Albert del Rosario, who led the Philippines in landmark case vs China, dies

Albert del Rosario, the Philippines’ former top diplomat who successfully led the country in its international arbitration case over a territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea, died on Tuesday, his family said. He was 83.  The Philippine case was considered groundbreaking because it marked the first time that any country had challenged China in a world court over its territorial claims in the waterway. His daughter, Dr. Inge del Rosario, confirmed the news to reporters, but did not disclose the cause of death. Other sources close to the family said the ex-foreign secretary died while on a flight to San Francisco. “The family of Ambassador Albert Ferreros del Rosario is deeply saddened to announce his passing today, April 18, 2023. The family requests privacy during this difficult time,” his daughter said. Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo confirmed the news. He called del Rosario “an advocate of protecting and advancing national security and promoting the rights and welfare of Filipinos both in the Philippines and abroad.” “You will be missed, Mr. Secretary,” he said. Born in Manila on Nov. 14, 1939, del Rosario, a critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s foreign policies – particularly in dealing with China – served as the Philippine foreign affairs chief under late President Benigno Aquino III, from 2011 until 2016. While heading the Department of Foreign Affairs, del Rosario spearheaded the Philippines’ legal battle against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands over a territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea. The Philippines brought the case before the court in 2012. In July 2016, the arbitration court ruled in favor of the Philippines, and threw out China’s expansive claims in the sea, including in waters that reach its neighbors’ shores. The Philippines calls the part of the South China Sea that is within its territory the West Philippine Sea. Activists who traveled to the contested Scarborough Shoal and were blocked by the Chinese coast, react after a ruling on the South China Sea by an arbitration court in The Hague in favor of the Philippines, at a restaurant in Manila, July 12, 2016. Credit: Erik De Castro/Reuters The Chinese, however, ignored the landmark ruling, even as most countries in the West, led by the United States, hailed the award in the Philippines’ favor. Since then, China has carried on with its military expansionism in the strategic waterway, including building artificial islands. But President Duterte, who took office within a month before the historic ruling, played it down and chose instead to build up warm bilateral relations with China. Late into his presidency, however, he told the United Nations General Assembly that the arbitration court’s ruling was “beyond compromise” and part of international law. The Philippines not only lost a patriot “but an esteemed diplomat who represented our country with utmost grace, honor, and dignity,” Sen. Risa Hontiveros said in paying tribute to del Rosario. His “leadership inspired in us the courage and the creativity to fight for our national interest using lawful and diplomatic means. Defending and protecting our rights in the WPS is an intergenerational battle, one we can win because of the work Sec. del Rosario started,” Hontiveros said in a statement, referring to the West Philippine Sea. Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, who spearheaded the filing of a complaint against China, attends a hearing regarding the Philippines and China on the South China Sea, at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, the Netherlands, Nov. 24, 2015. Credit: Permanent Court of Arbitration via AP Jose Antonio Custodio, a military historian at the Institute of Policy, Strategy and Development Studies, a Philippine think-tank, described Del Rosario as “a brave man” who had endured public insults from Duterte. “He was a hero of the republic for successfully fighting against China’s illegal claims in our maritime entitlements. May his memory be a blessing,” Custodio said. The think-tank Stratbase ADR Institute, where del Rosario served as chairperson, said the former foreign affairs chief championed “democratic values and rules-based international order.” “He has fought for an independent foreign policy that prioritizes the interests of the country and of the Filipino people. He believed that diplomacy is a great equalizer in international affairs and that each state had an equal voice in the global community regardless of their political, economic, or military capabilities,” the institute said. Jeoffrey Maitem and Jojo Riñoza contributed to this report from Manila. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news organization.

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Two arrested on charges relating to Chinese police station in New York

