely return]. We have no idea how they got captured. We heard about some arrests [on Wednesday] and only [on Thursday], when we saw the photos, did we realize they were our team members.” The mother of one victim said she was devastated by the news that her daughter and her friends were killed at such a young age. “She wanted to do this, even though she was so young. She always said that she wanted to have a role she could play,” said the victim’s mother, who also declined to be named. “Now that this has happened, I’m heartbroken. I’m so numb and I feel like I have nothing inside.” The junta has yet to comment on the incident and calls by RFA to junta deputy information minister, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, went unanswered on Thursday. The Generation Z Special Task Force said it will work to obtain justice for the families of the victims of the extrajudicial killings and to bring international attention to the incident with the help of Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government. According to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, security forces have killed at least 2,053 civilians since the military’s Feb. 1, 2021, coup, although the group acknowledges its records are incomplete and says the real number of deaths is likely much higher. Last month, the Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP), a local think tank, said in a report that it had documented at least 5,646 civilian deaths in Myanmar between the coup and May 10. The ISP figure included people killed by security forces during anti-junta protests, in clashes between the military and pro-democracy paramilitaries or ethnic armies, while held in detention, and in revenge attacks, including against informers for the regime. At least 1,831 civilians were killed in shooting deaths, the largest number of which occurred in Sagaing region, where junta troops have faced some of the toughest resistance to military rule in clashes with the PDF paramilitaries that have displaced tens of thousands of residents since the coup, the ISP report said. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

Will the people of Hong Kong ever run their own city again?

Editor2 years ago013 mins

On June 30, 1997, pro-democracy members held the majority seats on Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo), the result of the city’s first fully democratic general election in 1995, under political reforms brought in at the 11th hour of British rule by then colonial governor Chris Patten. By the following day — the first under Chinese rule — the 1995 LegCo had been swept aside in favor of a China-backed “provisional LegCo,” packed with members viewed more favorably by Beijing. Twenty-five years after the handover, the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has rewritten the rules to ensure that only those it deems “patriots” can stand as candidates. The current LegCo — elected earlier this year under the new rules — now has no openly pro-democracy members at all. And while the city’s Basic Law — endorsed by the CCP — promised direct, popular elections for the city’s chief executive by 2017, incoming chief executive John Lee was selected by a Beijing-backed committee in a “perfected” election in which he was the only candidate. Meanwhile, dozens who once served as pro-democracy lawmakers are now behind bars, accused under a draconian national security law of “subversion” after they took part in a democratic primary in 2020. The lack of democratic participation in post-handover Hong Kong isn’t for want of trying. From a mass march in 2002 against national security laws, to a 2012 campaign against CCP propaganda in schools, to the 2014 Occupy Central, or Umbrella Movement, Hong Kongers have mobilized in their thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions to demand an end to the erosion of their traditional freedoms and that promises of autonomy and more democracy made before the handover be kept. Riot police launch tear gas into the crowd as thousands of protesters surround the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Sept. 28, 2014. Credit: AP Photo Extradition law protests draw brutal response In 2019, mass