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Year: 2024

Chinese activists transiting at Taipei airport say they’re seeking asylum

Editor06 mins

Three Chinese nationals who fled to Thailand in November and arrived at Taipei’s airport on Tuesday told Radio Free Asia they fear arrest if they return to Beijing and are planning to seek assistance from the Taiwanese government to move to a third country. Tian Yongde, Wei Yani and Huang Xingxing all obtained United Nations temporary refugee cards in Bangkok after traveling there in November. All three arrived in Taiwan on a flight from Kuala Lumpur and had tickets to board another flight to Beijing.  But in an interview with RFA late Tuesday, Tian Yongde said the three were instead preparing to pass through a security checkpoint at Taoyuan Airport in order to stay in Taiwan. “I hope the Taiwan government will give me some time and let me wait here,” he said. “Taiwan is recognized for its high quality, and it is safe and secure to wait for a U.S. visa in Taiwan.” Tian, 52, said authorities began keeping tabs on him in 2005 when he visited the home of Zhao Ziyang, China’s former prime minister who was removed from power in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre and kept under house arrest for 16 years. After that, Tian was unable to work and was summoned by police many times for writing articles or participating in “group incidents.”  RFA was not immediately able to verify the account of Tian and his traveling companions, but they forwarded images of the identification cards provided to them by the U.N. refugee agency. “I was arrested twice for ‘subversion of state power’ in 2009 and 2011,” Tian said. “The first time, I gave materials to petitioners, and I was said to be illegally holding state secrets.” The other two people – 53-year-old Wei Yani and 17-year-old Huang Xingxing – are mother and son. They are unrelated to Tian, and only met him once they arrived in late November in Thailand. They eventually made plans to travel together. ‘Unsafe in Thailand’ Wei said she was imprisoned four times in China for a total of 10 years for petitioning for basic rights for herself and for friends. Authorities accused her of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles” and “subverting state power,” she told RFA. She said she had trouble finding work after she was released from prison in June, and also had one more criminal trial pending. “So I borrowed money from others to apply for a refugee certificate with my son,” she told RFA. “I just want to be able to move on from here [Taiwan] through media appeals.” Tian recorded a video at Taoyuan Airport in which he said he feels more safe in Taiwan than in Thailand, where authorities have recently sent a number of prominent activists and dissidents back to China. “Hello everyone, I am Tian Yongde,” he said in the video. “Because I feel unsafe in Thailand, when I came to Taiwan, which feels relatively safe, my purpose is to go to the United States.” Wei said she and her son will seek asylum in the United States or the Netherlands if they are allowed to stay in Taiwan. In the future, she would like to help Chinese people petition for complaints. “I still have more things to do,” Wei said, referring to her previous work with writing and gathering petitions.  The Taiwan Immigration Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by RFA on the three Chinese nationals. Edited by Chen Meihua, He Ping and Matt Reed.

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Karen army claims 5 dead after junta helicopter crash

Editor04 mins

The Karen National Liberation Army shot down a junta aircraft, killing soldiers onboard, a member of the ethnic force told Radio Free Asia. The group shot a helicopter down in Kayin state while it was enroute to a battalion based in Myawaddy, near the Thai border, he said, asking to remain nameless for fear of reprisals.  “Two helicopters flew in at around 2:30 p.m. today,” the Karen National Liberation Army member told RFA on Monday. “They were targeted and shot with heavy weapons, missiles, drones, and cannons at the same time while they were landing.” The Karen National Liberation Army and other allied forces killed five junta officers on board.  The aircraft were a Eurocopter-356 flying alongside an Mi-35 attack helicopter, he said, adding that the Eurocopter was destroyed during the attack.The Mi-35 went back to the Mawlamyine-based Southeast Military Regional Command headquarters. “It was fired at with a 0.5 [heavy machine gun] from Asia Road. We still don’t know if it was hit or not,” he said. The five killed included three majors, a captain, and Brig. Gen. Aye Min Naung, the Karen National Union announced on Monday night, adding that another onboard the helicopter was also injured.  Karen National Liberation Army joint forces are seen in an undated photo. (Karen National Liberation Army) RFA contacted Karen National Union spokesperson Padoh Saw Taw Nee by phone for information on injured persons, but calls went unanswered.  As of Tuesday afternoon, the military junta had yet to issue a statement confirming the attack.  Apart from Aye Min Naung the commander of the 44th Light Infantry, Col. Soe Tun Lwin, acting commander of Light Infantry Battalion 9, and pilot Col. Toe Oo were among the dead, according to military sources quoted by The Irrawaddy website. Kayin state junta spokesperson Saw Khin Maung Myint told RFA he was not aware of the incident.  A downed jet from the battle of Nam Hpat Kar in a picture released on Jan. 25, 2024. (Citizen Journalist) On Jan. 3, the Kachin Independence Army reported they shot down a military helicopter that was delivering rations to Nar Hpawt military camp in Waingmaw township, Kachin state. The group said the attack destroyed the helicopter and killed the regime soldiers on board. The Kachin Independence Army also claimed to have shot down a junta fighter jet on Jan. 16 near Nam Hpat Kar village in Kutkai township in northern Shan state. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Myanmar junta sentences nearly 400 women in 3 years since coup