Two individuals were arrested in New York on Monday on federal charges that they operated a police station in lower Manhattan for the Chinese government, prosecutors said.  “Harry” Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, both U.S. citizens, worked together to create an overseas branch of the Chinese government’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS), federal officials said. They opened the station in an office building in Chinatown, a neighborhood in Manhattan. The station was closed last year, according to the prosecutors. Federal officials also filed complaints against more than three dozen officers with the MPS, accusing them of harassing Chinese nationals living in New York and other parts of the United States. The officers, who remain at large in China, targeted individuals in the United States who expressed views contrary to the position of the Chinese government, according to the federal officials.  The Chinese Embassy in Washington has not replied to queries about the announcement regarding the arrests of Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping. It isn’t clear if the two have lawyers.  A Justice Department official said that the police station was part of an effort by the Chinese government to spy on and frighten individuals who live in the United States.  “The PRC, through its repressive security apparatus, established a secret physical presence in New York City to monitor and intimidate dissidents and those critical of its government,” said Matthew G. Olsen, an assistant attorney general with the Justice Department’s National Security Division, referring to the acronym for the People’s Republic of China. A six story glass facade building, second from left, is believed to have been the site of a foreign police outpost for China in New York’s Chinatown, Monday, April 17, 2023. Credit: Associated Press Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping were charged with conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government and of obstructing justice through the destruction of evidence of their communications with a Chinese ministry official, according to a complaint filed in a federal court in Brooklyn. They allegedly destroyed emails that they had exchanged with an official at the MPS, according to federal officials. Lu had been responsible for assisting the Chinese security ministry in various ways, according to the federal officials. They said that Lu had helped apply pressure on an individual to return to China and assisted in efforts to track down a “pro-democracy activist” also living in the United States. The existence of a police station in Chinatown came to light last year. According to federal officials, Chinese security officials ran the outpost, as well as dozens of other stations in cities and towns around the world. The FBI’s arrest of individuals in connection to the Chinatown police station is the latest effort by U.S. officials to curtail what they describe as the Chinese government’s activities in the United States.  The arrest of the two individuals in New York is also a reminder of the tense relationship between the two countries. Lately, U.S. officials have highlighted the Chinese government’s influence operations and attempts to sway people’s opinions so that they view Chinese government policies in a more favorable light. “We’ve been hearing a lot about China’s influence campaigns – the idea that China is on the move in the United States,” said Robert Daly, the director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center in Washington. “But this potentially puts Chinese agents right in downtown Manhattan.”

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EU lodges protest over China’s detention of rights lawyer and activist wife

The European Union has lodged a protest with China after police detained veteran rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his activist wife Xu Yan ahead of a meeting with its diplomats during a scheduled EU-China human rights dialogue on April 13. “We have already been taken away,” Yu tweeted shortly before falling silent on April 13, while the EU delegation to China tweeted on April 14: “@yuwensheng9 and @xuyan709 detained by CN authorities on their way to EU Delegation.” “We demand their immediate, unconditional release. We have lodged a protest with MFA against this unacceptable treatment,” the tweet from the EU’s embassy in China said, referring to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had been scheduled to travel to China from April 13-15 for the annual EU-China strategic dialogue with Foreign Minister Qin Gang, and to meet with China’s foreign policy chief Wang Yi, as well as the new Defense Minister Li Shangfu. The visit, during which Yu and Xu had an invitation to go to the German Embassy for the afternoon of April 13, was to have followed last week’s trip by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron. But Borrell postponed the visit after testing positive for COVID-19, according to his Twitter account. Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang, who is also said to have been detained recently, is seen on a laptop screen in Beijing as he speaks via video link from his home in Jinan, in China’s eastern Shandong province, April 23, 2020. Credit: AFP The EU Delegation said rights attorneys Wang Quanzhang, Wang Yu and Bao Longjun have also been placed under house arrest, but gave no further details. Police officers read out a notice of detention to Xu and Yu’s 18-year-old son on Saturday night, giving the formal date of criminal detention as April 14, but didn’t leave any documentation with him or allow him to take photos of the notice, Wang Yu told Radio Free Asia on Monday. Catch-all charge Citing fellow rights attorneys Song Yusheng and Peng Jian, who visited the family home on Sunday, Wang said: “[The son] said that his parents were detained on the charge of picking quarrels and stirring up trouble” – a catch-all charge used to target critics of the Communist Party. “The police showed his son the notice of criminal detention, but he was not allowed to take pictures, and they didn’t leave the notice for him. He was only shown it,” Wang Yu said. “They carried out a search of their home.” Around seven officers searched the family home and took away a number of personal belongings without showing a warrant or issuing receipts, according to the rights website Weiquanwang. Wang Yu, who received a call from the couple’s son on April 16, said the young man is now also under surveillance. “The authorities sent people to stand guard over Yu Wensheng’s son, both inside and outside their home,” Wang said.  Defense lawyers blocked She said police had prevented lawyers Song and Peng from representing the couple as defense attorneys. “Song Yusheng and Peng Jian went to Yu Wensheng’s house and took his son to dinner,” she said. “They wanted his son to sign a letter instructing them as attorneys, but Peng Jian told me that the police refused to sign off on it.” “Yu Wensheng’s brother told me that the police told him that Xu Yan has already hired a lawyer,” she said. “This is the same as the way they handled the July 2015 crackdown, preventing family members from instructing lawyers, and stopping the lawyers from defending [detainees].” Since a nationwide crackdown on hundreds of rights attorneys and law firms in 2015, police have begun to put pressure on the families of those detained for political dissent to fire their lawyers and allow the government to appoint a lawyer on their behalf, in the hope of a more lenient sentence. Wang Yu said the charges against the couple were trumped up. “Criminal detention is legally equivalent to being suspected of a crime,” she said. “But according to the information we have from family members and online, there is no evidence that Yu Wensheng or Xu Yan engaged in any illegal activities.” Wang Qiaoling, wife of rights lawyer Li Heping, said her family is currently also under surveillance. “When we were taking our kids to class on Sunday morning, we saw that there were cars following us, and they followed us onto the expressway,” she said Monday. “It was the same today.”  “They always place us under surveillance whenever a foreign leader visits China, but we don’t understand why they are doing it now, when the [scheduled] visit is over,” she said. The Spain-based rights group Safeguard Defenders said the couple’s disappearance should be a matter for EU-China relations, noting the use of “residential surveillance” to prevent fellow rights lawyers from defending the couple. “[Residential surveillance] is growing in use and new legal teeth have made it a far harsher experience,” the group said via its Twitter account. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

