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The detrimental impact of Chinese DWF on the environment

With the local and domestic marine life depleted, many of the industrialized nations such as China are looking towards foreign waters to meet the need for seafood. This had led to the exploitation of less industrialized and under-developed nations, especially in Africa and Latin America. Not only are these distant water fishing fleets competing with the local fishermen but also are responsible for overfishing and extraction of unsustainable amounts of seafood through illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. According to our comprehensive report, China has deployed its distant-water fishing (DWF) vessels across every ocean around the globe. It has also been found guilty of trespassing in the Exclusive Economic Zones of more than 80 countries and fishing outside its EEZ on the high seas. With more than 18,000 boats in the world’s oceans, China has consistently ranked top in seafood production and fish capture. Producing almost 12 million tons of live weight, almost double of Indonesia, the second largest producer, it is quite evident that Chinese DWF is heavily engaged in IUU fishing activities and catching way above the surplus amount. Distant-water fishing fleets are vessels that operate within the EEZs of other countries that have signed access agreements to allow these fleets to fish inside their territories as well as on the high seas. However, the DWFs are only allowed to take the ‘surplus’ fish not caught by the host country against a fee negotiated under the access agreement. According to our findings in the comprehensive report, Chinese authorities have not published any statistics regarding catch or stocks, and these fleets have been catching well above the surplus. In addition, there have been accusations about them falsifying licenses & documentation, espionage & reconnaissance activities, seizing territories, generating a lot of sea waste, and targeting endangered shark species. Pollution caused by the DWF The distant-water fishing vessels travel from one side of the globe to the other side. This means a lot of fuel is consumed during multi-day trips. A trip from China to western Latin America (the East Pacific Ocean) would take around 43 days and a trip to the eastern part of Latin America ( the Mid-Atlantic Ocean) would be completed in approximately 49 days on a ship going at the speed of 10kt. Assuming that one of these trawlers is powered by a 5000 HP engine, fuel consumption for one of these trips to Ecuador would be 416,783.27 gallons for a petrol engine and 283,063.88 gallons for a diesel one. Similarly, from China to Brazil, the same trawler would consume 475,258 gallons of petrol or 322,768.74 gallons of diesel. While the fuel consumption decreases at cruising speed, these numbers would still be high enough to raise eyebrows in shock. Consumption of even 1 gallon of petrol/diesel produces Carbon Monoxide (CO), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Sulfur (SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NOx), Nitric Oxide (N2O), Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and Hydrocarbons (HCs). One can estimate the damage that the Chinese Shipping vessels are doing to the environment. The Chinese Bottom Trawlers The majority of vessels that are engaged in distant-water fishing are trawlers and longliners. Trawlers are large boats that have large weighted nets that are pulled along the bottom of the sea or in midwater at a specified depth. Trawling is considered an ecologically taxing fishing activity that causes a lot of damage to marine life, marine habitats, coral reefs, and sea beds. The destruction of coral reefs where marine animals live and the breed has led to reduced population and marine diversity. This is leading to ocean acidification, warmer seas, and reduced oxygen levels in the water. While China has banned bottom trawling within its territory, it has encouraged its DWF vessels to conduct trawling activities close to other countries’ EEZs in Africa, South America, Russia, and littoral states of the Indian Ocean, South, and mid-Atlantic ocean and the pacific ocean. The Chinese Longliners Another type of vessel commonly used by the Chinese for DWF is the long-liners. Long lining is a type of fishing method that uses a large number of short lines with hooks which are then attached to a longer main line at regular distances. The main line can extend up to 10 km with thousands of shorter lines with baited hooks floating along the surface of the ocean to catch pelagic fish species such as tuna or marlin. However, the baited hooks can attract other species of fish too, resulting in a substantial amount of unwanted bycatch. Moreover, these long lines also kill larger animals such as turtles, sharks, whales, and even sea birds that come in the way of sharp hooks. Long liners are also notorious for ghost fishing. Ghost fishing is a term used to describe fishing done by any derelict gear, which is lost, abandoned, or discarded. Such fishing gear, uncollected by the fishermen, floats around in the ocean freely and catches and even kills animals trapped in them. The long lines, which float on the ocean surface, can detach or break if any ship passes over them. Once separated from the marker buoys, the detached lines are difficult to find, becoming ghost gear. Garbage dumps in the ocean Ghost gears contribute a lot to the waste generated by the longliners in addition to containers of marine oil, bottles, Chinese-labeled jute bags, etc. In the Galapagos Islands, Chinese boats have been dumping gigantic amounts of plastic waste in the water. They are responsible for killing wildlife and polluting the water of a place that is home to more than 7,000 endemic species. According to experts, about 30% of the garbage on the islands’ shores comes from Chinese fleet fishing at Ecuador’s coasts and marine protected areas. At a time when all countries around the world are changing their policies in favor of environmental conservation, the Chinese are still aggressively engaged in activities that are extremely detrimental to the environment. Overfishing, dumping waste into marine protected areas, polluting air, water, and land alike, disturbing and destroying the coral reefs, killing…

