July 2022 - Page 8 of 16 - Investigative Journalism Reportika

Myanmar junta chief calls for improved ties in talks with Russian defense ministry

Editor2 years ago012 mins

Myanmar junta chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing held talks with officials from Russia’s Ministry of Defense in Moscow this week, according to media reports, raising fears the junta is seeking new weapons to turn the tide in its fight against the country’s armed opposition. The regime leader met with unspecified “Russian defense ministry officials” on July 11, a day after he arrived in Russia for a “private visit,” the junta said in a statement on Tuesday. On Tuesday, Reuters news agency quoted a Russian defense ministry statement as saying that Min Aung Hlaing had met with “top officials” from the ministry and “discussed ways to strengthen bilateral military cooperation.” The official Global New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday that after being welcomed on his arrival by Deputy Minister for Defence of the Russian Federation Colonel General Alexander Vasilievich Fomin, Min Aung Hlaing also held meetings with the Russia-Myanmar Friendship Association, the Russia-ASEAN Economic Council, the Rosatom State Corporations of Russia, and Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos. Notably, no mention was made of a meeting between Min Aung Hlaing and his counterpart, Russian President Vladimir Putin, or even the country’s Minister of Defense, Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu. The trip marks the junta chief’s second visit to Russia in the more than 17 months since Myanmar’s military seized control of the country in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup. While Western nations were quick to impose sanctions on Myanmar over the coup, Russia has continued to supply Myanmar’s military with weapons and helicopters despite its continued and documented crackdown on civilians, killing at least 2,081 since coming to power. International media had reported that Myanmar purchased at least six SU-30 multi-role fighter jets from Russia before the military takeover, a transaction that was confirmed to RFA Burmese by Capt. Zay Thu Aung, a Myanmar air force officer who has since defected and joined the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement. Zay Thu Aung said at least two of the six jets have been stationed in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw since March this year and that a team of Russian pilots and technicians has been training Myanmar pilots and crews. “Six were purchased, but only two of them had been delivered by 2020. The rest won’t be delivered until this year,” he said. “It was agreed beforehand that Russian crews would be sent to train local officers on aircraft assembly and maintenance. Once the jets are ready, Russian test pilots will arrive to test the aircraft before handing them over. It was agreed to in advance.” Attempts by RFA Burmese to contact junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on the sale of the jets went unanswered Wednesday. Sukhoi Su-30 jet fighters perform during the MAKS 2021 air show in Zhukovsky, Russia, July 24, 2021. Credit: REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva Airstrikes on ethnic armies Thein Tun Oo, director of the Thayninga Strategic Studies Group, a Myanmar-based think tank run by former military officers, said he knew the military had been ordering SU-30 fighter jets “for some time.” “It’s been a long time since the SU-30s were ordered. The delivery has long been delayed,” he said. “We heard all kinds of news about the aircraft, such as that they were ‘being updated’ and made more ‘compatible for Myanmar.’ Anyway, it’s time they should be delivered. Taking into consideration the time of production of the aircraft and signing of the contracts, it’s the right time for delivery and I think it’s very possible that they will be here soon as we are hearing about them [from the military] now.” Thein Tun Oo noted that Myanmar and Russia have a history of military cooperation and said it is customary for experts from the country where the equipment was purchased to come and train local crews. Each two-engine SU-30 fighter jet, produced by Russia’s Sukhoi Aviation Corporation, costs about U.S. $30 million. Thein Tun Oo said the all-weather fighter can carry a wide array of weapons, including precision-guided missiles, rockets, and anti-ship missiles. The 70-ton SU-30 fighter jet can also fly across the 1,275-mile north-south expanse of Myanmar, if needed, without needing to refuel, owing to its large fuel capacity, according to weapons experts. Observers say Myanmar’s military regularly purchases Russian-made fighter jets and other powerful weapons to fight groups such as the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), which are among the country’s most powerful and well-equipped ethnic armies. In June, the junta carried out airstrikes on KNU and Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO) coalition forces who had attacked a military camp in Ukrithta village, in Kayin state’s Myawaddy township. Days of fighting ended with heavy casualties on both sides. KNDO leader, General Saw Nedar Mya, told RFA that the military has yet to deploy sophisticated fighter jets like the SU-30 in airstrikes, opting instead to use older Russian-made MiG-29s. “They used jet fighters in the airstrikes on Ukrithta. They attacked us every day, for five days, day and night,” he said. “Since the military dictator is getting support from China and Russia, the West should be backing us. But even though [the junta is] buying all kinds of fighter jets and other weapons, their people lack a fighting spirit. Our people have conviction and are in high spirits.” Relations at ‘unprecedented level’ Australia-based military and security analyst Kyaw Zaw Han said relations between Moscow and the junta have reached “an unprecedented level” since the coup. He said the military’s use of sophisticated weapons, including fighter jets, in Myanmar’s civil war could lead to an increased death toll for the armed resistance. “The junta seems to have viewed Russia as a strategic partner from the beginning. This seems to be the case for both countries. And since the Feb 1 coup, the number of reciprocal visits has increased to an all-time high,” he said. “Russian-made weapons are increasingly being used in the civil war and they have had a huge impact … The use of these warplanes in the internal conflict has resulted…

