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French Polynesian president asks UN to bring France into decolonization talks

French Polynesia’s president and civil society leaders have called on the United Nations to bring France to the negotiating table and set a timetable for the decolonization of the Pacific territory. More than a decade after the archipelago was re-listed for decolonization by the U.N. General Assembly, France has refused to acknowledge the world’s peak diplomatic organization has a legitimate role. France’s reputation has taken a battering as an out-of-touch colonial power since deadly violence erupted in New Caledonia in May, sparked by a now abandoned French government attempt to dilute the voting power of indigenous Kanak people. Pro-independence French Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson told the U.N. Decolonization Committee’s annual meeting in New York on Monday that “after a decade of silence” France must be “guided” to participate in “dialogue.” “Our government’s full support for a comprehensive, transparent and peaceful decolonization process with France, under the scrutiny of the United Nations, can pave the way for a decolonization process that serves as an example to the world,” Brotherson said. Brotherson called for France to finally co-operate in creating a roadmap and timeline for the decolonization process, pointing to unrest in New Caledonia that “reminds us of the delicate balance that peace requires.” In August he warned France “always had a problem with decolonization” in the Pacific, where it also controls the territories of New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna. The 121 islands of French Polynesia stretch over a vast expanse of the Pacific, with a population of about 280,000, and was first settled more than 2,000 years ago. Often referred to as Tahiti after the island with the biggest population, France declared the archipelago a protectorate in 1842, followed by full annexation in 1880. France last year attended the U.N. committee for the first time since the territory’s re-inscription in 2013 as awaiting decolonization, after decades of campaigning by French Polynesian politicians. French permanent representative to the U.N. Nicolas De Rivière responds to French Polynesia President Moetai Brotherson at the 79th session of the Decolonization Committee, pictured on Oct. 7 2024. (UNTV) “I would like to clarify once again that this change of method does not imply a change of policy,” French permanent representative to the U.N. Nicolas De Rivière told the committee on Monday. “There is no process between the state and the Polynesian territory that reserves a role for the United Nations,” he said, and pointed out France contributes almost 2 billion euros (US$2.2 billion) each year, or almost 30 percent of the territory’s GDP. After the U.N. session Brotherson told the media that France’s position is “off the mark”. French Polynesia was initially listed for decolonization by the U.N. in 1946 but removed a year later as France fought to hold onto its overseas territories after the Second World War. Granted limited autonomy in 1984, with control over local government services, France retained administration over justice, security, defense, foreign policy and the currency. Seventeen pro-independence and four pro-autonomy – who support the status quo – speakers gave impassioned testimony to the committee. Lawyer and Protestant church spokesman Philippe Neuffer highlighted children in the territory “solely learn French and Western history.” “They deserve the right to learn our complete history, not the one centered on the French side of the story,” he said. “Talking about the nuclear tests without even mentioning our veterans’ history and how they fought to get a court to condemn France for poisoning people with nuclear radiation.” France conducted 193 nuclear tests over three decades until 1996 in French Polynesia. “Our lands are contaminated, our health compromised and our spirits burned,” president of the Mururoa E Tatou Association Tevaerai Puarai told the U.N. denouncing it as French “nuclear colonialism.” “We demand justice. We demand freedom,” Puarai said. He said France needed to take full responsibility for its “nuclear crimes”, referencing a controversial 10-year compensation deal reached in 2009. Some Māʼohi indigenous people, many French residents and descendants in the territory fear independence and the resulting loss of subsidies would devastate the local economy and public services. Pro-autonomy local Assembly member Tepuaraurii Teriitahi told the committee, “French Polynesia is neither oppressed nor exploited by France.” “The idea that we could find 2 billion a year to replace this contribution on our own is an illusion that would lead to the impoverishment and downfall of our hitherto prosperous country,” she said. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