Impacts of Chinese DWF on Latin America

Editor2 years ago1 year ago08 mins

From the waters of Japan, and South Korea in the east to those of Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina in the west through the African continent, Chinese fishing vessels have posed a serious threat to the marine environment across the globe. Catching somewhere between 50-70% of the world’s total squids, the methods and activities of Chinese DWF vessels are highly suspicious as well as controversial. Despite a distance of 19,000 km from western south America and 22,000 km from the eastern part of the continent, the presence of Chinese fleets in the region has been increasing at a rapid rate. In early July 2020, the Ecuadorian navy reported the presence of about 260 fishing vessels at the edge of Ecuador’s EEZ. By the end of the month, the number increased to 340. The Galapagos Islands, which are a part of Ecuador’s territory are the worst victim. The problem arises due to the fact that the EEZ of Ecuador’s mainland and the Galapagos do not overlap, thus creating an international corridor where any country can fish. The Chinese fleet often freely fish in the area after turning off their identity transponders to avoid detection. It was found that almost half of the Chinese fleet is engaged in this practice, often known as “marine radar evasion” in the illegal fishing sector. Not only do the Chinese overfish and kill protected species such as sharks and turtles, but also dump a huge amount of waste in the ocean water. Experts estimate that almost 30% of the garbage collected on the shores of the Galapagos Islands comes from Chinese fleets. This includes bottles, containers of marine oil, Chinese-labeled jute bags, and waste generate overboard the ships. The issue of the Galapagos has been raised again and again by various media outlets. IJ-Reportika spoke with many local fishermen who confirmed that Chinese ships often fish in the area with transponders disabled or with deceiving flags known as the ‘flag of convenience’. The menace of Chinese DWF fleets is not just limited to the Galapagos but to the entire continent. Argentina is home to the second-largest squid fishery in the world which makes it an important target of Chinese trawlers. Even though the Argentine authorities have taken strict measures and even sunk a fishing trawler flying the Chinese flag after being caught illegally fishing within the country’s EEZ, the vessels have spent close to 600,000 hours ‘dark-fishing’. A similar issue persists in Brazil where a massive gain in Chinese fishing activities was observed in the last three years. In Uruguay, the navy caught a Chinese-flagged vessel within their EEZ, carrying 11 tons of Squid. These vessels are causing a lot of concern for Uruguayan authorities as well as locals as they are not only present near the EEZ but also dangerously close to their land boundary. In Peru, the local fishermen sounded the alarm about Chinese overfishing of giant squid, which is the country’s second biggest marine resource after anchovies. Because of Chinese incursions thousands of Peruvians have lost their jobs and the fishing industry is on the verge of being wiped out. Moreover, the Chinese presence has completely derailed Peru’s thoughtful sustainability program for the squid population in the region. During our investigation, we found several squid jiggers at the Peruvian land boundary last year. As a result, diplomatic and legal protests are erupting all through the continent of South America against the Chinese DWF fleets. These fleets are often linked to illegal activities such as encroaching on other nations’ territorial waters, abusing workers, and catching protected and endangered species. In 2017, Ecuador seized a refrigerated cargo ship, the Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999, carrying an illicit cargo of 6,620 sharks, whose fins are a delicacy in China. Although Shark fishing is banned throughout Central and South America, Chinese communities consume it as a delicacy. This demand encourages the ships to mock the laws and completely ignore the bans, hiding their illegal catch by transferring it between ships to evade naval or coast guard patrols. On top of that, they have been generating and dumping huge amounts of plastic waste into the ocean, thus polluting the water and land alike. The ever-increasing presence of Chinese vessels in Latin America is posing diplomatic, security, and environmental threat to the region. Protected species and marine protected environments are at a greater threat due to unregulated fishing by the Chinese. The Distant-water fishing operations affect not only the marine ecology but also the local fisherfolk population who lose their jobs and subsequently engage in illegal activities such as drug trafficking to make ends meet. Latin American countries must impose stricter controls in order to protect and defend their resources from illegal exploitation by the Chinese.

