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G20 ends on high note for Indian host

Editor1 year ago08 mins

The G20 wound up on Sunday with leaders visiting a memorial statue to Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, a day after adding 55 new member states via the African Union and coming up with a compromise communique soft on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited the African Union to join the G20 as a permanent member on Saturday in his opening remarks, calling on members to end a “global trust deficit.” “It is time for all of us to move together,” Modi said. Despite widespread anticipation that this year’s summit would be a damp squib, it appeared to have featured some significant pushback on China’s apparent unwillingness to play ball with the developed world. Modi announced on Saturday that negotiators had resolved deep differences over the wording on the war in Ukraine, but the phrasing – not invasion by Russia but “war in Ukraine” – was clearly a bone to Russia and China, whose leaders did not attend. China and Russia were opposed to any joint statement that censures Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden skipped the final session of the summit, heading to Vietnam, where a Whitehouse official said the two nations would elevate their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, putting it on a par with Beijing and Moscow’s engagement with Hanoi. U.S. President Joe Biden leaves for Vietnam after attending the G20 Summit, in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. Credit: AP Modi pronounced the summit a success. “On the back of the hard work of all the teams, we have received consensus on the G20 Leaders Summit Declaration. I announce the adoption of this declaration,” Modi told the G20 leaders in New Delhi. “#G20India has been the MOST ambitious in the history of #G20 presidencies. With 112 outcomes and presidency documents, we have more than tripled the substantive work from previous presidencies,” said India’s G20 Sherpa representative Amitabh Kant on social media. Commentators said that it was significant that India appeared to be ready to take a more assertive role in global politics. Modi ended the summit by passing on the ceremonial gavel to Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose country takes over the bloc’s presidency. Welcome Africa The announcement of permanent inclusion of the 55-nation African Union (AU) is likely to be a blow for Chinese president Xi Jinping, who did not attend the summit for unknown reasons, and recently heralded the new membership of six countries in the BRICS grouping as “historic.” The AU’s young population of 1.3 billion is expected to double by 2050, when it will account for a quarter of the global population. It’s strategically important to both China, Africa’s largest trading partner and one of its largest lenders, and Russia, its leading arms provider. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, shares a light moment with African Union Chairman Azali Assoumani upon his arrival at Bharat Mandapam convention center for the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. Credit: Pool via Reuters Meanwhile, in what will likely be seen as a challenge to Xi’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), U.S. President Joe Biden, Modi and allies announced a rail and shipping corridor connecting India with the Middle East and ultimately Europe. The project will include the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the European Union and other countries in the G20. Commentators speculate it will enable greater trade and be an ambitious counter to China’s massive BRI, through which it has sought to invest and lend its way to making its economy better connected with the world. Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, left, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands next to U.S. President Joe Biden on the first day of the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, Sept. 9, 2023. Credit: AP/POOL The moves on Saturday, which were roundly seen as pushback against China, came against a background of speculation as to why China’s Xi was not present and calls for Beijing to explain itself. “It’s incumbent upon the Chinese government to explain” why its leader “would or would not participate,” Jon Finer, the U.S. deputy national security adviser, told reporters in Delhi. He said there was speculation that China is “giving up on G20” in favor of groupings like BRICS, where it is dominant. Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who attended the summit as a representative of Xi, called on the European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for greater unity and cooperation between the two sides to counter global uncertainties, according to a statement on Sunday from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Li urged the EU to provide a non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies, as the bloc becomes warier of the risks of engaging China, seeing it as a “systemic rival” since 2019. Edited by Mike Firn and Elaine Chan.

