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Year: 2024

China cracks down on Tibetans during holy month

Editor07 mins

Chinese authorities have instructed Tibetan students, government workers and retirees to refrain from engaging in religious activities in Tibet’s capital Lhasa during the Buddhist holy month of Saga Dawa, four sources said. The Saga Dawa festival occurs during the fourth month of the Tibetan lunar calendar and runs from May 9 to June 6 this year.  For Tibetan Buddhists, it marks the period of Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and parinirvana — the state entered after death by someone who has attained nirvana during their lifetime. During the holy month, thousands of religious pilgrims visit temples and walk sacred kora routes around Lingkhor and Barkhor streets in Lhasa, encircling the revered Jokhang Temple.  The ritual kora — making a circumambulation around sacred sites or objects as part of a pilgrimage — holds immense significance for Tibetan Buddhists who believe that virtuous deeds performed during Saga Dawa are magnified based on their location. A video obtained by Radio Free Asia showed heavy police presence surrounding the Barkhor area — the heart of the capital with its famed pilgrimage circuit — on May 22, the eve of the 15th day of the fourth month of the Tibetan Lunar calendar, considered one of the holiest days during Saga Dawa.  Since the start of Saga Dawa, Chinese police have tightened security around key religious sites, including Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, and the Barkhor area, the sources told RFA. The measures illustrate the deterioration of religious freedom in Tibet under the Chinese government’s suppression and Sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism — a policy that seeks to bring the religion under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. Police everywhere While devotees were seen on pilgrimage on the other days of Saga Dawa, the 15th day on May 23 saw heightened restrictions, with police stationed along the pathways leading to the Sera, Gandhen and Drepung monasteries, said the sources who declined to be named out of fear of retribution by authorities. “There isn’t any place where you don’t see police and interrogation stations,” one of the sources told RFA.  Tibetans line up to offer prayers as they mark the day of Buddha’s birth, death and enlightenment at the Tsuklakhang temple complex in Dharamshala, India, May 23, 2024. (Ashwini Bhatia/AP) The Chinese government has increased the number of police checkpoints in and around Lhasa, and authorities have been interrogating Tibetans spontaneously, the person said.  Individuals who do not have a shenfenzhang, or Chinese resident identity card, are prohibited from visiting temples, leading to the heightened restrictions now in effect, said a second source.  “During our visits to circumambulate the holy sites, Chinese police regularly inspect everyone’s identity cards and engage in arguments,” said a third source.  “Having to engage in disputes with the Chinese police takes an emotional toll on us, and this is one of the reasons why many are afraid of engaging in religious activities as often as they’d like,” he said. A Nepalese monk lights a butter lamp during Saga Dawa at Swayambhunath, one of the holiest Buddhist stupas in Nepal, in Kathmandu, May 24, 2013. (Prakash Mathema/AFP) Facial recognition technology is pervasive at key pilgrimage sites and authorities regularly frisk Tibetans making pilgrimages, said a fourth source. Flag-raising festival Additionally, during the Ngari Flag Raising Festival in Purang county, called Pulan in Chinese, of Ngari Prefecture in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, ​​Chinese authorities increased security  as people gathered on May 23 for the annual ceremony, and banned the use of drones during the event, according to the sources.  The annual tradition of hoisting a large central prayer flag pole in front of Mount Kailash in Tibet began in 1681 during the time of the 5th Dalai Lama. Buddhist monks and Hindu holy men sit by a roadside expecting alms as Tibetans mark the day of Buddha’s birth, death and enlightenment in Dharamsala, India, May 23, 2024. (Ashwini Bhatia/AP) In a government notice dated May 16, the Pulan County Public Security Bureau in Talqin said the use of drones and other aircraft during the Saga Dawa flag raising festival was prohibited and that violators would be punished.  Tibetans who attended the event were subjected to extensive questioning and coerced into agreeing to uphold social order and refraining from causing discord, said one of the sources. Police instructed people not to share photos or videos of the festival on social media, he said. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan and by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

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Myanmar’s junta kills 4 villagers following mass arrest

