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Month: September 2024

An overdue farewell to Southeast Asia’s pro-democracy icons

Editor013 mins

A decade ago, Southeast Asia seemed poised for democratic transformation, spearheaded by three icons: Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, Cambodia’s Sam Rainsy and Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim.  Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was on the cusp of a historic election victory, potentially gaining entry into government for the first time in the army-run nation.  Sam Rainsy’s Cambodia National Rescue Party had narrowly lost to the ruling party in the 2013 elections, but momentum hinted at a possible win at the next ballot.  Meanwhile, Anwar’s People’s Pact coalition won the popular vote in Malaysia’s 2013 elections, marking the start of a new political era. During a late 2013 visit, Sam Rainsy suggested in a meeting with his fellow pro-democracy icons that they should “work together to promote democracy in our region.” Fast forward to today, and all three have either fallen from power or seen their legacies tarnished—and the region’s democratic transformation now seems more distant than ever. Cambodian exiled political opponent and leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), Sam Rainsy, in Paris, on July 27, 2023. (Joel Saget/AFP) Suu Kyi, ousted in early 2021, saw her international reputation go up in smoke for her defense of the military’s genocide against her country’s Muslim Rohingya minority.  Sam Rainsy went into exile in 2015 and his party dissolved two years later as the ruling Cambodian People’s Party tightened its authoritarian chokehold. Rainsy now writes financial updates with little hope of returning to Cambodia.  Anwar became Malaysia’s prime minister in 2022 but has abandoned his once-professed liberal, secular ideals. His government has launched “lawfare” campaigns against opponents.  In August, Malaysian prosecutors charged Muhyiddin Yassin, the leader of the opposition, with sedition for complaining that the king hadn’t asked him to form a government last year.  Anwar’s pluralist appeal has gone out of the window.  He’s unpopular with Malays, he has defended a deputy prime minister accused of corruption, his speeches are flecked with anti-Semitism and anti-Western vitriol, and he has drawn Malaysia closer to China and Russia. Anwar visited Moscow this month and now declares support for China’s “reunification” of Taiwan.  “Anwar had been a favorite of Western reporters and officials, heralded as a man who could liberalize Malaysian politics,” the Economist recently wrote. Since taking power, he has been “a very different kind of leader.” A milder form of tyranny One shouldn’t mourn the passing of Southeast Asia’s icons, the disappearance of a handful of individuals who were supposed to drag the region by their own sweat and sacrifice into a freer future.  There was too much focus on personalities rather than policies; too much about a single person’s fate to become premier and not on the people they were supposedly fighting for.  Suu Kyi was the National League for Democracy; she was destined to save Myanmar because her father had done the same when Burma emerged from British colonial rule in the 1940s.  Even before Sam Rainsy’s party was dissolved, it had become cleaved between the factions loyal to him and another leader. They, too, saw themselves as the embodiments of salvation for an entire country.   Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Oslo on June 15, 2012. (Markus Schreiber/AP) As Suu Kyi and Anwar showed, you sacrifice your entire life in exile, imprisonment, scorn and harassment, and once you finally attain power, you believe you damn well need to stay there, whatever it costs.  After all, losing power means a return to tyranny and the bad old times—so a milder form of tyranny is justifiable to prevent that.  Southeast Asia isn’t unique; the worst leaders are those who have taken a long walk to power.  Seldom does a revolutionary not become a counter-revolutionary. Rarely does the liberal in opposition remain a liberal in power.  Suu Kyi gambled – badly – that publicly defending the military’s genocidal actions against the Rohingya was the price worth paying to prevent a military coup. She should sacrifice up the few for the apparent benefit of the majority, she reasoned.   The end of idolatry should allow Southeast Asian democrats to focus on strengthening political institutions rather than idolizing individuals.  A new example in Thailand The region should look at what’s happening in Thailand.  Unique in Southeast Asia, Thailand’s progressive movement has created a pro-democracy “archetype”— someone young, Western-educated, good-looking, conversant in English, ideally with a business background, and very social media savvy.  Pita Limjaroenrat, who employed this archetype to make his Move Forward Party the country’s largest at last year’s elections, was more of a character than an icon.  Pita played this role with Move Forward, but it was the same character that Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit played before him with the Future Forward party, Move Forward’s predecessor party, and that Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut now plays as leader of People’s Party, the successor to Move Forward.  This is a clever tactic. If the leader is disbarred from politics, as Thanathorn and Pita were, then someone else can easily assume the role, as Natthaphong has done.  If the party is dissolved, as Future Forward and Move Forward were, you make a new one led by the same character with the same script.  This prevents a party from being consumed by one person – à la Suu Kyi. It turns the dissolution of a party into an inconvenience, instead of the death knell of an entire movement, as was the case with Sam Rainsy and the Cambodia National Rescue Party.  Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Berlin, Germany, March 11, 2024. (Liesa Johannssen/Reuters) It means that if the leader wins power, he knows he is there because of the script he has been given, not the one he’s written. The rest of Southeast Asia would be better off developing their own archetypes, not waiting for the next icons to appear.  Neither is the end of Southeast Asia’s pro-democracy icons a bad thing for the West, which was too quick in the 1990s and 2000s to put its faith in a few personalities being able to drive…

