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Year: 2024

Cambodia will not negotiate over Funan Techo canal: Hun Sen

Editor06 mins

Cambodia’s leader Hun Sen has said that his country would not negotiate with Vietnam over the planned Funan Techo canal, despite concerns about its environmental and geopolitical impacts. A group of Vietnamese experts suggested last week that Hanoi should ask Phnom Penh to delay the project for further discussions. Former prime minister Hun Sen, who is now the president of the Senate and still retains much power, told a business banquet  that construction of the 180-kilometer (112 mile) canal will go ahead as planned  this year,  emphasizing the project was of national interest. The Funan Techo canal, officially known as the Tonle Bassac Navigation Road and Logistics System Project, will connect the Cambodian coastal province of Kep on the Gulf of Thailand with the inland provinces of Kandal and Takeo, and the capital Phnom Penh via a tributary of the Mekong River. It will be developed by a Chinese company at a cost of US$1.7 billion and, when operational in 2028,  will help reduce Cambodia’s dependence on Vietnam’s sea ports for its international trade. . But the project has raised concerns in Vietnam where the rice-growing Mekong delta is vulnerable to sea water incursions if the Mekong’s flow is reduced. A series of dams on the river in China to the north has already raised fears about flows downstream.  Some Vietnamese experts said the Cambodian canal could “reduce the flow of the river by up to 50%” in Vietnam’s delta, home to 17.4 million people. Hun Sen dismissed the concern, saying any loss of water would affect Cambodia first. No mistake in 47 years The Funan Techo canal project was proposed and approved when Hun Sen was head of the government and analysts say it is being seen as one of his great legacies. “Hun Sen has never made a wrong decision in the past 47 years,” the veteran leader, referring to himself, told a  dinner hosted by the Cambodian Oknha Association. Oknha is a title bestowed on Cambodians who are committed to charity or generous with  donations to the government. Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge soldier who defected to fight alongside Vietnamese forces, and who first became prime minister in a government set up by Vietnam after it invaded Cambodia,   said his country “is not inferior to Vietnam.” “Cambodia knows how to protect its interests, Vietnam does not need to care,” the Senate president was quoted in Cambodian media as saying. While calling for Vietnam’s understanding, Hun Sen said Cambodia’s eastern neighbor also “built a lot of dams to protect their crops and these have an impact on Cambodia.” He  said he was not pushing Cambodians to hate Vietnamese people and the Vietnamese side must do the same, the Khmer Times quoted him as saying. Map of the proposed Funan Techo canal. (Cambodia National Mekong Committee) Vietnamese analysts say the canal could also have security implications by allowing naval forces to operate on inland waterways near the Vietnamese border. Vietnam’s foreign ministry this month urged Cambodia to provide information and an impact assessment on the water resources and ecological balance of the delta region. The U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh has also called for more information, saying that while the U.S. respects “Cambodia’s sovereignty in internal governance and development decisions,” the Cambodian people as well as people in neighboring countries “would benefit from transparency on any major undertaking with potential implications for regional water and agricultural sustainability.” “We urge authorities to coordinate closely with the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to provide additional project details and to participate fully in any appropriate environmental impact studies to help the MRC and member countries fully understand, assess, and prepare for any possible impacts of the project,” an embassy spokesperson said last week. Edited by Mike Firn.

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In reversal, China now wants to preserve Kashgar’s Old City