US ambassador-nominee to Bangkok promises to help Thais pressure Burmese junta

Editor2 years ago2 years ago09 mins

The Biden administration’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Thailand told a Senate committee Wednesday that he would press Bangkok to reduce its dependence on oil and gas from neighboring Myanmar, where the ruling military junta is committing “horrifying atrocities.” Robert F. Godec made the pledge in response to a question from Sen. Ed Markey, who, citing a statement from Human Rights Watch, noted that Thailand receives 80 percent of oil and gas exported by Myanmar’s government. “We are seeking ways with the Thais to increase the pressure on the Burmese regime. All options are on the table, that includes further action in the oil and gas sector,” Godec told a Senate Foreign Relations panel here questioning him and three other nominees for ambassador posts in the Asia-Pacific region as well as a nominee to serve as the U.S. representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Godec promised committee members that he would focus on efforts to work with Thailand to pressure its neighbor. “The Burmese regime continues to carry out horrifying atrocities. It is critically important that this stop,” he said using the old name for Myanmar. “Burma and the Burmese regime’s horrifying actions have been a top issue in discussions with Thailand.” According to the statement released by Human Rights Watch in January, the state-run Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) is responsible for the largest gas revenues paid to junta-controlled accounts through its purchases of about 80 percent of Myanmar’s exported natural gas from the Yadana and Zawtika gas fields. It said natural gas generates about U.S. $1 billion in foreign revenue annually. “I’ve repeatedly called for the United States to take a page out of the EU’s playbook and sanction the Myanmar oil and gas enterprise,” Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, told Godec, referring to the European Union. Since seizing control of Myanmar through a February 2021 coup that ousted a democratically elected civilian-led government, the Burmese junta has jailed opposition leaders and launched attacks that have killed more than 2,000 civilians, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an NGO based in Thailand. Then-U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec (left) helps his wife, Lorri Godec Magnusson, hold a candle during the 20th commemoration of the 1998 bombing of the U.S Embassy in Nairobi, Aug. 7, 2018. Mrs. Godec was left paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair after the bombing. Credit: AP Blinken visit The hearing on Capitol Hill followed Sunday’s visit to Bangkok by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken who took a hardline stance against the Myanmar government after meeting with Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, the former Thai army chief and ex-junta leader who spearheaded a coup in 2014. Blinken said the Thai and other governments in Southeast Asia must push the Burmese junta to end its brutal violence and steer the country back on a path to democracy, as he called on Myanmar to institute the Five-Point Consensus it agreed to in April 2021. The consensus, hashed out during an emergency summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Jakarta that month, called for an immediate end to violence in the country, the distribution of humanitarian aid, dialogue among all parties and the appointment of an ASEAN special envoy to Myanmar who would be permitted to meet with all stakeholders. “Unfortunately, it is safe to say that we have seen no positive movement. On the contrary, we continue to see the repression of the Burmese people,” Blinken said, noting that members of the opposition were in jail or in exile. “The regime is not delivering what is necessary for the people.” In its January statement calling out PTT for its oil purchases, HRW noted that petroleum giants Chevron and TotalEnergies had announced plans days earlier to pull out of Myanmar. Months earlier, the New York-based human rights watchdog had joined 76 NGOs in calling for PTT to not expand its oil business ties with the junta, noting that the state-owned petroleum company had been involved in exploration in Myanmar for three decades and had paid billions of dollars to the neighboring government. “But with production declining in recent years, the company has ramped up its midstream and downstream investments in the country, with the stated goal of becoming the ‘top Myanmar provider’ of petroleum products,” HRW said in May 2021. Thailand’s military-dominated government has enjoyed close ties with the Burmese military and been slow to criticize its neighbor since the generals seized power there last year. Earlier this month, Prayuth played down reports of a Burmese fighter jet entering Thailand’s airspace amid fierce fighting across the border, even though the Thai air force had scrambled two jet-fighters during the incident. “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,” he said at the time. Godec, a long-time diplomat served most recently as acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs, a post he assumed on Jan 20, 2021 – the date of President Joe Biden’s inauguration – until Sept. 30, 2021. He had previously served as ambassador to Kenya. The Senate committee did not take any action at the end of Wednesday’s hearing. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.