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Philippine coast guard ship leaves disputed shoal in South China Sea

Editor09 mins

UPDATED AT 5:30 ET on Sept. 15, 2024 The Philippines has withdrawn a coast guard vessel at the center of a standoff with China at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, saying it had played a crucial role in “countering illegal activities” but had to return to port because of bad weather, low supplies and the need to get medical care for some of those on board. The Sabina Shoal,  about 140 km (85 miles) west of Palawan island, is claimed by both countries but is entirely within the Philippine exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, where the Philippines holds rights to explore for natural resources. The five-month standoff with China at the shoal resulted in several collisions between Philippine and Chinese vessels, especially during Philippine resupply missions to its ship, the BRP Teresa Magbanua, raising fears of a more serious conflict between the Philippines, a close U.S. ally, and an increasingly assertive China. “Their steadfast presence has played a crucial role in countering illegal activities that threaten our marine environment and thwarting attempts by other state actors to engage in surreptitious reclamation in the area,” the Philippine coast guard said in a statement, referring to the officers and men on board the ship. Ship tracking specialists earlier told Radio Free Asia the 2,200-ton coast guard flagship left the hotly disputed shoal, known in the Philippines as Escoda, at around 1 p.m. on Friday. Data provided by the website MarineTraffic, which uses automatic identification system (AIS) signals to track ships, show that the BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701) was back in the Sulu Sea near the Philippines’ Balabac island, about 200 km (125 miles) to the south of the shoal. There was no immediate comment from China on the ship’s withdrawal from the shoal. The BRP Teresa Magbanua is one of the largest and most modern vessels of the Philippine coast guard. It was deployed to Sabina Shoal in April to monitor what the Philippines fears is a Chinese plan to reclaim land there, as China has done elsewhere in the South China Sea. Philippine officials insisted that the vessel could remain there for as long as necessary but China denounced what it saw as the “illegal grounding” of the BRP Teresa Magbanua and deployed a large number of ships there to keep watch. The Philippines denied that the vessel had been grounded. Beijing feared that by maintaining the vessel’s semi-permanent presence at the shoal, Manila aimed to establish de-facto control over it, similar to what it has done at the Second Thomas Shoal, where an old Philippine warship, BRP Sierra Madre, was deliberately run aground to serve as an outpost. For its part, the Philippines is worried that without the presence of its authorities, Chinese ships will swarm the area and effectively take control of it, as happened at Scarborough Shoal – another disputed South China Sea feature – where China has had control since 2012. Sabina Shoal is close to an area believed to be rich in oil and gas, and also served as the main staging ground for resupply missions to the Sierra Madre at the Second Thomas Shoal. Lower the tension The  Philippine coast guard said in its statement on Sunday that it was “firmly committed and determined in protecting the Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea, including in Escoda Shoal.” But Ray Powell, director of the U.S.-based SeaLight project at Stanford University, said China was likely to deploy to the area as it did at the Scarborough Shoal. “The parallels are unavoidable,” said Powell, who monitors developments in the South China Sea. “China is also likely to declare victory – hard to avoid that conclusion,” added the maritime security analyst. The withdrawal comes days after Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Maria Theresa P. Lazaro met China’s Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong to discuss the situation at the shoal.  The Chinese side reportedly urged the Philippines to immediately withdraw its vessels while “Lazaro reaffirmed the consistent position of the Philippines and explored ways to lower the tension in the area,” the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement after the Sept. 12 talks. The Philippine coast guard made no mention of the talks in its statement. Philippine analyst Chester Cabalza, president of the International Development and Security Cooperation think tank, described the withdrawal of the ship as “anti-climactic,” adding that he thought both sides should withdraw from the vicinity of the shoal, which is in an important sea lane. Cabalza said if the Philippines and China had reached any agreement in their Sept. 12 consultation, that would become evident in the absence of any “swarming of Chinese armada” at the shoal. “The ball is with China now,” the analyst told RFA’s affiliate BenarNews. RELATED STORIES China, Philippines trade blame over ‘ramming’ at disputed shoal https://www.rfa.org/english/news/southchinasea/china-philippines-ramming-sabina-08312024064753.html China releases report to fortify claim over disputed shoal in South China Sea https://www.rfa.org/english/news/southchinasea/china-sabina-shoal-report-08302024043714.html Philippines, China clash near disputed shoal in South China Sea https://www.rfa.org/english/news/southchinasea/china-philippines-shoal-clash-08262024023722.html *Jason Guterriez in Manila contributed to this report.” Editing by RFA Staff This story has been updated to include comment from the Philippine coast guard. 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EXCLUSIVE: Dissident Chinese journalist works on her next book from exile in Thailand