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G7 talks tough on Ukraine, Taiwan and Korea during Blinken’s Asia trip

UPDATED AT 07:34 a.m. ET on 2023-04-17. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Japan where he, together with other foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) nations, discussed a common approach to the war in Ukraine Monday, confirming  “that they remain committed to intensifying, fully coordinating and enforcing sanctions against Russia, as well as to continuing strong support for Ukraine,” according to a Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry statement. The statement was in line with the goals of the Biden administration, which are to shore up support for Ukraine and to ensure the continued provision of military assistance to Kyiv, as well as to ramp up punishment against Russia through economic and financial sanctions, a senior official from Blinken’s delegation told the Associated Press ahead of the meeting. Earlier G7 ministers vowed to take a tougher stance on China’s threats to Taiwan, and North Korea’s missile tests. Meanwhile, Britain’s Financial Times reported that China was refusing to let Blinken visit Beijing over concerns that the FBI will release the results of an investigation into the suspected Chinese spy balloon downed in February. The FT quoted four people familiar with the matter as saying that “China had told the U.S. it was not prepared to reschedule a trip that Blinken cancelled in February while it remains unclear what the administration of President Joe Biden will do with the report.” It is unclear when the trip would be rescheduled. The U.S. military shot the Chinese balloon down over concerns that it was spying on U.S. military installations but China insisted that it was a weather balloon blown off course due to “force majeure.”  The incident led to Blinken abruptly canceling his ties-mending trip to Beijing, during which he was expected to call on Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The relationship between Washington and Beijing has been strained in the last few years over issues such as China’s threats to Taiwan and security concerns in the Indo-Pacific. Upgrading U.S.-Vietnam partnership Antony Blinken arrived at Karuizawa in Nagano prefecture in central Japan on Sunday after a visit to Vietnam to promote strategic ties with the communist country. This was Blinken’s first visit to Hanoi as U.S. Secretary of State. The U.S. is building a U.S.$1.2 billion compound in Hanoi, one of its largest and most expensive embassies in the world. During his visit, Blinken met with Vietnam’s most senior officials, including the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, to discuss “the great possibilities that lie ahead in the U.S.-Vietnam partnership,” the secretary of state wrote on Twitter. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets with Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the Communist Party of Vietnam Headquarters in Hanoi, Vietnam, April 15, 2023.  Credit: Andrew Harnik/Pool via Reuters Two weeks before Blinken’s visit, Trong and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden had a phone conversation during which the two leaders agreed to “promote and deepen bilateral ties,” according to Vietnamese media. Former enemies Hanoi and Washington normalized their diplomatic relationship in 1995 and in 2013 established a so-called Comprehensive Partnership to promote cooperation in all sectors including the economy, culture exchange and security. Vietnam’s foreign relations are benchmarked by three levels of partnerships: Comprehensive, Strategic and Comprehensive Strategic. Only four countries in the world belong to the top tier of Comprehensive Strategic Partners: China, Russia, India and South Korea. Vietnam has Strategic Partnerships with 16 nations including some U.S. allies such as Japan, Singapore and Australia. U.S. officials have been hinting at upgrading the ties to the next level Strategic Partnership which offers deeper cooperation, especially in security and defense, amid new geopolitical challenges posed by an increasingly assertive China. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told the U.S. Secretary of State on Saturday in Hanoi that the consensus reached amongst the  Vietnamese leadership is to “further elevate the bilateral partnership to a new height” adding that “relevant government agencies have been tasked with looking into the process.” Vietnam analysts such as Carl Thayer from the University of New South Wales in Australia said that an upgrade of Vietnam-U.S. relationship to Strategic Partnership within this year is possible, despite concerns that it would antagonize Beijing. The U.S. is currently the largest export market and the second-largest commercial partner for Vietnam. Hanoi aims to benefit across the board from U.S. assistance, especially in trade, science and technology, Thayer told Radio Free Asia.  