China Exporting Police Forces to the world a Report by Ij-Reportika

Spike in arrests leaves Chinese detention centers overflowing

Editor1 month ago1 month ago09 mins

Detention centers in China are overflowing amid a sharp rise in the number of arrests in the first half of this year, according to defense lawyers and recent government figures. In the six months to June 30, prosecutors approved the formal arrest of 367,000 suspects, up 18.5% from the same period in 2023. They also prosecuted 761,000 people nationwide, a rise of 6.8% year-on-year, according to an article on the official website of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate dated July 29. The formal arrest figures don’t include people being held under criminal detention pending investigation by police, “residential surveillance at a designated location,” or administrative detention. The spike in criminal proceedings has led to overcrowded detention centers, prompting the authorities to build new facilities to hold the newly arrested, criminal defense attorney Wang Rui said in video footage uploaded to social media. “Detention centers are already overcrowded, with plans for expansion in a lot of places this year,” Wang said. “A few days ago, I met with a client who said there were more than 20 people in a cell that was designed to hold 12. Some people had to sleep on the floor.” “It was hot weather, but not only was there no air-conditioning; they didn’t even have an electric fan,” he said. Criminal defense attorney Wang Rui. Undated. Unknown social media account. (Video screenshot/provided by Qianlang) A second lawyer from the central province of Henan who gave only the surname Sun for fear of reprisals confirmed Wang’s claim. “Usually you would have 12 or 14 people in a cell, but now that number has risen to more than 20,” he said. According to January figures from the Ministry of Public Security, China has more than 2,300 detention centers, which are generally used to house people awaiting investigation, trial or appeal, while prisons are used to house those serving out their time. Minor rule-breaking Lawyers said that the likely reason for the sudden rise in the number of arrests was a nationwide clampdown on minor rule-breaking like irregularities in the accounts of small business owners, as well as on ordinary people lodging formal complaints about official wrongdoing. “Some people are being intercepted for petitioning, and may be charged with obstructing a public official in the performance of their duties, or picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” Sun said. “They are finding reasons to arrest people even if no crime has been committed — that really is the situation right now.” Criminal defense attorney Wang Kui. Undated. Unknown social media account. (Video screenshot/provided by Qianlang) Another lawyer, Wang Kui, had a similar story, saying officials seem to have zero tolerance for any kind of rule-breaking these days. “In the past, they would turn a blind eye to a lot of stuff, but that’s longer possible now,” he said in a video uploaded to his social media account. “For example, if you run a small business and don’t complete the right paperwork, you could be accused of illegal business operations.” “If you have poor turnover and default on some payments, you could be charged with fraud or breach of contract,” Wang Kui said. “It’s becoming clearer and clearer that heavy sentences are being handed down for minor crimes.” The current economic downturn is stepping up pressure on people who are heavily indebted due to their mortgages, car loans, kids’ education or who have black or gray-market income streams, the lawyers said. Pyramid schemes, fraud and money laundering are also rampant, due to falling corporate revenues, they said. Salaries down Meanwhile, cash-strapped local governments are slashing public servants’ salaries and imposing fees and fines in every area of people’s lives, including new highway tolls and roadside parking fees on quiet residential streets. Guo Min, a former deputy police station chief at the Zhuzhou city police department in the central province of Hunan, said the authorities have been steadily building new detention centers and prisons in his home province for a few years now. “The expansion of detention centers, jails and prisons began several years ago, probably under the guidance of the central government,” Guo told RFA Mandarin. “Take Zhuzhou for example. They started building jails and detention centers several years ago, and they have been coming into use over the past couple of years.” “It appears that the government has long anticipated the current situation and made arrangements accordingly,” he said. The number of people arrested in China increased by nearly 20% in the first half of this year, causing overcrowding in detention centers across the country. (Reuters file photo) According to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate article, law enforcement agencies are currently targeting “Taiwan independence diehards” accused of “splitting the country and inciting others to secession,” although no figures were supplied. China warned earlier this year that nationals of democratic Taiwan could be tried in absentia and even sentenced to death for supporting formal independence for the country, but Taipei said Beijing has no jurisdiction over acts and speech on its territory. Meanwhile, the authorities are also vowing to get tough on organized crime, prosecuting 28,000 people for gang-related offenses in the first half of the year, and on drugs-related offenses, which yielded 26,000 prosecutions over the same period, the article said. It said “more than 85% of criminal suspects confessed and pleaded guilty during the prosecution stage.” We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Over 100 Myanmar political prisoners have died since coup, group says

Editor1 month ago07 mins

Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. More than 100 political prisoners arrested by Myanmar’s junta have died in custroy in the three and a half years since the military seized power, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, or AAPP. Junta authorities have arrested tens of thousands of activists, union leaders, rebel soldiers, journalists and people suspected of supporting insurgent groups. Among those detained and sentenced to decades in jail are members of the ousted National League for Democracy, or NLD, administration, including former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other high-profile politicians detained hours after the early 2021 coup. Prisoners allowed out speak of appalling conditions in Myanmar’s numerous prisons and detention centers, including crumbling infrastructure, brutal treatment, sexual harassment and limited access to adequate food and medical care. Of the 103 political prisoners who have died in prison since the coup, at least 63 people were denied medical treatment, the AAPP, a rights group based outside Myanmar, said in a statement on Monday following the death of a top NLD member. Mandalay region chief minister and NLD Vice Chairman Zaw Myint Maung had been diagnosed with leukemia before being sentenced to 29 years in prison on various of charges, including election fraud and other charges largely dismissed by pro-democracy activists. He was 73 when he died on Monday in hospital, where military authorities allowed him to go in his final days. Activists said he did not receive proper medical care in prison. “If Dr Zaw Myint Maung had proper outside medical treatment we wouldn’t have lost his life,” said Aung Myo Kyaw of the AAPP. “He didn’t really get proper medical care since he was arrested. Like Nyan Win, there are many more,” he said, referring to a long-time NLD central executive committee member and Suu Kyi’s personal lawyer, who died in Yangon’s infamous Insein Prison from COVID-19 a few months after the coup. “If these people were not in prison but outside, they wouldn’t have died.” Radio Free Asia could not reach junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on the AAPP’s statement. Military authorities say prisoners are treated according to the law. ‘Malicious’ Other activists who have died include Pe Maung, a filmmaker killed by tuberculosis shortly after being released from prison, and rapper-turned-rebel soldier San Linn San, who died from head trauma after being tortured in prison, a human rights monitoring group said. Pe Maung and Zaw Myint Maung were both released by junta authorities when it was too late to get treatment, effectively sentencing them to death, said AAPP secretary Tate Naing. “This kind of announcement, that they’ll be released when the inmates are about to die, has been done before by previous military dictators,” he said. “This is routine for the military regime – it’s a malicious and deliberate execution of political prisoners.” Other prisoners have been tortured to death or shot during prison riots, said Aung Myo Kyaw. More than 20,000 people have been detained on political charges since the 2021 coup, of whom more than 9,000 have been sentenced to prison, the AAPP said. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights also denounced conditions in Myanmar’s prisons and detention centers, saying in a report last month that at least 1,853 people have died in military custody, including 88 children and 125 women, since the coup – many after being tortured. As ethnic minority insurgents and pro-democracy fighters make advances in several parts of the country, the military routinely detains villagers suspected of supporting the rebels, residents and rights groups say. On Monday, five women in Magway region’s Myaing township were arrested on suspicion of supporting an anti-junta militia, or People’s Defense Force, residents of the area said. They denied that the women were involved with any insurgent group. RELATED STORIES: Senior Myanmar pro-democracy politician dies in custody at 73 A Myanmar revolutionary battles an old enemy with new allies Women account for 1 in 5 deaths in Myanmar since coup Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