Editor011 mins

Read this interview in Mandarin. At the far end of a quiet garden courtyard in Chiang Mai, home to a small “village” of exiled Chinese writers and intellectuals, is a communal study room with books lining the walls. Veteran investigative journalist Dai Qing, 83, once one of the Chinese Communist Party’s most influential critics, is often there, reading and writing as she enjoys a quiet life of contemplation in Thailand — as well as working on her forthcoming book, “Notes on History.” Dai, a former reporter for the party’s Guangming Daily, was an early and prominent critic of China’s flagship Three Gorges Dam project, publishing a book Yangtze! Yangtze! arguing against the move. She also served time in Beijing’s notorious Qincheng Prison for supporting the students during the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square. Now part of a community of exiled Chinese writers and researchers in the northern Thai resort town, Dai spoke to RFA Mandarin — after her daily swim — about what led her there: RFA: Why Chiang Mai? Dai Qing: I should say that Chiang Mai wasn’t actually my choice. I’ve always lived in big cities, ever since I was a child. When they asked me where I was from, I said I was Chinese. For example, I was born in the wartime capital Chongqing, and later I worked in a Beijing high school. I have always been in big cities. I really don’t like big cities, I don’t like the bustle and prosperity — I like the quiet: trees and grass, blue sky and white clouds. When we set up this courtyard, it was as a small community of friends. We all shared the same values ​​and common hobbies, like reading. We set up a research center and invited people from foreign universities with an interest in China to come. We have so many people here who can talk to them, share our experiences, and they can stay here too. RFA: How many homes are here? Dai Qing: Today, there are 31 houses that were designed by [independent writer] Ye Fu. Many of the people here are his friends, and they just sort of came here. It costs less than one-fifth of the price of a place in Beijing, right? But they don’t all live here. Some are rented out. Who do they rent to? That’s another question. People who are dissatisfied with the Chinese education system, who want to bring their children here to study and enroll in the British education system. We rent houses to them. There are several families like that. You can see that the most lively ones are full of kids. Dissident journalist Dai Qing swims near her home in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Sept. 2024. (RFA) RFA: Did they come before or after the COVID years? Dai Qing: Some came before and some came after, so there are basically two groups. The first group is people who are dissatisfied with China’s education system and come here to have their children attend school. The second group is Ye Fu, Tang Yun, and Wang Ji, all people who have suffered political discrimination and oppression in China and can’t go back. RFA: So you came here because you were dissatisfied with Chinese politics? Dai Qing: It’s not that simple. It’s just that … before Hu Yaobang’s death in 1989, civil society in China hadn’t achieved a modern transformation, but it was actually much more relaxed than it is now. We could do a lot of things. Then Hu Yaobang died, and 58 days later, the crackdown continued, until it became what it is today. RFA: What happened to you in 1989? Dai Qing: Well, I was a journalist, so of course I was in contact with people from all walks of life. I told [1989 student leader] Chai Ling, do you think that just because you’re a good student of Chairman Mao that you can gather a bunch of heroes just by raising your arms, and be a leader? That’s not how things are. I kept telling them that they kept resisting and calling for democracy and demanding concessions even though the leaders had already made concessions. I told them it wasn’t right. I was trying to bring about peace, and they wound up putting me in Qincheng. RFA: When you left China, did the police warn you not to give interviews, or make other demands? Dai Qing: The police actually let me leave in 2023 because I had so many friends and relatives in the United States, and I wanted to go visit them now that my daughter had retired. She retired on her 55th birthday in 2023. I felt that I was in the later stages of my life, and I made an agreement with them that I wouldn’t give interviews or take part in activism, and they let me leave.  Then, when I went to various universities, everyone wanted to talk to me, but it had to be in closed-door meetings. Participants weren’t allowed to record audio or take photos or video with their phones. No one was allowed to publicize it. When I got back to Hong Kong and then to Beijing, the police were very happy. As far as they were concerned, I’d stuck to the deal. Later I asked … their boss who came to visit me whether he knew what I’d done back in the 1980s. He said they hadn’t bothered to research it. But they know now. RFA: How are you getting along here in Chiang Mai? Dai Qing: Actually it’s a question of “three noes and two don’ts” – that’s the way I describe my situation right now. I have no pension, no social security and no medical insurance, which is the “three noes” part. The “two don’ts” are: don’t get sick, and don’t hire help. I do all of the housework myself. RFA: Do you still follow what’s going on back in China, culturally, economically and politically? Dai Qing: Not so much. I…