Editor05 mins

Junta troops and members of an affiliated militia killed four civilians in central Myanmar shortly after they and 19 other people were rounded up in a sweep as troops hunted for insurgents battling to end military rule, residents told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday. The villagers were detained and taken away for questioning in the Sagaing region’s Pale township as they headed to nearby farms on Friday.  The group of men and women, mostly residents of Ywar Thit village, were taken to In Ma Htee village about 3 km (2 miles) away and tortured, said one Pale resident, who declined to be identified for fear of reprisals. Witnesses reported that four of the detainees were killed.  The villager identified one of the dead as Tun Naing from In Ma Htee, who was in his thirties. “He had been on the run for a long time because he did not want to join the Pyu Saw Htee,” the villager said, referring to a pro-junta militia made up of supporters of the military, Buddhist nationalists, and army veterans that is frequently accused of terrorizing villages.  “But now, he’s been arrested and killed. Those who were freed also had injuries from the beatings and are now being treated.” Nineteen people were released on Monday, he added. He identified the other dead men as Thint Zaw Oo, 25, Tun Naing Linn, 24, and Kyaw Khaing, who was in his fifties. The bodies had not been returned to their families, he said. RFA phoned the Sagaing region’s junta spokesperson, Nyunt Win Aung, for more information on why villagers were arrested but he did not return the call by the time of publication. The military has faced unprecedented opposition in Myanmar’s central heartlands, which are dominated by members of the majority Burman community, since seizing power from an elected government in early 2021. While ethnic minority groups have battled for autonomy in border hills for decades, central areas like Sagaing had been peaceful until the coup triggered outrage and an insurgency waged by pro-democracy activists in league with the ethnic minority rebels.  Junta troops have cracked down harshly on communities in response to the uprising, aiming to root out supporters of the activists’ People’s Defense Forces. According to a tally compiled by the independent media outlet Burma News International and its Myanmar Peace Monitor, junta forces have killed 1,446 civilians in the past two years in massacres, which the group defines as five or more people killed at the same time. Thousands of people were killed when the security forces crushed mass protests against the 2021 coup and thousands have been killed in fighting across the country since then. The Sagaing region has faced more attacks by the military than any other region or state, the monitoring group said in a statement on Monday. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.   

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Dozens of Taiwanese celebrities endorse Beijing’s claim on island