African Union joins G20 as compromise statement agreed

Editor1 year ago05 mins

Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited the African Union to join the G20 as a permanent member on Saturday in his opening remarks, calling on members to end a “global trust deficit.” “It is time for all of us to move together,” Modi said. Modi announced later in the day during the summit that negotiators had resolved deep differences over the wording on the war in Ukraine. “On the back of the hard work of all the teams, we have received consensus on the G20 Leaders Summit Declaration. I announce the adoption of this declaration,” Modi told the G20 leaders in New Delhi. China and Russia are known to be opposed to any joint statement that censures Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Despite widespread anticipation that this year’s summit would be a damp squib – perhaps resulting in no communique at all – the G20 appeared to be pushing back on China’s apparent lack of willingness to play ball with the developed world. The announcement of permanent inclusion of the 55-nation African Union (AU) is likely to be a blow for Chinese president Xi Jinping, who is not attending the summit for unknown reasons, and recently heralded the new membership of six countries in the BRICS grouping as “historic.” The AU’s young population of 1.3 billion is expected to double by 2050, when it will account for a quarter of the global population. It’s strategically important to both China, Africa’s largest trading partner and one of its largest lenders, and Russia, its leading arms provider. U.S. President Joe Biden listens to the opening remarks of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the first session of the G20 Summit, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. Credit: Evan Vucci/Pool via Reuters Meanwhile, in what will likely be seen as a challenge to Xi’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), U.S. President Joe Biden, Modi and allies were reported to have plans to announce a rail and shipping corridor connecting India with the Middle East and ultimately Europe. The project would include the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the European Union and other countries in the G20, the Associated Press reported Jon Finer, Biden’s principal deputy national security adviser, as saying. Biden, Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were to announce the project as part of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment, with commentary speculating that it would enable greater trade and be an ambitious counter to China’s massive BRI, through which it has sought to invest and lend its way to making its economy better connected with the world. The moves on Saturday, which were roundly seen as pushback against China, came against a background of speculation as to why China’s Xi was not present and calls for Beijing to explain itself. “It’s incumbent upon the Chinese government to explain” why its leader “would or would not participate,” Jon Finer, the U.S. deputy national security adviser, told reporters in Delhi. He said there was speculation that China is “giving up on G20” in favor of groupings like BRICS, where it is dominant. Edited by Elaine Chan and Mike Firn.

Foreign diplomats in China treated to tour of Xinjiang and ‘happy’ Uyghurs

Editor1 year ago010 mins

A Chinese government-sponsored visit to Xinjiang by 25 Beijing-based ambassadors and other diplomats from developing countries has come under fire by human rights activists for pushing an official narrative that the mostly Muslim Uyghurs in the far-western region are thriving, despite the reality of severe repression. The delegation, which included diplomats from Dominica, Myanmar, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Nicaragua and Mexico, visited the western autonomous region from July 31 to Aug. 3. Xinhua news agency and CGTN, China’s state-run international TV broadcaster, covered the diplomats as they visited Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi, the cities of Aksu and Kashgar, and other significant locales to observe the region’s “economic and social progress” and affirm that “the local population in Xinjiang is living a happy life.” And the Chinese government’s efforts appear to have paid off. “During our time in Xinjiang, we had open conversations with the local people and observed that they lead content and happy lives,” Martin Charles, the ambassador to China from the small Caribbean island nation of Dominica, told Xinhua. “We didn’t come across any instances of forced labor, and there were no indications of human rights violations,” he said. China is relying on government-organized visits for foreign officials and influential people from various professions to promote an alternative vision of Uyghur life in Xinjiang amid growing condemnation by Western nations over its maltreatment of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities. The U.S. government and several Western parliaments have declared that the ongoing human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions, torture, forced sterilizations of Uyghur women, and forced labor, amount to genocide and crimes against humanity. China has also denounced a report issued nearly a year ago by the U.N. high commissioner for human rights that documented cases of severe rights abuses in Xinjiang. The report said that the abuses could constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity. Though the groups invited to tour the region are diverse, they have one thing in common: They all support China’s “Xinjiang policy.” ‘Telling the story of Xinjiang well’ In early February, another visiting delegation of Beijing-based ambassadors and diplomats from African countries, including Senegal, Benin, Mali, Rwanda, Madagascar, Malawi, Uganda, Lesotho and Chad, visited Xinjiang and expressed support for China’s policies there. All the countries maintain strong economic ties with China because many have benefited from Chinese-built and financed infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. They also support China within the United Nations. Members of the delegation of diplomats who visited in July also expressed their rejection of a previous proposal by the U.N.’s top human rights body to hold debate on alleged rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. The proposal by mostly Western nations, including the United States, was voted down in October 2022. Six days before the diplomats visited Xinjiang, the Chinese government organized a seminar in Urumqi to convey its narrative of the region. During discussions about “telling the story of Xinjiang well,” participants emphasized reaching overseas audiences by transmitting the narrative in languages other than Mandarin Chinese. Hector Dorbecker, counselor for economic-commercial and financial affairs at the Embassy of Mexico in Beijing, tries to play dutar, a long-necked two-stringed lute, in Jiayi village of Xinhe county, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Aug. 2, 2023. Credit: Zhao Chenjie/Xinhua via Getty Images In late December 2018, a delegation of diplomats from Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, and 12 other countries, all stationed in Beijing, visited Xinjiang on an agenda organized by the Chinese government, which presented “re-education” camps as voluntary vocational training centers. The Chinese government has also sponsored foreign journalists on trips to Xinjiang. Chinese officials arranged for a group of journalists from 10 foreign media outlets to tour major cities in Xinjiang in April 2021 to defend its policies in the region and dispel reports of human rights abuses. In August 2019, Chinese Communist Party officials hosted another group of foreign journalists, most of whom worked for state broadcasters from countries along the Silk Road economic belt, putting them up in fancy hotels while they toured Xinjiang and lecturing them on China’s measures to stop terrorism and separatism in the region. The officials took the journalists to some mosques still left standing though authorities had closed, demolished, or turned into museums many others in Xinjiang, to a “re-education” camp they said was a vocational training center, and to shows where young Uyghurs danced and sang. rights activists weigh in Henryk Szadziewski, director of research at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, said the arranged visits are “a consistent tactic employed by the Chinese government to conceal their wrongdoings” during which they use others to amplify their messages. “Whether it is a western vlogger doing a travel blog or diplomats from countries that are friendly, or that rely on China in terms of its economy, or [face] threats or pressure, they put out this message that Xinjiang is now safe and prosperous as a region,” he said. While China invites people from nations sympathetic to its perspective to visit Xinjiang, it has rejected requests by the U.S. and human rights groups that independent investigators be able to visit the region. Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said all visits to Xinjiang by foreign diplomats were designed by China to cover up rights abuses. “If everything is fine, why not let in independent international investigators, particularly given the mountain of evidence of some of the most serious crimes under international law?” she asked. “So, it’s not clear why some people got to go and others don’t unless Beijing has something to hide,” she said. Sayragul Sauytbay, an ethnic Kazakh who testified about the abuse she witnessed while detained in a “re-education” camp in Xinjiang, cautioned visiting diplomats against ignoring China’s rights abuses in the region and becoming accomplices to them. “They know and can see China is lying, but they are turning a blind eye,” she said. “These are the countries that rely on China, but for them, this is a rare opportunity….