protests of one and two million erupted in response to then chief executive Carrie Lam’s plan to allow extradition of alleged criminal suspects to face trial in mainland Chinese courts. Mass public anger over a brutal response to these protests spurred the movement further, which broadened to include demands for fully democratic elections, police and government accountability, and an amnesty for Hong Kong’s growing number of political prisoners. As protesters started to fight back against police tear gas, water cannon, live ammunition and rubber bullets with Molotov cocktails and bricks, not everyone was on board with a departure from peaceful resistance and civil disobedience. But the District Council elections of November 2019 resulted in huge turnout and a sweeping majority for pro-democracy candidates across the board, among them many who had been expelled from LegCo for not being patriotic enough in the years before the national security law criminalized public dissent. By March 2021, China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) had voted to change Hong Kong’s electoral system to ensure that only vetted candidates approved by a Beijing-picked committee and cleared by the city’s newly installed national security police could run for or hold any kind of public office. The NPC announced that China would be “taking full political control” of Hong Kong, and that only patriots would be allowed to run for office. Riot police fire tear gas during the anti-extradition bill protest in Hong Kong, Aug. 11, 2019. Credit: AP Photo Meanwhile, the arrests of outspoken journalists and the closure of pro-democracy media outlets and civil society groups continued under the national security law. On July 1, 2019, protesters broke into and vandalized the LegCo chamber to protest plans to allow extradition to mainland China. Now, the building has been refurbished and the Chinese national emblem added to the wall. The 90-seat expanded chamber is no longer the scene of lively political debate, and only 20 seats are returned by public vote. “The whole basis on which we do politics has changed,” Bruce Liu of the pro-democracy Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood (ADPL) told RFA. “Political development has been uneven since the handover, with ups and downs, like the wind and waves.” “It’s like a circle game that always ends up back where it started,” Liu said, adding that his party now no longer seeks seats in LegCo, preferring to focus on social welfare and constituency clinics instead. Police detain protesters after a protest in Causeway Bay before the annual handover march in Hong Kong, July 1, 2020. Credit: AP Photo Exile or prison Tik Chi-yuan, who represents the social welfare sector in LegCo and who holds one of the few seats still elected by individuals rather than block voting by organizations, said the CCP sees Hong Kong as a security risk. “The central government in Beijing perceives some kind of threat to its security calculus,” Tik — who describes himself as a “non-establishment” LegCo member told RFA. “I think we need to look to the future now. The Basic Law promised democratic elections, so we should take that as our goal. It’s a process.” With most of the former political opposition either behind bars or in exile, the younger generation who grew up protesting have also disappeared from public view, many to escape becoming Hong Kong’s next political prisoner. Former student leader Law Cheuk Yiu said he left for the U.K. out of fear for his personal safety. “When the situation started to look truly bleak, I decided to leave,” he said, recalling a relatively liberal political atmosphere in the years immediately following the handover. “Things have changed since those early years: they won’t ever go back to the way they were then,” Law said. “Nowadays, anyone with a dissenting opinion is totally suppressed, basically.” For Law’s generation of Hong Kongers born and raised after the handover the past few years have left them facing a crisis of identity — whether they try to live under the national security law or seek a freer life overseas, as an estimated 140,000 have already done. “Our generation knows only too well that China…