Editor010 mins

Dozens of artists and actors from Taiwan have been lining up on social media to endorse Beijing’s territorial claim on the island by retweeting a Chinese state media post in support of eventual “unification.” More than 70 artists and celebrities including journalist Patty Hou, singer and actress Nana Ouyang and TV host and actress Dee Hsu reposted a statement from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on the Weibo social media platform which said that independence for Taiwan, which has never been ruled by Beijing, was “a dead end.” “The unification of Taiwan with China cannot be stopped,” said the May 22 statement, local media reported, citing a social media spreadsheet. CCTV’s post was in response to the inauguration speech of Taiwan’s elected President Lai Ching-te, who called on Beijing to stop threatening his country, and respect the will of its 23 million people, the majority of whom have no wish to be ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. “Taiwan has never been a country and will never become one,” the post said, adding “Taiwanese independence is a dead end. Unification with the motherland is unstoppable! China will eventually achieve complete unification.”  Other artists appeared to be offering their support less directly, by claiming a “Chinese” identity, a view that isn’t shared by most of their compatriots. Lead singer Ashin of the Taiwanese band Mayday told fans at a concert at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium on Saturday that “We Chinese, when we come to Beijing, must eat roast duck! What else should we eat?” in a statement similar to the saying, “When in Rome.” And singer Jolin Tsai, who has had an LGBTQ+-themed song deleted from her concerts by Chinese censors, told concert-goers that residents of “our Chinese city of Nanchang” were the most passionate fans. Ashin of Taiwanese band Mayday performs in Kuala Lumpur in 2013. (Lai Seng Sin/AP) One fan commented on Nana Ouyang’s re-post that they were unhappy about her support for Beijing. “I’ve been your fan for a long time, but I love Taiwan more,” the fan wrote in comments reported by the Taiwan News. Another told Ouyang to go live in China: “Don’t come back to Taiwan.” Some Hong Kong artists also followed suit, including martial arts star Donnie Yen, who sparked controversy when he was a presenter at last year’s Oscars despite protests over his pro-Beijing stance on the Hong Kong protests of 2019. Resisting pressure Not everyone piled onto the bandwagon, however. Taiwanese actor Yang Hsiu-hui told reporters on Sunday that she identifies as Taiwanese, and doesn’t want to make money from China. “Some people told me I would lose access to the market in mainland China,” Yang said, adding that she had turned down jobs in China for political reasons. “I gave up on that market a long time ago,” she said. Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai is pictured in Milan in 2017. (Marco Bertolrello/AFP) President Lai expressed empathy for the artists in a statement on Sunday, saying he could understand how much pressure they were under “in another person’s house,” and that they may privately feel very differently. Ruling Democratic Progressive Party Mayor of Kaohsiung Chen Chi-mai said China should honor freedom of speech rather than coercing Taiwanese entertainers into taking a political stance, while the Kuomintang, the largest party in Taiwan’s parliament, said putting pressure on Taiwan’s artist doesn’t “build goodwill across the Taiwan Strait,” local media reported. The island’s Ministry of Culture said the artists were forced into taking a position by “unavoidable circumstances,” and that such coercion would never happen in democratic Taiwan. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te wears a hat given to him by Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, in Taipei on May 27, 2024. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP) “To the artists taking a public stance under unavoidable circumstances, we extend our understanding,” the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. “Taiwan … will never ask anyone to take a public stance, nor will anyone be punished for taking, or not taking, such a stance.” “The lack of political coercion is the most valuable thing about a free Taiwan,” the ministry said. ‘Divide and conquer’ Chinese dissident Gong Yujian, who now lives permanently in Taiwan, told RFA Mandarin that the artists’ statements are part of a campaign to wage “cognitive warfare” on Taiwan. “I am certain, and can say without hesitation, that this is a case of the Chinese Communist Party’s divide-and-rule tactics and cognitive warfare being waged against Taiwan,” Gong said. “The aim is to split supporters of independence, with the ultimate aim of benefiting the Chinese Communist Party and its ‘fifth column’ in Taiwan,” he said. Kang Kai, chairman of the Taiwan Performing Arts Union, told RFA that he had no problem with President Lai’s approach.  “Everyone has their own opinion,” Kang said. “The most important thing is that they work hard to support their families and do a good job.” “I don’t like to see artists getting involved in politics. Neither side wants a war,” he said.  Chinese dissident Gong Yujian poses for a photo in New Taipei City in 2015. (Pichi Chuang/Reuters) A spokesperson for a foundation run by former Kuomintang President Ma Ying-jeou, who recently met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a trip to Beijing, told RFA Mandarin that “bullying” can work both ways. “It seems that you are expected to say you’re Taiwanese and not Chinese, if you want to be respected … in Taiwan,” Ma Ying-jeou Foundation CEO Hsiao Hsu-tsen said. “That’s just another form of suppression and coercion.” But Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan said there would be no repercussions for the Taiwanese artists who supported Beijing’s claim on the island. “We are a free and democratic country, and Taipei is a diverse and open city, so how can we stop them from performing?” Chiang said. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

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China ‘can claim the South China Sea’: former Malaysian PM