Junta troops kill 4, including teenage girl, after raid in Myanmar’s Sagaing region

Editor2 years ago09 mins

Residents of Pale township, in Myanmar’s embattled Sagaing region, said four people, including a teenage girl, were killed by junta troops after they returned to their village to feed their livestock following a military raid in the area. Sources from Pale’s Taung Ywar Thit village identified three female victims as Aye Win, 45, her daughter Moe Yee, 15, and their relative Nyo Kyin, 54, and one male victim as Tin Maung, 64. Around 100 junta troops entered the village on July 10, forcing all residents to escape into the jungle, the sources told RFA Burmese. One resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the victims were killed when they returned to the village that afternoon to feed their animals, thinking the troops had left. “At about noon on July 10, [the troops] came in from the eastern part of the village. The whole village fled,” the resident said. “The two women and the girl returned to the village at about 3:30 p.m., thinking the soldiers had left. We found the girl lying dead on her belly. Daw Nyo Kyin was lying dead on her side. The old man was shot dead with a rope around his neck. The bodies of the women were found near the toilet [behind the village].” The troops finally left the village on July 11. Residents discovered the bodies upon returning to the area the following day, the source said. Residents told RFA that Tin Maung’s body was found hastily buried in a shallow grave just outside the village tract. Moe Yee’s earrings had been removed from her body, they said. It was not immediately clear which army unit raided Taung Ywar Thit on July 10. Residents said that while the troops had left the area, they dare not return to their village, fearing another attack. Another resident of Taung Ywar Thit, who also declined to be named, told RFA that evidence of the killings had been documented on video. “They went to feed their cows and pigs in the village and were shot dead by the junta soldiers,” the resident said. “[The military has] no regard for human life. People were tortured and killed. We have video files recorded at the site of the murders of the women and the shallow grave — about 1.5 feet deep — where the man was buried.” The resident said copies of the video files had been sent to a local unit of the anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary group, which said they would be forwarded to representatives of Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG). PDF sources told RFA that the victims were civilians and had nothing to do with the armed opposition. Clothing lies scattered inside a home following a military raid in Pale township’s Taung Ywar Thit village, July 12, 2022. Credit: Citizen journalist Strategic route Boh Naga, a member of a Pale township-based PDF group known as the Tawwin Nagar (Royal Dragon) Army, told RFA that junta troops have been attacking villages along the highway that snakes west through Sagaing and neighboring Magway region into Chin state every day since the beginning of July. He said that people from several villages, including Taung Ywa Thit, have been arrested and killed as the military, which orchestrated a putsch on Feb. 1, 2021, tries to gain control of the strategic corridor. “They seized power in a coup because they do not care about the people, and now they are focusing on crushing the armed resistance, giving priority to areas where the opposition is strong,” he said. “The road from [the Magway city of] Pakokku and the road from [the Sagaing city of] Monywa meet here in Pale before proceeding north through [the Magway town of] Gangaw and on to Chin state. It is a strategic communication and transportation route for them, and as we are in full control of the area, they are attacking places where there are no PDF units and harassing and arresting ordinary people.” Taung Ywar Thit village, where the bodies of the four victims were discovered on Tuesday, lies about 18 miles outside of the seat of Pale township, near the border with Magway region. The village comprises around 500 homes with a population of some 2,000 people. Boh Naga said the junta is carrying out less of a military operation than “a brutal crackdown on civilians.” Repeated attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun about the July 10 killings and other military raids along the route to Chin state went unanswered Wednesday. ‘Completely defenseless’ A resident of Pale township, whose name was withheld over concerns for their security, told RFA that the military needs to be held accountable for its actions — particularly the crimes committed by members of its lower ranks. “The military junta is trying to rule by fear and those responsible need to be prosecuted under the country’s anti-terrorism laws because their soldiers are committing torture and rape at gunpoint,” they said. “Civilians are fleeing for their lives and those who cannot escape are arrested or killed. The people are completely defenseless and we are regularly seeing troops kill women and the young.” The discovery of the victims in Taung Ywar Thit village came amid reports by area PDF groups on Wednesday that junta troops set fire to around 100 homes in Htay Aung village, located only one mile away in Magway’s Myaing township. Thailand-based NGO Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says that junta forces have killed at least 2,081 civilians in Myanmar since the coup last year, but acknowledges that its documentation is incomplete, suggesting the death toll is likely much higher. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