Editor012 mins

In an about-face, Xinjiang’s highest legislative body has issued new regulations to protect Kashgar’s Old City — the heart of Uyghur culture — which they previously ordered to be destroyed and reconstructed, leaving only a small area as a tourist attraction. The measures, which take effect on May 1, prompted accusations of Chinese hypocrisy by experts on the far-western region, who say it’s meant to benefit investors in tourism and deflect criticism of Beijing’s persecution of the 11-million mostly Muslim Uyghurs.  The Regulation on the Protection of the Ancient City of Kashgar passed on March 31 aims to protect the cultural heritage of Kashgar’s ancient city, which is was once a key trading post on the Silk Road between China and Europe. But starting in 2008, China has already demolished 85% of Kashgar’s ancient quarter and relocated thousands of residents to newer “earthquake-resistant houses,” according to a June 2020 report by the Uyghur Human Rights Project, or UHRP, on the destruction of the Old City. By the end of 2010, more than 10,000 ancestral earthen homes there had been destroyed, and shops near the 15th-century Id Kah Mosque were transferred to new buildings made to look like Uyghur architecture, according to journalist Nick Holdstock, who has written two nonfiction books about Xinjiang. “Above their doors are wooden signs saying ‘Minority Folk Art’ or ‘Traditional Ethnic Crafts’ in English and Chinese,” he was quoted as saying in the UHRP report. Police officers patrol in the old city in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, May 4, 2021. (Thomas Peter/Reuters) Now all that is left is about 15% of the Old City, which has largely been renovated into a Disneyland-like tourist center for visiting Chinese tourists and dignitaries. The supposedly ancient Kashgar gate that appears frequently in Chinese promotional material is actually a modern creation and doesn’t reflect traditional Uyghur design. China’s past actions appeared to be motivated by a “campaign to stamp out tangible aspects of Uyghur culture,” the UHRP report said. Cradle of Uyghur civilization This is particularly painful for Uyghurs because Kashgar is considered to be the cradle of their civilization, with two millennia of history.  Urumqi may be the political capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, but Kashgar has been the historic center of Uyghur statecraft, politics, art, music literature, trade, culture and religion.  It was in Kashgar that in the 11th century prominent Uyghur Turkologist Mahmud Kashgari penned the “Divan Lugat-it Turk,” the first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages, which also contains an  early map showing countries and regions from Japan to Egypt. A strategic trading post along the Silk Road, Kashgar was visited by Marco Polo on his way to the court of Kublai Khan during the Mongol Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century, and before that had been the capital of the Uyghur Karakhanid Empire, a Turkic-Uyghur empire that lasted from 999 to 1211. It was in Kashgar that the first East Turkistan Republic was declared in 1933, before China aided by the Soviet Union invaded and took control of the region in 1949 against the wishes of the people to remain an independent country. ‘Museumify’ Now, after all the destruction China has wrought in the city, new regulations call for the preservation of the old quarter’s overall historical appearance, natural environment, historical buildings, ancient trees, traditional communities, streets, courtyards, buildings and other structures such as street-side pillars. They will also protect intangible cultural heritage, including historical events, figures, handicrafts, traditional arts and customs and rituals. “Any demolition, alteration or disruption of the architectural or landscape features designated for conservation is strictly prohibited,” the regulation says. But experts say the measures will hardly rectify the damage already done, and will only serve to turn what’s left of Kashgar’s vibrant culture into a tourist attraction. “It seems absurd in the present context to think that the Chinese government actually is concerned about the preservation of Uygur culture,” said Sean Roberts, director of the Central Asia Research Project at George Washington University. “One of the dangers that Uyghur culture faces right now in China is being ‘museumified’ in a way that no longer reflects active lived culture, but reflects something that is packaged for tourists,” he said.  Deflecting criticism More seriously, the move is likely meant to deflect attention from atrocities China has committed against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, Roberts said. Besides the destruction of thousands of mosques and other structures significant to Uyghur heritage, Chinese authorities have suppressed Muslim religious practices and arbitrarily detained Uyghurs in state-sponsored camps, where some have been subjected to forced labor, sterilization, contraception and abortion. Since 2017, an estimated 1.8 million Uyghurs have been herded into concentration camps, where they are subjected to forced labor, mistreatment and human rights abuses. A woman cooks in her house next to the remnants of other houses, demolished as part of a building renovation campaign in the old district of Kashgar, in Xinjiang province August 3, 2011. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) China has denied committing atrocities in Xinjiang and says the camps are actually vocational centers that have been shut down.  But the United States has determined that China’s actions against the Uyghurs constitute a genocide, while a U.N. report said they may amount to crimes against humanity. Benefitting Chinese developers The new regulation will benefit Chinese investors involved in tourism in the city, said Henryk Szadziewsk, a senior researcher at the Uyghur Human Rights Project. For example, Beijing-based tourism and property developer Zhongkun Investment Group Ltd. is involved in restoration efforts and tourism initiatives in the Old City, he said. Following earlier reconstruction work, the Old City’s neighborhood Communist Party committee leased the reassembled quarter to Zhongkun, which began marketing the area as a “living Uyghur folk museum” and established a “near monopoly” over Kashgar’s tourism, the UHRP report said. “The new Kashgar Old City has a different set of people who occupy that space — people who have interests in tourism and people who have interests in the exploitation of that,” Szadziewski told RFA. “To…

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China’s communists once used Hong Kong to subvert a mainland government