Editor08 mins

Nearly 400 women in Myanmar have been sentenced to prison, some for more than 20 years – or even death – for political offenses in the three years since the coup, a report by the Burmese Women’s Union said. The report included high-profile women including ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and documentary filmmaker Shin Daewe among the 398 women sentenced by the junta, which took control of the country on Feb. 1, 2021. The most recent high profile sentencing occurred on Jan. 10, when journalist and film director Shin Daewe, 50, got life in prison for ordering a drone online. When she went to pick up the drone on Oct. 15, junta soldiers arrested her on terrorism charges. “She is a filmmaker, and she makes films. She bought the things she needed. I can’t understand how it was connected to terrorism,” Myint Thu, told RFA Burmese.  Being shut up in prison will keep her from family and from making more films. “It will be a loss for her, the family and the community,” he said. “I just want my sister to come back home.”   Most of the women were convicted under two laws: Section 50 (j), a counter-terrorism law, and Section 505 (a), a Burmese Woman’s Union, or BWU, official told RFA. The latter law was added to the penal code to the junta after the coup, and it can be used to punish comments or implications that the coup or the military is illegitimate, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch. Nearly 400 women, including documentary filmmaker Shin Daewe, have been sentenced to prison or death during three years of the military coup, according to Burmese Women’s Union. Here is Shin Daewe speaking at the Wathan Film Festival in 2014. (Courtesy of Wathann Film Festival) “Some were sentenced to 40 years in prison for contacting and donating to the resistance forces,” the official said, asking not to to be identified for fear of reprisal. The junta also used Section 121 on high treason, the most popular legal provision being used to charge politicians; and section 124 on incitement to riot to charge the 398 women. The junta also outlawed bail after taking charge and has arrested more than 20,000 people, including more than 5,000 women since, mostly for political offenses.  According to the records compiled by the BWU, of those arrested women, 39 were sentenced to life in prison and 16 face the death penalty.   Additionally, two received sentences between 45 to 65 years, seven between 30 and 45 years, 27 between 20 and 30 years, 105 between 10 and 20 years, 205 between five to 10 years, 315 between one and five years, and two under one year.  Martial law The junta has imposed a number of martial law areas throughout the country, and most of those arrested were tried and sentenced in military courts.  According to martial law, political offenses can be given the death penalty, indefinite imprisonment with hard labor, or maximum punishment under the respective charges.  An official from the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, or AAPP, commented that the military council has purposely cracked down on women who had been participating in anti-regime peaceful protests that have been ongoing since  just after the coup. “Why are political prisoners sentenced to long-term prison terms? The main reason is hatred,” the official said. “It’s quite clear about the junta. To be frank, they want to kill the people who are against them.”  Though many of the people arrested and unfairly sentenced are men, women are participating in anti-junta movements at a very high rate, he said. “We see women side-by-side with men and against the regime in all ways. The regime hates it very much,” the official said. “They crack down on women unjustly because they hate them so much. It seems like they are taking revenge.” He added that the junta filed charges as they pleased, and when imposing sentences, the judges themselves were only making orders according to the instructions from the junta. But the junta’s spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told RFA in 2022 that only those who are guilty are punished in accordance with law. However, he also said that a person who just donated a single kyat to any anti-junta cause could face imprisonment of at least 10 years or even the death penalty under the counter-terrorism laws. According to Aung Myo Min, the human rights minister for the shadow National Unity Government, made up of former lawmakers ousted by the coup, the military courts deprive people of their right to defend themselves. “Does a person get his or her legal rights during this kind of legal process, court hearings and passing judgements? I’m sure they won’t get it,” he said. “The military courts have no independence. You don’t have the right to call witnesses or the right to defend. If you look at it, if a person is unjustly arrested, his or her legal rights are denied.” Translated by Htin Aung Kyaw. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.  