Vietnam as one of the South China Sea claimants has been embroiled in territorial disputes with China and could benefit from greater cooperation in maritime security. In exchange, “the U.S. would benefit indirectly by assisting Vietnam in capacity-building to address maritime security issues in the South China Sea to strengthen a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Thayer. “The U.S. is trying to mobilize and sustain an international coalition to oppose Russia’s war in Ukraine and to deter China from using force against Taiwan and intimidation of South China Sea littoral states,” the Canberra-based political analyst said. Hanoi’s priority Some other analysts, such as Bill Hayton from the British think tank Chatham House, said that there might have been a miscalculation on the U.S.’s part. “Washington is now taking itself for a massive ride in its misunderstanding of what Vietnam wants from the bilateral relationship,” Hayton said. “All the Communist Party of Vietnam wants is regime security. It has no interest in confronting China,” the author of “A brief history of Vietnam” said. Blogger Nguyen Lan Thang was sentenced to six years in prison for ‘spreading anti-state propaganda’ on April 12, 2023. Credit: Facebook: Nguyen Lan Thang Just before Blinken landed in Hanoi, a dissident blogger was sentenced to six years in prison for “spreading anti-state propaganda.” Nguyen Lan Thang was also a contributor to Radio Free Asia. The U.S. State Department condemned the sentence and urged the Vietnamese government to “immediately release and drop all charges against Nguyen Lan Thang and other individuals who remain in detention for peacefully exercising and promoting human rights.” “Vietnam is an…

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Myanmar’s junta to release more than 3,000 prisoners

UPDATED AT 06:45 a.m. ET on 2023-04-17 Myanmar’s junta plans to release 3,015 prisoners, according to a statement carried on the pro-military channel Myanmar Radio and Television. Other junta statements Monday said 98 foreigners, including five Sri Lankans being held in Yangon’s Insein prison, were among those set to be released as part of the New Year’s amnesty.  Relatives of other prisoners waited outside Insein on Monday morning as yellow buses carried freed prisoners out of the notorious prison. It was not immediately clear how many political prisoners were among those granted amnesty. “If any political prisoners have been released it is obviously good news for them and their families, but there are still thousands of political prisoners in jail. None of them should be in prison,” Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK told RFA. “The international community must not forget Burma’s political prisoners. Among those detained in the more than two years since the coup are Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, chairperson of the National League for Democracy, who is serving a total of 33 years in prison. The NLD — dissolved by the junta last month — won a landslide victory in the 2020 general election and many senior members were arrested on trumped-up charges in the days and months following the coup. Others being held for ‘political’ crimes include civil disobedience movement teachers, students, doctors and nurses, and also members and supporters of People’s Defense Forces. The junta has arrested more than 21,300 political prisoners since seizing power in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup, according to the Thailand-based monitoring group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Of that number, it says 17,460 are still being held in prisons across the country. This year’s amnesty is almost double the size of 2022’s, when the junta pardoned 1,619 people, most of whom were said to be jailed for drug and immigration offenses. Junta State Administration Council Secretary Lt. Gen. Aung Lin Dwe said Monday’s amnesty was intended to “bring joy for the people and address humanitarian concerns.” It is likely to do neither. Last week, ASEAN joined humanitarian groups in condemning the junta for staging probably its most brutal massacre in the more than two years since the coup. At least 165 people were killed, many women and children among them, when junta jets bombed the opening ceremony of a village administrative building in Sagaing region, while helicopter gunships cut down those trying to flee. “We need to see stronger international action to support people in Burma and to cut off sources of funds and arms to the military, including sanctions on the supply of aviation fuel to help stop the devastating military airstrikes, like the attack in Sagaing region last week,” Burma Campaign UK’s Anna Roberts said. Anti-junta People’s Defense Forces have warned people not to celebrate the Thingyan water festival and New Year, bombing junta-built Thingyan pavilions across the country, killing eight people in Sagaing region and four in Shan state. Story updated to include comments from Burma Campaign UK. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Bear more children – they’re like consumer durables, Chinese economist urges