North Korean farmers risk penalties if too many potatoes left in the ground

Editor2 months ago06 mins

Read a version of this story in Korean North Korean farm managers who are not carefully harvesting their potato crops – leaving some behind – are getting in trouble with authorities, residents with links to the agricultural sector told Radio Free Asia. Inspectors recently swooped down on several collective farms in the northern potato-growing region of Ryanggang province to check the fields. “The inspectors drove around in cars and dug up every nook and cranny of the potato fields on the farm,” a resident who works in agriculture said on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “If the inspectors conclude that the fall harvest was not done properly, the farms must redo it until they pass the inspection,” another provincial resident said. The reason behind the checks appears to be that farmers are spending more time tending their personal fields than the collective farm’s lots, the sources said. In North Korea’s collective farming system, farmers are paid the standard government salary to work the land, and then all crops are collected by the state and distributed to the people. But since the collapse of the country’s economy in the 1990s, that salary is nowhere near enough to live on. Bales of straw in North Korean fields after the rice harvest, as seen from the Ganghwa Peace Observatory across the border in South Korea, Sept. 23, 2024. (Yonhap News) So the farmers, like everyone else, must support themselves by other means – and are planting their own personal potato patches–usually on land surrounding their homes. The potatoes grown there are either eaten or sold for extra income. When harvest time comes around, citizens are mobilized to provide free labor to the farm managers, who order them to quickly dig up the collective farms just to make quota by the Sept. 30 deadline. The farm managers have a tendency to not to watch the collective farms too, and they acknowledge that they are mostly going through the motions, the first resident said. “They are working so irresponsibly to the point that they joke that the mobilized workers are ‘digging for potatoes with their eyes closed,’” he said. Farmers beware But the government wants them to be more thorough, so it is sending inspection teams to check. “The Cabinet Agricultural Commission dispatched a 20-member harvest inspection team in Hyesan City on Sept. 26,” the second Ryanggang resident said, referring to a city in the province. Punishments for farm officials who fail inspections can be harsh, he said. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects potato fields and agricultural machinery warehouses while touring a farm in Samjiyon county, Ryanggang province, in July 2018. (Yonhap News) Last year, many farm officials in the province were expelled from the Workers’ Party, and they lost all the housing and employment privileges that go with membership, and some were even sent to prison because they were sloppy in their management of the harvest. “Farm officials can’t sleep at night because they think something like that could happen to them right now,” the first resident said. At a farm in the city of Hyesan, the harvest was completed on Sept. 27, but then the workers were remobilized, that is, called to provide unpaid labor once again, when they heard that the inspection team had arrived. “They even mobilized middle and high school students to complete the harvest again,” he said. “The farm officials would rather miss the deadline than fail the inspection.” Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