Editor06 mins

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that China can claim the South China Sea, but that doesn’t mean that other countries with overlapping claims should accept it, a view that differs from the Malaysian government’s official line.  Beijing has drawn a so-called nine-dash line to demarcate its “historic claim” of 90% of the disputed waters. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also hold conflicting claims over smaller parts of the South China Sea. “OK, you can claim,” said Mahathir at the annual Future of Asia conference hosted by Nikkei Inc. in Tokyo at the weekend. “We don’t accept your claim but we don’t have to go to war against you because of your claim.” “Maybe one day you will realize that the claim means nothing,” the 98-year-old former leader said. He did not elaborate. Mahathir’s statement appears to differ from the Malaysian government’s official line. Most recently in 2023, Malaysia, together with the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, rejected China’s map that depicts its sovereignty in the South China Sea. “They claim that the South China Sea’s belonging to them, but they have not stopped ships from passing through,” he said, adding that Kuala Lumpur has been producing oil and gas in the sea but “so far they have not done anything.”  “As long as there is no stoppage of the passage of ships through the South China Sea then it’s good enough.” The former leader argued that priorities should be given to maintaining peace and fostering economic development. The 10-member Southeast Asian bloc, ASEAN, has been peaceful “compared to other regional groupings,” he said, “Until now there’s no major wars between ASEAN countries.” ASEAN could serve as “a good model” for the world where there are different ideologies but “we don’t go to war with each other.” Malaysia will hold the grouping’s rotating chair in 2025, taking over from Laos. Not taking sides When asked about China-U.S. rivalry, the veteran leader urged regional countries to stay neutral as “if we take sides, we are going to lose either the American market or the Chinese market.” He noted that China did appear to be aggressive but it was the biggest trading partner for ASEAN countries and “we cannot lose that market.”  He also warned against taking sides in the Taiwan issue, saying that there was “no necessity” to see a confrontation between China and Taiwan. Beijing considers democratically governed Taiwan a Chinese province that should be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.  Last week, China conducted a two-day “punishment” military exercise around Taiwan, believed to be in response to the inauguration of the new Taiwanese president, Lai Ching-te. Mahathir said that  China’s leader, Xi Jinping, “seems to be more ambitious and aggressive,” but China’s policies may change in  future because of changes at the top. “Leaders don’t live forever so policies may change when leadership changes,” he said.  Mahathir Mohamad, who will be 99 in July, served as prime minister from 1981 to 2003 and again from 2018 to 2020.  Incumbent Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was also present at the Future of Asia 2024 forum and delivered a speech. In an interview with Nikkei Asia on the forum’s sidelines, Anwar said that his focus “will be the economy.” Malaysia’s position remains that disputes should be settled via engagement and the way forward is to seek peaceful resolution through negotiations, according to Anwar. Future of Asia, held by Japan’s Nikkei annually since 1995, is “an international gathering where political, economic, and academic leaders from the Asia-Pacific region offer their opinions frankly and freely on regional issues and the role of Asia in the world,” according to the company. Edited by Taejun Kang and Mike Firn.

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Malaysian fishermen want govt to crack down on Vietnamese encroachers

Editor06 mins

Syed Mohd Nawawi and fellow Malaysian fishermen are fed up. They say they want local authorities to do more to crack down on foreign fishing boats – particularly from Vietnam – that have been encroaching into Malaysia’s territorial waters for years to trawl for squid.  Malaysia has laws with stiff penalties to guard against illegal fishing. It also signed an MoU with Vietnam three years ago to deal with this issue. But that hasn’t deterred foreign fishermen from trawling in Malaysian waters without permits or paying off local skippers to lend them their fishing licenses, Malaysian fishermen allege.  The local squid stock is becoming depleted because the Vietnamese boats use big nets that can damage the sea floor, Syed said.  “Fishermen on the east coast of Malaysia really don’t want this,” he told BenarNews. Syed is based in Kuala Terengganu, a port on the eastern shores of Peninsular Malaysia.   “They use ‘pukat gading’ [large fishing nets] … equipment that can damage the ecosystem. [W]hatever is under the sea is depleted because they use rollers,” he said of the Vietnamese boats, adding that when the nets come upon reefs “they’ll kill all the coral and everything.” As a result of illegal fishing by foreigners, Malaysia lost US$172 million (823 million ringgit) in fisheries through 428 incursions by non-Malaysian boats between 2020 and 2023, according to Mohamad Sabu, Malaysia’s minister of Agriculture and Food Security. Of the 19 foreign boats intercepted and seized by Malaysian authorities during that period, 18 were from Vietnam, officials said.    Persistent problem Vietnamese fishing boats have been encroaching in Malaysian waters in the South China Sea for almost two decades, residents, officials and experts say. But despite a memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries’ maritime agencies in 2021, the problem persists. “In 2022, there was an oil spill in the Gulf of Thailand and this led to a decline in fish species in nearby areas. Indirectly, this has caused many foreign fishermen from Vietnam and Thailand to trawl in Malaysian waters,” said one expert, Syuhaida Ismail. “Most Vietnamese fishing vessels would fish in their own area, but then came to Malaysian waters after their sonar technology detected more catches in Malaysia. The catches are known to be more rewarding compared to catches in Vietnam,” Syuhaida, research director at the Maritime Institute of Malaysia, told BenarNews.  A catch of squid is displayed at the market in Pasar Payang, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, April 13, 2024. [Syahrin Abdul Aziz/BenarNews] Under Malaysia’s fisheries law, foreign fishing boats and foreign nationals are subject to a fine not exceeding 6 million ringgit ($1.25 million) each in the case of the owner or master, and 600,000 ringgit (US$125,000) in the case of every member of the crew, if found guilty of fishing illegally in Malaysian waters.  During intercepts at sea by Malaysia’s coast guard, some tense and violent standoffs with Vietnamese fishermen have occurred. In 2020, a Vietnamese sailor was shot dead by members of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, after crews of Vietnam-flagged vessels rammed and attacked an MMEA boat with Molotov cocktails and hard objects during a patrol 81 nautical miles (150 km) off Tok Bali in Kelantan state, coast guard officials said at the time. And last July, one MMEA member was attacked and seriously injured to the head while inspecting a Vietnamese fishing boat off the coast of Kuala Terengganu. According to one Vietnamese fisherman, desperation drove him to fish in Malaysian waters. For safety reasons, he requested that he remain anonymous. “There are difficulties. For example, at that time, in Vietnam, our fishing grounds did not have enough squid. But in their waters, they have more. So we have to enter their waters,” the fisherman said during an interview with RFA Vietnamese at Radio Free Asia. BenarNews is an online news agency affiliated with Radio Free Asia.