Vietnam sentences 5 soldiers for beating death of platoonmate

Editor2 years ago08 mins

A military court in Vietnam’s central region sentenced five soldiers to a total of 41 years in prison on charges of causing the death of another soldier last year, a punishment the victim’s bereaved father said was too light. Nguyen Van Thien, born in 1998 in central Vietnam’s Gia Lai province, began his mandatory military service in February 2020 and was just one month shy of finishing his two-year stint when he was found dead in a barracks bathroom last November. “Five people have been jailed, but the sentencing was not right,” Nguyen Van Lam, Thien’s father, told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. According to the investigation, the object that struck Nguyen Van Thein’s head and caused his death was a five-liter plastic pail. The defendant who was holding the pail when the death occurred claimed the death was an accident. “The plastic pail is too light to kill anyone,” Lam said. “The defendants described their positions when the killing happened, but it did not sound right. According to the lawyers, it was impossible to use a light plastic pail to cause someone’s death. So, we are not sure of the cause of death or who the killer is.” Four of the defendants were in the same platoon as Thien. Ksor Dim and Rmah Tuy were both sentenced to seven years, while Nguyen Dinh Tam, who was said to have been the main culprit, and Tran Van Mao, who stuck Thien in the head with the plastic pail, received nine-and-a-half year sentences. Squad leader Tran Duc Loi, meanwhile, got eight years. According to the military procuracy’s report issued on April 25th, 2022, three soldiers, Nguyen Van Thien, Huynh Van Trung and Nguyen Van Hung went out for drinks at 3 p.m. on Nov. 29, 2021. Their platoon leader discovered their absence after a roll call later in the day, and the platoon began searching for them. At about 7 p.m. Nguyen Dinh Tam and the three other defendants in the platoon discussed what punishments they could face because of Thien, Trung and Hung. According to the court, Nguyen Dinh Tam persuaded the others to beat the three absent soldiers for revenge. At 9 p.m., while in bed, Thien was called to the bathroom and beaten by the five defendants until he fell unconscious. The defendants said that they tried to wake him up but could not, so they returned to their bunks thinking that Thien had blacked out because he had drunk too much. A moment later, another soldier passed by the bathroom and found Thien lying on the ground with foam in his mouth. He called for help, but Thien was pronounced dead on the way to the hospital. During the trial, a representative of the Gia Lai military command told Thein’s family that the bruises on his body were from autopsy cuts and because he fell, not because he was engaged in a fight. Vietnamese state media has not reported on the trial. Le Xuan Anh Phu, the lawyer who represented the victim, told RFA that according to the procuracy’s report, defendant Tran Van Mao was the one who hit Thien’s head with the plastic pail, causing him to fall. At the trial, however, Mao said he slipped and fell and that the pail had hit Thien’s head by accident. Phu said he requested another investigation because of discrepancies in the defendants’ statements and because he believes a five-liter plastic pail is too light to cause a serious head injury. But the request was denied. “They did not reenact the whole scene. They just examined the scene and then the prosecutors argued that there were many witnesses of the beating, and the defendants testified the same,” Phu said. “They concluded that they have enough evidence,” he said. “We argued that we need to reenact the whole scene to have a more convincing investigation and to satisfy the bereaved family.” Additionally, the five-liter pail shown in the courtroom was not the actual pail that struck Thien because investigators could not find the actual pail Mao allegedly used. Representatives of Gia Lai military command told the court that they have disciplined more than 20 people in this case but did not elaborate on the details. Phu, the attorney, said that military policy allowing other soldiers to discipline their colleagues indirectly led to Nguyen Van Thien’s death. He said that the policy needs to be reviewed. The victim’s father told RFA that the family will appeal the court’s verdict in an attempt to discover the real cause of his son’s death and determine who the real killer is. Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Taiwan hits out at Hong Kong’s vanishing freedoms, vows to protect its sovereignty