Have more children – it’s your patriotic duty. They are like durable consumer goods that you pay off over the long haul, but bring far more benefits. That was the message from a prominent Chinese economist at a government-backed think tank, and the most recent effort by the Communist Party’s campaign to boost the country’s flagging birth rate that includes a slew of economic perks for couples – long limited to just one child – to have more children. “Durable consumer goods pay off in the long run, so it’s wrong for young people not to have children – their value exceeds that of the other goods you buy,” said Chen Wenling, chief economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges. Chen’s comments sparked an online outcry. Some said that people in China are all regarded as “consumables,” rather than human beings. Others said those who decide not to have children are smart. “Today’s society has driven young people to the point of desperation,” commented one social media user. “I want a place to live, but I can’t afford one. I don’t have time for fun, and I can’t afford to raise a child – this comment from this expert is so arrogant!” Others were more cynical. “People may be consumer goods in other countries, but here, we’re either inferior, hostages or ***holes,” commented @psychotic_relapse from Shandong on Weibo. “It’s poor thinking to treat children as private property,” wrote @Gusu_Bridge from Jiangsu, while @Guangzhou_old_dog said those in power should quit making “tedious and arrogant” comments. “They should come up with some policies and test them out to see if they work in practice,” the user wrote. “Back in the 1950s, they wanted people to have more kids, then it was family planning in the 1980s, and now we’re back to encouraging people to have more kids again,” wrote @My_heart_is_still_4325 from Shandong.  “But the reality is that it’s not easy to secure housing, medical care, employment or education,” the user wrote, while @plants_vs_zombies_fan wrote: “Having a child in China is the worst investment.” Can’t find jobs Chen’s comments come at a time when youth unemployment is running at around 20% in China, with around 10 million graduates about to enter the labor market to compete with those who are already unemployed. A current affairs commentator who gave only the surname Chen agreed. “Most people don’t have the money to find a partner right now, because all of that requires money for food, transportation and going out,” Chen said. “Most young people are demotivated by that.” Job seekers visit a booth at a job fair in Beijing, Feb. 16, 2023. Credit: Reuters “It’s not that they don’t want a partner; the economic pressures are just too huge, and far worse than before,” he said.  Li Jiabao, who moved from mainland China to live in democratic Taiwan, said there is a huge amount of disillusionment with government policy from the same age group that Beijing is counting on to raise more children. “After three years of violent enforcement of the zero-COVID policy in China, young people see this government as extremely bureaucratic and careless of human life,” Li said. “I think this is the main reason why young people are so disgusted with this expert.” One-child policy In 2016, China abandoned its 35-year “one-child policy,” which penalized parents with more than one child, amid concerns about its birth rate, raising the limit to two. In 2021, that was further loosened to three – and now there are no limits on the number of children a couple can have. Authorities have recognized they need to offer incentives to couples to have more children amid the economic pressures of modern China. “After three years of violent enforcement of the zero-COVID policy in China, young people see this government as extremely bureaucratic and careless of human life,” says Li Jiabao, a mainland Chinese dissident who moved to Taiwan. Credit: RFA A plan announced in August 2022 offers “support policies in finance, tax, housing, employment, education and other fields to create a fertility-friendly society and encourage families to have more children,” promising community nursery services, better infant and child care services at local level, flexible working and family-friendly workplaces, and safeguarding the labor and employment rights of parents. But rights activists said discrimination in the workplace still presents major obstacles to equality for Chinese women, despite protections enshrined in the country’s law. Chinese women still face major barriers to finding work in the graduate labor market and fear getting pregnant if they have a job, out of concern their employer will fire them. And young people in China are increasingly ruling marriage out of their plans for the future, with marriage registrations falling for several years in a row. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