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More Rohingya are arriving in Bangladesh, as Rakhine state burns

Editor08 mins

Some 20,000 Rohingya have entered Bangladesh in the last three months as they flee worsening conditions in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, with some new arrivals taking shelter in rented houses outside U.N.-administered camps, refugees and local officials say. The uptick comes with Bangladesh enmeshed in political turmoil and amid worsening violence in Rakhine, which lies just across its southeastern border. Arakan Army insurgents have been waging a fierce campaign to wrest control of the state from Myanmar’s military government.  “There is a terrible situation in Rakhine. There is no condition to stay there. No food, no shelter, no treatment for sick people,” said Mohammed Feroz Kamal, who arrived last week from Rakhine’s Maungdaw district. “Drone attacks are being carried out, especially on the people who have gathered to flee to the border in that country,” he told BenarNews. “Hundreds of people are dying. ”I saw many dead bodies on the way.” RELATED STORIES  Myanmar rebels say victory is near after battle near Bangladesh border Rohingyas face ‘gravest threats since 2017’ as fighting rages in western Myanmar Rohingya refugees drown fleeing Myanmar’s war as concerns mount Some 5,000 Rohingya who fled recent fighting waiting to cross to Bangladesh Rohingya community leader Mohammed Jubair, chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Humanity, said at least 20,000 people had crossed into Bangladesh during the past three months.  But a Bangladeshi official put the number at around 16,000. “They used the poor law-and-order situation as an advantage,” Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman told BenarNews, referring to the chaotic and lawless atmosphere in Bangladesh before and after the Sheikh Hasina government fell in early August. Earlier this week, in the face of new cross-border arrivals, Bangladesh transitional government head Muhammad Yunus called on the international community to speed up efforts to resettle Rohingya refugees in third countries. The “resettlement process should be easy, regular and smooth,” Yunus said during a meeting on Sept. 8 with the International Organisation for Migration, Reuters reported. The interim administration headed by Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and pioneer of microcredit loans, has been struggling to maintain law and order since Hasina resigned and fled the country amid student-led, anti-government protests. Two Rohingya families who recently escaped from Myanmar have taken refuge in this multistory building in Teknaf, Bangladesh, Sept. 10, 2024. (Abdur Rahman/BenarNews) This week, a BenarNews correspondent visited several villages, including the municipal town of Teknaf, which lies along the border with Myanmar.  According to local officials, Rohingyas are crossing the frontier into Bangladesh every day. “Border Guard Bangladesh and Bangladesh Coast Guard are working to prevent Rohingyas at the border,” Mohammed Adnan Chowdhury, executive officer of Teknaf Upazila sub-district, told BenarNews. “However, some Rohingyas are entering the border in the middle of the night. Many of them are renting houses in the main towns of the city and entering the villages.” He and others described how the recent influx differed from those in the past, including in 2017 when some 740,000 Rohingya fled into Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district over a period of months. Rented digs Most of the new arrivals are businessmen or from relatively well-to-do families in Maungdaw district, Rohingya community leaders said. Feroz, who paid a broker 50,000 Bangladeshi taka (US$418) to enter Bangladesh, is now spending 4,000 taka (US$33) per month to stay in a six-room, tin-roofed house in Teknaf alongside two other Rohingya families already living there.  Another Rohingya, Nur Shahed, is staying in an apartment with another Rohingya family in Teknaf’s Shilbania neighborhood  He said he had intended to take his family to the Kutupalong refugee camp, but there was no more space.  “So many people like me have taken shelter here in villages and in rented houses,” he told BenarNews. Mohammed Rafiq stands at the door of a building in Teknaf, Bangladesh, where he is now living in an apartment with his family after fleeing from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, Sept. 10, 2024. (Abdur Rahman/BenarNews) Immigration expert C.R. Abrar, a professor at Dhaka University, underlined that regardless of their income status, the new arrivals were being forced to come to Bangladesh to save their lives. “Therefore, they should not be treated as criminals under any circumstances; they should be given facilities and security as refugees,” he said, noting that Bangladesh — with its huge refugee population — should pass laws on how to treat them, and participate in related international agreements.  “Those who are outside the refugee camps are in a more vulnerable situation than those inside the camps,” he said. “They are likely to face various forms of harassment and violence. Therefore, they should be taken to the camps, from a humanitarian point of view, as the primary task.” BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Putin admires Kim Jong Un, unlike other world leaders, North Koreans are told