Editor2 years ago012 mins

Democratic Taiwan on Friday said freedom had “vanished” in Hong Kong, as concerns were raised internationally over a political crackdown in the city after just 25 years of Chinese rule. “It’s only been 25 years, and in the past the promise was 50 years of no change,” Taiwan’s premier Su Tseng-chang told journalists as Hong Kong marked the 25th anniversary of the 1997 handover to Chinese rule. “Freedom and democracy have vanished,” he said, adding that Taiwan, which made a peaceful democratic transition in the 1990s after decades of authoritarian rule under the Kuomintang (KMT), must protect its own way of life in the face of Chinese territorial claims. “We also know that we must hold fast to Taiwan’s sovereignty, freedom and democracy,” Su said, in a reference to Beijing’s insistence that the island “unify” with China, despite never having been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and despite widespread public opposition to the idea. “China’s so-called ‘one country, two systems’ has simply not stood up to the test,” Su said of the arrangement touted by Beijing as a success in Hong Kong, and as a possible pathway to a takeover of Taiwan. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said CCP rule had led to the end of freedom and democracy in Hong Kong. In a statement, the council hit out at China’s imposition of a draconian national security law “to govern Hong Kong in a coercive manner, restrict the basic human rights of Hong Kong’s people, and to imprison democracy advocates, silencing the news media and prompting the collapse of civil society.” It also said recent changes to the city’s electoral system to ensure only “patriots” can hold public office “is even more contrary to goal of universal suffrage and the expectations of Hong Kong citizens.” “Democracy, human rights, freedom, and rule of law have seriously regressed in Hong Kong, compared with 25 years ago,” the MAC said, dismissing Beijing’s claims that the pro-democracy movement had been instigated by foreign governments. “Taiwan adheres to a free, democratic and constitutional government, that the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, that sovereignty cannot be invaded and annexed, and that the future of the Republic of China and Taiwan must be decided by the people of Taiwan,” the statement said. “Taiwan will continue to safeguard universal values, democratic systems and ways of life, stand side by side with the international community, and firmly defend democracy,” it said. The statements from Taipei came after CCP leader Xi Jinping used the phrase “one country, two systems” more than 20 times during his speech on Friday marking the 25th anniversary of Chinese rule over Hong Kong, saying China’s tougher political grip on the city in the wake of the 2019 protest movement had enabled it to “rise again from the ashes.” MAC spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng called on China not to keep deceiving itself about the success of its policies in Hong Kong. “We solemnly urge [Beijing] to give the people back the democracy, freedoms and human rights that are their due,” Chiu said. Taiwanese political scientist Wu Rwei-ren said Xi wants to package the 25th anniversary as a kind of second handover. “The legal basis for one country, two systems was the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration [setting out the terms of the handover],” Wu told RFA. “By 2014, Xi Jinping’s regime had declared that it wouldn’t recognize [the treaty], saying it was a historical document with no meaning,” he said. “In this way, they redefined one country, two systems as a purely internal concept.” “The basis for [Hong Kong’s economic and social] achievements was the original political system, which has been destroyed by Xi Jinping,” Wu said. “He’s now saying that all sources of chaos have been eradicated, Hong Kong has returned to stability, and that everyone can start working hard to improve the economy,” he said. “But the institutional basis for that has been destroyed.” Wu said even the Taiwanese business community, which has typically been happy to overlook the CCP’s worst failings in the pursuit of greater profits, is now getting out of China and Hong Kong. “This isn’t about ideology; it’s about the very practical aspects of money,” Wu said. “These people were once more enthusiastic about making money than they were about their own country.” “They invested huge amounts in China because it was profitable, but now, faced with various deteriorating factors, they are getting out of China fast,” he said. Meanwhile, invitations were circulating overseas for people to attend a “Funeral for Hong Kong’s Lost Freedoms” in cities across the U.S., including New York, Washington and San Francisco. Hong Kong protest rallies were also planned in the U.K., Canada and Japan. A participant at the New York rally who gave only the nickname A Wai said the protest was over the CCP’s failure to deliver on its promises. “We’re only halfway through the 50 years during which Hong Kong was supposedly not going to change, and everyone can now see through the lie that is one country, two systems,” A Wai told RFA. “That’s why we chose July 1 to stand up … Hong Kong people are still angry about the crackdowns on protesters on June 12, 2019, July 21, 2019 and Aug. 31, 2019, and we can express all of that on July 1,” he said. Former 2014 Occupy Central leader Alex Chow said everyone will be wearing black — the color of the 2019 protest movements, but also the color of mourning in some cultures — and that protesters would lay funeral wreaths to signal the death of Hong Kong’s freedoms. “The situation in Hong Kong and the mainland is full of turmoil and tears,” Chow told RFA. “Behind the facade of prosperity, there is a lot of political in-fighting, and Hong Kong is one of the places where sacrifices are being made.” “That’s why Hong Kongers overseas who have enough freedom to do so … feel the…

Hong Kong’s last hand-painted porcelain factory carries on the tradition

Editor2 years ago02 mins

Step into Yuet Tung China Works, Hong Kong’s last remaining hand-painted porcelain factory, and you find yourself surrounded by stacks of dinnerware, each piece painstakingly decorated by hand with vibrant motifs of flowers, fruits and animals. Joseph Tso, the third-generation owner of the factory, and his small team are among the few people in Hong Kong who have mastered the traditional technique of painting “guangcai,” or Canton porcelain. It is a fading art in this modern metropolis, as fewer young people are willing to put in the time and effort required to master the craft or to work at the factory full-time. “The business environment in Hong Kong is not suitable for labor-intensive industries,” Tso said. “Hong Kong’s traditional handicraft industry is gradually declining. It will eventually disappear.” Guangcai, which comes from the nearby Chinese city of Guangzhou, is characterized by an overglaze technique in which the painter sketches a design on white porcelain and then fills it in with color using thin brushes before firing the piece in a kiln. Tso’s grandfather established the factory in Hong Kong’s Kowloon City in 1928. It rose to prominence over the years, becoming famous for its delicate craftsmanship and custom dinnerware.

Month: July 2022