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Grassroots efforts in border areas address mental anguish for Myanmar refugees

Every Tuesday morning, a handful of Myanmar refugees visit her office in the Thai border town of Mae Sot to talk about the terror of fleeing violence and their anxiety about the future. The psychiatrist, who asked not to be identified, is familiar with the trauma her patients share, having fled Myanmar herself.  As the only Burmese-speaking psychiatrist in town, she hears their stories free of charge about their journey to Thailand, where they then face new stresses – risk of arrest by Thai police, the struggle to support themselves and the worry about family members left behind.  Many of them have post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or anxiety. Thailand hasn’t ratified the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention and so doesn’t officially recognize refugees, but allows thousands to stay in border camps. Many newcomers from Myanmar try to survive on their own, under the radar – and many don’t seek mental health help, or don’t know it exists. “There is no future, and basic needs are not fulfilled, [not even] security because Thai police are always waiting to arrest people. So sometimes I feel like it is beyond my ability,” she said.  “I can see six to seven people in a morning once a week, but it is totally not enough.” The Mae Tao Clinic’s psychiatric care unit where she works is one of a handful of grassroots efforts that has sprung up in the last year to address the growing need for mental health care for the thousands of displaced peoples along the Thai-Burma border. Rising depression Rates of depression and anxiety within Myanmar have risen since the February 2021 coup, according to one mental health services provider working in counseling that requested anonymity to protect the continuity of their work.  They found that the highest averages came from Karenni state, which borders northern Thailand, where 38 percent of surveyed individuals reported experiencing moderately severe to severe depression.   People take part in a yoga class at the Joy House community center in Mae Sot, Thailand. The center offers 11 classes a week for adults and children in art, music therapy, yoga, and cooking. Credit: RFA Other border regions, such as Mon and Thanintaryi States, also reported higher rates among small surveyed populations. In people under 25 nationwide, 37 percent indicated they had symptoms of moderately severe to severe depression.  The study reports that suggested treatment for a diagnosis of moderately severe depression is treatment with medication, therapy, or both.  But too often, they receive neither.  While data on the diaspora in Thailand is minimal, preliminary research by another anonymous nonprofit supporting Myanmar migrants in Thailand found only 7 percent of those on the border contacted a counselor during periods of stress.  Among the newly arrived political dissidents and refugees, nearly half reported they had no income and a third attributed mental distress to their restricted movement without documentation.  Although the Mae Tao Clinic and other community initiatives are located in Thailand, they say mental distress relating to displacement, migration and trauma are apparent on both sides of the border. The mental health services provider of the initial study told RFA the higher levels of depression in Karenni State and along the Thai border are likely due to the increased violence in the area.   “Due to more violence, there are more refugees and these refugees are more likely to be traumatized or simply feel helpless and hopeless as they had to leave their home and everything behind,” the group said.  Meeting a Need Nyunt Naing Thein, a Myanmar counselor, trainer and technical support provider at Mae Tao Clinic, helped open the psychiatric unit in August. “Even though I wanted to open it, we had no human capacity to do it,” he said, adding that some newly arrived migrants had already been able to access medication. “Psychiatric cases are coming up – actually, they are already in the community.” Before the psychiatrist’s arrival, the clinic had previously been unable to prescribe medication for anxiety and depression and did not stock it.  “I convinced the woman in charge from the Mae Tao Clinic and some responsible persons of the clinic that they should buy some medication,” the psychiatrist explained. She said medication wasn’t necessary in all cases, but it was a healthier alternative to substance abuse problems she sees growing more common. Some come in simply for a sympathetic ear. But she has also seen cases of anxiety disorders, depression, substance abuse, and less commonly, cases of psychosis that require medication. Participants in the Joy Center yoga class do the child’s pose. Credit: RFA Since the coup began, Nyunt Naing Thein has organized training for hundreds of aid workers and medical professionals on psychological first aid and basic counseling training, focused on empathetic listening, mental health awareness and emergency response to trauma.  They’ve also organized men’s and women’s groups, where people in need of social support can talk about the issues they’re experiencing.  ‘Thriving’ Shortly after the volunteer psychiatrist’s arrival, Nyunt Naing Thain started working as network coordinator for a mental health and psychosocial support alliance among Mae Sot’s civil society organizations on the border.  They dubbed the organization ‘Shin Than Yar’, or “thriving” in Burmese, and use it to share collective resources for training. In addition to this alliance, a recently opened community center, Joy House, has also gained quick popularity in the border town. Catering to the large number of Myanmar residents residing in Mae Sot, the center offers 11 classes a week for adults and children in art, music therapy, yoga, and cooking.  The center says despite only opening three months prior, some 250 adults and children have attended classes, with yoga sometimes spilling out of the main room and onto the porch outside.  “When I just started, people didn’t really know what this therapy is. At the start, it was out of curiosity. Some people confused it with music theory, like teaching music,” said a worker named JJ who holds a biweekly music therapy class at the center.  A…