Editor011 mins

Beijing insisted Hong Kong pass stringent security legislation known as Article 23 due to fears that the city would be used as a base from which to bring down the government — because that’s exactly what the Chinese Communist Party used the city for. Hong Kong passed the Safeguarding National Security Law on March 23 as a mandatory obligation under Article 23 of the city’s Basic Law. It was billed by the government as a way to close “loopholes” in the already stringent 2020 National Security Law, which was imposed on the city by Beijing, ushering in a crackdown on dissent in the wake of the 2019 protest movement. But its roots go much further back in history, according to a veteran journalist and a legal expert, to when the Chinese Communist Party was itself trying to overthrow the Chinese government led by the Kuomintang nationalists. A lawmaker holds a copy of the proposed Safeguarding National Security Bill at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong, March 19, 2024. (Louise Delmotte/AP) Secret documents recently declassified by the Chinese government reveal how the Chinese Communist Party used Hong Kong as a base from which to subvert the 1911 Republic of China regime founded by Sun Yat-sen after the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Reading these documents, I found that the Chinese Communist Party turned Hong Kong into a base for propaganda, for United Front [outreach and influence] operations, organizational operations and mass mobilization. The setting up of these various bases can be traced back to the 1930s, and were documented in a report made by Wu Youheng, then secretary of the Hong Kong municipal party committee, to the Central Committee. The Chinese Communist Party really did turn Hong Kong into a base for subverting the central government and dividing China. This is a key reason why Beijing has always seen Hong Kong as a potential threat to its grip on power, due to its relative freedom and connectedness to the outside world. From Hong Kong, Chinese communists raised funds to finance their campaigns, stored equipment and other reserves, and trained new cadres, according to party documents and other historical texts. Supply and communication line Hong Kong also formed part of a secret supply line that ran along the southeastern coast to Shanghai, then to the party’s Central Revolutionary Base in the eastern province of Jiangxi, and people also moved along the route. Through this secret communication line used to move supplies and arms, more than 200 important leading cadres of the Communist Party of China including Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi were sent to Hong Kong for rest and recuperation. This secret supply line was also an important channel for the communists to receive arms from the Soviet Union. A young woman is caught between civilians and Chinese soldiers, who were trying to remove her from an assembly near the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, June 3, 1989.(Jeff WidenerAP) Even more importantly, the Chinese Communist Party took advantage of the relative freedom enjoyed by Hong Kong residents under British rule to set up a command center from which to run its entire military operation for the South China region in the city. Even the first provincial party committee for Guangdong province was set up in Hong Kong, on Aug. 7, 1927. By January 1939, the party had set up a southern branch of its Central Committee to direct political, military, mass struggle and other work throughout southern China, and held a major conference in the city’s Wanchai district in 1947. The Wanchai Conference, where participants talked about waging guerrilla warfare against the Kuomintang regime, including a concept they termed “red separatism.” The Chinese Communist Party has itself made full use of Hong Kong’s freedoms to subvert the central government of the Republic of China and implement armed separatism to split the country. It is precisely because of this historical experience that the party is very aware of Hong Kong’s potential to overthrow a corrupt regime, and is very afraid that others will use their own tactics against them. This is the deep-seated reason why Beijing is afraid of Hong Kong. ‘Political city’ Those fears were brought into far sharper focus on June 4, 1989, when around a million Hong Kongers turned out in protest at the massacre of civilians in and around Tiananmen Square by the People’s Liberation Army, according to Eric Lai, a research fellow at the Center for Asian Law, Georgetown University. “With so many Hong Kong people supporting the Tiananmen student movement, they thought it would likely continue to be a thorn in the Chinese Communist Party’s side after the 1997 handover,” Lai said.  He said Beijing revised Article 23 of the planned Basic Law after that event, adding in a number of “national security” crimes including “subverting the central government,” “collusion with foreign forces,” a crime for which pro-democracy media magnate Jimmy Lai is currently on trial. Since that day, Chinese officials including former Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office director Lu Ping resolved that Hong Kong could never be allowed to become “a political city.”  Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, center, is flanked by Deputy Foreign Ministers Li Ke Nung, left, and Chang Wen Tien at the final session of the Geneva Peace Conference on July 21, 1954. (AP) Lu said that once Hong Kong becomes a political city, there will be endless internal disputes that will give opportunities for foreign forces [to interfere], Lu Ping’s view was shared by almost all the communists I knew in Beijing. Today, Hong Kong is once more a power base for the Chinese Communist Party, with the city’s Committee for Safeguarding National Security wielding huge power on Beijing’s behalf, according to Eric Lai. “The Article 23 legislation … once again confirms that the Committee for Safeguarding National Security has supreme power and further consolidates the legitimacy of its rule,” Lai told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview. What’s more, the legislation has become a vehicle for the translation…

