January 2024 - Page 5 of 6 - Investigative Journalism Reportika

Nearly 3 dozen political prisoners died in Myanmar jails in 2023

Editor9 months ago08 mins

Some 34 political prisoners died in military junta’s prisons across Myanmar in 2023, with 18 killed inside jails and 16 others dying due to a lack of medical treatment, a human rights monitoring group said Tuesday. The use of torture against inmates has increased in the wake of the military’s February 2021 coup d’état, with some political prisoners killed after being accused of escape during transfer to other detention centers, according to the Myanmar Political Prisoners Network and the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. A report issued by the Myanmar Political Prisoners Network on Dec. 31, 2023, based its findings on inmate casualty numbers in Myanmar’s most notorious jails in Pathein, Daik-U, Myingyan, Monywa, Magway, Tharyarwady, Insein and Kalay townships. Thike Tun Oo, a member of the organization’s leading committee, told Radio Free Asia that the ruling junta has stepped up its oppression of political prisoners as it loses ground to resistance forces throughout the country. “While the military council is being defeated in the battles, they have seen prisons as battlegrounds, and they oppressed political prisoners more and more in 2023,” he said. Former rapper San Linn San, a 29-year-old former rapper and singer, was one of the prisoners who died from a lack of proper medical treatment. After the February 2021 coup, he left the entertainment industry to participate in various anti-regime activities, and joined a rebel fighting group. On Sept. 24, 2023, the junta said it arrested San Linn San because he was a member of the anti-regime Black Dragon Force in Pyapon in Ayeyarwady region. He was sentenced to death in October because the group was accused of killing local administers under the junta. He was later transferred to a jail in Pathein. A view of Pathein Prison in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady region, in an undated photo. (Citizen journalist) San Linn San had to have surgery for a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid deep inside his brain from being tortured at an interrogation center, said Ko Shine, a close family friend. He continued to suffer from the condition while in prison and died there. “When he suffered this serious injury, he was not allowed to go for medical treatments outside the prison,” Ko Shine said. “His head was like a sponge.” Myanmar’s Prisons Act of 1894 stipulates the right of inmates to obtain medical treatment without delay. High fever Cherry Win, a 23-year-old who opposed junta rule and was sentenced to 10 years in prison under the country’s Counter-Terrorism Law, died on Dec. 21, 2023, while suffering from a severe fever because she was not allowed to seek outside medical treatment, according to the sources with knowledge of the situation. The young woman’s house in Demoso township in Kayah state was burned down amid fighting between armed resistance groups by junta forces in mid-2021, forcing her and her family to flee to safety, said a relative who declined to be named for safety reasons. Junta authorities arrested Cherry Win in Yangon just before she planned to go to Singapore for a job, and accused her of having contact with anti-junta People’s Defense Forces. “We did not know about her death immediately,” the relative said. “We got this news from RFA radio about 10 days after her death. It was confusing for us because we did not see her dead body, and [we believed that] the military council might have burned it.” A lawyer told RFA on condition of anonymity that the junta does not inform family members about prisoner deaths, or show their bodies to them, as the authorities are required to do. “No one can say what the law is at present because the military council has ignored laws and regulations,” he said. An official at the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Thailand-based prisoner monitoring group, who was imprisoned by the junta in Myanmar, told RFA on condition of anonymity that he and others were tortured at an interrogation center. “We felt relief once we were in prison, and I believed I would not die in the prison because I was liberated from the torture,” he said. “However, some prisoners were reportedly killed outside the prison.” RFA could not reach officials at Myanmar’s Prison Department for comment. Kyaw Zaw, spokesman for the President’s Office under the shadow National Unity Government, said officials are trying to take legal action against those responsible for the deaths of political prisoners that have occurred during the military regime. As of Tuesday, the junta had arrested nearly 25,800 people and detained over 19,900 since the 2021 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Translated by Aung Naing for RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