Dwindling freedoms, rolling lockdowns spark growing desire to ‘run’ from China

Editor2 years ago2 years ago013 mins

Linghu Changbing has been on the run from China for three years, using his Twitter account to post an account of a motorcycle trip in Mexico and further travels across the United States, to the envy of many in China. While Linghu, 22, gets roundly criticized by Little Pinks, online supporters of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), for his life choices, he is living a freedom that many back home caught in endless rounds of COVID-19 restrictions can only dream about. His road-movie lifestyle puts Linghu at the cutting edge of a growing phenomenon among younger Chinese people with the wherewithal to leave the country, summarized by a Chinese character pronounced “run” that has come to symbolize cutting free from an increasingly onerous life under CCP rule in an online shorthand referencing the English word “run”. Shanghai white-collar worker Li Bing has been dreaming about emigrating to Japan with his girlfriend and two beloved cats for three years now. Li’s game-plan after graduating from university had been to get rich as fast as possible, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the Chinese government’s draconian zero-COVID policies has thrown several spanners in the works. Li, as a devoted servant to his two cats, was terrified at online video footage of “Dabai” COVID-19 enforcers in white PPE beating people’s pets to death after they were sent to quarantine camps. “One resident showed us through his camera lens those Dabai in PPE beating a pet to death,” Li said. “So my No. 1 nightmare is that my two cats could be disposed of [in that way].” An engineer by training, Li now works as a highly paid copywriter in the tech industry in Shanghai, which he once viewed as a new land of opportunity. But work has been hard-hit by the recent lockdowns, and the money isn’t coming in as frequently as it once did. “Since the pandemic … the interval between payments is getting longer and longer,” Li said. “The lockdown made me even more aware that I can’t afford to wait any longer, because I don’t know what I’m waiting for.” Workers and security guards in protective gear are seen at a cordoned-off entrance to a residential area under lockdown due to Covid-19 restrictions in Beijing, June 14, 2022. Credit: AFP Keyword searches for emigration soar Li, who recently secured a short-term business visa for Japan and wants to apply to study there too, is definitely not alone. Data from the social media app WeChat index showed a huge spike in searches using the keywords “emigration” or “overseas emigration” between March and May, suggesting that “run,” or running, is on many people’s minds. At its peaks, search queries for the keyword “emigration” hit 70 million several times during the Shanghai lockdown and 130 million immediately afterwards. The same keyword also showed peaks on Toutiao Index, Google Trends and 360 Trends between April and the end of June 2022, leading U.S.-based former internet censor Liu Lipeng to speculate that the most recent peak was triggered by a June 27 report in state media quoting Beijing municipal party chief Cai Qi as saying that current COVID-19 restrictions would be “normalized” over the next five years. WeChat’s owner Tencent said searches for “emigration” rose by 440 percent on April 3, 2022, the day CCP leader Xi Jinping told the nation to “strictly adhere to the zero-COVID policy.” A Japan-based immigration consultant who gave only the pseudonym “Mr. Y,” said he had witnessed a massive surge in queries to his business starting in April. “I’m also curious about what’s happened over the past month, and I think it’s amazing,” he said. “How can there be such a positive impact in little more than a month?” Mr. Y said he, like many others in the sector, has started taking to Twitter Spaces to provide listeners with free advice on immigrating to Japan. “I see seven or eight spaces about how to run, all of them with nearly 1,000 people in them,” he said. A Shanghai-based businessman surnamed Meng, who has a U.S. green card, found himself pressed into service as an informal immigration consultant during the Shanghai lockdown. “Only one person asked me about this … before lockdown,” said Meng, not his real name. “All the others came to ask me when we were locked down at home.” In a video clip sent to RFA, Peking University Communist Party Secretary Chen Baojian appeals to students to disperse after Hundreds of students protested in mid-May 2022 on the campus after a fence was put in place segregating them from the rest of the university. Credit: Screengrab of video. Steady erosion of freedom Australia-based writer Murong Xuecun said he had left after correctly predicting the steady erosion of individual freedom in China. “In the past few years … government has become more and more powerful, and the rights of ordinary people have dwindled,” he told RFA. “What kind of China will we see next?” “A more conservative, isolated and poorer China, and I think also a [more unpredictable and violent] China,” he said. “That’s what a lot of people worry about.” Many are aware that since Xi Jinping came to power, the government has made rapid advances in the direction of high-tech totalitarianism. A combination of a nationwide, integrated facial recognition network, a health code app that can prevent movement in public spaces under the guise of COVID-19 prevention, and the use of automated fare collection systems to track people on public transportation have combined to place severe limits on the personal privacy and freedoms of the average person in China. Meanwhile, the population is still struggling with the massive economic impact of rolling lockdowns, compulsory waves of mass COVID-19 testing and inflation that has characterized the pandemic in China. A wave of regulatory policies targeting the private sector, most notably private education and China’s tech giants, has has also taken its toll on the perception of the level prosperity and freedom that is realistically achievable for regular Chinese…