Missing trafficked Lao teenager determined to be alive in Myanmar casino

Editor2 years ago08 mins

A missing Lao teenager trafficked to Myanmar to work and who was beaten by Chinese men in a Chinese-owned casino in Myanmar earlier this week has been found alive, her mother told Radio Free Asia on Thursday. The girl, whose name is being withheld to protect her from further harm because she is still in Myanmar, is one of dozens of teenagers and youths from Luang Namtha province in Laos who have been trafficked to neighboring Myanmar. Many have ended up in a place the workers call “Casino Kosai” in an isolated development near the city of Myawaddy on Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand, where they are held captive in nondescript buildings and forced to participate in cyber-scams for criminal groups. One scheme involved pretending to be a lonely heart in Thailand looking for love, striking up a conversation and establishing a phony online relationship, RFA reported in April. Laotians, along with Filipino, Chinese and young people from African countries, were forced to work up to 16 hours a day. Lao authorities say efforts to help the youths have been hampered by a lack of access due to heavy fighting in Myanmar’s Kayin state, one of the epicenters of intense conflict between pro- and anti-junta forces. But anti-trafficking experts and Lao youths who have been trafficked accuse Lao authorities of complicity. One mother whose son is still trapped at the casino told RFA that authorities she contacted made “no progress at all” after receiving her request for help freeing him. Following the beating, the men took the girl, 17, to work in a nearby casino, where she believed she was the only Asian worker. The girl still had her own cell phone, so she texted her parents about her whereabouts. After they received news that their daughter was still alive, the parents informed Lao government officials and asked them to intervene, but so far, they have done nothing, the parents said. Photos of the girl obtained by RFA show her thighs and lower legs covered in purple bruises. Her mother requested that RFA not publish the photos so as to not put the girl in further jeopardy. A 17-year-old Lao girl working at the Chinese-owned ‘Casino Kosai’ (shown) in Myanmar near the Thai border was beaten, according to her mother. Credit: Citizen journalist Workers’ parents file complaint Eight parents of trafficked Laotians signed and submitted a two-page complaint on July 31 to the Anti-Trafficking Department, Office of the People’s Council, both in Luang Namtha province where they reside, and to Lao police headquarters in the capital Vientiane. The girl’s situation came to light on Aug. 1, when RFA received text messages from a Lao worker’s parents in Luang Namtha province saying that seven Lao workers had been harassed, beaten and subjected to electrical shocks by Chinese men on July 25 because they failed to meet their work quotas. The Chinese men beat the 17-year-old more than the others and until she collapsed because they found out she had sent a text message to her mother on the boss’s cell phone while working. The other workers didn’t know what had happened to the girl after the men took her away, so her parents feared she was dead. “On July 25, her daughter sent a text message to her using the boss’s telephone,” said another parent of one of the casino workers. “When he found out, he beat her and [subjected her] to electrical shocks many times until she collapsed.” The men then told casino security personnel to carry her outside, the woman said. “But at that time, the Laotians who worked with her didn’t know where they were carrying her to, making them concerned for her life,” she said. The woman also said she wanted the Lao government to help her child leave the Myanmar casino as soon as possible and that all other parents who have their children stuck there also need help. “All of the parents of the workers want the government to help because we don’t know what to do to help them out of there now,” the person said. “We sent all the documents they needed in order to get them out from there almost a year ago already but nothing [has been done].” After other Lao parents in Luang Namtha province who have sons or daughters trapped at the casino in Myanmar heard about the beatings, they submitted written requests for help to various Lao authorities. Another parent of a Lao worker at the casino told RFA that the group of adults delivered another letter to authorities in Luang Namtha province in northern Laos as well as sent a copy to police in Vientiane on Tuesday. An official from the Anti-Trafficking Department in Vientiane who is aware of the situation told RFA on Wednesday that authorities in Myanmar informed his office that they tried to search for the Lao workers, but could not access the casino due to ongoing armed conflict in the area. Translated by Sidney Khotpanya for RFA Lao. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Matt Reed.