Chinese ‘monster’ ship patrols near Vietnam’s oil fields

Editor9 months ago07 mins

Chinese coast guard ship 5901, dubbed “The Monster” for its size, has been near Vietnam’s oil exploration blocks at Vanguard Bank in the South China Sea since early December, Radio Free Asia has learned. The CCG 5901 has “conducted an intrusive patrol of Vietnam’s oil and gas fields west of Vanguard Bank,” said Ray Powell, director of the U.S.-based SeaLight project, who was the first to spot the latest movement of the vessel in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). An EEZ gives a state exclusive access to the natural resources in the waters and in the seabed. Data obtained by RFA from tracking website MarineTraffic show the CCG 5901 (formerly known as Zhong Guoa Hai Jing 3901) has weaved an on-and-off pattern west of the Vanguard Bank, where Vietnam has some oil exploration projects, since at least Dec. 9, 2023. MarineTraffic uses AIS (automatic information system) signals that ships are obliged to transmit for safety reasons to track them. The Chinese ship has mostly been running “dark”, or not broadcasting AIS, since departing Sanya, Hainan, on Nov. 14, 2023, according to Powell. “This frequent practice violates the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, of which China is a signatory,” he added. Chinese coast guard ship 5901’s activities in Vietnam’s economic zone, Dec. 9, 2023- Jan. 7, 2024. (MarineTraffic) The last time the CCG 5901 turned on its AIS was on Jan. 7, 2024 at around 8:20 a.m. UTC. The ship was about 50 nautical miles (92.6km) southwest of Vanguard Bank. Several Vietnamese fishery patrol vessels were seen tailing the Chinese ship. The Chinese ship’s AIS was also activated on Dec. 9 and Dec. 29, 2023. The 12,000-ton CCG 5901 is double the size of a U.S. Navy Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser and is also bigger than an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer. The coast guard ship, armed with heavy machine guns, also has a helicopter platform and a hangar large enough to accommodate larger rotary wing aircraft. Shared future Vanguard Bank, called Bai Tu Chinh in Vietnamese, is an important site of Vietnamese oil and gas development where Vietnam and some foreign partners carry out oil and gas exploration. It is also a known flashpoint between Vietnam and China – their law enforcement vessels confronted each other in July 2019 in one of the worst maritime standoffs in the South China Sea between them in recent years. Chinese coast guard vessels maintain a frequent presence near the Vanguard Bank (Wan’an Tan in Chinese) – a submerged formation that lies entirely within Vietnam’s EEZ. China is among the six parties that hold claims over the South China Sea but Beijing’s claim is by far the largest, covering almost 90% of the sea. “The [incursion] is not new but it happens right after Vietnam and China agreed to build a ‘Community with a Shared Future’ during Xi Jinping’s visit to Hanoi in December,” said Le Hong Hiep, a senior fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. The concept of a ‘Community with a Shared Future’ is China’s vision for international relations in the Chinese leader, Xi’s Jinping era. “That shows that essentially the Vietnam-China bilateral relations have not changed and it remains very difficult for the two countries to share a future should China continue pursuing its current claim over nearly-entire South China Sea,” Hiep told RFA. Another Vietnamese political analyst, Nguyen Khac Giang, said that the Chinese coast guard patrols “may be sending a message to not only Vietnam but the broader international community about China’s sovereignty in the South China Sea.” “On the other hand, China wants to maintain its pressure to interrupt Vietnam’s oil and activities in the area, as well as to push Hanoi to agree to a joint exploration plan with China in the same manner as what it achieved with the Philippines under the Duterte administration,” said Giang. In 2018, Manila and Beijing signed an agreement to explore oil and gas reserves in the South China Sea but the Philippines declared an end to it in June 2022, after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took power. The two countries, however, had agreed ‘to resume discussions on oil and gas development” after Marcos visited Beijing in December. Edited by Mike Firn and Elaine Chan.