China lashes out as U.S. Navy destroyer sails near disputed islands

Editor2 years ago07 mins

A U.S. Navy Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP) near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on Wednesday has drawn a strong reaction from Chinese military officials who said the U.S. warship “illegally trespassed” into its waters. A spokesman from the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), whose areas of responsibility include the South China Sea, said in a press release that the command “organized air, naval forces to track and warn away USS Benfold destroyer that illegally trespassed into Chinese territorial waters off Xisha Islands.” Xisha is the Chinese name for the Paracel archipelago, claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan but entirely under Chinese control. The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet meanwhile released a statement saying its Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, USS Benfold (DDG 65) “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law.” The destroyer then “exited the excessive claim and continued operations in the South China Sea,” according to the statement which said that the U.S. “challenges excessive maritime claims around the world regardless of the identity of the claimant.” “Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight, free trade and unimpeded commerce, and freedom of economic opportunity for South China Sea littoral nations,” the 7th Fleet said. “Under international law, as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention, the ships of all States, including their warships, enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea,” it said. A MH-60 Sea Hawk conducting flight operations aboard the USS Benfold. CREDIT: U.S. Navy China’s illegal claims Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam hold competing claims over parts of the South China Sea and some islands in it but the Chinese claims are by far the most expansive, covering up to 90% of the sea. Beijing also developed islands that China occupies in the South China Sea to back up its claims and has fully militarized at least three of them. The U.S. Navy has also challenged China’s self-proclaimed territorial waters around the Paracel Islands. An international tribunal in 2016 ruled that the Paracels are in fact not islands and the occupying nation – China – cannot claim territorial sea around them. The lengthy statement by the U.S. 7th Fleet said by conducting this FONOP, “the United States demonstrated that these waters are beyond what the PRC [People’s Republic of China] can lawfully claim as its territorial sea.” “U.S. forces operate in the South China Sea on a daily basis, as they have for more than a century,” it added. An F/A-18F Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), July 13, 2022. CREDIT: U.S. Navy In another development, a U.S. carrier strike group led by the USS Ronald Reagan has moved into the South China Sea. The U.S. Navy said in a press release the strike group is operating in the South China Sea “for the first time during its 2022 deployment.” It includes the USS Ronald Reagan, the navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, with aircraft from Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 and crews from Task Force 70 and Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15. The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG 54) and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) are also involved in the operation, according to the release. “While in the South China Sea, the strike group is conducting maritime security operations, which include flight operations with fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, maritime strike exercises, and coordinated tactical training between surface and air units,” it said. “Carrier operations in the South China Sea are part of the U.S. Navy’s routine operations in the Indo-Pacific.” China’s South China Sea Probing Initiative (SCSPI) think-tank said that, according to the latest flight trajectory of the carrier-borne C-2A Greyhound cargo aircraft, the USS Ronald Reagan is sailing on Wednesday just south of the Spratly Islands, some 1,000 kilometers from the Vietnamese city of Danang. Vietnamese sources told RFA last week that the Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier plans to visit Danang in the second half of July, an event that would draw criticism from China. The U.S. Navy declined to confirm the visit, saying “as a matter of policy, we don’t discuss future operations.”

Man dies in custody after cockfighting arrest

Editor2 years ago06 mins

A middle-aged Vietnamese man died after 10 hours in custody at the Ke Sach district police headquarters in Soc Trang province. Nguyen Ngoc Diep, 49, was arrested with 10 others who were watching a cockfight at the Chi Be Ba restaurant on the afternoon of July 1. Betting on cockfighting is illegal in Vietnam but popular, particularly in the south of the country. Diep, who worked growing fruit trees, only had the equivalent of 90 cents on him when he was arrested, according to his family. They said Diep suffered from a stomach disorder and they brought food and medicine to the Ke Sach district police headquarters, asking officers to give it to him. Despite repeatedly telling the police about his medical condition Diep’s family said the police ignored them. The family asked the police to let Diep out of jail, since they didn’t think watching cockfighting was a serious offense and only warranted a fine. They said Diep would return the following day to answer police questions. However, the police refused to let him go home and interrogated him repeatedly about betting on the fight. Diep reportedly collapsed the same night and died. “I warned them that if they kept him locked up for a while, it would be dangerous for him because he’s very sick,” Diep’s wife Nguyen Thi Hong told RFA. “They didn’t care and I had to wait outside. I told the police my husband had a serious stomach complaint and would not be able to stand a long detention. At 11 p.m. he fainted and died. The police took him to hospital but the emergency doctor said he was dead on arrival.” Diep’s brother, Nguyen Van Do, witnessed the forensic examination of his brother’s body by Soc Trang provincial police the following morning. He said Dieps lungs were swollen and blood had pooled in his heart. “There was a small bruise on the bottom of his eyelid but the medical examiner said that was not the cause of death,” he said. Diep’s body was returned to the family after the medical examination. As of this Tuesday the family had not received the autopsy report. The district police have not commented on the case and did not sent a representative to offer condolences, according to the family. RFA called the Soc Trang Provincial Police Director, but he hung up as soon as the reporter introduced himself. The Deputy Directors did not pick up the phone and the Ke Sach police chief also failed to answer RFA’s calls. State media have not reported on the incident. Diep’s wife said she did not believe her husband died from a beating during interrogation. However, she said the family was upset about the police ignoring their repeated warnings about Diep’s health and she believed he died from being confined too long with no rest. “The family wants the police to be held accountable for my brother’s death because they were warned [about his health] but disregarded it,” Diep’s elder brother said. “They have to properly explain it to our family.” The district police released the other prisoners directly after Diep’s death, the family said, asking them to report back to the station in the following days to deal with paperwork related to illegal beatings. At the end of 2014, Vietnam’s National Assembly ratified the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Treatment. In spite of the law numerous suspects and prisoners have been tortured to death or seriously injured in police stations across the country. RFA statistics, based on information from state newspapers, show that at least 16 people died in police stations and prisons from 2019 to the end of last year.