China is the tech abettor of global autocracy

Editor2 years ago08 mins

Lost in recent news about China’s spy-base in Cuba was the fact that Huawei employees are working for the Latin American dictatorship. The Chinese telecoms giant isn’t just helping maintain an intelligence-gathering facility. It’s also helping Cuba oppress its own citizens. This is a common thread in Chinese diplomacy: Giving authoritarian regimes the technological tools they need to surveil, repress, and punish dissidents. Huawei, whose links with the Chinese Communist Party are well established, has been Cuba’s main technology provider for the state telecommunications company since 2017. According to a Swedish study, this is part of China’s support for “digital authoritarianism,” and Huawei’s eSight Internet management software that filters web searches is also in use across Latin America. When the Cuban people staged massive protests in July 2021, the government controlled and blocked the internet using technology “made, sold and installed” by China, according to Senator Marco Rubio. Then there’s Africa. In September 2018, Djibouti started surveillance system construction in collaboration with the state-owned China Railway Electrification Bureau Group. The video surveillance system covers major urban areas, airports, docks, and ports in the city of Djibouti. In Asia, China is reportedly cooperating with Myanmar’s military government in constructing a surveillance post on Great Coco Island. In December 2020, Myanmar applied 335 Huawei surveillance cameras in eight townships as part of its “Safe City” project. China’s President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh before a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, April 28, 2019. Credit: Madoka Ikegami/Pool via Reuters The cameras have facial recognition functions and alert authorities if surveilled persons are on a wanted list. In July 2022, Reuters reported that Myanmar’s military government installed Chinese-made cameras with facial recognition capabilities in cities across the country. The equipment was purchased from Dahua, Huawei, and Hikvision. In another case of close Chinese support for an authoritarian ruler in Southeast Asia, it was confirmed in February 2023, that China has a naval base in Ream, Cambodia. In June 2019, the Deputy Commissioner of the General Commissariat of the Kingdom of Cambodia Police and Chief of Phnom Penh Municipal Police visited Chinese companies including Huawei and Hikvision, expressing interest in China’s “Safe Cities” surveillance systems and other police equipment which he hoped to introduce for “improving public security and combating crimes.” In October 2022, according to Voice of America, Cambodian human rights activists suspected Cambodian local police of using drones and surveillance cameras supplied by Chinese companies to monitor labor rights protesters. Belt and Road Initiative In Pakistan, China has installed Chinese technology for domestic surveillance since at least 2016. That’s when the so-called “Safe City” project commenced operations in Islamabad, in collaboration with Huawei and other Chinese companies like e-Hualu. The project has established checkpoints and electronic police systems along major city thoroughfares, enabling citywide vehicle monitoring. In 2017, Huawei collaborated with the Punjab Safe Cities Authority in Pakistan to build a safe city system in Lahore. The project includes an integrated command and communication center, 200 police station sites, and 100 LTE base stations. In Central Asia, Huawei and Hualu surveillance systems are throughout Dushanbe, ostensibly to combat what local authorities say is “terrorism and extremism.” In May 2023, the head of Sughd Province Tajikistan met with Huawei representatives to discuss its 25 million USD “Safe City” project in Khujand, its provincial capital. A staff member sits in front of a screen displaying footage from surveillance cameras, at the Hikvision booth at Security China, the China International Exhibition on Public Safety and Security, in Beijing, June 7, 2023. Credit: Florence Lo/Reuters Much of China’s global provision of domestic surveillance tools is through its Belt and Road initiative, through which it has sent technology to Egypt and Nigeria, Uganda, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Angola, Laos, Kazakhstan, and Kenya. There’s also Serbia, where a political dissident claimed that the objective of the country’s participation in the Belt and Road Initiative is to “hunt… down political opponents.” Technology surveys show that around the world, at least 79 states have bought into Huawei’s surveillance package. They include liberal democracies like Italy, Netherlands, and Germany. A Huawei contract can thus signal entry-level affiliation with Xi Jinping’s New World Order, where “a future and destiny of every nation and every country are closely interconnected”—by invasive Chinese technology that abets oppression. That doesn’t belong in America’s backyard, in Cuba, or anywhere else in the world. Aaron Rhodes is senior fellow at Common Sense Society and President of the Forum for Religious Freedom-Europe. Cheryl Yu is senior researcher at Common Sense Society. The views expressed here are their own and do not reflect the position of RFA.