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Taiwan’s people must never forget Tiananmen massacre, artists warn

Editor011 mins

The unknown “Tank Man” hero who faced down a line of People’s Liberation Army tanks in his shirtsleeves and holding a shopping bag in June 1989. A grieving woman pulling a tank out of a baby’s body. The hastily packed suitcases of Hong Kongers packed with memories of home as they fled an ongoing crackdown in their city. These and many more works of art are on display in Taipei through June 13 in a bid to warn the democratic island’s residents of the dangers of forgetting — specifically the threat to human rights and freedoms posed by authoritarian rule. As the island is encircled by People’s Liberation Army forces on military exercises, artists are marking the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre with an exhibit that includes key moments in the pro-democracy movement in recent years as well as commemoration of those who died in the 1989 bloodshed. The exhibit, titled “Preserving Memory: Life, Death,” brings together more than 30 works by 18 artists in wooden frames resembling household cabinets, including 3D-printed replicas of the “Pillar of Shame” massacre memorial sculpture, which has been seized by national security police in Hong Kong.  A grieving woman pulls a tank out of a baby’s body in a painting on show at the “Preserving Memory: Life, Death” exhibit in Taipei on May 23, 2024. (RFA/Hsia Hsiao-hwa) Upstairs at the imposing blue-and-white memorial hall commemorating Taiwan’s former authoritarian ruler Chiang Kai-shek, with a candlelight vigil to be held in Democracy Boulevard outside the hall on June 4 this year, more than one third of the works on show are from Hong Kong artists who fled their city amid a crackdown on dissent in the wake of the 2019 pro-democracy protests. Candlelight vigils were held for the victims of the June 4, 1989, massacre every year in Hong Kong for three decades, before they were banned in 2020 and their organizers jailed. Dangers Tiananmen massacre eyewitness Wu Renhua told the launch event on Thursday that he hopes the exhibit will remind Taiwan’s 23 million people, particularly the younger generation, of the dangers of Chinese Communist Party rule. Speaking as People’s Liberation Army warships and planes encircled the island on military exercises intended as a “serious punishment” for Taiwan’s democratically elected President Lai Ching-te, Wu said Taiwan is currently under threat today because of the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarian system. Exiled Hong Kong artist Choi Chi-ho (right) and curator Abbey Li at the opening of the “Preserving Memory: Life, Death” exhibit in Taipei on May 23, 2024. (RFA/Hsia Hsiao-hwa.) “Over the years, some political parties, some politicians, and some media in Taiwan have been trying to curry favor with the Chinese Communist Party, saying that it’s different now, and that China today has changed,” Wu told the event. “This worries me greatly.” “I hope that through commemorative activities for June 4 and by telling the truth about the June 4 massacre, more Taiwanese, particularly the younger generation, will see the violent nature of the Chinese Communist Party for what it is,” Wu said, calling for “a sense of crisis” to safeguard Taiwan’s freedoms and its democratic system. Exiled Hong Kong artist Choi Chi-ho, who exhibited his suitcase as an artwork, said he had packed in a huge hurry when the time came for him to leave Hong Kong, with only a couple of days to get himself ready. “I just stuffed everything I could find … anything I could find to represent my 20 years of life in Hong Kong, my experiences and memories, into that suitcase,” Choi told RFA Mandarin, adding that he couldn’t bear to open it until he heard about the exhibit. Organizers from Taiwan’s New School for Democracy pose at the launch of the “Preserving Memory: Life, Death” exhibit in Taipei on May 23, 2024. RFA/Hsia Hsiao-hwa. Among the items in the suitcase was the