Cambodian farmers call for government help during extended drought

Editor2 years ago04 mins

A severe drought in northwest Cambodia has destroyed at least 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of rice and farmers are calling on the government to provide irrigation and other assistance. Chak Mao from Mongkol Borey district of Banteay Meanchey province told RFA that thousands of hectares of rice are drying up due to the four-month drought. She said her six hectares will be destroyed and her family would be forced to seek jobs in neighboring Thailand if there is no rain or assistance from the Cambodian government. “We have a serious drought,” Chak Mao said, adding that villagers are praying for rain. She urged the government to help the farmers by providing irrigation systems or reservoirs. A farmer who declined to be named said he stands to lose a significant sum of money because he hired workers for 20 hectares of land his family owns in addition to the three hectares they farm themselves. “We have some irrigation systems, but we don’t have reservoirs to store water, so when there is no rain,” he said. “We don’t have water.” Farmers in Thailand have access to stored water so their crops don’t dry up during periods without rain, he said. Hoeuk Heng said farmers like him face financial ruin: “If we don’t have rain, we will abandon it. We will abandon it, and it will die.” As she watched her husband pump water onto her rice field, Chhun Sory said they had collected some rain from a shower the night before. But they still need help. “I’m afraid that we don’t have any more seedlings to farm,” she said. “I want an irrigation system and for the government to help us so we have water for farming.” Commune head Chea Ty said he will continue to work to get the water for farmers. Roth Da Sinong, governor of Mongkol Borey district, said the drought has affected three communes there, though he did not know exactly how many hectares of crops were destroyed. Theng Savoeun, cofounder of the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community, urged the government to prepare long-term measures and to provide seedlings free of charge. “During the drought with a lack of water and lack of markets, local authorities must play a vital role to resolve the crisis for the people,” he said. Translated by Samean Yun for RFA Khmer. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Laos to increase minimum wage starting Aug. 1 in response to inflation

Editor2 years ago07 mins

Laos’ minimum wage will increase to 1.2 million (U.S. $80) per month starting on Aug. 1, the country’s government announced, despite complaints from business owners that say they cannot afford the increase. The Lao National Labor Committee announced the raise on July 8, which boosts the minimum wage by 100,000 kip (about U.S. $6.70) per month. Business owners told RFA that they are still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, which sharply reduced their revenue. “I was not informed of this, and I have not made any increase for my workers,” the owner of a water and ice business in the capital Vientiane told RFA’s Khmer Service. “I see that the Lao economy is not going well, and business operators will have a hard time if they have to increase minimum wage at this time.” A garment worker in Vientiane agreed that businesses need more time. “Some companies are seeing losses or they are not earning any profits right now,” the garment worker said. “For example, the company I am working for is facing losses and the company owner is still keeping the business running, but has to cut costs here and there to survive. … I only survive month-to-month with this wage.” The wage increase is designed to help Laotians cope with rampant inflation in the country. But it isn’t clear how extensively the new pay minimum will be applied. The government cannot force business owners to increase wages if they have reached an agreement with their workers on pay and other benefits, an official from the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare’s Department of Labor Management told RFA. “If they mutually agreed that the business operators provide food and accommodation to the workers, the business operators and workers can keep wages the same,” the official said. “We cannot force the business operators to increase the minimum wage because companies or business operators have their own conditions and policies with their hired workers. If there is any case of taking advantage of the workers, we, as a government body, can go to workplaces and investigate problems,” the official said. An official from the Lao Federation of Trade Unions told RFA that the union will encourage workers to add language to their employment contracts forcing businesses to adhere to minimum wages set by the government. “The government has suggested to all business operators to increase the minimum wage. However, it depends on each company or business’s decision to increase to this suggested minimum wage. Each company and business operator has its own policy and conditions,” the trade union official said. Even with the increase, the minimum wage is not enough to keep up with the cost of living, several Lao workers told RFA. A worker from Vientiane told RFA that the government should mandate an even higher increase and also do more to moderate food prices. Fuel shortages and an overreliance on imports have sharply raised the cost of living in Laos. Foreign currency reserves have grown scarcer, leading to a devaluation of the kip, which in turn adds pressure on prices. “They will add around $6.50 to the current minimum wage per month to about $79 per month,” the worker said. “This will not help very much. Even though I earn over 1.3 million kip, or about $85 per month, I still find it very hard to survive.” After the Aug. 1 increase to 1.2 million kip, the minimum wage should increase to 1.3 million kip by May 1, according to the National Labor Committee. The increases are targeted at workers in the manufacturing and service sectors working a minimum of 26 eight-hour days per month, or six days per week. The minimum wage does not apply to overtime pay. Business owners have to pay an extra 15 percent of minimum wage to workers performing duties that are hazardous. The move to 1.2 million kip minimum wage comes after Phonesane Vilaymeng, vice president of the Lao Federation of Trade Unions, told state media on May 1 that the current wage of 1.1 million was no longer viable considering the higher cost of living. An official of the organization also told state media that the country would lose more workers to neighboring Thailand if it kept the minimum wage so low. The Lao Federation of Trade Unions in March proposed in March that the minimum wage be raised to at least 1.5 million kip, or about $99 per month, by May 1, International Labor Day. Translated by Phouvong. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Chinese-American author slams movie distributors over lack of ‘One Second’ credit