Editor06 mins

Russian President Vladimir Putin looks up to Kim Jong Un with the utmost admiration and respect, North Koreans were told at this week’s mandatory lectures at neighborhood watch unit meetings, two residents told Radio Free Asia.  The weekly lectures – at which a local party official reads lecture materials received from the central government – are intended to reinforce loyalty to the country’s leadership and Kim’s cult of personality. “This week’s lecture session informed the residents of the Russian president’s boundless admiration for their leader, Kim Jong Un,” a resident from the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons.  “It was intended to promote the high international standing of the marshall,” a reference to Kim, he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walk during a farewell ceremony upon Putin’s departure at the Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang, June 19, 2024. (Vladimir Smirnov/POOL/AFP) Russia has been cozying up to North Korea since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. While many in the international community are hesitant to engage with Russia while the war rages on, North Korea has been more than willing to trade with Russia and publicly declare support for the war.  The United States has accused Russia of using North Korean weapons in Ukraine, which North Korea and Russia deny.  Putin and Kim met in the Russian Far East in September 2023, and again in Pyongyang in June 2024. As evidence of Putin’s admiration for Kim, the lecture listed several examples. One was that Putin, who is notoriously late for nearly all his meetings with other global leaders, was 30 minutes early for his meeting with Kim in Vladivostok in April 2019, the resident said.  North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (R) presents the Kim Il Sung Medal to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (L) in Pyongyang, June 19, 2024. (KCNA VIA KNS/AFP) “Whenever President Putin meets with world leaders, he is late because he looks down on other countries and has a unique sense of superiority,” he said. “But when it comes to The Marshal, he expresses it as admiration.”  However, the lecture didn’t mention Putin’s visit to Pyongyang in June, when he arrived several hours later than planned, turning what should have been a two-day state visit into a quick one-day stop. Luxury car Another example in the lecture was Putin’s gift of a Russian-made luxury sedan to Kim, a resident of the northern province of Ryanggang told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.  But this generated “a cold atmosphere” in the lecture hall, the second resident said. “Some residents [privately] protested, saying, ‘If I were the head of the country, I would have asked for food, which the country desperately needs instead of a car,’” he said. RELATED RFA CONTENT RFA Insider episode 13 Timecode 43:07 North Korean leader hails deepening ties with Russia The apparent point of the lecture was to instill in the public the idea that Russia is being respectful to North Korea – and that other world leaders also yearn to meet Kim, he said. This wasn’t very convincing to most listeners, he said.  “Residents who can’t even eat one full meal don’t listen to the government’s propaganda,” he said.  North Korean authorities also held lectures on similar topics for residents in the early 2000s when they were receiving aid such as rice and fertilizer from South Korea and the international community. Park Ju Hee, an escapee from Musan, North Hamgyong province, said that aid coming from Western countries at the time was because of the “bold strategy and outstanding leadership” of then leader Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un’s father. Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Civilians killed as Myanmar rebels attack junta forces in the north

Editor05 mins

Read RFA coverage of this story in Burmese. Thousands of people have fled from fighting between ethnic minority guerrillas and Myanmar junta troops that entered a fifth day on Thursday, and at least 10 civilians have been killed, residents told Radio Free Asia. The autonomy-seeking Kachin Independence Army, or KIA, and allied militias loyal to a shadow civilian administration, have made significant gains in Myanmar’s northernmost Kachin state since launching an offensive in March. The insurgents have forced junta troops in the resource-rich region on the border with China into dwindling areas of control, mirroring setbacks elsewhere in Myanmar for the military that seized power in a 2021 coup. A resident of Hpakant township, a major jade-producing region, said at least 10 civilians were killed in crossfire between insurgents and the military in Hseng Taung village since the anti-junta forces surrounded it and launched an attack on Sunday. “People died after being hit by both heavy and small weapons. There are a lot of wounded,” said the resident who declined to be identified for safety reasons. “Many, many houses have been destroyed. Bullets were raining down.” Junta airstikes also sparked major fires in the town, witnesses said. Most of those killed were men, he said, adding that a peace activist named Yup Zau Hkawng, who was wounded in shelling on Monday. By Thursday, the KIA-led attackers had seized and burned down the Hseng Taung police station, sources close to an anti-junta People’s Defense Force, or PDF, allied with the KIA told RFA. RFA telephoned Kachin state’s junta spokesperson, Moe Min Thein, for comment but he did not respond by the time of publication and a telecommunications outage in the area made it difficult to check accounts of the fighting. About 60 soldiers were at the police station when the attack was launched, said another resident, who also asked to remain anonymous. “The Hseng Taung police station was captured but fighting has been going on after they set it on fire,” he said. “Some junta soldiers are dead, others were caught alive, and the rest were able to flee.”  KIA fighters had sealed off all roads in and out of the village, said the KIA spokesman, Col. Naw Bu. Residents said about 10,000 people had fled from the village over the five days of fighting, many seeking refuge in Nam Hmaw, Hseng Awng and Hpakant towns. The KIA and allied forces control most roads in and out of Hpakant town and have captured all but five junta bases in the township, anti-junta forces say. RELATED STORIES Red Cross chief calls for greater aid access after visit to Myanmar  Myanmar rebels capture last junta base in township on Chinese border China fires into Myanmar after junta airstrike on border, group says  Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan.  We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Floods swamp Myanmar’s capital, stranding thousands in typhoon’s aftermath