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Episode 5: Flashpoint Myawaddy

Editor04 mins

Podcast Free Asia RFA Insider is five episodes old, a developmental milestone that Eugene and Amy receive with joy! For reference a 10-week-old baby would be kicking and punching, and a 10-week-old fetus would start getting fingernails. A 10-week-old piece of bread, meanwhile, would be all moldy… um… probably. Corrections this week are short and sweet: on last episode’s discussion of matching couple outfits, Eugene clarifies that the North Korean government does not require everyone to wear the same clothes. Instead, citizens are held to clothing restrictions that prohibit items like tight pants and t-shirts with foreign words, leaving them with limited style choices. The Rundown The Mandarin Service recently reported that China’s internet censors removed more than 700 videos of online micro-dramas for “exaggerating” spousal and familial conflicts. Micro-dramas, binge-able online shows whose episodes are only a few minutes long, are most popular among young women in China – the same group that President Xi called upon in October to focus on raising families. This censorship comes at a time when China’s birth and marriage rates continue to plummet, as more young people are delaying marriage to focus on work, education or buying property. In North Korea, coffee is gaining a foothold as a trendy beverage and a bribe. The Korean Service reported that coffee shops, once only seen in hotels for foreign tourists, have begun to appear in Pyongyang and other cities. While only the elite can afford to enjoy a cup on the regular, the interest in coffee culture, acquired through illegal foreign movies, transcends class. Some more health-conscious officials have even begun asking for coffee over the traditional bribe of cigarettes – residents told RFA that they have treated officials to a coffee with sugar and gifted South American coffee beans in exchange for favors.  How It’s Made Kyaw Min Htun, deputy director of the Burmese Service, joins us to address the recent tug-of-war between the Myanmar military and various ethnic armies for control of Myawaddy, a trading town bordering Thailand. He offers some insight into why opposition forces withdrew from Myawaddy days after taking control and the ways in which neighboring countries’ interests have influenced Myanmar’s current situation. With the country embroiled in civil war since the 2021 military coup, Kyaw Min Htun offers a much-needed explainer of the “who” and “why” of the current conflict, what the international community can do to help and his thoughts on a post-war future. Special thanks to Kiana Duncan for this awesome report that explained the situation at the time of recording. Since then she’s filed another with an update:  Back to main

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Myanmar closes border checkpoint amidst conflict

Editor05 mins

Myanmar shut a main border crossing with Thailand early on Friday as junta forces carried out airstrikes in nearby areas, Thai officials and residents of the area told Radio Free Asia.  Insurgent forces captured most of the eastern border town Myawaddy this month but they were forced to withdraw days later under the threat of junta airstrikes. Junta troops re-gained control of a main battalion headquarters  in the town on Wednesday.  Residents of the Thai town of Mae Sot, over a border river from Myawaddy, said they heard explosions early on Friday, apparently coming from junta  airstrikes to the south of Myawaddy. A turboprop aircraft was heard flying over Palu, to the south of Myawaddy, and nearly 10 explosions were heard, according to residents on the Thai side. Separately, a Thai immigration official said crossings from Myanmar over the main border bridge had stopped and it was not clear who was in control on the Myawaddy side. “People from Myanmar can not come yet but they can cross back from here,” said the official, who declined to be identified. Trucks that normally deliver goods to Myanmar via a second bridge, which is used mainly for  cargo, have been unloading their shipments at small river crossings instead. A Karen militia force commander with extensive business interests and a history of close ties with the junta helped free about 200 junta troops who had been cut off by insurgent Karen National Liberation Army troops in the fighting this month, Thai media reported.  The commander, Col. Saw Chit Thu, who broke away from the main Karen guerrilla organization in the 1990s, has close ties with Chinese investors who have funded casinos and online scamming rackets on the Myanmar side of the border. The United Kingdom imposed sanctions on him in 2023 linked to suspicions of involvement in human trafficking and other rights violations. Saw Chit Thu, who denies wrongdoing, had this month raised doubts about his alliance with the junta, saying he was no longer supporting junta forces, but according to media reports, he had acted to protect his business interests in helping junta forces re-take control of Myawaddy.  Democracy and rights activists have long denounced Saw Chit Thu and his militia, the Karen National Army. “Saw Chit Thu is a rights-abusing militia commander who has gotten rich via a horrid mix of abuses of deported migrants, human trafficking of persons to scam centers, gambling, sexual exploitation and prostitution, and worse,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director for Human Rights Watch in Asia.  “I think no one should be surprised that he suddenly betrayed the [Karen National Liberation Army] by rushing back into the arms of his [State Authority Council] junta overlords who have been complicit in Chit Thu’s massive profits at the expense of the Karen people.” Edited by Kiana Duncan and Taejun Kang.