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Southeast Asia’s water festivals: Hopes and scenes

As Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos celebrate their annual New Year’s water festivals, RFA asked readers what they hoped for in the year ahead. For many, the wishes are simple – peace and freedom. Cambodia “As a Cambodian, I wish the country and its people would get a leader who pays attention to people’s living standards so they can live in harmony, democracy (and) the rich and poor have equal rights, the same as those who live in the free world. I also wish people would have mutual unity and would restore Cambodia to the prosperity that our ancestors left us.” Sophie Lok “I want RFA to resume its office in this peaceful country. Losing RFA is losing breaking news!” Mala San “I wish Hun Sen would lose the upcoming election.” Boozz Boy “I wish this current regime wouldn’t wage war against its own people.” Rachana Konpa “Hun Sen’s regime changes to a democratic country.” Phairy Kim Myanmar “We miss the past. We hope for peace.” Yangon youth “We would like to get back the stability and development in Myanmar like under Mother Suu’s administration. We would like to see the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained including Mother Suu and President U Win Myint, and to regain the power by the NLD government, which was elected by the people. I do not want to see people being killed unjustly.” “I wish for the emergence of a federal state which has been desired by all ethnic minorities. I do not want to see the country’s future leaders sacrifice their lives. May the Spring Revolution be successful as soon as possible!” Mandalay woman “As we mark Myanmar’s New Year, may Myanmar be liberated from military dictatorship and end the wars.” Aung Naingtun “I have a sole New Year wish. It is nothing, but down with the military council! I do not want to wish for other things. I know prayer alone is not enough, so I am doing it pragmatically. If I could travel with ‘Time travel,’ I would like to go back to January 31, 2021 and its previous days. I miss those days ruled by Mother (Suu)… I miss my home. I was forced to leave my motherland but I am eager to return to my family.” Salmon “My hope is that people should be involved [in the movement] and they should provide more assistance to the success of the uprising. May Myanmar people possess better lives in the New Year! May the uprising be successful as soon as possible!” Win Ko Ko Oo “I am from Taze township, Sagaing region. In previous years, I used to return to my village during Thingyan holidays. I am so sad that I cannot return to my home this year because I have no home there. Although festivals are held in cities, I cannot enjoy them. I am so sad because I cannot return to my native village and my parents.” Maung Aye Min Htet from a village in Taze township, Sagaing region Laos “I wish I had better health, better living conditions and a higher salary. We can’t go on like this in the current condition in which the cost of living is rising, while the income is staying low.” Grade school teacher in Pakkading district, Borikhamxay province “Yesterday, I went grocery shopping and I bought three cat fish for which I paid 90,000 kip ($5.29), up more than 7% a month ago.” A businesswoman in Vientiane wishes that Laos could get out of the economic and financial troubles sooner than later An owner of a small factory in capital Vientiane wants the war between Ukraine and Russia to be over as soon as possible because the war is the main cause of all the economic and financial woes in the world, including Laos.