China, North Korea mark 75th anniversary of ties in muted tone

Editor2 months ago06 mins

Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have marked the 75th anniversary of their countries’ relations but the messages they exchanged were less effusive and shorter than in the past, hinting at cooler ties. Xi’s message to Kim this year, published by China’s Xinhua News Agency, was 309 characters long, compared with 435 characters in 2019, for the 70th anniversary. Similarly, Kim’s message to Xi, published by the Korean Central News Agency, was 497 characters this year, down from 809 characters in 2019. But it wasn’t just the length of the messages that was different. Xi told Kim that relations between their countries had “stood the changes of the times and the trials of an ever-changing international situation and become a precious asset common to the two countries and the two peoples.” Xi added that China was ready to further develop relations “through strengthened strategic communications and coordination, and deepened friendly exchange and cooperation.” But Xi did not use the phrases he used in the 70th anniversary celebration, such as “the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK has grown stronger over time and gone deep into the hearts of the people.” DPRK stands for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Kim referred to Xi in 2019 as his “esteemed” comrade but he dropped that salutation this year. “Our Party and the government of the Republic will steadily strive to consolidate and develop the friendly and cooperative relations between the DPRK and China as required by the new era,” Kim said. This year, the messages between Xi and Kim were published on page four of North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun daily. In 2019, they were splashed across the newspaper’s front page. RELATED STORIES Xi’s latest message to North Korea’s Kim hints at cooling ties North Korea bans more TV and movies. Surprise! They’re Chinese North Korea orders return of workers in China stranded by pandemic Since North Korea and China established diplomatic ties on Oct. 6, 1949, their relationship has often been described as being “as close as lips and teeth.” However, there have been signals that China, by far North Korea’s largest trading partner, has become more distant towards its northeastern neighbor. In September, Xi, in his first message to Kim in eight months, marking the anniversary of North Korea’s founding, was also less effusive in tone on the friendship between the countries than he had been the previous year. South Korea’s main security agency has raised the possibility of cooler ties between China and North Korea while media has reported that China is hesitant to form a three-way, anti-West alliance with North Korea and Russia. North Korea and Russia have moved significantly closer amid widespread suspicion that North Korea has supplied conventional weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. This year, North Korea and Russia the two countries signed a strategic treaty that includes mutual defense elements. China Beijing appears to prioritize a stable regional security environment to address its economic challenges and maintain relationships with Europe and its Asian neighbors. China’s foreign ministry has dismissed any suggestions that relations with North Korea have cooled. While North Korea largely sealed itself off during the COVID-19 pandemic, this year it has been building up its diplomatic ties, apart from those with Russia. A top Vietnamese defense official visited Pyongyang last month and in August, North Korea took steps to patch up ties with old ally Cuba. In April, a North Korean delegation visited Iran. Edited by Mike Firn. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

China’s workers complain of being ‘beasts of burden’

Editor2 months ago016 mins

There’s a new social media buzzword making the rounds in China that is a shorthand way for workers to complain about being overworked and exploited — “oxen and horses.” The metaphor has gone viral again recently with a video clip of talk show star Xu Zhisheng quipping about his company: “So what, are you gonna milk me now?” While China has long been known for its unforgiving office culture, as the post-lockdown economy flags and jobs get harder to come by, those who are in work find that more and more is being asked of them, leading them to describe themselves as beasts of burden. “Treatment of workers is getting worse and worse during the economic crisis,” a worker in the solar energy industry who gave only the pseudonym Jiang Ling for fear of reprisals told RFA Mandarin by email. “Oxen and horses is a popular buzzword in China … which expresses how badly workers are being treated.” An employee works at a workshop of an engineering equipment manufacturing enterprise, Feb. 29, 2024 in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. (Yang Bo/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images) Long working hours, low pay and no way to stand up for their rights were the most frequently cited complaints by workers who spoke to Radio Free Asia in recent interviews. A white-collar employee with more than 10 years’ experience in the state-owned and private sector, who gave only the nickname Amesis for fear of reprisals, said both sectors are as bad as each other when it comes to wringing the last drops of productivity out of employees. “The worst thing about private companies is the boss’ arrogant attitude towards their employees,” he said. “Private companies will expect you to do overtime if they get a request from another department.” “But in state-owned enterprises, you’re treated like beasts of burden — expected to produce a report within a specified timeframe,” Amesis said. “In those companies, most of the tasks they assign to you are outside of your job description.” ‘No room to say no’ Regardless of the company structure, “requests” from management are non-negotiable. “There’s no room to say no, and no basic rights as an employee,” he said, adding that at least state-owned companies pay overtime, although at the same rate as regular wages. Dong Ming, who has held both white- and blue-collar roles since entering the workplace in 2005, said the hours are pretty long regardless of the type of labor you do. On the shop floor of a listed flooring manufacturer, Dong used to work “8.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. or 8.00 p.m. to 8.00 a.m. two weeks on day shift and two weeks on nights,” he said. A 2024 survey by human resources company Zhaopin found that nearly 70% of white-collar and blue-collar workers put in more than eight hours a day, with scant difference between them. And 34% of respondents described themselves as beasts of burden, or “oxen and horses.” Employees check electronic components at the workshop of Jiangxi Yingteli Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., June 8, 2023 in Jincheng, Shanxi, China. (Wei Liang/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images) Zhang Chao, a former national marketing director of a Chinese brewery, said there is little choice for workers faced with ever-increasing demands on their time. “In some low-end jobs, it’s pretty easy to recruit people, especially in the current environment,” Zhang told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview. “A lot of people competing on the bottom end of the ladder for basic jobs are unemployed.” In the private company where Zhang used to work, there was no such thing as overtime pay, and pressure to put in long hours is greater the further you are down the pecking order. But there are also oxen and horses among senior management, he said. “It depends on what kind of division of management labor you have with your boss,” he said. “If he trusts you, he will leave a lot of stuff to you — that makes you kind of a senior beast of burden.” ‘Wolf culture’ Amesis agreed, saying managers are no more able to resist the demands of their employer than workers further down the company hierarchy. “The managers report directly to the boss, and they’re the ones who get scolded if there are problems,” he said. For Dong, who has put in shifts in restaurants, coal mines, factories and opticians, most workplaces don’t treat workers like human beings. Even at the opticians, where the job was somewhat easier, his boss used his lowly background to belittle and criticize him. “He told me that people like me with a poor background are incompetent and would never achieve anything,” Dong said. “He looked down on poor people, and saw them as narrow-minded and ignorant of everything, like fine dining.” An employee works on the production line at a workshop of wig, June 4, 2024 in Xuchang, Henan, China. (Kan Li/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images) The 12-hours shifts at the flooring factory left him exhausted at the time, but he didn’t see himself as exploited until later. “I was a little self-critical that I probably wasn’t up to it,” he said. The predatory attitude of employers towards those they hire has been dubbed “wolf culture” in the Chinese workplace. “Wolf culture basically means that everyone has to work together as a team, work overtime, and put up with things being tough,” Zhang said. “A team is only allowed to speak with one voice.” Anyone who steps out of line, even to raise a minor objection, is seen as the problem, even if the repercussions don’t come immediately. Bias toward companies This means that few Chinese employees are willing to put their neck on the line. “Even if you open your mouth and your manager politely refuses, if you go back a second time, the outcome may not be very good for you,” Zhang said. “Sometimes the manager will even start to target you.” And when that happens, there is little redress outside the workplace….