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Junta recruits another 300 Rohingya in new round of conscription

Editor08 mins

More than 300 Rohingya men from villages near Rakhine state’s capital have been forced by junta troops to attend mandatory training for Myanmar’s military over the last few days, residents told Radio Free Asia on Thursday.  The latest round of compulsory conscription among the stateless Muslim minority comes a month after about 1,000 Rohingya from elsewhere in Rakhine were made to join the military in March.  More broadly, more than 100,000 young men have fled their homes since the military announced in February it would implement a draft to shore up its ranks after a series of battlefield defeats, according to a report released by the Burmese Affairs and Conflict Study. Myanmar has been wracked by civil war ever since the military overthrew the civilian-led government in a 2021 coup. Amid the battlefield setbacks over the past six months, the military has said it plans to conscript 50,000 young men and women each year – and is forcibly recruiting Rohingya in Rakhine state to meet quotas. State Administration Council members hand out leaflets explaining the law of militia service on Feb. 29, 2024, in Kyun Hla City, Myanmar. (State Administration Council) The effort comes in a state where just seven years ago, the military tortured, raped and killed thousands of Rohingya and sent nearly 1 million fleeing into neighboring Bangladesh. The 300 Rohingya recruits were taken this week from more than 30 villages in Sittwe township and were all between 18- to 30-years-old, a Rohingya village administrator who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals told RFA. They were taken by police cars to the military’s Regional Command Headquarters in Sittwe to prepare for training, he said. Soldiers are now pressing those who remain in a patchwork of villages and internally displaced camps into service to prop up their struggling military campaign in the state against the ethnic Arakan Army.  In exchange for their service, the junta has promised would-be Rohingya fighters freedom of movement as well as small amounts of food and money.  ‘Worrying around the clock’ Junta officials have communicated through village elders and administrators during the conscription process, according to a Rohingya woman who lives in Sittwe who requested not to be named for security reasons.  “The officials entice the locals with national identity cards and salary,” she said. “They forced village elders to provide young Rohingya to protect the country. But as Rohingya youth are fishermen, they are not suitable for military service.” State Administration Council members hand out leaflets explaining the law of militia service on Feb. 29, 2024 in Kyun Hla City, Myanmar. (State Administration Council) None of the recruits are willing to undergo military training, but they face arrest and beatings if they refuse, she said. “People in Rakhine state are worrying around the clock about the recruitment for military training,” the village administrator said. “Some people have fled from their homes to other places.” The 1,000 Rohingya who were recruited in March were put through a two-week training. Afterward, some were deployed to the battlefields while others were sent back to their villages or IDP camps as reserves, residents told RFA. RFA attempted to contact Attorney General Hla Thein, the junta spokesman for Rakhine state, to ask about this week’s recruitment, but he didn’t answer phone calls. Pressed into service Since Myanmar’s conscription law was announced by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on Feb. 10, troops nationwide have attempted to press-gang large numbers into the dwindling military.  It requires men and women aged 18 to 35 to serve in the junta’s armed forces for two years – prompting more than 100,000 to flee their homes to avoid the draft, the Burmese Affairs and Conflict Study found. The junta has carried out operations to enforce the military service law in 224 townships across the country, the report said. Approximately 5,000 young men were sent to 15 military training sites by the end of March, it said.  Rohingya Muslims are seen in military uniform during a training session in Rakhine state on March 10, 2024. (Citizen journalist) In addition, more than 2,000 people from 40 townships across Myanmar have been enlisted as militia – a number that includes the Rohingya who were recruited in March, the report found. A resident of Mandalay said people are anxiously watching for the recruitment process to begin again, now that the recent Thingyan water festival holiday has concluded. “It is anticipated that they will start it in May,” he said. “People are curious about what will happen following Thingyan.” Eventually, the new recruits will be called on for frontline combat operations, according to former military officer Lin Htet Aung, who participated in the non-violent Civil Disobedience Movement after the coup. “When the regular army no longer possesses the capacity to execute these tasks, it becomes evident that this deliberate strategy aims to rely solely on the youth of the populace as their military force,” he told RFA. Translated by Aung Naing and Kalyar Lwin. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

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Myanmar insurgents capture junta base in south