Are Canada’s elections free and fair?

Editor2 years ago2 years ago09 mins

There have been numerous recent reports of Chinese meddling in the Canadian elections. Wei Chengyi, a businessman and prominent member of the Chinese community in Toronto, is allegedly China’s go-to man in Canada if these stories are to be believed. He is the focus of inquiries into China’s political meddling in Canada’s elections, and he is accused of acting as the Chinese Consulate’s agent while transferring money to 11 federal candidates in Canada. Wei however has denied all the allegations and called the reports fabricated. Let us understand the case from both perspectives. Foody Mart Group, a grocery store chain in Ontario and British Columbia, was founded and is owned by Wei. In addition, he is the architect of the Ontario housing development China City. He serves on the boards of several organizations that promote trade between Canada and China, including the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations (CTCCO), the Canada Toronto Fuqing Business Association (CTFBA), the Min Business Association of Canada, and the Canada Confederation of Fujian Associations. The China Overseas Exchange Association also counts him as a director. During China’s 12th National People’s Congress in 2014, he represented China from abroad. Wei and his organizations hosted several events that were attended regularly by some well-known Canadian politicians that are under scanner now. In February 2017, Wei hosted the Chinese New Year celebration at Parliament Hill in Ottawa which was attended by Liberal MPs Geng Tan and John McCallum, Conservative Senator Victor Oh, then Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, and others. Geng Tan is said to be the first Chinese Canadian born in mainland China and elected to the House of Commons (HoC) in 2015. Before being elected to HoC, he was vice chairman of the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations (CTCCO) of which Wei is the Permanent Honorary Chairman. In January 2018, Reportedly, Tan was found to have hand-delivered a letter to a top official at the Canadian embassy in Beijing and personally spoke to Chinese authorities on behalf of Edward Gong, a Chinese-Canadian businessman and Liberal Party donor who has been charged with money laundering and the fraudulent sale of hundreds of millions of dollars in securities. John McCallum, a Liberal MP and Canadian Ambassador to China from 2017 to 2019 has allegedly been a regular at Wei-hosted events. Besides participating in the Chinese New Year celebration in 2017, he also attended the premier ceremony of “Fujianese in Toronto”, in October 2015. “Fujianese in Toronto” is a TV series filmed by the Min Business Association of Canada where Wei serves as president. Other attendees included Michael Chan and Liberal MP Arnold Chan. At the event, McCallum jokingly claimed himself to be a “son-in-law of Fujianese” because his wife’s ancestors were born somewhere in Fujian Province, China. Another attendee at the Chinese New Year celebration in February 2017 was Conservative Senator Victor Oh who is considered close to China. In 2020, a Senate ethics officer found Senator Oh had breached the upper house’s ethics code four times when he accepted an all-expenses paid trip to China in 2017. Wei is also familiar with Han Dong, the successor of Geng Tan as MP for the riding of Don Valley North since 2019. Wei had reportedly offered Dong headquarters office of Foody Mart Group, a supermarket chain owned by Wei, to do a press conference declaring his nomination as a Liberal candidate in Tan’s riding. Michael Chan, a former Ontario Minister, and MPP from 2007 to 2018 and the current deputy Mayor of Markham and Regional Councilor-Elect, had been accused by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in 2015 of being under the influence of the Chinese government. A few months later, in October 2015, Michael Chan and Wei were seen attending a party at the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto to allegedly celebrate the 66th anniversary of the CCP’s ruling in mainland China. Senator Victor Oh and Han Dong also attended the event. In April 2019, Wei along with Vincent Ke, a Conservative MPP, attended the inauguration ceremony of the Tibetan Association of Canada in Ontario. Tibetan Association of Canada is said to be a front for the Communist Party of China (CCP) as it publicly supports Beijing’s control of Tibet. In August same year, Wei and Michael Chan held a rally to support the denunciation of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and expressed their support for the Hong Kong police according to local media reports. Later in December 2019, Wei and Senator Victor Oh attended the New Year Gala organized by the Canada Toronto Fuqing Business Association (CTFBA). Surprisingly, according to our findings in the report titled China opening Chinese Police Stations outside its territory, the address of CTFBA, 220 Royal Crest, Markham, Ontario, is the same as that of one of China’s overseas police stations in Greater Toronto Area. Wei is the permanent Honorary Chairman of CTFBA. In October 2019, Senator Victor Oh along with MP Geng Tan attended the CTFBA’s inauguration ceremony of the First Board of Directors. It is evident from the foregoing that China is attempting to influence Canadian political circles through Wei Chengyi. However, the concerned MPs and Wei Chengyi have denied all the allegations levied upon them. Interfering in a nation’s internal affairs amounts to undermining that state’s sovereignty. The Canadian government must pay attention to these trends and take appropriate action to prevent China from exerting further influence over the nation’s politics.