key to his old apartment. “My house key,” Choi explained. “I thought maybe one day I’d go back, but eventually, it just wound up here. I’ll never be able to use it again.” “My ex-boyfriend wrote me a farewell letter and gave me some of his clothes,” he said. “When my mother found out I was leaving, she took out a Bible and wrote some words of blessing on it for me,” he said. “When I opened it later, I saw she’d also put some family photos from my childhood in there.” Authoritarian control Choi said the exhibit seeks to underline what can happen to a society once it comes under Beijing’s control. “Taiwan has also lived through a very authoritarian era,” he said in a reference to the one-party rule of the Kuomintang that ended with the direct election of the island’s president in 1996.  “Only by understanding human rights violations in our own land, or in the territory next door, do we realize that freedom and democracy are hard-won, and that our predecessors paid a high price in blood, sweat and human life for them,” he said. Former Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kei speaks at the launch of the “Preserving Memory: Life, Death” exhibit in Taipei on May 23, 2024. RFA/Hsia Hsiao-hwa. Canada-based democracy activist Yang Ruohui said by video message that respect for human rights was the biggest difference between Taiwan and China under Communist Party rule. “I would like to call on the people of Taiwan to pay attention to the human rights situation in China, and to help us build a Chinese community in diaspora that embraces human rights, freedom and democracy as a way of life, and demonstrates it to those in mainland China,” he said. Former Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kei, who fled to Taiwan after being held for months by Chinese state security police for selling banned political books to customers in mainland China, said it’s not enough just to mark the anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre every year. “We must also reflect on why this happened in 1989,” he told the launch event. “Was it because…

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Episode 7a: Hollywood, we have (had?) a problem! (Or did we?)

Editor03 mins

In Honor of Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, this edition of RFA Insider brings together a panel of four Asian American RFA staffers to discuss Asian representation in U.S. media. Joining the insiders on the panel are Charlie Dharapak, RFA’s multimedia managing director, and Boer Deng, director of RFA’s Investigative team. Recording for this episode went on way longer than expected, so the decision was made to release it as two separate episodes. In the rundown, the panel each introduced Asian two Asian characters from their youths in an effort to make a top five list out of them. Eugene’s characters were Ensign Harry Kim from Star Trek Voyager (1995-2001) and Rufio from the 1991 film Hook. Amy’s were Prince Christopher from Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997) and Kelly Kapoor from The Office (2005-2013). Charlie’s characters were two played by Pat Morita, Arnold from Happy Days (1974-1984) and Martin Yan, from the cooking show Yan Can Cook (1982-present according to Wikipedia). Boer said that because she was born abroad and moved to the U.S. as a child, she did not feel the need or expectation to be represented and therfore did not submit any characters to our top 5 list but acknowledged that for people who were born in the U.S., representation is important. Prior to the show, Eugene, Charlie and Amy ranked each other’s characters but not their own. The ranks were averaged. Who will come out on top? Tune in next week for Episode 7b, which will feature How its Made, and the panel will discuss their journeys as Asians in the journalism field, how their parents reacted to their choice of study or profession, given that jobs in journalism do not confer the traditional markers of success, and ways they think coverage of Asian Americans or Asia can improve.