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Karenni resistance group claims victory in Myanmar’s northeast

Editor06 mins

The Karenni Nationalities Defense Force captured a mineral-rich city in northeast Myanmar, the group announced, saying most junta troops fled from checkpoints and camps on Friday, two days before the ethnic army moved in.  Karenni troops captured Mawchee city in Kayah state on Sunday with no subsequent battle, a spokesperson told Radio Free Asia. The city in Hpasawng township is home to one of the world’s largest tin ore and tungsten mines. “The entire city of Mawchee has been captured and controlled by the Karenni revolutionary forces,” he said. “The military junta camps in Mawchee are in a state of retreat. We learned that junta troops retreated around the night of Jan. 26.” Because there was no battle, residents did not have to flee, he added. Banyar, the director of the Karenni Human Rights Group, said residents had been warned that if the junta abandoned camps in towns and villages, it often bombarded them with aerial and artillery attacks. “The junta army always does two things when they abandon these towns and villages. One is to burn the villages and the other is to shoot and destroy them with heavy weapons and airstrikes,” he told RFA on Sunday. “We are worried about that. People are well aware of this situation and they are making the necessary arrangements.” RFA has not been able to contact residents of Mawchee because phone and internet access have been cut off. RFA called Kayah state’s junta spokesperson Myint Kyi to learn more about the situation, but calls went unanswered on Sunday. Karenni joint forces have been carrying out Operation 1111 since Nov. 11, 2023. As part of the operation, the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force formed alliances with the Karenni Army, Urban Guerrilla Forces, and People’s Defense Forces from Loikaw, Moebye, and Demoso in Kayah and southern Shan state. Together, the joint forces have been carrying out attacks on junta camps. Since Nov. 11, the forces have captured 20 camps in Loikaw, Demoso, and Moebye, according to a Karenni Nationalities Defense Forces statement on Jan. 28. Battles to occupy cities are likely to continue this year, according to political analyst Than Soe Naing. “People are worried about the ceasefire in northern Shan state [breaking down]. Although it seems like the [military] movement in other areas across Myanmar will be calm, the Kachin Independence Army has captured Mabein city [in Shan state],” he said. “As for Rakhine state, Pauktaw has been completely seized. So the developments of the spring revolution and its momentum continue.” The Three Brotherhood Alliance and junta signed a ceasefire on Jan. 11 under Chinese pressure during a meeting in Kunming to end clashes over territory in northern Shan state. However, other ethnic armed groups have continued fighting elsewhere in the country, forcing junta troops to abandon five cities nationwide. Junta tanks seized by the Arakan Army at junta camps in Paletwa township on Jan. 18, 2024. (Arakan Army Military Desk) Shan state’s Mabein, Chin state’s Paletwa, Rakhine state’s Pauktaw, and Kayah state’s Ywar Thit and Mawchee have all been captured since the ceasefire was announced. According to data compiled by RFA, ethnic armed groups and People’s Defense Forces have attacked and seized 36 cities across the country from the military junta since October 2023. Junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said Friday that groups should not take up arms and ignore the law in demanding self-determination, self-governance, and the establishment of self-administered regions. He told a meeting of the junta’s stability, law, and order committee these rights can only be given with the approval of parliament. It has been nearly three years since the junta seized power from a democratically elected government in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup. The junta has repeatedly delayed plans to call national elections. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Kim Jong Un’s sister ‘not to be underestimated,’ author says