19 civilians massacred by junta forces in Sagaing region

Editor9 months ago08 mins

Military junta soldiers massacred 19 civilians in two townships in northwest Myanmar’s Sagaing region after detaining them, residents said, in the latest slaughter of civilians in the country’s nearly three-year civil war. Piles of corpses of all 19 people were discovered on Sunday near the Five Mile bus terminal located at the convergence of Kawlin, Wuntho and Pinlebu townships, local residents told Radio Free Asia. The dead had lived in Wuntho township and Kawlin township, both of which had been seized by anti-regime People’s Defense Forces, or PDFs, made up of ordinary people who have taken up arms against the junta, which took control of the country in a February 2021 coup d’etat. Junta soldiers, already pushed back by recent advances by rebel groups, have resorted to brutality to stop residents from providing support to the PDF, residents said. The military column that killed the civilians was headed from Paungbyin township to Kawlin and Wuntho townships, resistance forces and residents said. They were found dead on the night of Jan. 5, the same day of their arrest, residents said, though Radio Free Asia has not yet been able to confirm the deaths with the ruling military council. Displaced civilians from Kawlin township in northwestern Myanmar’s Sagaing region are seen Nov. 2, 2023. (Kawlin Info) The shadow National Unity Government has been operating Kawlin township’s administrative, legislative and commercial sectors since resistance forces captured the township on Dec. 3, 2023. In coordination with Operation 1027, a series of defensive attacks by an alliance of three ethnic armies in northern Shan state launched on Oct. 27, joint forces comprising the Kachin Independence Army and local PDFs have captured Kawlin, Mawlu, Khampat and Shwepyiaye towns in Sagaing region. Signs of atrocities The bodies of five residents from Kawlin, whose hands and feet were tied, were collected and buried on Sunday, according to an official from the local PDF. The bodies were those of a father and two sons, female rice merchant Khin Sein, and driver Tun Phaw Hlaing, he said. The adults were between the ages of 30 and 50. “One of the five bodies we took away yesterday had been shot many times in the abdomen very closely,” said the official who declined to be named to ensure his safety. “Another body was found with serious injury to the head.” Some 5.56-millimeter cartridges made by Myanmar’s military defense industry were found near the bodies, he said. RFA could not reach junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun or Sai Nai Nai Kyaw, the spokesperson for Sagaing’s ethnic affairs minister, for the comment on the massacre. Junta forces attacked civilians in Kawlin and Wuntho townships to try to recapture Kawlin township from the local PDF, said a Wuntho resident on condition of anonymity. “They have threatened the locals with killing possible informants of the resistance forces when they advanced on Kawlin,” the person said. Civilians displaced by fighting in Myanmar are seen on the move in Salingyi township, Sagaing region, Nov. 26, 2023. (RFA) Kyaw Win, the UK-based executive director of the Burma Human Rights Network, said the mass killings of civilians is a war crime and a crime against humanity. “Military troops have also committed similar crimes across the country,” he said. Women and children Deadly attacks by junta soldiers have taken their toll on civilian women and children in Myanmar. In December alone, nearly 40 women and children lost their lives, with most killed by airstrikes, artillery shells and gunshots, according to the Burmese Women’s Union. Of the 33 women killed, 22 had been arrested by the military junta, the women’s rights umbrella organization said. The women who died in the attacks included six in Sagaing region, six in Rakhine state, four in Mandalay region, two in Mon state, three in Magway, four in Bago region, four in Shan state, three in Kayin state and one in Chin state. “A total of 15 women died during bombardments in December, 17 women were killed by artillery shelling, and one died from a gunshot,” said Wai Wai Myint, an official from the Burmese Women’s Union. Six children between the ages of 1 and 7 years old died in airstrikes by junta forces, including three in Sagaing’s Paungbyin town, one in the region’s Pale township, and two in Nyaunglebin township in Bago region. Aye Myint Aung Aung, a leading member of the Women Alliance Burma, a group that emerged from protests following the 2021 coup, said women and children are not safe in conflict-torn areas of Myanmar. “The military council will show no mercy to any civilians, and has targeted them,” she told RFA. “Along routes [traveled by] military columns, they raped and killed women. These soldiers did not even have compassion for the children.” RFA could not reach a spokesman for the junta for comment on women and children casualties. In all of 2023, nearly 400 women were killed and over 540 were arrested by the military council, according to the Burmese Women’s Unions. Translated by Aung Naing for RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

Resistance groups claim capture of 2 Myanmar cities

Editor9 months ago04 mins

Myanmar’s Three Brotherhood Alliance claimed the capture of two cities, according to a statement released Monday. The resistance group announced they stormed two junta camps on Sunday, causing troops to withdraw. The alliance reportedly captured Hseni in northeastern Shan state on Sunday morning. The junta camp there also acts as the army’s regional operational command headquarters, according to the alliance. Later that day, the allied forces moved to the city of Kutkai and seized it late at night, according to locals. All junta troops from Hseni and Kutkai withdrew and fled to Lashio on Sunday afternoon, said one local who has been following military movements in the area. The alliance comprises three resistance groups, including the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Arakan Army, and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army. Since the Three Brotherhood Alliance’s Operation 1027 began in late October, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army’s fighters have claimed control of most major areas in Hseni. The junta’s regional headquarters and smaller camps are located several kilometers away from the city. The area has been under a blockade for almost two months. Troops retaliated during Sunday’s attack using heavy artillery and airstrikes, a local told Radio Free Asia, asking to go anonymous to protect their identity. The alliance attacked the camps in Kutkai multiple times earlier this month, they said, adding that junta troops responded with airstrikes on Sunday evening during the fighting. One fighter involved in the ground battles told RFA Kutkai was entirely captured, despite the junta’s heavy defense. However, others said the status of Hseni could not be confirmed at this time. “It is true that our forces captured the whole of Kutkai city last night,” said a spokesman for the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, asking to remain nameless for fear of reprisals. “As for Hseni, I can’t confirm it, because we are not there.” Myanmar’s regime has not released any information about battles in Hseni and Kutkai. RFA was unable to reach junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment regarding junta injuries and fatalities. On Thursday, the alliance also overtook a military command center in northern Myanmar, claiming control of the city of Laukkai according to a statement released Friday. Since the launch of Operation 1027 two months ago, the Three Brotherhood Alliance has reportedly captured 14 townships in northern Shan state and seized control of more than 200 junta camps. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