Editor06 mins

Floodwaters as high as five meters (15 feet) submerged parts of Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw on Wednesday, sweeping away houses and trapping thousands of residents, as the remains of Typhoon Yagi swept inland and dumped rain after battering Vietnam over the weekend. After torrential rains that started Monday, water levels rose to the roofs of hundreds homes in villages around the capital, where the military junta’s top officers live. Some people were stranded on their rooftops. “Floods have swept away some houses,” a resident of Tatkon township told Radio Free Asia. “We remain trapped in the village. We cannot go anywhere. We have called rescue teams, but no one has come.” In Vietnam, the number of people killed or missing from Typhoon Yagi and related natural disasters rose to 292 people, including 152 confirmed deaths, according to Vietnam’s Disaster and Dike Management Authority. The storm – the biggest this year to hit Southeast Asia – battered northern Vietnam and southeastern China on Saturday, causing landslides and a bridge collapse northwest of Hanoi that was captured in dramatic dashcam footage.  Brimming rivers Heavy rainfall over the last several days has dumped water into already brimming rivers in Vietnam, Laos and elsewhere. In Laos, the Mekong River Commission issued a flood warning for Luang Prabang, a popular tourist destination that sits at the confluence of the Mekong River and a major tributary, the Nam Khan. More rain was forecast for Thursday in Luang Prabang and on Friday and Saturday in the capital, Vientiane.  The Mekong River Commission on Wednesday warned of flooding in northeastern Cambodia as water makes its way downriver from overflowing dams in Laos. In Myanmar’s northern Shan state, towns have also been affected by rising waters that have left people without electricity or phone service.  Further south in Kayin state, the Thaungyin River burst its banks in the important border town of Myawaddy on Tuesday, according to a rescue worker who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity for security reasons. Several residential areas were quickly flooded, and people have since taken shelter at monasteries and schools, he said. About 5,000 have been affected by the flood. “The water level is rising faster and stronger than before in Myawaddy township,” the rescue worker said. “The flood has reached to rooftops in lowland areas.” More flooding is likely to take place in southern Myanmar’s delta region as water makes its way downriver on the Ayeyarwady river, according to meteorologist Win Naing. RFA wasn’t able to contact the junta’s Department of Disaster Management to ask about the status of rescue operations throughout the country. Hanoi evacuations Flooding in the streets of Hanoi prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents near the Red River on Wednesday. In Vietnam’s northern industrial zones, some factories have been forced to close and may not reopen for several weeks, according to Reuters, which cited business executives. Many factories in Quang Ninh and Hai Phong are without power and water, Bruno Jaspaert, CEO of industrial parks in Hai Phong, told Reuters. Several Samsung and Foxconn factories in Thai Nguyen and Bac Giang are also facing the risk of flooding due to rising floodwaters, according to Reuters. Flooding in some areas of northern Vietnam was also being affected by the release of water from a hydropower plant along China’s section of the Lo River, which is a tributary of the Red River. The Vietnamese government said it has asked Beijing to reduce the discharge. Translated by Aung Naing, Anna Vu and Sum Sok Ry. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster. RFA Vietnamese and RFA Khmer contributed to this report. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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EXPLAINED: Why are there questions about foreign judges in Hong Kong’s high court?