Hong Kong warrants spark fears of widening ‘long-arm’ political enforcement by China

Editor2 years ago014 mins

Concerns are growing that China could start using the Interpol “red notice” arrest warrant system to target anyone overseas, of any nationality, who says or does something the ruling Communist Party doesn’t like, using Hong Kong’s three-year-old national security law. Dozens of rights groups on Tuesday called on governments to suspend any remaining extradition treaties with China and Hong Kong after the city’s government issued arrest warrants and bounties for eight prominent figures in the overseas democracy movement on Monday, vowing to pursue them for the rest of their lives. “We urge governments to suspend the remaining extradition treaties that exist between democracies and the Hong Kong and Chinese governments and work towards coordinating an Interpol early warning system to protect Hong Kongers and other dissidents abroad,” an open letter dated July 4 and signed by more than 50 Hong Kong-linked civil society groups around the world said. “Hong Kong activists in exile must be protected in their peaceful fight for basic human rights, freedoms and democracy,” said the letter, which was signed by dozens of local Hong Kong exile groups from around the world, as well as by Human Rights in China and the World Uyghur Congress. Hong Kong’s national security law, according to its own Article 38, applies anywhere in the world, to people of all nationalities. The warrants came days after the Beijing-backed Ta Kung Pao newspaper said Interpol red notices could be used to pursue people “who do not have permanent resident status of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and commit crimes against Hong Kong outside Hong Kong.” “If the Hong Kong [government] wants to extradite foreign criminals back to Hong Kong for trial, [it] must formally notify the relevant countries and request that local law enforcement agencies arrest the fugitives and send them back to Hong Kong for trial,” the paper said. While Interpol’s red notice system isn’t designed for political arrests, China has built close ties and influence with the international body in recent years, with its former security minister Meng Hongwei rising to become president prior to his sudden arrest and prosecution in 2019, and another former top Chinese cop elected to the board in 2021. And there are signs that Hong Kong’s national security police are already starting to target overseas citizens carrying out activities seen as hostile to China on foreign soil. Hong Kong police in March wrote to the London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch ordering it to take down its website. And people of Chinese descent who are citizens of other countries have already been targeted by Beijing for “national security” related charges. Call to ignore To address a growing sense of insecurity among overseas rights advocates concerned with Hong Kong, the letter called on authorities in the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe to reiterate that the Hong Kong National Security Law does not apply in their jurisdictions, and to reaffirm that the Hong Kong arrest warrants won’t be recognized. The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the “unlawful activities” the eight are accused of should all be protected under human rights guarantees in Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law. Hong Kong police on Monday, July 3, 2023, issued arrest warrants and offered bounties for eight activists and former lawmakers who have fled the city. They are [clockwise from top left] Kevin Yam, Elmer Yuen, Anna Kwok, Dennis Kwok, Nathan Law, Finn Lau, Mung Siu-tat and Ted Hui. Credit: Screenshot from Reuters video “In recent years, the Chinese government has expanded efforts to control information and intimidate activists around the world by manipulation of bodies such as Interpol,” it said in a statement, adding that more than 100,000 Hong Kongers have fled the city since the crackdown on dissent began. “The Hong Kong government’s charges and bounties against eight Hong Kong people in exile reflects the growing importance of the diaspora’s political activism,” Maya Wang, associate director in the group’s Asia division, said in a statement. “Foreign governments should not only publicly reject cooperating with National Security Law cases, but should take concrete actions to hold top Beijing and Hong Kong officials accountable,” she said. Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee told reporters on Tuesday that the only way for the activists to “end their destiny of being an abscondee who will be pursued for life is to surrender” and urged them “to give themselves up as soon as possible”. The Communist Party-backed Wen Wei Po newspaper cited Yiu Chi Shing, who represents Hong Kong on the standing committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, as saying that those who have fled overseas will continue to oppose the government from wherever they are. “Anyone who crosses the red lines in the national security law will be punished, no matter how far away,” Yiu told the paper. The rights groups warned that Monday’s arrest warrants represent a significant escalation in “long-arm” law enforcement by authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong. Extradition While the U.S., U.K. and several other countries suspended their extradition agreements with Hong Kong after the national security law criminalized public dissent and criticism of the authorities from July 1, 2020, several countries still have extradition arrangements in force, including the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa and Sri Lanka. South Korea, Malaysia, India and Indonesia could also still allow extradition to Hong Kong, according to a Wikipedia article on the topic. Meanwhile, several European countries have extradition agreements in place with China, including Belgium, Italy and France, while others have sent fugitives to China at the request of its police. However, a landmark ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in October 2022 could mean an end to extraditions to China among 46 signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights. “The eight [on the wanted list] should be safe for now, but if they were to travel overseas and arrive in a country that has an extradition agreement with either mainland China or Hong Kong, then…

The BRI Status: A Grand Report on Its Present and Future

Editor2 years ago5 months ago029 mins

BRI’s impact on several nations has only recently become apparent. This has been thoroughly explored in this report THE STAUS OF BRI.