Cambodian anti-Vietnamese sentiment will stalk Hun Manet beyond trade zone spat

Editor2 months ago013 mins

After months of disquiet, Prime Minister Hun Manet announced on Sept. 20 that Cambodia would be withdrawing from the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA), a major investment pact. Sophal Ear, a U.S.-based analyst, described the move as “almost Brexit-like” – a nice sound bite, but far from the case. Cambodia hasn’t left ASEAN, nor withdrawn from important regional bodies like the Mekong River Commission. A report from February claimed that Vietnam had invested in 45 projects in Cambodia, worth around $1.7 billion, through the scheme since its inception in 2004. Yet, much of this investment likely would have happened bilaterally without the CLV framework. In fact, a 2017 study showed that the majority of the program’s benefits went to Vietnam. Chhengpor Aun, an analyst, summarized it well: Cambodia’s leadership concluded that the CLV-DTA carried “higher political risks domestically than transnational economic and diplomatic gains it promised to deliver.” Granted, Hanoi won’t be pleased with Cambodia’s decision, especially given the ongoing controversy over Phnom Penh’s decision to progress with the Funan Techo Canal despite Vietnam’s concerns. The China-backed megaproject could have a major ecological impact on southern Vietnam and would reduce Cambodia’s reliance on Vietnamese ports. Hanoi will be wary about the narrative that Cambodia’s exit from the CLV-DTA now opens the door for more Chinese investment, at the expense of Vietnamese influence. However, the communist parties of Laos and Vietnam understand that authoritarian governments sometimes need to placate domestic dissent, even at the cost of international investment. In 2019, Hanoi canceled a special economic zone (SEZ) law that would have granted Chinese companies greater access to northern Vietnam, following public outrage. Dogged by history with Hanoi It is likely that both Vientiane and Hanoi were briefed by Cambodia about the move beforehand. Hun Manet said that he informed both capitals that the decision was made “to disarm the opposition and maintain peace and solidarity.” The bigger question is what this means for Cambodian domestic politics. Sources within the government say that the intensity of the anti-CLV reaction caught the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) by surprise. Following last year’s leadership transition — when Hun Sen stepped down as prime minister after 38 years in power and appointed his eldest son as his replacement — the CPP hoped that it would be less vulnerable to anti-Vietnam rhetoric. Hun Sen was perennially dogged by allegations of being a Vietnam lackey, given his history as the head ofHanoi-installed Cambodian government in the 1980s. Few things stir the Khmer as much as claims that Vietnam is encroaching on Cambodian territory. Cambodian civil servants hold photographs of Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father during a groundbreaking ceremony of China-funded Funan Techo canal, Aug. 5, 2024. (Heng Sinith/AP) Anti-Vietnamese sentiment dates back several centuries, when Cambodia was carved up by Vietnam and Siam. Under French colonial rule, the Vietnamese were perceived as having privileged status over the Khmers. Pogroms against ethnic Vietnamese took place during the 1970s, and the Khmer Rouge, a genocidal regime, exterminated much of the Vietnamese diaspora. Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge general, marched alongside Vietnamese troops in 1979 to help overthrow that regime. The Vietnamese soldiers stayed for a decade, and in 1985, Hanoi helped install Hun Sen as prime minister. RELATED STORIES Cambodia pulls out of regional economic deal amid criticism EXPLAINED: Why is Cambodia threatening arrests over a 3-nation economic zone? Cambodia’s Funan Techo canal exposes cracks in Vietnam ties Will Cambodia’s Funan Techo canal be a success? Exploiting a weak spot Despite Hun Sen’s dominance, anti-Vietnamese nationalism remained his weak spot, exploited by opposition parties since the 1980s. The now-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party found it easy to brand Hun Sen a lackey to the youn, a derogatory term for the Vietnamese. It was hoped that such narratives would fade when Hun Manet took power. His rise to power was supposed to symbolize not only a generational shift in the CPP but also a generational change in culture, a new politics that no longer framed everything by the events of 1979. Yet, the return of anti-Vietnam sentiment in the form of the anti-CLV protests suggests that some things remain unchanged. Worse, the anti-CLV protests coincided with the overthrow of Bangladesh’s dictator, which sparked fears of a “color revolution” in Phnom Penh. Former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, left, guides former Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong during a visit to the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Feb. 26, 2019. (Heng Sinith/AP) The immediate response of Hun Sen, who still calls the shots, was predictable. The government swiftly moved to suppress dissent. According to the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), over 100 people have been arrested since late July, and more than 60 charged and imprisoned, for voicing opinions about the CLV-DTA. Both Hun Sen and Hun Manet labeled the protesters “extremists,” and Phnom Penh’s propagandists stuck to their brief: “We are not losing our land, and we are not losing our sovereignty.” But clearly, Phnom Penh decided this was not a battle worth fighting. A more aggressive crackdown would have succeeded, but with foreign governments beginning to take notice – especially as the Cambodia authorities were targeting activists who were agitating against the CLV abroad – the risks outweighed the rewards. One goal of Hun Manet’s leadership is to improve Cambodia’s image internationally after relations with the West had deteriorated since 2017. Nagging criticism Many Western governments have bought into the notion without evidence that Hun Manet is more of a liberal reformer than his father – someone they no longer need to pinch their nose when doing business with. Phnom Penh eventually chose the easier route: withdrawing from the CLV-DTA, trusting that most people wouldn’t focus too much on the contradiction—if it didn’t jeopardize sovereignty, why quit? Hun Sen is a protean politician unconcerned with contradictions. Attempting to put the matter to bed, Hun Manet emphasized in a September 26 speech that the country was now united, saying, “There’s no…