Editor010 mins

A decision by Hong Kong’s top court in August to uphold the convictions of seven of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy activists, including newspaper publisher Jimmy Lai, has not only raised fears for freedom of the press but also questions about the role of foreign judges. One of the quirk’s of Hong Kong’s system negotiated when Britain handed it back to China in 1997 was foreign judges in the judiciary. They have long been upheld as a testament to the commitment to the rule of law. But criticism is growing that they legitimize an administration that fails to uphold values of political freedom and freedom of expression. Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, made a pointed remark after the Hong Kong court’s August ruling, describing the verdict as one that “revealed the rapidly deteriorating state of the rule of law in Hong Kong.”   “This unjust verdict is further compounded by the involvement of Lord Neuberger, a former head of Britain’s Supreme Court, in this decision,” he said. David Neuberger is a British judge who served as the president of the British Supreme Court from 2012 to 2017. After his retirement, Neuberger participated in Hong Kong’s judicial system as part of the Court of Final Appeal, or CFA, which has the power of final adjudication and the ability to invite judges from other common law jurisdictions to join the court when necessary.  He said in August his role as a judge in Hong Kong was to decide cases that come before him according to the law. A man (bottom R) waits at a traffic light outside the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong on March 31, 2022. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP) Why does Neuberger sit at the CFA? Hong Kong’s CFA was established on July 1, 1997, as part of the city’s legal framework under the Basic Law, which serves as its mini-constitution. The CFA replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London as Hong Kong’s highest court after the end of British colonial rule. The Basic Law set out the city’s judicial system, which includes the CFA, the High Court, District Court, magistrates’ courts, and other specialized courts. It also ensured that Hong Kong’s common law system would continue. Cases in the CFA are heard by the chief justice, three permanent judges chosen by the chief justice, and a non-permanent judge who can be from Hong Kong or another common law jurisdiction. They are also selected by the chief justice. Under the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance, an overseas non-permanent judge must be a judge or a retired judge of a court of unlimited jurisdiction in either civil or criminal matters in another common law jurisdiction. They should also ordinarily reside outside Hong Kong. There are no restrictions on the type of cases an overseas judge may preside over. Government officials and legal figures in Hong Kong often cite the presence of overseas judges as proof of international confidence in the independence of Hong Kong’s judiciary.   As of Sept. 11, there were seven overseas non-permanent judges at the CFA.  A supporter of media mogul Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily, holds signs as his prison van leaves the Court of Final Appeal, in Hong Kong, China, Dec, 31, 2020. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters) What are the recent debates? The engagement of overseas judges has come under public scrutiny, particularly after some resignations following the implementation of a Beijing-imposed national security law in June 2020. The United States, Britain and other countries have criticized the law under which many Hong Kong residents have been prosecuted for dissent and media outlets shut. Only judges nominated by the city’s chief executive can sit on national security cases but the list of nominees is not made public, media has reported. The Hong Kong government said that any judge, regardless of nationality, was “eligible for designation” under the national security law, but in the small number of national security law cases that have reached the top court, no overseas judge has sat. A pro-establishment barrister and government adviser, Ronny Tong, questioned whether the city needed judges who owe their allegiance to other countries. They should not preside over national security cases, particularly if they came from countries “hostile to China or Hong Kong,” he said.  Social media critics question the foreign judges’ “luxurious” lifestyle. They are flown into Hong Kong on an ad hoc basis, enjoying first class travel and a generous salary for their visits, which typically last 29 days, media critics said. A statue of Lady Justice at the Court of Final Appeal is pictured, in Hong Kong, China, Sept. 5, 2023. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters) What are the foreign judges’ positions? Some of foreign judges who have stepped down since 2020 have questioned their roles under an administration that they say no longer respects basic rights and freedoms. In 2020, senior Australian judge James Spigelman cited the impact of the National Security Law as he stepped down. Two years later, U.K. Supreme Court justices Robert Reed and Patrick Hodge resigned following concerns raised by the British government. Other British judges, Jonathan Sumption and Lawrence Collins, resigned in June.  Collins cited the “political situation in Hong Kong” in a brief statement about his departure, while Sumption wrote in the Financial Times that Hong Kong was  “slowly becoming a totalitarian state”. “The rule of law is profoundly compromised in any area about which the government feels strongly,” Sumption said, adding that it was “no longer realistic” to think that the presence of overseas judges could help sustain the rule of law in Hong Kong. A spokesperson for Hong Kong’s judiciary said in June that its “operation will not be affected by any change in membership of the court”. Hong Kong’s government rejects any suggestion that the courts are subject to political pressure. It says the national security law, introduced after mass protests in 2019, was necessary to ensure the stability that underpins the financial hub’s prosperity. Edited by Mike Firn.  We are…

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Sluggish property revenues hit Hong Kong fiscal reserves