The status of BRI projects in AFRICA

Editor2 years ago2 years ago031 mins

Download the report: Link Africa’s participation in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) began in 2013 when China first unveiled its ambitious global infrastructure project. Recognizing the potential for enhanced connectivity, economic growth, and development, several African countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Egypt, joined the BRI. Africa saw the initiative as a means to address its infrastructure deficit, promote trade and investment, and strengthen its ties with China. Here are the year-on-year trade statistics and balance of payment of Africa with China from 2017 to 2022: Year Africa’s Imports from China Africa’s Export to China Balance of Payment 2017 199.3 billion USD 95.7 billion USD -103.6 billion USD 2018 232.2 billion USD 106.7 billion USD -125.5 billion USD 2019 265.3 billion USD 117.7 billion USD -147.6 billion USD 2020 298.4 billion USD 128.7 billion USD -169.7 billion USD 2021 331.5 billion USD 140 billion USD -191.5 billion USD 2022 364.6 billion USD 151.3 billion USD -213.3 billion USD Trade statistics of Africa with China from 2017 to 2022 List of some of the projects that have suffered cost overruns: Country Project Benin Cotonou Port Expansion Project Botswana Kazungula Bridge Project Cambodia Phnom Penh Railway Project Cameroon Kribi Deep Seaport Project Cameroon N’Djamena-Doba Railway Project Chad N’Djamena-Doba Railway Project Djibouti Djibouti International Airport Expansion Project Djibouti Doraleh Multipurpose Port Project Ghana Tema-Aflao Railway Project Kenya Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway Kenya Lamu Port and Lamu-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor Liberia Buchanan Port Rehabilitation Project Malawi Nacala Logistics Corridor Project Mauritius Port Louis Waterfront Project Morocco Tanger-Med II Port Expansion Project Mozambique Nacala Logistics Corridor Project Nigeria Lagos-Kano Railway Rwanda Bugesera International Airport Project Senegal Diamniadio International Airport Project Sierra Leone Lungi International Airport Expansion Project Tanzania Dodoma City Water Supply Project Tanzania Tanzania-Zambia Railway Project Tunisia Enfidha International Airport Expansion Project Uganda Karuma Hydropower Project Zambia Lusaka Water Supply Project Zambia Victoria Falls Airport Expansion Project Zimbabwe Victoria Falls Airport Expansion Project Here are some of the problems that have plagued the BRI Projects in Africa over the years. The first bar shows the finished projects out of the 31 projects in Africa that make up the sample size. Only 19.35% of the initiatives from Africa in previous years were finished. As the last bar in the bar graph indicates, 9.68% of the projects were abandoned because of budget constraints and local opposition. In the report below, the precise causes are being looked into. The most common issues encountered by BRI projects in Africa were environmental damage (74.19%), which includes the destruction of local ecosystems triggering climate change and the displacement of local communities as a result of skewed and shoddy environmental impact assessments (EIA), and cost overruns (77.42%), which have multiplied the projects’ costs. Delays in project execution (58.06%) brought on by Chinese companies’ reluctance to move the project forward, corruption cases (64.52%) encompassing the stakeholders involved, and low-quality building materials (35.48%) were also major factors in the BRI’s dismal performance in Africa. Examples of projects in Africa that have been linked to corruption allegations involving Chinese companies: Country Project Name Chinese Company Angola Soyo Refinery China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) Botswana Gaborone International Airport China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Congo Inga III Hydropower Project Zhongjian International (Group) Corporation Egypt New Administrative Capital China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) Ethiopia Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Salini Impregilo Ghana Tema Oil Refinery Expansion Sinopec Kenya Standard Gauge Railway China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Liberia Mount Coffee Hydropower Project China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE) Malawi Bingu International Conference Center China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) Mauritius Phoenix International Airport China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Mozambique Nacala Port Expansion China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Namibia Walvis Bay Port Expansion China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Nigeria Ajaokuta Steel Mill China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Rwanda Kigali International Airport China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Senegal Diamniadio International Airport China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Sierra Leone Lungi International Airport China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) South Africa Gautrain Rapid Rail System China Railway Group Limited (CRG) Tanzania Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) Uganda Karuma Hydropower Project China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE) Zambia Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Project China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) Zimbabwe Victoria Falls Airport Expansion China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) BRI projects under the scanner in corruption cases Analysis of the flagship projects Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, Ethiopia and Djibouti Environment Damage, Delayed, Cost Overrun, Corruption, Poor Quality Completed The Addis Ababa-Djibouti (AAD) Railway Modernization Project is Africa’s first cross-border electrified railway. The railway line is a 753 km electrified single-track standard gauge route between Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa and the Port of Djibouti, with 45 stops in total. The new standard gauge route runs parallel to and replaces an abandoned 1 m gauge railway built more than a century ago. The EDR, a joint venture of the two state-owned firms ERC and SDCF, owns the railway line. The project was built by Chinese state-owned corporations China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) under the BRI, which is operating the railway for a period of six years following construction completion. The freight route began in October 2015, while passenger service was formally inaugurated in October 2016. On January 1, 2018, it became officially commercially operating. The project has faced issues with delays and construction quality, which have resulted in the railway being temporarily shut down several times for repairs due to failures. The project has also been detrimental to the environment and the indigenous communities. Bagamoyo Port Project, Tanzania Halted, Poor Quality Tanzania’s Bagamoyo Port Project set a new course in China-Tanzania ties. The deal for the Bagamoyo port project was inked in 2013 after numerous African organizations dubbed it a “killer Chinese loan” and asked that Tanzania’s previous President, Jakaya Kikwete, refuse the offer. Regardless, the offer was accepted. However, in January 2016, President John Magufuli declared the project’s halt. Bagamoyo Special Economic Zone Project, Tanzania Environment Damage, Cost Overrun, Corruption, Halted The Bagamoyo Special Economic Zone Project…