Cambodia publicly shames maid deported after criticizing Hun Sen

Editor2 months ago07 mins

Cambodian authorities have circulated photos of a handcuffed domestic worker who was deported from Malaysia after calling her country’s former leader Hun Sen “despicable.” Nuon Toeun, a 36-year-old domestic worker over the past six years, was arrested Saturday at her employer’s home in the state of Selangor, which surrounds Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur. She was escorted to Cambodia by an embassy official and handed over to Cambodian authorities on Monday. After detaining her in Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar Prison on charges of “incitement,” Cambodian authorities distributed photos of Nuon Toeun in front of the facility, handcuffed and under military escort. Her deportation, arrest and public shaming drew condemnation on Thursday from observers and human rights advocates who slammed the Malaysian government for its complicity in Cambodia’s “transnational repression.” Former Cambodian parliamentarian Mu Sochua, who is now living in exile, called the case an example of how autocratic regimes seek to “silence dissent.” “A Cambodian domestic worker was immediately sent to prison after #Malaysia, complying with @hunsencambodia, deported her,” she said, in a post accompanying the photos of Nuon Toeun in handcuffs on the social media platform X. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, left, stands next to his father Hun Sen, former prime minister during the country’s 70th Independence Day in Phnom Penh, Nov. 9, 2023. (Heng Sinith/AP) Nuon Toeun often used social media to criticize Cambodia’s leadership including Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father Hun Sen, who held the post from 1985 until last year before passing the role to his son and taking a new role as president of the senate. She also criticized the Cambodian government over handling a variety of social issues. ‘Despicable guy’ A few days before her arrest, Nuon Toeun had posted a video to her Facebook page in response to a comment telling her to “be mindful of being the subject of sin,” in reference to talking negatively about Hun Sen. “If I have sinned because I [have cursed] this despicable guy, I am happy to accept the sin because he has mistreated my people so badly,” she said in the video. “I am not a politician, but I am a political observer and expressing rage on behalf of the people living inside Cambodia.” RELATED STORIES Malaysia deports Cambodian worker for calling Hun Sen ‘despicable’ Award-winning Cambodian journalist jailed for ‘incitement’ Australian prison sentence for official’s son strikes chord in Cambodia Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates Director Phil Robertson slammed the “shameful collaboration” between the two governments in deporting and jailing Nuon Toeun for her comments. “Add yet another case in very long list of transnational repression actions undertaken by #Cambodia gov’t of @Dr_Hunmanet_PM @hunsencambodia,” Robertson wrote. “Hun Sen going after a maid in KL who called him ‘despicable’ & embassy escorts her back!” “What’s truly despicable is #Malaysia‘s involvement in this!” he added. Josef Benedict, a researcher with the Civicus Monitor, a global civil society alliance, expressed alarm that Anwar Ibrahim’s government in Malaysia would facilitate Cambodian efforts to punish dissent. “A clear violation of international law & a new low for this government,” he posted to X on Thursday. Nuon Toeun had been a supporter of the Cambodian National Rescue Party, or CNRP, which had been the main opposition party in Cambodia prior to its supreme court declaring the party illegal and dissolving it in 2017. Attempts by RFA to contact Cambodian government spokesman Pen Bona for comment on Nuon Toeun’s case went unanswered Friday. Am Sam Ath of the Cambodian rights group Licadho said that critics living abroad shouldn’t be deported for exercising their right to freedom of expression and warned that the case would only invite additional international scrutiny of the Cambodian and Malaysian governments. “The arrest drew a lot of criticism of Malaysian authorities for working with Cambodia to deport the maid,” he told RFA Khmer. “The international community has raised the issue of freedom of expression, which the Malaysian government should respect.” Am Sam Ath said that his organization is working to meet with Nuon Toeun at Prey Sar, who does not currently have legal representation. Translated by Samean Yun. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