Editor03 mins

Insurgents have captured another base from Myanmar’s junta forces, this time in the far south of the country, in the latest in a string of setbacks for the military that overthrew an elected government in 2021, officials from anti-junta forces told Radio Free Asia on Thursday.  Ethnic minority Karen fighters have in recent weeks seized several camps from junta forces in eastern Myanmar, mostly notably in a major trade town near the Thai border. On Wednesday, ethnic minority Karen insurgents, together with pro-democracy allies, captured the junta’s Maw Hta camp in the Tanintharyi region’s Dawei township. Thirty weapons were seized in the camp, where about 40 junta soldiers had been stationed, said one official from the Karen National Union (KNU), who declined to be identified for security reasons.  “It took only a moment to capture the camp because junta troops were scared and fled,” the official said. The shadow civilian National Unity Government’s Tanintharyi region office confirmed that the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU, and members of allied People’s Defense Forces seized the area near the Thai border. “A border station has been captured by Karen National Liberation Army and People’s Defense Force joint forces. At present, there are still things that need to be confirmed,” said the Tanintharyi information officer, who also declined to be identified. RFA contacted Tanintharyi region’s junta spokesperson, Thet Naing, for more information, but he did not respond. Myanmar has faced violent turmoil since the military overthrew a government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in early 2021. The fighting in recent days has prompted warnings from Thailand to Mynamar’s rivals to avoid any spillover across the border.  In January, rebel forces captured Kyauk Htu camp in Dawei.  On April 16, they captured Myeik, a major Tanintharyi town, and then announced the launch of military operations in two nearby townships. Of Tanintharyi’s 10 townships, only Bokpyin and Kawthoung are free from major conflict. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.

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2 teachers jailed for criticizing authorities on social media

Editor09 mins

Two Vietnamese teachers were sentenced to prison on Wednesday in separate cases for criticizing authorities on social media under vague statutes often used to stifle dissent, people with knowledge of the situation said.  They are the latest examples of how Vietnam systematically suppresses basic freedoms and civil rights.  Duong Tuan Ngoc, 39, was sentenced by the Lam Dong People’s Court to seven years in prison and three years of probation under Article 117 of the country’s Penal Code for disseminating anti-state propaganda and “smearing senior leaders” on his social media accounts. Retired teacher Nguyen Thu Hang, 62, received a two-year sentence under Article 331 for abusing democratic freedom that violated the interests of the state, rights and the legal interests of organizations and individuals. She was convicted by the Dong Hoi People’s Court for using personal Facebook accounts to defame a judge who had presided over the land dispute case in which she was involved. She was also accused of streaming such video clips at various provincial offices. Under the one-party rule of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the government severely restricts rights to freedom of expression, religion, association, peaceful assembly and movement, according to human rights and civil society groups. “No one should be targeted for comments made on social media criticizing the government,” Josef Benedict, a researcher covering the Asia Pacific region for the CIVICUS Monitor, told RFA via text message. Health videos Ngoc, jailed since July 15, 2023, was an online teacher who specialized in macrobiotic diets, which aim to avoid foods containing toxins. He used to post articles and livestream videos about education, health and social issues on his Facebook and YouTube pages. Police in Lam Dong province in southern Vietnam summoned him and his wife, Bui Thanh Diem Ngoc, on July 10, 2023, to question them about anonymous reports that Ngoc used his Facebook account to sell drugs. But after Ngoc proved he was innocent, the police initiated a new probe on the charge of distributing anti-state propaganda and arrested him five days later. Vietnamese teacher Duong Tuan Ngoc in a video screenshot. Authorities accused the teacher of posting and sharing articles and videos on his Facebook and YouTube accounts that mocked, defamed and criticized the government and the party’s policies, and smeared senior party and state leaders, according to notices Lam Dong Police gave to Ngoc’s family. A relative, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, told Radio Free Asia that Ngoc’s first-instance trial, which his wife and lawyer were allowed to attend, lasted about two hours on Wednesday morning. “The defense lawyer did not make a defense case for him but requested sentence litigation, saying that he had a clean criminal record and had performed many charity activities before his arrest,” the person said. During the trial, Ngoc admitted to having “spoken ill of government officials” but affirmed his wish of “a multiparty and pluralistic regime and an improved political regime,” said the relative. It appears as though Ngoc will not appeal the verdict because he wants to serve his sentence as soon as possible so he can see his family again and resume work, the person said. ‘Lip service’ Benedict from CIVICUS said Ngoc’s arrest for peaceful expression online is the latest attempt by the Vietnamese regime to stifle peaceful expression, which contravenes the country’s international human rights obligations to protect fundamental freedoms. He expressed concern over the government’s use of Article 117, which U.N. experts have found overly broad and aimed at silencing those who seek to exercise their right to freely express their views and share information with others. “These actions are unbecoming of a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council and shows that the government has been only merely paying lip service to human rights and has no intention of respecting and protecting them,” Benedict said. Vietnam is a current three-year member of the Human Right Council in Geneva, Switzerland, for the 2023-25 term and will seek reelection to the body for the 2026-28 term, despite widespread rights violations. Ngoc is well-known on social media, and his Facebook page has more than 45,000 followers with an introductory description declaring: “I have rights as a citizen. You have rights as citizens. Citizens are the rightful owners of the country.” He has two YouTube accounts, one of which features hundreds of videos on health, medicine and life in the countryside, and has nearly 95,000 followers. His other channel has about 39,000 followers and features videos discussing politics, corruption and poor leadership in Vietnam.  Ngoc is the eighth Vietnamese activist convicted this year, and the third to be charged with disseminating “anti-state propaganda” according to an RFA tally. Retired teacher Meanwhile, the retired teacher, Nguyen Thu Hang, was sentenced to two years in jail for abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state. Hang, a resident of Dong Hoi city in Quang Binh province in central Vietnam, previously worked at a middle school in Dong Hoi, and was arrested on Nov. 27, 2023. Dong Hoi police’s investigation agency said Hang disagreed with a verdict handed down in a civil trial about a land-use rights dispute and a request to annul a land-use rights certificate in which she was a plaintiff. The agency said that from March to May 2023, Hang repeatedly used her Facebook account to livestream comments on Judge Nguyen Van Ngh, posting videos of herself speaking at the headquarters of Nam Ly ward, Dong Hoi’s Department of Education and Training, and Quang Binh province’s Inspection Department. Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