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Junta officials bulldoze 200 homes in Myanmar neighborhood

Editor03 mins

Junta administrators destroyed 200 homes in a neighborhood in Myanmar’s Yangon Division on charges of trespassing, residents told Radio Free Asia, the latest in a series of evictions to clear squatter communities in urban centers. The homes in Mingaladon township’s Pale neighborhood were bulldozed on Thursday by municipal officers and troops, they said.  Officials sent residents letters in late April telling them they had to leave  by an early May deadline.  Myanmar’s military has cleared tens of thousands of homes across the country, accusing people of squatting. The neighborhoods are usually in the suburbs of Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, crammed with makeshift dwellings made from tarpaulin, scraps of wood and corrugated iron.  A resident who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons told RFA that only 18 households left willingly. The rest were destroyed. “They brought a bulldozer to completely flatten them,” he said. In the eviction notice, signed by the junta chairman of Mingaladon township’s Planning and Administration Board, residents were told  “all squatter buildings” in the area had to be dismantled and removed by May 10. People who have lost their homes have had to find rented accommodation, neighbors said. RFA telephoned Yangon region’s junta spokesperson, Htay Aung, for information about the incident  but he did not answer the phone. On April 26, junta forces and municipal officials ordered district authorities to remove 600 houses in Yangon’s Mayangone township, residents said. According to data compiled by RFA, nearly 20,000 houses in Mayangon, Dagon Myothit (Seikkan), Dagon Myothit, Dawbon and Mingaladon townships, have been removed in the more than three years since the military seized power from a democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup. In addition to Yangon, the second city of Mandalay and some other centers have seen  forced evictions. On Dec. 2, 2022, the United Nations called the removal of residential homes by force without providing replacements for those evicted a war crime. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.  

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In bid to reduce traffic jams, Vietnam mulls congestion fees

Editor07 mins

Vietnamese drivers entering big cities during peak traffic periods will have to pay “congestion fees” if one lawmaker gets his way.  Nguyen Phuong Thuy, a representative from the capital Hanoi, argued during a discussion Tuesday in the National Assembly that the fee would boost the state budget, increase funds for land transport infrastructure – and reduce traffic jams. He was one of 23 National Assembly deputies who discussed a draft Law on Roads, including the possibility of charging fees on personal cars that enter city centers at certain times, according to a state media. The proposal comes as Vietnam grapples with growing traffic congestion, inadequate transportation infrastructure and increasing air pollution from exhaust fumes despite the government’s commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050. Officials in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest city with a population of 9 million, calculated that in 2022, the city lost about 138 trillion dong, or US$5.4 billion, due to traffic jams for missed work time, wasted fuel while sitting in traffic and labor force costs. Public transportation is lacking. In 2022, Hanoi had about 5.8 million motorbikes and 600,000 automobiles, though only 140 bus lines, meeting an estimated 31% of total demand, according to a report by the Hanoi Times. Five centrally governed cities in Vietnam – Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong, Danang and Can Tho – have the authority to impose driving charges not previously defined by law, according to a report by Viet Nam News.  It wasn’t immediately clear what the fees might be under the new proposal. Three conditions must be met for the scheme to work, Thuy said, according to an online report by VN Express. First, the collection should be digitized. Second, public transportation should meet at least 30% of transportation demand. And third, infrastructure, parking lots, and public transit systems must connect personal vehicles with public ones. “Cars owned by people both inside and outside the city have increased, while old, dilapidated infrastructure has failed to meet transport demand,” he said.  Mixed views But some people are skeptical the plan would be effective. Hanoi resident Nguyen Khac Toan said he didn’t believe a fee on inbound-city cars would reduce traffic jams. “The fee collection measure seems right, but it is only situational and patchy,” he told Radio Free Asia. “It would not help because those who need to drive a car into the city would pay to do so.” Traffic gridlock occurs near the National Convention Center during the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Hanoi, Jan. 26, 2021. (Nhac Nguyen/AFP) Former National Assembly Deputy Luu Binh Nhuong wrote on Facebook that poor traffic management is the main cause of traffic jams in Hanoi — not inbound personal vehicles.  Therefore, any fees imposed on these drivers would not be not fair and would be a violation of free movement and free business under the country’s Constitution and Competition Law, he said. Nguyen Quang A, another Hanoi resident, said a willingness by city officials to address limited parking spaces and high parking  fees would help ease the situation. Drivers have to pay several hundred thousand dong an hour to park, and lots are difficult to find, he said.  “For city dwellers, there should be parking lots built for them, but in case they park on the streets, a fee should be collected for using public space,” he said. “Those who own cars have to follow. That is the easiest way to solve traffic jams and to collect money for the city budget.” Past proposals This isn’t the first time that Vietnam’s major cities have considered fees on personal vehicles entering the city center – but none have been implemented. The Vietnamese government issued a decree in April 2022 to enhance order, transport security and reduce traffic jams, and several cities were told to conduct a fee collection pilot program for inbound vehicles. In 2017, Hanoi’s People’s Council issued a resolution on enhancing traffic order and combating traffic congestion. It called for limiting or stopping motorbike traffic in certain areas of the five centrally governed cities after 2030, as well as collecting tolls from vehicles in highly congested and polluted areas of major cities. The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern economic hub, included a traffic jam fee in its general city planning project until 2040, a plan that would look further to 2060. Fees would be collected during specific times of the day, including peak travel.  Translated by Gia Minh for RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. 