Editor2 years ago2 years ago011 mins

Chinese-American author Geling Yan has hit out at the companies involved in releasing a Zhang Yimou film based on one of her novels outside China without crediting her. Yan’s name was removed from Zhang’s 2020 film “One Second” despite it being an adaptation of part of one of her novels, after she made an outspoken social media post about a trafficked woman from rural China who was found chained by the neck in an outhouse belonging to her “husband.” Now, the movie is being shown outside China with the collusion of overseas companies not bound by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s strict censorship policies, a move that incenses Yan, who staged a protest with her husband outside the Berlin movie theater where the film premiered at the weekend. “If this issue was confined to China, it would be totally understandable,” she said. “But it’s going too far for them to ignore my intellectual property rights and my moral rights across the whole world.” “And I think that for these companies that are colluding with them to do this, it is a particularly shameful manifestation of their double standards,” Yan said after Sunday’s protest, which was attended by entrepreneurs, musicians, economists, poets, artists, and human rights activists from China. “Civilization [should be] based on allowing people to think freely and publish the results of their thinking freely,” she said. Yan said she had condensed 30 years of lived experience and national trauma into her novel “The Criminal Lu Yanshi,” on which “One Second” is based. “How many works like ‘The Criminal Lu Yanshi’ can a person write across a lifetime? I place huge value on it, then they just strangle and cancel my intellectual property, killing a part of my intellectual life,” Yan said. “A human being needs to fight for her human rights, and a writer needs to fight for her intellectual property rights if they are violated,” she said. Before her comments on social media about the chained woman, Yan’s work was already being banned because of her criticism of the CCP’s response to the pandemic. Yan said she is highly unlikely to start praising the current regime in China, preferring to focus on the dignity and freedom of the individual. “I can pay a higher price and fight for the truth, whether it’s about a virus or a woman in chains,” Yan said. “Or that one of my works has been strangled and castrated.” A scene from Zhang Yimou’s film “One Second,” which was adapted from Geling Yan’s novel “The Criminal Lu Yanshi.” Credit: Geling Yan Censorship victim Yan said she views Zhang Yimou as a victim of the CCP’s censorship system, but she couldn’t accept his taking credit for her work overseas. “There has been enforced censorship of movies for too long in China,” she said. “Every movie includes a very painful process of trying to pass this test.” “Every film-maker has had work banned, and Zhang Yimou [said] he wouldn’t do such a thing to an author if there was any other option; he was forced into it,” Yan said. “But I told him that wasn’t good enough … this helpless attitude of ‘they made me do it’,” she said. “I don’t forgive him for that.” Yan and her husband and agent Lawrence Walker are now suing Zhang’s Beijing Huanxi Chuan Media Group, as well as the film’s international distributors and U.S., French and German producers. “We sent a lawyer’s letter but nothing came of it, and the movie was released anyway,” Walker told RFA. “So we started taking to the streets.” He said China may be a powerful nation, but the CCP shouldn’t be allowed to export their censorship practices, threatening free speech overseas. Chinese citizen journalist Li Tingyu protested alongside Yan and Walker. “Geling Yan has been my favorite author since high school,” Li said. “I read “Lu Yanshi” while I was in the detention center.” “Her books are very popular … but now, because she spoke out for women, and for justice, her name is disappearing and her voice has been obliterated [in China],” she said. Employees who answered repeated calls to the Beijing Huanxi Chuan Media Group on Monday declined to comment. Repeated calls to the personal number of the film’s producer, Zhao Yijun, also rang unanswered. Edits and deletions The saga began with Chinese director Zhang Yimou and Yan signing an agreement in 2011 giving Zhang the movie rights to her novel “The Criminal Lu Yanshi,” which tells the tale of a man sentenced to labor camp for the political crime of being a “rightist.” Zhang then made a movie based on the book called “Coming Home.” However, he also completed a second movie based on the novel titled “One Second,” but deleted any reference to Yan or her work of fiction from the publicity materials. In February 2019, the crew of ‘One Second’ traveled to Berlin for the Berlin International Film Festival. They met at Yan’s house, looking forward to seeing it presented in competition for a Golden Bear award, and entered the venue on the red carpet together with her. But the movie was withdrawn abruptly just one hour before its scheduled media screening, allegedly for “technical reasons.” Further delays ensued before the film was eventually released in November 2020 after Zhang made a number of edits and deletions to satisfy Chinese officials. When the film finally did appear, there was no mention of Yan. Yan and Walker have contacted the Hollywood Screenwriters’ Guild, of which Yan is a member, French film distribution company Wild Bunch of Paris, online platform Mubi, the Toronto Film Festival and the San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain. Mubi has since reinstated a reference to Yan as the author of the novel that inspired “One Second.” Producer Zhao has told the couple that Yan’s name was removed for political reasons, on orders from the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), and that Huanxi was obliged to implement that order. Zhao…