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Vietnam should ask Cambodia to delay canal project: experts

Editor09 mins

Participants at a Vietnamese-sponsored consultation have suggested that Hanoi should ask Phnom Penh to delay a proposed  canal project for further discussions, amid Vietnamese worries about the project’s environmental and economic impact. Construction of the 180 km (112 mile) Funan Techo canal, connecting the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, with the Gulf of Thailand, is planned to begin later this year and to be completed within four years. The proposed canal will include a section of the Mekong River, raising concern in Vietnam about the impact downstream, especially in Vietnam’s rice-growing Mekong Delta. The canal could “reduce the flow of the river by up to 50% by the time it comes to Vietnam,” said Le Anh Tuan, a prominent Vietnamese scientist.  Vietnam needs more time for consultation in order to protect the river’s delta, home to 17.4 million people, Tuan told the meeting in the town delta of Can Tho. Another expert, Dang Thanh Lam from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said Vietnam must ask for an environment impact report from Cambodia. The U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh also called for more information, saying that the Cambodian people as well as people in neighboring countries “would benefit from transparency on any major undertaking with potential implications for regional water and agricultural sustainability.” “We urge authorities to coordinate closely with the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to provide additional project details and to participate fully in any appropriate environmental impact studies to help the MRC and member countries fully understand, assess, and prepare for any possible impacts of the project,” an embassy spokesperson said. Ly Van Bon, the owner of the Bay Bon fish pond located on the Mekong river which was affected by sediment, shows redtail catfish inside his fish pond in Mekong’s regional capital Can Tho, Vietnam, May 25, 2022. (Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha) For its part, Cambodia said it had secured endorsement for the project from the MRC chairman – Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith. Sisoulith has just visited Phnom Penh and, during a meeting with Cambodian Senate leader and former prime minister Hun Sen, he was asked to show his support for the canal.  “In response, the Laotian president, without hesitation, announced his support,” Cambodia’s Fresh News media outlet, which is supportive of the government, reported. No obligation  Laos and Cambodia are both long-term allies of Vietnam but both have in recent years leaned more towards China. Vietnam has repeatedly expressed concerns about the possible environmental and economic impacts of the project. This month, a Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesperson urged Cambodia to provide information and an impact assessment on the water resources and ecological balance of the delta region. In response, a senior Cambodian official said that Phnom Penh was not obliged to do so. Cambodia’s Minister Delegate attached to the Prime Minister in charge of ASEAN affairs, So Naro, told the Khmer Times that Cambodia was not legally required to submit any document to Vietnam  regarding the studies and construction of the Funan Techo canal. Cambodia had submitted “all documents of the studies on the canal related to the impacts on the environment and the water resources” to the MRC, So Naro said. The MRC is an intergovernmental organisation in charge of the sustainable management of the Mekong basin. “The Vietnamese authorities can request access to those files,” So Naro said. Cambodia has insisted that the canal  would not disrupt the flow of the Mekong.  The projected Funan Techo canal (in blue). (Google Maps/ RFA) Officially known as the Tonle Bassac Navigation Road and Logistics System Project, the Funan Techo canal will be developed by a Chinese company at a cost of US$1.7 billion. It will mean that more trade can flow directly to Cambodian  ports, bypassing Vietnam. The Cambodian government said it would cut the transport costs and reduce dependence on Vietnamese ports. It also said that the project will bring great social and economic benefits to 1.6 million Cambodians living along the canal. Security questions Besides the environment and economic impacts, analysts say Vietnam is also worried about the security implications of the canal. There have been suggestions that the canal could allow Chinese navy ships to travel upstream from the Gulf of Thailand and the Chinese-developed Ream naval base on the Cambodian coast close to the border with Vietnam.  Cambodia has rejected such speculation with Hun Sen insisting that Cambodia and Vietnam “are good neighbors and have good cooperation in all fields.” But Vietnam has been in dispute with China over some island chains in the South China Sea and it eyes China’s involvement in the region with suspicion. Vietnam shares a long land border with Cambodia. Between 1977-1978 there was fighting between Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese troops during the so-called southwest border war, which led to a Vietnamese invasion and the establishment of a pro-Hanoi government in Cambodia. The situation on Vietnam’s western border should get more attention because of “threats of untraditional security challenges, mostly over the Mekong delta,” said Nguyen The Phuong, a Vietnamese political scientist at the University of New South Wales in Australia. “A loss of the Mekong’s ability to sustain large scale food production will have tremendous impact on Vietnam’s security in the south,” Phuong said. “From my point of view, the western front is becoming more critical day by day but Vietnam is too distracted by maritime issues at the eastern front, or the South China Sea.” Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