‘We’ve been in this situation for a long time’

Editor9 months ago010 mins

As Taiwan gears up for presidential and legislative elections next Saturday, voters on the streets of the democratic island’s capital Taipei say a Chinese invasion isn’t at the top of their list of concerns. Despite the Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing information wars, political infiltration and military incursions in the Taiwan Strait, some of the island’s 23 million people say that such worries aren’t at the forefront of their minds. As the country counts down the last days of a presidential race, voters must choose between incumbent ruling Democratic Progressive Party Vice President Lai Ching-te, who has a strong track record of standing up to China, against the more China-friendly opposition candidates – Hou Yu-ih for the Kuomintang and Ko Wen-je for the Taiwan People’s Party. But not all voters are following the threat from China as closely as they were. “It’s pretty pointless as a Taiwanese person to speculate on such matters, as we’ve been in this situation for a long time,” a voter who gave only the surname Lu told RFA Mandarin in a recent round of street interviews. Much of the early debate on the presidential campaign trail revolved around how candidates will handle the military threat from China. U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk together after a meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ week in Woodside, California, on Nov. 15, 2023. Xi’s statement that there wasn’t a timetable for an invasion of Taiwan appears to have made voters feel more secure. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP) But Chinese President Xi Jinping’s comments to U.S. President Biden at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in November, in which he denied there was a timetable for an invasion of Taiwan, appear to have made voters feel more secure. “We all know deep down that there can be no war,” a voter who gave only the surname Weng said. “I’m not worried,” said a voter surnamed Chou. “The Taiwanese people must have confidence in themselves, and make their country strong.” “There is no problem,” she said. “I feel confident.” Protecting sovereignty Xi hasn’t relinquished China’s territorial claim on the island, which split from the mainland in 1949 amid civil war and has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, reiterating in a New Year address on Dec. 31 that “China will surely be reunified.” But a 31-year-old Taipei office worker who gave only the surname Hsieh said people are used to military threats and ramped-up rhetoric from Beijing at election time. “All of the parties want to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty,” Hsieh said, adding that he doesn’t see a vote for any of the candidates as a vote for war. Neither can any of them promise that China would definitely not invade if they won the election, he said, adding that low-level, city-level exchanges are likely to alleviate current tensions with China. A J-15 Chinese fighter jet takes off from the Shandong aircraft carrier during exercises around Taiwan, April 9, 2023. One Taipei office worker says people are accustomed to military threats from Beijing at election time. (An Ni/Xinhua via AP) Hsieh said the main advantage for the opposition parties is that China won’t talk to the DPP, which has dismissed Beijing’s claim on Taiwan and criticized its crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong. But he said the ruling party has a better track record when it comes to diplomacy, national defense and boosting Taiwan’s international status, not to mention the all-important relationship with Washington. ‘Stop interfering’ A 90-year-old voter who gave only the surname Kao said he is a staunch Kuomintang supporter, who nonetheless doesn’t want to see Chinese interference in Taiwan’s democracy. “I wish China would stop interfering in Taiwanese politics,” Kao said. “Taiwan is under a democratic system now, which is different from communism.” He said Taiwan has come a long way since the civil war between Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, and has spent the last few decades moving towards democracy, while China has been under Communist Party rule for more than 70 years. “Taiwan has gotten used to ruling itself democratically,” Kao said. A resident uses a magnifying glass as he reads a newspaper article calling Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te’s debate speech “Disaster words,” in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2023. A 90-year-old voter says she wishes “China would stop interfering in Taiwanese politics.” (Andy Wong/AP) A voter who gave only the surname Li said anti-communism has been deeply ingrained in Taiwanese society since the 1927-1949 civil war between the Kuomintang government of the 1911 Republic of China and communist insurgents. “They may fear our independence, but they didn’t build our country,” she said. “It’s better if they live their lives, we live ours, and we maintain peaceful cross-straits relations.” Housing, the economy Some told RFA Mandarin that they are more worried about the high price of housing than the threat of war. “The economy is still pretty important, and our leaders need to take active steps to deal with it,” Lu said. “The high cost of housing has led a lot of young people to lose confidence in the future,” he said, adding that he feels it’s time for a change after eight years of DPP rule. “If you are in power for too long, then issues of corruption are more likely,” Lu said. “This is a problem faced by all ruling parties in the world, not just in Taiwan.” Chou disagreed, saying the current leadership has done a good job, and that “Taiwan is very happy now,” and that she’s counting her blessings. Others said they were keen on Ko, because he appeared more down-to-earth, and to have concerns that were closer to their daily lives. “The stuff about China is kind of out of our reach, and I don’t pay much attention to it,” a voter surnamed Qu told RFA Mandarin. A Lai supporter surnamed Yang said the issue was much simpler for him. “We must elect people who are able to protect Taiwan,” he…