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Blinken’s trip to Vietnam may result in possible upgrade for US-Vietnam ties

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is hoping to upgrade relations with Vietnam to a strategic partnership from the current comprehensive one during meetings with officials in Hanoi on Friday and Saturday, amid China’s rising regional power and aggression in the South China Sea. Blinken is scheduled to meet with senior Vietnamese officials to discuss “our shared vision of a connected, prosperous, peaceful, and resilient Indo-Pacific region,” the State Department said in an April 10 statement. Blinken also will break ground on a new U.S. embassy compound in Hanoi. Blinken’s trip comes about two weeks after a phone call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. July will mark the 10th anniversary of the 2013 U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership. Vietnam already has “strategic” partnerships with many U.S. allies, but the U.S. itself has remained at the lower “comprehensive” partnership level despite improvements in the bilateral relationship because disaccord over human rights hindered talks. But political analysts believe Vietnam may agree to boost the relationship this time around. Ha Hoang Hop, an associate senior fellow specializing in regional strategic studies at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, a research center in Singapore, said he was certain that Vietnam would upgrade its partnership with the U.S. during Blinken’s visit. “A good and better relationship between Vietnam and the U.S. will certainly contribute to maintaining the stability and security of Southeast Asia, as well as of a broader region,” he told RFA.  “It will also significantly make Vietnam more proactive, confident, and stronger in ensuring its stability and security given many complexities in the world and in the region.” Vietnam has comprehensive partnerships with a dozen other countries, strategic partnerships with another 13, and comprehensive strategic partnerships with China, Russia, India and South Korea.  A boost in relations between the U.S. and Vietnam would prompt China to react across the board in terms of security, economic development, trade and cultural exchange, Hop said.  “Even now, we all see that China does not want Vietnam to have good relations with other countries,” he said because Beijing believes it would not bode well for its claims in the South China Sea over which it has sparred with Hanoi for decades. “We all know they have used so-called ‘gray zone tactics’ to disturb, annoy and cause instability,” Hop said. “Then, they gradually encroach and at some point when other countries, including Vietnam, let it go, they will achieve their sovereignty goals.” Making Hanoi happy Prominent human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh also waxed positive on the possible upgrading of bilateral ties between the U.S. and Vietnam.  “This relationship is considered in the context of the U.S.’s strategy in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said. The strategy, issued by the Biden administration in early 2022, outlines the president’s vision for the U.S. to more firmly anchor itself in the Indo-Pacific region in coordination with allies and partners to ensure the region is free and open, connected, prosperous, secure and resilient.  “Vietnam’s position and role is quite important to the U.S.’s regional strategy, especially in terms of containing China in the South China Sea,” said Dinh, a former vice-president of the Ho Chi Minh Bar Association. “Therefore, the U.S. always tries to find ways to make Hanoi happy and deepen the bilateral relationship.” He went on to suggest that for the U.S. regional security issues have taken precedence over human rights in Vietnam. But Dinh cautioned that to avoid upsetting China, the Vietnamese government must take a tactful and smart approach to upgrade bilateral ties with the U.S. and not hastily use the term ‘strategic partnership.’” “Doing so, in reality, the two sides can work on the issues that a strategic partnership allows us to do, which a comprehensive partnership does not. China’s state-run Global Times newspaper on April 9 cited Chinese experts who said Blinken’s visit may yield results in maritime security or improvement in economic cooperation, but it would not affect Vietnam’s overall strategy because there are still inherent and structural contradictions – ideological and historical issues – between Vietnam and the U.S. Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Matt Reed.

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Drone attack kills 8, injures 30 in Sagaing region

Eight people were killed and 30 were injured when a drone bombed a water festival pavilion in a village in Myanmar’s northern Sagaing region. Locals said most of those injured in Thursday’s attack on Sagaing township’s Kywei Pon village were junta troops and members of the affiliated Pyu Saw Htee militia who were gathering there to celebrate the Thingyan festival in the run up to Burmese new year.  A junta statement released Friday confirmed the number of casualties and said five children were among the dead. It blamed a local People’s Defense Force for the attack, saying the drone dropped four bombs on the building. One resident told RFA the junta built the pavilion on a school soccer pitch. He said junta troops have been stationed in Sagaing township near the village since the February 2021 coup and local People’s Defense Forces often attack them. “I saw three cars transporting injured people to Sagaing’s 200-bed hospital this morning,” said the local, who didn’t want to be identified for safety reasons. “The army fired heavy artillery shells around the village after the incident.” Thursday, the first day of the water festival, was marked by a series of bombings of junta-built Thingyan pavilions. Four people were killed and 11 injured in Shan state’s Lashio town. Bombs also went off in Bago region’s Letpadan township, and Yangon’s Thaketa and Hlaingtharya townships but no one was injured. No group has claimed responsibility for any of Thursday’s attacks. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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