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Young Laotians held at Myanmar casino fearful of fighting nearby

Editor05 mins

A group of 14 young Laotians who are being held at a Chinese-run casino in Myanmar said they are frightened by the recent fighting in nearby Myawaddy and are calling for new efforts to free them. The young Laotians were trafficked to work as scammers at a place called “Casino Kosai” in an isolated development near Myawaddy.  Karen Nation Union, or KNU, and allied anti-junta guerrilla armies took control of the important trade town earlier this month during intense fighting with Myanmar’s military.  Some of the young Laotians recently overheard junta soldiers saying the casino could be a target for bombing later this week, four of the young Laotians told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday. “I would like to call on the soldiers of KNU to rescue us from this place as soon as possible because the fighting is moving closer and closer to us,” one of the young Laotians, who like other sources in this report requested anonymity for safety reasons, told RFA. “Right now, we’re hearing a lot of loud shots toward us,” he said. “We’re afraid that we’ll get shot by stray bullets.” Earlier this month, two teenage girls were allowed to leave the casino after a 40,000 yuan (US$5,500) fee was paid to gain their freedom. They arrived home in Luang Namtha province in northern Laos on April 8.  The Chinese-owned ‘Casino Kosai’ in Myawaddy, Myanmar, near the Thai border. (Citizen journalist) The remaining 14 youths and their parents are hoping that officials at the Lao Embassy in Yangon can negotiate their release.  “The only hope I have right now is that the higher-up authorities of all sides are stepping up their efforts because we the parents have been trying and failing to rescue our children for more than two years now,” a mother of one of the Laotians told RFA. ‘Emotionally affected by it’ Many of the young Laotians originally sought jobs in one of the casinos in the Golden Triangle, the border region Laos shares with Thailand and Myanmar.  But instead they ended up trafficked and held captive at the casino, which is about 320 kilometers (200 miles) south of the Golden Triangle and 640 kms (400 miles) from their homes in northern Laos.  For more than a year, their parents have sent pleading messages to government officials in Laos and Myanmar. With the recent fighting nearby, they have become even more concerned, several parents told RFA. “I can’t eat and I can’t sleep right now because I worry about the safety of my daughter,” another mother said. “I heard about the situation over there getting worse, and I’m emotionally affected by it. I’m always thinking about my daughter.” A Lao embassy official told RFA on Tuesday that they are still gathering information on the 14 Laotians and will send a request to junta authorities soon. “We’re trying our best to rescue these Laotians,” he told RFA on Tuesday. Translated by Max Avary. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

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