‘Kids start to ask themselves who they are and where they come from’

Editor10 months ago015 mins

As families leave Hong Kong in droves in a bid to remove their kids from an education system that is increasingly steeped in Chinese Communist Party propaganda, they are building new lives in democratic societies like Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Many middle-class parents, asked why they chose to leave their home amid an ongoing crackdown on public dissent in Hong Kong, say it’s for the kids. Yet the challenges for children uprooted from friends, school, family and the city they once called home are far from insignificant. Three years ago, the Cheungs emigrated to Taiwan with their family of five, including Yuet, 13, Guji, 10 and Yiu, 8. According to a YouTube video made by Yuet at the time, they called out excitedly “We’re going through the gate now!” before giving their relatives a quick hug, and embarking on their new life more than 700 kilometers (400 miles) away. Around the same time, the Ho family were taking off for the United Kingdom, with 10-year-old Marcus and 9-year-old Max. “[My dad] just said we were going to the U.K.,” Marcus said in a recent interview with Radio Free Asia. “Actually, I don’t remember the details because we were very young at the time.” “I never thought much about leaving behind all my classmates and friends.” The Cheung children said they had some idea of why they were leaving, other than their parents wanting them to get a better education, and that there wasn’t much room for resistance to the idea. Language problems Coming from Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong, they also found it hard to communicate when they first got to Taiwan, where Mandarin Chinese is the medium of instruction in schools, and where Taiwanese – mutually unintelligible with Cantonese – is also widely spoken. “I didn’t understand Mandarin at all, or any other languages,” Guji said. “It was hard for me to communicate.” All three children were thrown into a system that taught them in a spoken language they didn’t know well, and required them to understand phonetic notation systems they had never been taught, leading them to lose marks in Chinese tests that should otherwise have been a cinch. “They all know this phonetic system because they learned it in kindergarten,” Yuet complained. “But we were in fifth and sixth grade and we didn’t know it, yet 20 marks out of every 100 were for phonetic spellings, so I got 70.” “There’s a bit less homework compared with Hong Kong, and the teachers are kinder and a bit less scary when they tell you off,” Guji said. “They’re not as strict.” The Ho family emigrated to the United Kingdom with 10-year-old Marcus and 9-year-old Max. (Shi Shi) The Cheungs also get to spend more time with their parents instead of being left with a domestic helper, as they were in Hong Kong. In the U.K., Marcus and Max have also had to work hard to overcome the language barrier. Marcus found leaving Hong Kong, where he was on the soccer, badminton and swimming teams and class president, quite a wrench. But there have been compensations, too. British schools have far less of a hothouse atmosphere than the education system in Hong Kong, and don’t expect kids to study all hours of the day and night just to keep up with requirements. That leaves more time and energy for doing the things they love, including plenty of energetic outdoor play. “The pace in school seemed very leisurely,” their father Simon told RFA Cantonese. “But after I looked at what he was doing, it turned out he wasn’t just playing around — he had written two pages.” “After they caught up in English, communication became easier, and they both like to play football, so it became a lot easier for them to communicate with their friends,” he said. “I think they’re fairly happy,” he said. “They’re not particularly unhappy.” Less pressure Asked if this was an accurate assessment, Marcus said he prefers life in the U.K., because there’s less pressure. Early years education expert Bonnie, who has also emigrated to Taiwan with her children, said children are adaptable and generally manage to settle, even after such a move. But they thrive in an atmosphere where they can talk about their feelings, and have a sense that the family is working together to overcome problems. “First, remember that you’re in this together, and second, give them time and give them space,” she advised. “I don’t mind letting my kids see my weakness, because that’s a very real feeling.” But ultimately, the parents are the ones responsible for emigration, not the kids, she said. “Children have to let go of the people and things they love most because of a decision made by their parents,” she said. Marcus, Max and the Cheung children aren’t alone. BNO visas So far 40,000 Hong Kong minors have been approved for the British National Overseas visa program, which offers a pathway to permanent residency and citizenship. Childhood education expert Bonnie, who has emigrated to Taiwan with her children, says children are adaptable and generally manage to settle, even after such a move. (Chunyin) Meanwhile, schools in Taiwan reported 129 new students from Hong Kong in the 2020 academic year, and 174 in the 2021 academic year, compared with less than 100 between 2015 and 2019. National Taiwan University sociologist Lu Ching-hu said parents who emigrate from Hong Kong were far more likely to oppose the changes in that city than those who stay behind. “There is a positive relationship between resistance and immigration,” said Lu, who has studied emigrating Hong Kong families. “If you are a parent, the relationship is even stronger.” U.K.-based Simon said that was a key factor in the Ho family’s decision to leave. “One of the reasons is that the teaching materials have been changed,” he said. This makes it harder for parents to help kids revise for tests in what has become an unfamiliar and hostile education system. “There are some…