Hong Kong to get China-style COVID-19 app, sparking fears of totalitarian control

Editor2 years ago011 mins

Hong Kong will impose a China-style COVID-19 app on the city’s seven million residents, sparking fears of ever-increasing state control over the movements of individuals. The city will start putting electronic bracelets on those who test positive for the virus from July 15, health secretary Lo Chung-mau told a news conference on Monday. In China, red codes banning movement in public places have already been used to target people for political reasons that have little to do with their health. Chief executive John Lee said the city needed to “be realistic” about the kind of risks it could be facing, citing average daily infections of around 3,000 with hospitalizations rising rapidly. “That is why we are thinking of designing methods that will be able to allow us to react more quickly, to respond more precisely, and at the same time, allow more people to be not so restrictive in their activities,” Lee told journalists on Tuesday. He added: “There may be some misinformation which we will need to address very quickly so that everybody knows what we are doing.” Health secretary Lo said the LeaveHomeSafe app would be updated soon, and would require people to register using a verified form of ID. “We must do real-name registration, so we can mainly use it for identification rather than tracking,” Lo said. “We need to identify high-risk people to ensure that they don’t endanger the health of other citizens, especially high-risk groups.” Lo said a person’s health code would turn red, preventing them from going to public places, on confirmation of a COVID-19 positive result, while new arrivals to the city would be given an amber code, restricting entry to certain places deemed high risk. A Hong Kong resident surnamed Mak said the app will function as a tool for those in power to monitor and control citizens. “It divides people into different categories, and people with a red code are denied the right to use any facilities or services, including withdrawing money from the bank,” Mak said. “Is it an exaggeration to think that one day, you could also get a red code if you are a dissident? … I think the government is easing into total control.” A Hong Kong resident surnamed Liu said she has similar concerns. “If they do this with the health code, then I will worry about being monitored,” she said. “What’s worse is that it seems they can integrate their system with that of mainland China.” “They don’t seem to think Hong Kong has any special privileges,” Liu said. A resident of the central Chinese provicne of Hubei surnamed Gao said he has been subjected to China’s health code app for two years now. “A red code means you stay isolated at home, and the yellow code means you can’t take the bus or go to a shopping mall,” Gao said, adding that the app is being used for “stability maintenance” as well as COVID-19 prevention. Several Chinese rights defenders have had their health code turn red or stop working for no reason, preventing them from going to Beijing, Shanghai or other places. Rights lawyer Xie Yang said his health code turned red after he made plans to visit the mother jailed citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, against the wishes of the Changsha police. Hong Kong commentator Sang Pu said depositors at rural banks in Henan province had also been given red codes when they planned to protest a ban on withdrawals of their savings. “The so-called infected people have no freedom to go anywhere, which is terrible,” Sang said. “Today they can decide that you can’t go everywhere because of COVID, and tomorrow they may decide that you can’t go anywhere because of a disease such as a cold.” “Then it could be that you have a mental health problem and can’t go anywhere … They want to act in line with the wishes of the CCP, rather than considering science, truth or rationality.” The LeaveHomeSafe app is already required to access any government-controlled premises, and is currently based on an individual’s vaccination status. Meanwhile, authorities in Shanghai have resumed local lockdowns, barricading some residents into their apartment buildings, amid a rise in the highly transmissible omicron BA5 variant of COVID-19. Photos and video clips uploaded to social media by Shanghai residents showed steel sheeting in place at the entrances of alleyways to prevent people from restricted areas from leaving. In one video, the move prompted an angry altercation between COVID-19 enforcement officials and residents. “Why are you blocking this?” a resident asks. “Because we are managing this community,” the official replies. “Where are you sending us?” the resident says. “We’re not here to argue with you,” the official replies. A Shanghai resident surnamed Liang said her residential compound was locked down for two days because one resident was identified as a close contact of an infected person. “Our community was closed for a couple of days because there was a close contact,” she said. “I heard that they have to go ahead with restrictions because this [variant] is more damaging than the last one,” Liang said. “Wherever there are cases or contacts, they will lock down the building.” The return to partial lockdowns comes after Shanghai ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) chief Li Qiang announced on June 25 that the “battle to defend Shanghai has been won.” Similar restrictions are in place in the northwestern city of Lanzhou, where authorities have told people not to leave their homes unless necessary, and implemented three waves of mass, compulsory COVID-19 testing. “They don’t call it lockdown any more, but temporary restrictions,” Lanzhou resident Ma Guoqiang told RFA. “At midnight, they put steel gates outside our community gates, and locked them from the side facing the street.” “This time it’s for at least seven days,” Ma said. “Takeout is allowed, but dine-in is not. We are all cooking and eating for ourselves at home.” He said the restrictions had scuppered the Lanzhou Trade and Investment Fair,…

Month: July 2022