Editor011 mins

North Korea’s next global “charm offensive” will be led by leader Kim Jong Un’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, who is the strategic mastermind in Pyongyang and could eventually succeed her brother in power. At least that’s according to Sung-Yoon Lee, a North Korea expert and fellow at the Wilson Center who late last year released a 304-page biography about the woman he calls “the brains” behind the despotic rule of her brother, a man he says is more interested in basketball. “She is really the mastermind of this family campaign to expand their influence over South Korea and beyond,” Lee said at a book-signing event hosted by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea at DACOR Bacon House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday morning. Lee told the gathering that his book, titled “The Sister: North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, the Most Dangerous Woman in the World,” was years in the making, with his interest piqued by her attendance at her father’s funeral in 2011, when the world knew little about her or her brother. Even though in Korea, the “proper way to express your sorrow is to really overdo it, to exaggerate and wail away almost deliriously,” Lee said, noting there was an added incentive to do so in the North, Kim Yo Jong “showed genuine, profound sadness” but otherwise felt no need to go further, even when the cameras were trained on her face. Sung-Yoon Lee, left, speaks alongside Committee for Human Rights in North Korea Executive Director Greg Scarlatoiu at an event at DACOR Bacon House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 25, 2024. (Alex Willemyns/RFA) In the years that followed, he said, her always perfectly upright posture, “Mona Lisa smile” and “imperious” demeanor when appearing in public made him more curious about her role leading the hermit kingdom. “Unfortunately, I see in her eyes a sparkle – intelligence,” he said. “I saw that in Kim Jong Il, too, and in Kim Il Sung, the state founder. They were intelligent; they were not crazy, in the conventional sense.” “I don’t see that sparkle in Kim Jong Un,” he added. Winter Olympics The wider world first got to know Kim Yo Jong, believed to be 37 years old, at the February 2018 Winter Olympics in the South Korean city of PyeongChang, which took place in the lead-up to then-U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un’s first meeting in June 2018. With South and North Korea fielding a united team, Kim Yo Jong was invited to the south to represent Pyongyang in meetings with then-South Korean President Moon Jae-In and to attend the games. After arriving at Incheon airport “not showing any bit of excitement or happiness that she was there … [almost] as if she had walked into her own living room,” she later attended the games’ opening ceremony, where she was seated directly behind Moon and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who famously chose to “ignore” her presence behind him. “Throughout the evening, from certain camera angles, it seemed she was lording it over Mike Pence, seated right behind,” Lee said, adding that the visual was sought by North Korea for propaganda reasons. “Later, I learned that this was not an accident,” he said. “Kim Yo Jong had insisted that she be seated behind them – above President Moon and Vice President Pence – or else ‘We go back home.’”  “So accommodations were made,” he explained. The Sister: North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, the Most Dangerous Woman in the World by Sung-Yoon Lee is about Kim Jong Un’s increasingly powerful sister, tapped to be his successor to lead North Korea. (Courtesy of PublicAffairs) The next day, Kim Yo Jong visited Moon at his offices in Seoul and for a short while became “a star” on the world stage, with many seemingly enchanted by the sudden emergence of a female North Korean leader. More importantly, after months of escalating provocations between her brother and Trump, her message of peace and reconciliation seemed to resonate as more sincere than if it had come from Kim Jong Un. ‘Don’t trust her’ Lee says that is a mistake he hopes to shatter with his biography, arguing Kim Yo Jong will be wheeled out as the friendly face of the North’s global outreach when it once again tries to appear open to compromise. He called for the world not to be fooled. “She is the No. 2 official in arguably the world’s most tyrannical regime,” he added. “What she says, no matter how sweet it may sound, must be questioned and cannot be accepted at face value.” A switch back to diplomatic niceties after the ongoing round of provocations is as predictable as the plot to Rambo 4, Lee said, noting that “[Rambo] First Blood was a good movie, but by the time you’ve seen Rambo 4, you have a pretty good idea how the movie ends.” As the true director of North Korea’s propaganda department since 2012, he said, Kim Yo Jong was a skilled political operator, and would be even more at ease on the world stage her second time around. Kim Yo Jong, right, shakes hands with South Korea’s director of the National Security Office, Chung Eui-yong, June 12, 2019 as she delivers a condolence message in Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from her brother to the family of former South Korean first lady Lee He-ho, who passed away. (Korean Central News Agency/AFP) “People will want to believe in her message, and perhaps even share in the credit that she seeks peace and denuclearization,” Lee said. “Don’t trust her. Don’t believe everything she says. Don’t patronize her.” “She’s not to be underestimated,” he said. Eventually, Kim Yo Jong may position herself to take over the reins from her brother, even if the current leader’s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, born in 2013, has been slated as the heir apparent in Pyongyang. “When [Ju Ae] is in her mid-20s, and comes to view her auntie as expendable, cumbersome…