Taiwan accuses China of gray zone tactics by flying balloons

Editor10 months ago05 mins

After Taiwan spotted Chinese balloons flying over its main island, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) in Taipei accused Beijing of conducting ‘cognitive warfare’ against Taiwanese people just days before the general election. Two more Chinese balloons were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which serves as the de facto boundary between Taiwan and China, on Friday. One of them flew over the Taiwan island itself, the ministry said Saturday in a strongly-worded statement. On Jan. 13, the Taiwanese go to polls in presidential and parliamentary elections seen as vital for cross-strait relations. The MND only began disclosing China’s balloon incursions in December 2023 and has so far reported the sighting of 19 balloons, including six that entered the island’s airspace. An airspace is a portion of the atmosphere above a country’s territory, to which it holds exclusive sovereignty. Experts say the balloons are likely meteorological as most of them fly at a relatively low altitude. The MND said, according to their analyses, “the main purpose of the recently detected airborne balloons is to conduct gray zone activities, attempting to use cognitive warfare to affect the morale of Taiwanese people.” Cognitive warfare, often known as psychological warfare, refers to activities designed to control the mental state and behavior of other people. The drifting paths of the balloons “posed a serious threat to the safety of many international flights,” the ministry said in a statement sent to reporters. It added that the Taiwanese military is keeping a close watch and would notify civil aviation authorities about any new developments, while “condemning the Chinese Communist Party for its disregard of aviation safety and for the safety of passengers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and internationally.” ‘Hyping China’s threat’? Wendell Minnick, a Taipei-based veteran Chinese military watcher, said the balloons could be an air traffic problem for airliners at 30,000 ft (9.1km). “Sucking one of these into the engine would result in a crash,” Minnick told Radio Free Asia. “But these weather balloons are not unusual; they come from two different weather balloon stations in China,” said Minnick. “Now that Taiwan’s MND has begun mentioning them, they have to keep doing so.” Chinese media outlets, meanwhile, said they were “harmless weather balloons” and accused the Taiwanese government of “hyping the mainland threat.” “It’s evident that weather balloons pose no threat to anyone, however, media outlets in the U.S. and Taiwan island use them to perpetuate the ‘mainland threat theory’,” said the state-run Global Times in an editorial on Thursday. The Global Times mentioned the incident that happened in early 2023 when U.S. authorities accused China of flying a spy balloon over the continental U.S. In the so-called “2023 Chinese balloon incident,” the Pentagon sent a stealth F-22 Raptor fighter jet to shoot down what it said was a Chinese high-altitude surveillance platform in the Atlantic Ocean on Feb. 4. China said it was a weather balloon that was blown off course, but the incident led to further tensions in the already problematic China-U.S. relations. Edited by Taejun Kang.

Retracted study was based on unethically collected Uyghur DNA samples, experts contend