Malaysia’s Mahathir says Russia may take nuclear option

Editor2 years ago06 mins

The world is facing the grim prospect of a nuclear war as the Ukrainian conflict drags on, a former Asian leader has warned. “I don’t think you can make Russia surrender,” said former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad about the ongoing Ukraine war on Friday – the second day of the Future of Asia conference hosted by the Nikkei news group in Tokyo. “They will fight to the end, and in desperation they may resort to the use of nuclear weapons,” said the former statesman who will be 98 in July, adding that not only Ukraine and Russia, but “the whole world will suffer.” Mahathir served as Malaysia’s prime minister from 1981 to 2003 and again from 2018 to 2020. “Nuclear war is the worst kind of war because of the extent of destruction it causes,” he said, reflecting on the end of World War II when two atomic bombs were dropped on Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. A summit of Group of Seven (G7) of the world’s most developed nations was held in Hiroshima last week. “It seems that G7 countries went to Hiroshima trying to persuade the Global South that they should support the West’s efforts in the Ukraine war,” Mahathir said. The Global South is a term generally used for less developed countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania, as opposed to more prosperous nations in the Global North including North America, Europe, and Australia, as well as several rich Asian countries like Japan, South Korea and Singapore. “We should not get involved in wars,” the former leader said before criticizing what he called “the mindset of some countries.” “Global North thinks that war is a solution to conflicts between nations,” Mahathir said. “Russia and the West were partners in the war against Germany,” he said, “but immediately after the war the West decided that their new enemy is Russia so they set up NATO.” ‘World government’ The rivalry between the world’s two superpowers China and the U.S. once again was highlighted at the Future of Asia event, in its 28th year this year. Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Thursday that his country “welcomes the G7’s announcement that they are prepared to build a stable and constructive relationship with China.” Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong went further adding: “Any attempt either to contain China’s rise or to limit America’s presence in the region will have few takers. Nobody wants to see a new cold war.” Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (right) at a Q&A session at the Future of Asia conference, May 26, 2023. Credit: RFA/Screenshot from livestream For his part, Mahathir Mohamad urged Asian countries that they “should not take sides to support either the U.S. or China.” “We should support the world that includes the U.S., China and the rest.” “We should free ourselves from the influences by the West both in the economic and political fields,” said the former leader, known for his anti-Western rhetoric. In his opinion, the United Nations as an organization needs to be restructured in order to lead global efforts in dealing with common world problems such as climate change, pandemics and consequences of wars. “We should think of a common approach to deal with world problems, through a kind of world government,” he said. Future of Asia, held by Japan’s Nikkei annually since 1995, is “an international gathering where political, economic, and academic leaders from the Asia-Pacific region offer their opinions frankly and freely on regional issues and the role of Asia in the world.” This year’s theme is ‘Leveraging Asia’s power to confront global challenges.’ Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivered a speech Thursday saying Tokyo is “focused on co-creating the future” with its Asian partners. Edited by Mike Firn.