US tech giants face human rights concerns over Vietnam investments

Editor2 months ago011 mins

Tech giant Meta announced this week it will manufacture virtual reality headsets in Vietnam, creating about 1,000 jobs, but the parent company of Facebook has not commented on whether it discussed freedom of speech with leaders of a government that regularly jails its citizens for expressing even mild dissent on social media. Meta’s Global Affairs President Nick Clegg was in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi on Monday, meeting Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Clegg met the country’s president and Communist Party general secretary, To Lam, at the end of September, meaning he had held discussions with the people holding three of the country’s four top political posts. “Vietnam continues to be an important country for Meta,” Clegg said after his talks in Hanoi concluded with a commitment by the company to manufacture its Quest 3S headsets in Vietnam. Meta said Clegg’s talks highlighted the company’s “commitment to supporting the country’s growth as a leading digital economy in Southeast Asia,” adding that Clegg and Chinh discussed economic and trade cooperation, the development of artificial intelligence and the possibility of Meta supporting Vietnam’s small and medium-sized businesses. But there was no comment from the social media giant about whether Clegg talked to Vietnam’s leaders about protecting the right to self-expression of the more than 75 million Vietnam-based Facebook users. In August, social media poster Le Phu Tuan was jailed for four years and eight months for putting 21 videos on Facebook that prosecutors said included content “abusing freedom and democracy to infringe upon the interests of the state and the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals.” He was one of a growing number of Vietnamese to be prosecuted under the loosely worded Article 331 of the Criminal Code. Since the beginning of the year, at least 12 people have been arrested and eight imprisoned under the article. “A quick survey of Vietnam’s over 160 political prisoners will reveal that just about all of them are imprisoned in part for what they wrote online, and particularly on Facebook, but evidently that doesn’t matter to Meta anymore,” Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates Director Phil Robertson told Radio Free Asia. “The final kick in the teeth for the free expression aspirations of Vietnamese on the platform is Clegg’s announcement that Meta will produce their virtual reality headsets in Vietnam. “With the leverage it gains over the company with control over that supply chain, you can bet that the Vietnamese government will expect Meta to take down content the government doesn’t like whenever the government demands it,” Robertson said. Meta had not responded to requests for comment from RFA about whether Clegg had discussed human rights with Lam and Chinh, by time of publication. Meta stresses the importance of freedom of expression and enabling people to express themselves as freely as possible although rights groups have criticized it for restricting Facebook posts in the face of pressure from authoritarian governments. Meta says it has a process for responding to government requests and it considers company policies along with local laws and international human rights standards. Vietnam, which has also adopted a requirement that foreign tech firms store data there, has been rated “not free” by Washington-based Freedom House, with a score of 19 out of 100 in its 2024 Freedom in the World report and no tech giant has located a data center there. “The authorities have increasingly cracked down on citizens’ use of social media and the internet to voice dissent and share uncensored information,” the free-speech advocacy group said. Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (fifth from right) together with the Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet and Google, Ruth Porat (fourth from right) at the ‘groundbreaking’ project for the development of data centers and cloud regions in Kuala Lumpur, 1 October 2024. (Facebook: Anwar Ibrahim) On Tuesday, Alphabet’s Google broke ground on a US$2 billion data center in Malaysia, saying it planned to invest more than $3 billion there by 2030. It is also reportedly planning a $1 billion dollar investment in a regional data and cloud center in Thailand, according to the Reuters news agency. “My government aims to empower every Thai citizen with the digital literacy needed to reduce inequalities and provide greater opportunities for all,” Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Monday. “Thailand not only offers resilient digital infrastructure and stable utilities, but also upholds technological neutrality.” RELATED STORIES Vietnam jails journalist for 7 years for ‘propaganda’ Backlash against Vietnamese student shows online bullying on the rise, netizens say Vietnam cracks down on social media users who criticize the state Vietnam’s top leader Lam also met Google executives in the U.S. at the end of September, but there was no confirmation of media reports it might build a “hyperscale” data center close to Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnamese state media reports on the general secretary’s New York meeting with Google’s vice president for government affairs and public policy said that Karan Bhatia cited this year’s opening of a Google office in Ho Chi Minh City and the manufacturing of phones and components there as evidence of his company’s commitment to its partnership with Vietnam. “He expressed his hope to cooperate with the country in AI development, a sphere of Google’s strength that could be greatly useful to Vietnam,” the Vietnam News Service reported. The company had not responded to requests for comment from RFA on the possibility of a data center in Vietnam by time of publication. Nor did it respond to questions about Vietnam’s jailing of YouTube users whose content was considered critical of the government. Those users include Nguyen Vu Binh, jailed for seven years in September for “propaganda against the state,” under another article of the Criminal Code, 117, which rights groups say is vaguely worded. Since the beginning of the year, Vietnam has arrested nine people and sentenced at least 12 to prison under Article 117, according to RFA statistics. “Vietnam has become the worst rights abusing country in ASEAN after war-torn Myanmar, but you would…