Editor10 months ago010 mins

The recent retraction of an academic journal article that discussed the genetic information of Uyghurs and Kazakhs in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region has raised questions and concerns about ethical standards in scientific research, as people familiar with the study believe that genetic samples were obtained under duress. In June, Elsevier, a Dutch publisher, announced the retraction of a scientific article published in 2019 in its journal “Forensic Science International: Genetics.” The retraction was attributed to the failure to meet necessary ethical approvals in scientific research, The Guardian reported. The deleted study, entitled “Analysis of Uyghur and Kazakh populations using the Precision ID Ancestry Panel,” was authored by Chinese and Danish researchers in Ürümqi. It involved the collection of blood and saliva samples from 203 Uyghurs and Kazakhs, which were then tested using genetic sequencing technology developed by the American biotech company Thermo Fisher Scientific. The article’s authors claimed that their findings could help police in using genetic sequencing techniques to identify suspects in cases. “A clear knowledge of the genetic variation is important for understanding the origin and demographic history of the ethnicity of the populations in Xinjiang… [which] may offer an investigative lead for the police,” the article said. In the redaction notice, the journal said that an investigation revealed that those who collected the samples did not obtain the necessary ethical approval. Forced collection Yves Moreau, a professor at the University of Leuven in Belgium, has raised the concern that the Chinese government forcibly collects and arbitrarily uses genetic information from Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. He told Radio Free Asia’s Uyghur Service that he had been critical of the 2019 study for a considerable period of time before it was finally deleted. “The article that was retracted … That’s a case that has been open for a very, very long time,” said Moreau, who added that he is working toward getting journals to reevaluate numerous articles, many on the same subject. Moreau had also taken issue with a similar study published in the June 2022 issue of “Forensic Science Research,” a journal acquired by the Oxford University Press in 2023. That article detailed a study sponsored by China’s Ministry of Justice that analyzed the genetic information of Uyghurs based on blood samples collected from them. The retracted 2019 article and the 2022 article was written by the same authors, Claus Børsting, Niels Morling, and Xalmurat Ismailjan (Halimureti Simayijiang) from the forensic genetics department at the University of Copenhagen. Qelbinur Sidiq, shown speaking at the “Uyghur Tribunal” in 2021, says she saw samples collected from blood, as well as collections of fingerprints and retina scans. She said she herself was made to give all three in 2016. (Tolga Akmen/AFP) Ismailjan is known to have ties to China’s public security agencies and is listed as being jointly affiliated with Xinjiang Police College, The Guardian report said. Experts like Moreau contend that the blood samples utilized in both studies were obtained from people who had no choice but to participate. Moreau was reluctant to take on the 2022 article, he said, because one of editors-in-chief of the journal was from the Institute of Forensic Science of the Chinese Ministry of Justice. “So I thought, well, if I’m going to write a letter asking for ethical re-evaluation of an article in that journal, I’m not going to get much of an answer,” he said. But when the journal was acquired by Oxford University Press, he was able to raise the issue with that institution, he said. “Now I can write to Oxford University and tell them, … you know, you were actually publishing this journal for the Institute of Forensic Science of the [Chinese] Ministry of Justice,” said Moreau. In an email sent to Irene Treacy, vice chancellor of the University of Oxford, Moreau noted that “such consent should be given voluntarily, and he does not believe that the Uyghurs consented to [biometric data collection] voluntarily.” After Mr. Moreau raised the issue, the editorial departments of the University of Copenhagen and the editor departments of the aforementioned journals replied via email that they would investigate the matter, he explained. Coerced samples Witnesses have observed coerced genetic data collection both inside China’s secretive “reeducation camps” in Xinjiang and also outside of the camps. Qelbinur Sidiq, who currently lives in the Netherlands, said she saw samples collected from blood, as well as collections of fingerprints and retina scans. She said she herself was made to give all three in 2016. “Blood samples and DNA sequencing are mandatory, whether you are inside the camp or outside. There is an order where authorities instruct you on when to go to which hospital for the collection of your blood sample and DNA,” she said. “There is no freedom or choice to refuse.” Sidiq said that the police inform residents through the chat platform WhatsApp as to when they must appear at a specific hospital for collection. “Participants are given one week, and the notice explicitly states that failing to participate will result in severe consequences,” she said. “As a result, there is no freedom or choice in the matter, and individuals are unable to inquire about their results. Asking for the result of the blood sample is not an option.” Duarte Nuno Vieira, the co-editor-in-chief of “Forensic Science Research,” denied the journal had received financial support from China’s Ministry of Justice, according to the Guardian report. Journals have a responsibility to evaluate the ethics of the studies that appear in articles they publish, Maya Wang, associate Asia director for New York-based Human Rights Watch, told RFA. “Given the brutality of the collection process, I believe it is important for such journals to check and review research articles on samples taken from Uyghurs and Tibetans by Chinese police agencies,” she said. “It is unlikely these journals not know the background of such articles.” In 2021, Professor Yves Moreau initially uncovered similar articles published by Chinese researchers about Uyghurs in the American journal Molecular Genetics and Genome…