New exposé on the Chinese police stations around the world

Editor2 years ago2 years ago015 mins

Ij-Reportika published the addresses of the Chinese police stations present in various parts of the world in our report China opening Chinese Police Stations outside its territory. The report became a talking point on social media and even in the parliaments of various countries. The report was shared by various prominent media portals with a global presence. Many countries have started probes against Chinese police stations. This includes: Revelations on new jurisdictions Ij-reportika came to know that there are four jurisdictions that have set up stations in other countries. It includes Nantong, Wenzhou, Qingtian, and Fuzhou. We have published the stations set up by Fuzhou with the exact addresses in our previous report on police stations. All of them lie in mainland China close to the coast. Overseas Chinese Assistance Center There are many Overseas Chinese Assistance Centers spanning five continents that are indulged in activities of espionage, curbing dissent, and identifying the overseas Chinese who are pro-democracy supporters, other than the regular cover activity of assisting the Chinese diaspora. These are different from the Chinese Police Stations. The role is vaguely defined but the unethical activities performed by the two are similar and overlapping. Following are some of the details gathered by Ij-Reportika from the China Overseas Chinese Network. 　North America 　　(1) Toronto Overseas Chinese Assistance Center 　　(2) Overseas Chinese Assistance Center in San Francisco, USA 　　(3) Vancouver Overseas Chinese Help Center 　　(4) Houston Overseas Chinese Support Center 　　(5) Overseas Chinese Help Center in Montreal 　　(6) Overseas Chinese Aid Center in Minnesota, USA 　　(7) Nebraska Overseas Chinese Aid Center 　　Europe 　　(1) Overseas Chinese Support Center in Milan, Italy 　　(2) Overseas Chinese Assistance Center in Paris, France 　　(3) Spanish Overseas Chinese Aid Center 　　(4) Overseas Chinese Help Center in Ireland 　　(5) Overseas Chinese Support Center in Rome, Italy 　　(6) Overseas Chinese Assistance Center in Prato, Italy 　　(7) Overseas Chinese Support Center in London, UK 　　Central and South America 　　(1) Overseas Chinese Assistance Center in Suriname 　　(2) Overseas Chinese Help Center in Peru 　　(3) Overseas Chinese Assistance Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil 　　(4) Overseas Chinese Assistance Center 　　(5) Chile Overseas Chinese Aid Center 　　(6) Overseas Chinese Aid Center in Panama 　　(7) Argentine Overseas Chinese Aid Center 　　(8) Overseas Chinese Aid Center in Venezuela 　　Africa 　　(1) Overseas Chinese Assistance Center in Angola 　　(2) Johannesburg Overseas Chinese Assistance Center 　　(3) Overseas Chinese Aid Center in Nigeria 　　(4) Overseas Chinese Support Center in Cape Town, South Africa 　　(5) Overseas Chinese Assistance Center in Tanzania 　　Asia 　　(1) Overseas Chinese Aid Center in Yangon, Myanmar 　　(2) Overseas Chinese Aid Center in Cambodia 　　(3) Overseas Chinese Aid Center in Kazakhstan 　　(4) Overseas Chinese Aid Center in the Philippines 　　(5) Overseas Chinese Support Center in Tokyo, Japan 　　(6) Overseas Chinese Aid Center in Laos 　　(7) Overseas Chinese Aid Center in Kyrgyzstan 　　(8) Overseas Chinese Assistance Center in Chiang Mai, Thailand 　　(9) Korea Overseas Chinese Support Center 　　(10) Overseas Chinese Assistance Center