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South Korea, China, Japan to hold trilateral talks on May 26-27 in Seoul

Editor05 mins

Leaders of South Korea, China and Japan will meet on May 26-27 in Seoul for their first trilateral talks in more than four years, South Korea’s presidential office said on Thursday. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will have bilateral talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday, ahead of their three-way gathering on Monday, South Korea’s deputy national security adviser, Kim Tae-hyo, said. The summit will cover six areas of cooperation: economy and trade, sustainable development, health issues, science and technology, disaster and safety management, and people-to-people exchanges, Kim said, adding that the leaders would issue a joint statement. The leaders will also discuss regional and international issues and meet about 80 businesspeople at a dinner on Sunday and a business forum the next day, Kim said. “The summit will serve as a turning point for fully restoring and normalizing the trilateral cooperation system among South Korea, Japan and China,” he added. “It will also provide an opportunity to recover future-oriented and practical cooperation momentum that will allow the people of the three countries to feel the benefits.” The neighbors held an inaugural stand-alone trilateral summit in 2008, and were supposed to meet annually after that. But the summit has been suspended since it was last held in December 2019, in China, because of bilateral feuds and the COVID-19 pandemic. Relations between all three have been fraught for various reasons over recent years. South Korea and Japan are working to improve relations strained due to historical disputes stemming from Japan’s wartime aggression. They are also strengthening their trilateral security partnership with the United States amid growing rivalry between China and the U.S. Japan, South Korea and the United States underscored their security cooperation against North Korean threats and reinforced their commitment to a “free and open Indo-Pacific” during an August 2023 Camp David summit. In 2018, the year before the last summit between the three Asian neighbors, in the Chinese city of Chengdu, North Korea unexpectedly changed its aggressive stance toward the U.S. and South Korea. Seoul, in turn, eased its criticism of Pyongyang.  Japan, however, continued to prioritize pressure on North Korea, causing disagreement with Seoul over North Korea policy. By the 2019 talks, the three neighbors could only agree on a general policy of cooperating on efforts to denuclearize North Korea. China and South Korea have also clashed in recent years over a U.S. missile defense shield installed in South Korea. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the U.S. and its allies for their “intimidation in the military sphere” of North Korea at a recent bilateral summit. In March, Russia vetoed a U.N. resolution to extend a monitoring panel for enforcing North Korean sanctions, while China abstained, blocking U.S.-led efforts to control Pyongyang’s weapons program. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Investigative Journalism Reportika © March 2022 by Ij-Reportika is licensed under CC BY 4.0