Trafficked teens tell of torture at scam ‘casino’ on Myanmar’s chaotic border

Editor2 years ago026 mins

It was a clear day when Kham set out from his home in northwestern Laos for what he thought was a chance to make money in the gilded gambling towns of the Golden Triangle, the border region his country shares with Thailand and Myanmar. On that day – a Friday, as he recalled – the teenager had gotten a Facebook note from a stranger: a young woman asking what he was doing and if he wanted to make some cash. He agreed to meet that afternoon. She picked up Kham, 16, along with a friend, and off they went, their parents none the wiser. “I thought to myself I’d work for a month or two then I’d go home,” Kham later said. (RFA has changed the real names of the victims in this story to protect them from possible reprisals.) But instead of a job, Kham ended up trafficked and held captive in a nondescript building on the Burmese-Thai border, some 200 miles south of the Golden Triangle and 400 miles from his home – isolated from the outside world, tortured and forced into a particular kind of labor: to work as a cyber-scammer. Barbed wire fences are seen outside a shuttered Great Wall Park compound where Cambodian authorities said they had recovered evidence of human trafficking, kidnapping and torture during raids on suspected cybercrime compounds in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, in Sept. 2022. Credit: Reuters In recent years, secret sites like the one where Kham was detained have proliferated throughout the region as the COVID-19 pandemic forced criminal networks to shift their strategies for making money. One popular scheme today involves scammers starting fake romantic online relationships that eventually lead to stealing as-large-as-possible sums of money from targets. The scammers said that if they fail to do so, they are tortured. Teen victims from Luang Namtha province in Laos who were trafficked to a place they called the “Casino Kosai,” in an isolated development near the city of Myawaddy on Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand, have described their ordeal to RFA. Chillingly, dozens of teenagers and young people from Luang Namtha are still believed to be trapped at the site, along with victims from other parts of Asia. The case is but the tip of the iceberg in the vast networks of human trafficking that claim over 150,000 victims a year in Southeast Asia. Yet it encapsulates how greed and political chaos mix to allow crime to operate unchecked, with teenagers like Kham paying the price. This fake Facebook ad for the Sands International is for a receptionist. It lists job benefits of 31,000 baht salary, free accommodation and two days off per month. Qualifications are passport holder, Thai citizen, 20-35 years old and the ability to work in Cambodia. Credit: RFA screenshot The promise of cash Typically, it starts with the lure of a job. In the case of Lao teenagers RFA spoke to, the bait can be as simple as a message over Facebook or a messaging app. Other scams have involved more elaborate cons, with postings for seemingly legitimate jobs that have ensnared everyone from professionals to laborers to ambitious youths. What they have in common is the promise of high pay in glitzy, if sketchy, casino towns around Southeast Asia – many built with the backing of Chinese criminal syndicates that operate in poorly policed borderlands difficult to reach. Before 2020, “a lot of these places were involved in two things: gambling, where groups of Thais and Chinese were going for a weekend casino holiday, or online betting,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director for Asia at Human Rights Watch. “Then, all of a sudden COVID hits, and these syndicates [that ran the casinos] decided to change their business model. What they came up with was scamming.” A motorbike drives past a closed casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, in Feb. 2020. As travel restrictions bit during the pandemic, syndicates that ran the casinos shifted their focus from gambling to scams, says Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch. Credit: Reuters Today, gambling towns like Sihanoukville, in Cambodia, and the outskirts of Tonpheung, on the Laos side of the Golden Triangle, have become notorious for trapping people looking for work into trafficking. But besides these places, there are also numerous unregulated developments where scamming “casinos” operate with little outside scrutiny, including on the Thai-Burmese border. Keo, 18, had a legitimate job at a casino in Laos when he was contacted via WhatsApp by a man who said he could make much more – 13 million kip ($766) a month, plus bonuses – by working in Thailand. He could leave whenever he wanted, the person claimed. “I thought about the new job offer for two days, then I said yes on the third day because the offer would pay more salary, plus commission and I can go home anytime,” Keo said. He quit his job by lying to his boss, saying he was going to visit his family. A few days later, a black Toyota Vigo pick-up truck fetched him, along with two friends, and they took a boat across the Mekong to Thailand. Scams By that time, Keo realized he was being trafficked – the two men who escorted him and his friends were armed. “While on the boat, one of us … suggested that we return to Laos, but we were afraid to ask,” as the men carried guns and knives. He dared not jump. “Later, one of us suggested we call our parents – but the men said, ‘On the boat, we don’t use the telephone.’ We dared not call our parents because we were afraid of being harmed,” he said. “So, we kept quiet until we reached the Thai side.” Both Keo and Kham told RFA that they were eventually trafficked to Myawaddy Township, an area some 300 miles south of the Golden Triangle. Kham only remembered parts of the journey, when he was made to walk for miles. Keo told RFA Laos he was transported by a…

Category: Africa