PRC at 75: Deng Xiaoping never delivered on young people’s desire for freedom

Editor2 months ago018 mins

Read RFA’s coverage of this in Chinese. Editors note: This is the second in a series of profiles of Chinese leaders on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Many in China under Communist Party leader Xi Jinping look back to the economic boom-time under late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping with nostalgia, as a freewheeling era in which it was easier to get rich, and when the government had less control over people’s lives. But the reality of life under Deng was much grittier, political activists and commentators told RFA Mandarin in recent interviews. In June 1983, postgraduate philosophy student Chen Kuide was singled out for political criticism after taking part in an academic conference in the southwestern city of Guilin, as part of a political campaign against “spiritual pollution.” It was just a few years after then supreme leader Deng had kicked off a slew of economic reforms and “opening up” to the rest of the world in the wake of the death of Mao Zedong and the trial of the Gang of Four that marked the end of the Cultural Revolution. But despite the rosy glow that often suffuses people’s memories of China in the 1980s, the political campaigns didn’t stop when the universities reopened and the government started the massive task of rehabilitating people who had been persecuted under Mao and his wife, Jiang Qing. Then Chinese Vice President Deng Xiaoping meets U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the White House in Washington, Jan. 29, 1979. (AP) Instead, Deng launched the “spiritual pollution” campaign targeting anyone with any liberal tendencies, who advocated humanitarianism, market economics or appreciation of the arts for their aesthetic, rather than social, value. By the time Chen got back to his dorm at Shanghai’s Fudan University, there was a red circle around his name on a list in the municipal government, and Chen and a fellow student were suspended from their studies for three months. Luckily for Chen, the campaign was later called off and he was reinstated. His friend with government connections told him at the time: “There was a red circle round your name, as if you were going to be exiled to Qinghai or something.” Leaving aside the upbeat official narrative of “reform and opening up,” the 1980s was not an easy time to be Chinese, according to veteran U.S.-based democracy activist Wang Juntao. “I don’t think there was any golden age during the 1980s,” Wang said. “Intellectuals back then were pretty unhappy with Deng Xiaoping and Zhao Ziyang.” Fall of Hu Yaobang A 1980 amendment to the country’s constitution deleted a clause protecting people’s right to “speak out, air their views freely, hold debates and make big-character posters,” while a 1978 amendment made two years after Mao’s death deleted their right to “reproductive freedom,” amid growing concerns about the burgeoning population. A system of film censorship was set up in 1980, while the right to private ownership of land disappeared with a constitutional amendment in 1982. Nationwide student protests in 1986 were sparked by local officials’ insistence on interfering in local elections to the People’s Congresses, and spread from eastern Anhui province to Shanghai and Beijing, in protests that lasted 28 days. Former 1989 student leader Chen Pokong also took part in the 1986 student protests in Shanghai. “We didn’t do anything much; just walked along the street and sometimes sat in front of the city government,” he said. “We weren’t trying to overthrow the government, just asked them to move a little faster and meet some of people’s demands for democracy and equality.” “It all fizzled out peacefully in the end, because the weather was cold, and the winter vacation was about to begin, and a lot of students wanted to go back home for the Lunar New Year,” he said. Deng Xiaoping and French President Francois Mitterand share a toast at a state banquet in Beijing, May 5, 1983. (Gabriel Duval/AFP) Soon afterwards, news emerged that premier Hu Yaobang would resign to take the fall for those protests, blamed for his “ineffective leadership.” Then the party expelled a number of prominent dissidents from its ranks, including journalist Liu Binyan, physicist Fang Lizhi and author Wang Ruowang. “Before that, I didn’t have much of an impression of Deng Xiaoping — he just seemed like a short little guy among the old guys in charge of the Chinese Communist Party,” Chen said. “But he had suddenly made such a big move, and I started to think about why that would be. I felt he didn’t really understand young people or our ideas.” “Once young people get started with economic reform, they’ll immediately start to want political reform too, and as soon as they start to interact with the West, they’ll want freedom and democracy,” he said. “But this old man just wanted to take a leisurely walk — he was behind the times, and not suited to ruling the country. He should have let younger people take charge,” Chen said. 1980s political purges Following the 1986 protests, the right to demonstrate was stripped from students in Beijing, with the passage of new regulations warning that anyone who took part in “unauthorized parades” would be prosecuted. Those rules were enshrined in national law after the 1989 Tiananmen Square mass protests. “For me, there was nothing good about the 1980s. Anyone who tried to fight for freedom and democracy was still suppressed,” said Wang, citing the heavy jail terms handed down to 1979 Democracy Wall dissidents Wei Jingsheng and Wang Xizhe. “The political purges continued throughout the 1980s, and large numbers of people were affected each time,” he said. “I think people who remember the 1980s as a good time probably didn’t care much about politics.” “I don’t think there has ever been a good time under the Chinese Communist Party, and that hasn’t changed.” Deng Xiaoping meets with foreign guests in Beijing on April 8, 1989. (AP) U.S.-based former Party School professor Cai Xia agreed…

Year: 2024