Anti-junta groups claim they seized junta military camp in Shan state

Editor10 months ago03 mins

Myanmar’s anti-junta forces Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Mandalay People’s Defense Force (PDF) jointly seized a junta military camp in Than Bo village in northern Shan state on Wednesday, according to the groups on Thursday. The Mandalay PDF announced that on Tuesday, their combined forces launched an attack on the junta’s base camp, effectively taking control of it and capturing a platoon commander, Col. Thet Aung. During the battle, there were casualties on both the military junta and some PDF troops, the group stated, without specifying the total number of casualties. The seized junta camp is under the command of the junta’s Central Region Military Command, which has between 50 and 100 forces, according to the TNLA on Friday. RFA was unable to reach junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comments about the group’s claim. The Mandalay PDF is currently participating in Operation 1027 led by the anti-junta Three Northern Brotherhood Alliance. The Mandalay-Nawnghkio-Gote Twin road, connecting the Mandalay region and northern Shan state, has been obstructed and closed off through a joint effort by the TNLA and Mandalay PDF. This has led to regular clashes between the junta and resistance groups situated in regions such as Ho Hko, Hsam Ma Hse, Thone Se, Ohn Ma Hkar, and Kyauk Kyan villages in the Nawnghkio township. Over the span of more than two months during Operation 1027, the Three Brotherhood Alliances have successfully overtaken 10 townships in northern Shan state and seized control of over 200 camps belonging to the military junta. The group continues its attacks against the junta camps in the cities of Hseni and Kutkai in northern Shan state, with the combat remaining intense up to the present day. Edited by Taejun Kang and Elaine Chan.

No candy for old kids in North Korea

Editor10 months ago07 mins

North Korea is toning down its annual candy giveaway to children this year ahead of leader Kim Jong Un’s Jan. 8 birthday, handing out less candy and snacks than in previous years – and to fewer children, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia. The quality of candy is also lower, they said. Meanwhile, adults were buying their annual New Year’s “present” from the state: wall calendars that came with a variety of illustrations, including rockets and images of plump children. The calendars, marking the important dates for “Juche 113” – also known as 2024 – were once free, but now must be purchased. Gifts of sweets to children on or around the birthday of the country’s leader has been a tradition in North Korea dating back to the reign of national founder Kim Il Sung – Kim Jong Un’s grandfather – and continued during the rule of his father Kim Jong Il. But this year the government is limiting the gift to kids aged 6 or younger. The government began distributing this year’s candy gift on Dec. 31, a resident of the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons. But children will likely be disappointed because they are getting less this year, and the quality has declined, he said. “The number of recipients who qualify for the gifts also decreased significantly,” he said. “Starting this year, elementary school students [and anyone older] are excluded from receiving confectionery gifts.” The gift package this year consists of hard candy, packaged snacks like chips or sweet breads, bean powder coated candy, and other select items, he said. The government has not overtly said that the candies are for Kim Jong Un’s birthday, however. But residents assume that must be the reason, because they remember that under the rule of the previous leaders, children received candy ahead of their birthdays, the resident said. Self-reliance With the changing of the year from Juche 112 to Juche 113, adults are also “given” paper calendars from the state, which they must purchase. “Juche,” is North Korea’s founding philosophy of self-reliance, and the Juche era is said to have begun with the birth of Kim Il Sung in 1912. RFA reported in 2022 that pandemic concerns had resulted in people having to pay for their own annual calendar gift, and those who could pay more received better quality calendars. That trend is continuing into this year, but the people have several versions of the official calendar they can buy, with themes centered around missiles, the cult of personality, the military, education, and tourism, another North Hamgyong resident told RFA on condition of anonymity for personal safety. The missile calendar is titled “The Status of the Juche Powerhouse,” he said, while the calendar about soldiers and marines is called, ”Let’s Destroy the U.S. Imperialist Invaders, the Bitter Enemies of the Korean People.” A North Korean wall calendar for the year ‘Juche 113’ or 2024. Residents were “gifted” calendars like these, this year, though they had to be purchased. (RFA) The tourism-themed calendar seemed tone deaf though, because it pictures a lifestyle that most North Koreans can not even dream of, he said. “How many people in North Korea can enjoy sightseeing and eating at restaurants on a boat like in the calendar?” he said. “Furthermore, there are students who cannot go to school because they are starving, and there are all these chubby students featured in the [education] calendar.” The calendars are printed on low-quality paper this year due to a paper shortage, and even then there are different versions of varying cost, a resident of North Pyongan province in the northwest told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely. “A multipage calendar costs 5,000 won (59 U.S. cents), and a single page calendar [displaying the entire year] costs 500 won (6 cents),” she said. “Well-off residents purchase the multipage calendars and there is a high demand for calendars featuring pictures of flowers and souvenirs.” She said that the militaristic calendars were less popular because they feature missiles, soldiers or scenes from the 1950-53 Korean War, which North Korea calls the “Great Fatherland Liberation War.” The overly militaristic themes are a turnoff for some, but the resident said that people will always find reasons to complain. “Last year’s calendar featured a picture of a young child holding a milk cup, but milk is a luxury for most people.” she said. Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.

Month: January 2024