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US urges China to push Iran to pressure Houthis over Red Sea attacks

Editor06 mins

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has asked Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to use Beijing’s influence on Iran to push it to stop the Houthis in Yemen from attacking Red Sea trade routes. The appeal came during two days of meetings in Bangkok between the pair, according to a senior Biden administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity according to rules set by the White House. Over 12 hours, the pair also discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Myanmar’s civil war, North Korea, Israel’s war with Hamas, the South China Sea, fentanyl and artificial intelligence, the official said. It was their first meeting since Oct. 26, when Wang visited Washington in the run-up to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to San Francisco in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, during which he also held direct talks with U.S. President Joe Biden. The official said the meeting was meant to build on the commitments made during that summit, including to reinstate military-to-military talks and to stem illicit Chinese exports of precursors for fentanyl, which has been called a leading cause of death for American adults. A working group on counternarcotics would be established on Tuesday and both Military-Maritime Consultative Agreement Meetings and talks about regulating artificial intelligence would be held in the Spring.  “The two sides are committed to continuing these strategic channels of communication,” the official said, adding there would be “a telephone call between the two leaders at some point in the coming months.” Diplomatic telephone On the apparently widening conflict in the Middle East that began with the attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, the White House official said Sullivan had pressed Wang to use Beijing’s influence on Iran to push it to end attacks by Houthis on trade ships transiting the Red Sea. The Houthis’ latest attack took place Friday and this time directly targeted a U.S. warship, the USS Carney, which was patrolling the area to try to prevent further attacks in the lucrative trade route. Both Hamas and the Houthis have been labeled “proxies” of Iran by the United States, with Tehran not viewed as having direct control of either group but being accused of funding and training both. The Houthis, meanwhile, are accused of targeting trade ships off Yemen’s coast in response to Israel’s invasion of Hamas-controlled Gaza. As a major trading nation, China had its own interests in stopping the attacks on the Red Sea route and had the ability to pressure Iran as one of the biggest buyers of its oil, the White House official said. “We would characterize both the economic and trade relationship as giving Beijing leverage over Iran to some extent. How they choose to use that, of course, is China’s choice,” the official said. “Iran’s influence over the Houthis, and the Houthis’ destabilization of global shipping, raises serious concerns not just for the U.S. and China but for global trade,” they added. “There should be a clear interest in China in trying to quiet some of those attacks.” The civil war in Myanmar was also discussed by Sullivan and Wang, building off talks between Sullivan and Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Friday, during which the official said Sullivan “stressed the importance” of getting humanitarian aid into Myanmar. However, the official said the United States was less hopeful about China’s assistance in pushing North Korea to end its growing nuclear weapons program or its recent provision of ballistic missiles to Russia. “I’m not sure I would characterize anything recently as constructive,” the official said, adding the United States still hoped China would come round to helping “bring us back to the path of denuclearization.”

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Thousands flee capital of Myanmar’s Rakhine state as battle looms