in Mandalay, Myanmar 　　(11) Overseas Chinese Help Center in Sri Lanka 　　(12) Overseas Chinese Support Center in Nagoya, Japan 　　(13) Overseas Chinese Assistance Center, Hat Yai, Thailand 　　(14) Overseas Chinese Assistance Center in Ulaanbaatar 　　Oceania 　　(1) Papua New Guinea Overseas Chinese Aid Center 　　(2) Overseas Chinese Aid Center in Australia 　　(3) Overseas Chinese Assistance Center in Auckland, New Zealand 　　(4) Overseas Chinese Aid Center in Brisbane, Australia 　　(5) Overseas Chinese Aid Center in Fiji Addresses of some of the China Overseas Chinese Network uncovered by Ij-reportika are: The Chinese foreign ministry denies claims that officials backed by Beijing are running police operations abroad without the knowledge of host governments. It says the police contact points are in fact “overseas Chinese service centers,” manned by the diaspora community and set up to assist with administrative tasks such as the renewal of expired driver’s licenses. The exposé : Newly discovered Chinese police stations The most shocking presence of Chinese police stations can be seen in South Asia, South East Asia, South America, and a host of African countries. These have become the new hotspot of the Chinese police stations. The list of host nations spanned six continents, the countries which have Chinese Police Stations are: Africa Angola (1). The Nantong PSB operates one overseas police service center in the country. Ethiopia (1). The Nantong PSB operates one service center. Lesotho (1). The Fuzhou PSB operates one service center in Maseru. Madagascar (1). The Nantong PSB operates one service center in Antananarivo. Mongolia (1). The Fuzhou PSB operates one service center in Ulaanbaatar. Namibia (1). The Nantong PSB operates one service center. Nigeria (2). The Nantong PSB operates one service center, while the Fuzhou PSB runs one in Benin City. Sudan (1). The Nantong PSB operates one service center. South Africa (3). The Nantong PSB operates one service center, while the Wenzhou PSB and the Fuzhou PSB each run one contact point in Johannesburg. Tanzania (1). The Qingtian PSB operates one service center in Dar es Salaam. Zambia (1). The Nantong PSB operates one service center. South America Argentina (2). The Wenzhou PSB and Fuzhou PSB each operate one service center in Buenos Aeries. Brazil (3). The Wenzhou PSB operates one service center, while the Qingtian PSB and the Fuzhou PSB run contact points in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo, respectively. Chile (2). The Nantong PSB operates one service center, while the Fuzhou PSB runs a contact point in Viña del Mar. Ecuador (3). The Nantong PSB operates one service center, while the Qingtian PSB and the Fuzhou PSB run respective contact points in Guayaquil and Quito. Colombia (1). The Qingtian PSB operates one service center in Bogotà. Cuba (1). The Nantong PSB operates one service center. Peru (1). The Nantong PSB operates one service center. Asia Bangladesh (1). The Nantong PSB operates one service center. Brunei (1). The Fuzhou PSB operates one service center in Bandar Seri Begawan. Cambodia (2). The Nantong PSB operates one service center, while the Qingtian PSB has a contact point in Phnom Penh. Israel (1). The Nantong PSB operates one service center. Japan (2). The Nantong PSB operates one service center, while the Fuzhou…

Asia Fact Check Lab: Did NATO donate HIV-infected blood to Ukraine?