Editor010 mins

Read RFA coverage of this topic in Cantonese. Falling revenue from land auctions — once a mainstay of the city’s fiscal strength — has hit Hong Kong government coffers hard in recent months, resulting in a spike in the fiscal deficit and dwindling fiscal reserves. Government expenditure between April and July topped HK$242.6 billion (US$31 billion), with revenue at just HK$90.1 billion (US$11.5 billion) over the same period, resulting in a cumulative year-to-date deficit of HK$135.4 billion (US$17.4 billion), the government said. The government reported a budget deficit of about HK$100 billion (US$12.8 billion) for the fiscal year that ended in March 2024, almost double its earlier estimate. The latest figures from April through July suggest it could be on track for an even larger hole in public finances in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025. Hong Kong reported a budget deficit of HK$257.6 billion for the 2020-21 fiscal year, the largest deficit in 20 years, reflecting huge government expenditures during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Apartment blocks at Oi Man housing estate, May 8, 2024, in Hong Kong. (Dale De La Rey/AFP) But the deficit, which analysts say is mostly the result of reduced revenues from land auctions and recently cut stamp duties, hasn’t disappeared since then, largely due to a flagging property market and a post-lockdown economic slump. Fiscal reserves stood at HK$599.2 billion (US$76.8 billion) as of July 31, their lowest level in 14 years. However, the figures have taken into account proceeds and payouts on recent government bond transactions, the government said in an Aug. 30 statement. Fiscal obligations Hong Kong is obliged under its constitution, the Basic Law, to avoid deficits by keeping spending within revenue limits, yet the city has reported four deficits in the past five years. “The government has slowed down the supply of land to give the market time, but the Hong Kong property market is facing structural changes,” Joseph Ngan, former finance channel chief at i-CABLE News, wrote in a recent commentary for RFA Cantonese. “The effect of the stimulating measures at the beginning of this year has now worn off, and real estate prices have seen further downward pressure in recent months,” Ngan wrote. “This has impacted developers’ willingness to invest in land, and will eventually mean a huge fiscal deficit.” The situation has left some government departments charged with managing affordable housing and cultural assets in dire financial straits, including the Housing Authority, which runs the city’s public housing estates, and the Urban Renewal Authority, which spearheads urban redevelopment and refurbishment projects. Hong Kong apartment buildings, May 15, 2024. (Dale De La Rey/AFP) Such departments are now in need of fresh injections of capital, analysts said. The Housing Authority, which relies on public housing rentals and the sale of premium-free Home Ownership Scheme housing as its main income, is in a similar situation.  Revenue in recent years has been lower than expected, leaving the body with an operating surplus that shrank from HK$12.6 billion (US$1.6 billion) in 2023 to HK$2.6 billion (US$330 million). Public rental housing revenue is expected to move into the red this fiscal year, with a projected deficit of around HK$2.143 billion (US$276 million) next year.  Housing construction promised At the same time, the Hong Kong government has pledged to speed up construction of more than 10,000 subsidized housing units within the next five years, boosting annual construction expenditure by HK$10 billion (US$1.2 billion) to HK$40 billion (US$5 billion).  The authority has tried to staunch the losses by slashing discounts to its affordable Home Ownership Scheme private sector apartments from 62% last year to just 30% this year, but the move has made it harder to sell the apartments in what was already a difficult market. Financial commentator Simon Lee said the authority was forced to sell off some of its public housing assets in the wake of the Asian financial crisis of 1997. “The Housing Authority was the first to be affected when the real estate market froze during the 1997 financial crisis,” Lee said. “Public housing rentals can carry on when the market is strong, but Hong Kong is tied into the public policy model of real estate subsidies.” He said the government also holds a stake in train and subway operator MTRC, and subsidizes it to build housing and other developments on its land, and around stations. A worker walks past a large advertisement photo of a property project of the China Evergrande Group outside its local headquarters in Hong Kong, Oct. 4, 2021. (Vincent Yu/AP) Meanwhile, the Urban Renewal Authority has been issuing bonds in a bid to raise enough funds. “Exorbitantly high construction costs and high interest rates, coupled with high prices for previously acquired land … have put considerable pressure on the [Urban Renewal] Authority,” Joseph Ngan told RFA Cantonese’s Free to Talk Finance show. “The reversal in the real estate market has left a lot of property-related public bodies under tremendous pressure,” he said. Bond sale The Urban Renewal Authority’s recent triple-tranche HK$12 billion (US$1.5 billion) senior bonds offering under its US$3 billion Medium Term Note Programme will help to fund its capital expenditure on urban renewal projects and for general corporate purposes, the authority said in an Aug. 21 statement. The offering was well-received by a diverse group of high-quality local and overseas investors, including banks, asset managers, corporations, insurance companies, hedge funds, central banks, official institutions, family offices and private banks.  It had a peak combined orderbook of over HK$22.8 billion (US$2.9 billion), representing an oversubscription rate of around 2 times, the statement said. The bond sale came after the authority suffered its first loss in nine years in 2022/23, totaling more than HK$3.9 billion last year. Projected construction costs this year will run to HK$64.3 billion (US$8.2 billion), but current cash reserves are only HK$18 billion (US$2.3 billion). The authority has also been allowed to borrow up to HK$25 billion (US$3.2 billion) under government guarantees. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by…

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