Editor06 mins

Thousands of residents have fled the capital of western Myanmar’s Rakhine state in anticipation of a looming battle between the rebel ethnic Arakan Army and junta soldiers, local residents told Radio Free Asia. Fighting in the fortified administrative and military hub of Sittwe is expected to be intense, and would come after close to three months of heightened conflict between the military and the Arakan Army, or AA.  In recent weeks, the AA has seized several junta military camps in the townships that encircle Sittwe, including Mrauk-U, Minbya, Kyauktaw and Rathedaung. The military junta has blocked highways and waterways throughout Rakhine since November, making it hard for people to leave the state capital. Those who have decided to stay are digging bunkers at their homes, placing sandbags nearby and otherwise searching for safe places or moving to nearby rural areas, local residents said. “In Sittwe, you cannot use roads or waterways,” a resident of the state capital told RFA. “So, some leave for Yangon out of fear – and they have to go there by air.” There are four flights a day with about 50 people on each flight, according to the resident, who did not want to be named for security reasons. Several local residents told RFA that plane tickets from Sittwe to Yangon are fully booked until the end of March, and some people are chartering planes to get out. Sittwe’s population is over 120,000, including students from several universities, according to 2019 statistics from the general administration department. Some local residents estimated that as many as 30 percent of residents have already left. Gaining ground The AA and two other rebel groups make up the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which launched a campaign in October on junta forces in the northern and western parts of the country.  Last week, nearly 300 junta troops surrendered to the AA after it took control of two major military junta encampments in Kyauktaw. And on Wednesday, the Three Brotherhood Alliance said in a statement that the AA had won full control of Pauktaw, a port city just 16 miles (25 kilometers) east of Sittwe. Landline and internet connections have been shut down in northern Rakhine’s townships, including Sittwe, residents said. In some areas, only the Mytel telecom network has been available.Residents said they have had to wait one or two days to withdraw cash from banks in Sittwe and are also having difficulty buying basic commodities such as food and oil as prices rise. Plane tickets to Yangon cost between 350,000 kyats (US$166) and 500,000 kyats (US$238), the Sittwe resident said.  “Impoverished individuals and people who can’t afford to buy airline tickets can’t run anywhere,” he said. “They can’t afford to live in Yangon. So there are many people who have to stay here.”    RFA couldn’t immediately reach Rakhine state’s junta spokesperson Hla Thein to ask about the steady stream of residents leaving Sittwe.   At a Jan. 20 meeting with state level departmental officials, junta-appointed Rakhine chief minister Htein Lin said security has become the administration’s top focus in the state. The Sittwe resident who spoke to RFA about flights to Yangon said he and his family are also trying to travel to Myanmar’s biggest city. “I’m worried about being unable to flee home if something happens. I have a family and children,” he said. “Battles can affect children emotionally. I don’t want to force them to live with such hardships.” Translated by Htin Aung Kyaw. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster. 

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US national security advisor to meet Chinese Foreign Minister in Bangkok

Editor05 mins

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and China’s foreign minister Wang Yi are set to meet in Bangkok Friday and Saturday to build on a pledge to deepen their dialogue, despite the two superpowers’ differences on Taiwan. This meeting will be the first high-level talk between the two nations since the U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met in the United States in November.  “During the new round of meetings, (Wang) will state China’s position on China-U.S. relations, including the Taiwan issue, and exchange views with the U.S. side on international and regional issues of common interest,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters at a regular press conference on Friday. Upon his arrival in Thailand’s capital Friday, Sullivan first met with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-nukara and discussed ties between the two nations as well as regional and global issues, including efforts to address the worsening crisis in Myanmar. During the meeting, Sullivan emphasized “U.S. commitment to expanding collaboration on trade and investment, accelerating the transition to a clean energy future, deepening the two nations’ people-to-people ties, and broadening our security cooperation as we promote a free and open Indo-Pacific,” according to a White House statement.  Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, left, talks with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the government house in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. (Government Spokesman Office via AP) Thailand, one of the U.S.’s major non-NATO allies and geographically important to the region, however, reaffirmed its non-interference approach. On the China-Taiwan issue, for instance, the Thai side reiterated before the meeting its “vision on Thai-Chinese relations, based on Thailand’s One China policy as well as common interests and international principles that the two countries adhere to, towards the building of a Thailand-China community with a shared future for enhanced stability, prosperity and sustainability.”   Regarding planned talks between Sullivan and Wang, a Thai foreign ministry spokesperson said: “The meeting is actually arranged bilaterally between the two sides. We did not have any role in organizing for the meeting or anything but we are pleased that Thailand is the venue for such a meeting.”  “And we are confident that the dialogue between the two sides will contribute to peace and security and development of the countries in the regions also at the global stage as well.” Dr. Isa Gharti, a public policy researcher at Chiang Mai University, believes the meeting between Sullivan and Wang stresses Thailand’s strategic position as the middleman for the super powers. “The country has a long history of balancing its relationship with China and the U.S., which is appropriate for it  to be the host,” Gharti told Radio Free Asia.  “The role as a facilitator to solve high-level conflict is a positive thing for the Srettha administration,” he added, referring to the current prime minister’s government. Thailand and China will celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties in 2025, marking 190 years of their relationship. Edited by Taejun Kang and Mike Firn.

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Military battalion camp seized by Kachin rebels in Myanmar’s Shan state

Editor08 mins

An ethnic army has captured the military camp of the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion No. 123 in northern Myanmar’s Shan state, residents and the rebel group said Thursday, capping months of fighting for control of a key trade route with China. The loss of the base means that ethnic rebels now control the entire 130-kilometer (80-mile) trade route from Muse township on the border with China to Hseni, located some 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of northern Shan state’s largest town of Lashio. It is also the latest in a number of setbacks for the military since an ethnic offensive in late October that has seen the Three Brotherhood Alliance capture 15 cities in northern Shan state, seize control of more than 200 military camps, and force the surrender of some 4,000 junta troops. The Kachin Independence Army, or KIA, took control of the camp on Wednesday evening after initially overrunning Nam Hpat Kar town on Jan. 17, KIA spokesman Col. Naw Bu told RFA Burmese. “We heard that the military camp at Nam Hpat Kar was seized around 3 p.m. or 4 p.m., but we haven’t received any details from the field yet,” he said. “We haven’t been able to get a phone connection through.” A resident of Nam Hpat Kar who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, told RFA that KIA soldiers entered the military compound on Wednesday, prompting junta troops to flee toward nearby Tarmoenye township. “I’m sure the KIA troops are now stationed at Light Infantry Battalion No. 123 camp,” he said. “Since the troops retreated toward Tarmoenye, they are following them and clearing them out. The damage to the village is huge.” Ethnic rebels began attacking Nam Hpat Kar township in late August, but the KIA only started the fight for control of the Light Infantry Battalion camp on Jan. 14. Junta forces responded to attacks on the camp with heavy artillery and airstrikes, residents said. The KIA claimed on Jan. 16 that it was able to shoot down a junta jet fighter during fighting in the area. Civilian casualties Another resident of Nam Hpat Kar, who was forced to leave his home amid the fighting, told RFA that the military airstrikes destroyed area homes and caused civilian casualties. “The [KIA] also broke into the houses and fired from inside of them, so the military attacked the houses based on information they received,” he said. “At the moment, out of the eight houses I know [were fired on], four were reduced to ashes. The rest of the houses no longer have walls or roofs.” The resident said at least two civilians were killed in the fighting, but was unable to provide additional details. He said villagers are afraid to return home because of the threat of additional airstrikes. More than 20,000 people live in Nam Hpat Kar, which consists of four wards and nine village tracts. Aid workers said that some 10,000 residents of villagers close to the military camp were forced to flee to monasteries in the townships of Namhkan, Muse, Lashio and other nearby areas amid the clashes. Another resident of Nam Hpat Kar told RFA that, as of Jan. 17, he had documented the deaths of at least 24 civilians due to military airstrikes and artillery fire, and said at least 100 homes had been damaged. The KIA claims to have downed a junta jet fighter during the Nam Hpat Kar battle. On Jan. 25, 2024 an image of the downed jet from the Battle of Nam Hpat Kar was released. (Provided by Citizen Journalist) A social worker who fled from Nam Hpat Kar due to the fighting said on Thursday that the number of casualties and extent of the damage had yet to be fully accounted for, due to severed internet and telephone lines. The junta has not released any statement about the situation in Nam Hpat Kar. KIA demonstrates importance A former military officer, who now works as a commentator on military and political issues in Myanmar, said that the capture of the camp in Nam Hpat Kar is a demonstration of the junta’s increasing weakness in the region. “The attack took 10 days, and we should praise the bravery [of the junta troops] who resisted it,” he said. But he criticized the military’s leadership for failing to do enough to hold the camp. “[Nearby] Kutkai and Namhkan [townships were] seized by the [Ta’ang National Liberation Army],” the former officer said, referring to one of the three ethnic armies that, along with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army, form the Three Brotherhood Alliance. “Now, Nam Hpat Kar, which is located at the top of the road heading to Namhkan, has been captured. So now it is all done, and [the KIA] has demonstrated the importance of its role [in fighting the military],” he said.    In the five months of fighting between ethnic armies and the junta for Nam Hpat Kar, more than 50 civilians – including women and children – were killed, according to residents. Translated by Htin Aung Kyaw. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Matt Reed.

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