Editor2 years ago012 mins

During the past two weeks, a conspiracy theory alleging that NATO members had donated HIV and hepatitis-infected blood to Ukraine was originally posted and spread on Weibo by “Guyan Muchan,” an influential account with more than 6 million followers. Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) tracked down and confirmed the pro-Putin Telegram channel Breaking Mash as the disinformation’s source. Further inquiries by the Ukraine-based fact-checking organization StopFake caused the Ukrainian government to release a formal statement debunking the disinformation. On Nov. 3, Guyan Muchan, a widely followed Weibo user, published a post claiming to reveal a tainted blood scandal involving NATO and Ukraine. The statement reads: “Ukraine asked NATO to provide more than 60,000 liters of blood for wounded soldiers in the Odessa, Nikolaev, Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov and Zaporozhye regions. NATO member countries provided Ukraine with canned blood. However, Ukrainian medical staff found HIV and hepatitis B and C viruses in the blood after random examinations. Kiev has written to NATO requesting an independent assessment of the donor blood and asking that blood “not be collected on the African continent.” In the first group, 6.3% of the samples had HIV, 7.4% had hepatitis B and 3.2% had hepatitis C. In the second group: 5.9%, 6.8% and 3.1%, respectively. The information is obtained by leaked files after the Ukrainian government office computers were hacked.” The post contained three images. The first was a picture of a statement that hackers allegedly had obtained confidential documents from Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal’s email. The second was an alleged letter from Ukraine’s Minister of Health to Shmyhal. The third was the English translation of the letter. Each image’s background contained the word “mash” as a watermark, which AFCL used to trace the post back to its original source. Guyan Muchan is one of China’s “patriotic” influencers who in recent years rose to fame by pandering to domestic nationalist sentiment. Her post claiming the use of tainted blood was liked by hundreds of people, with other influential social media figures reposting it to millions more. This “news” swiftly spread on a number of Chinese language websites, including the popular internet news portal 163.com. What is the claim’s source? AFCL was unable to find any reports about the claim from credible English media outlets. A few English websites with poor news credibility did repost it, including the pro-Russia website info.news and the gun-lover community forum snipershide.com. A slew of unreliable Twitter accounts have also posted the claim in English. Chief among them is ZOKA, a user with more than 105,000 followers. Marcus Kolga, director at DisinfoWatch, a fact-checking project under the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Canada, told AFCL that ZOKA is a “well-known pro-Kremlin account.” AFCL also found the Russian version of the claim being spread on many websites, forums and social media platforms. After comparing both the publishing time and watermark, AFCL traced the claim back to a post on the Telegram channel “Breaking Mash,” first published at 1 a.m. on Nov. 3. The original post has since gained over 1a million views. Breaking Mash is the official Telegram channel of the Russian-language website Mash.ru. The website’s content is full of lies and is highly aligned with Moscow’s propaganda, according to Christine Eliashevsky-Chraibi, a media veteran and translator at Euromaidan Press. Mash senior staff are suspected of being close to the Russian government, with company executive Stepan Kovalchuk’s uncles, Kirill and Yuri Kovalchuk, marked as “elites close to Putin” by the United States.S. In sum, both the claim’s original Russian source along with the English websites and social media accounts that spread the claim all suffer from low credibility. Is the claim true? AFCL deems the Guyan Muchan post to be false. It came from a pro-Russia Telegram channel with low credibility. The Ukraine Ministry of Health refuted the claim in a statement offering more details about blood donation in Ukraine. The claim alleges that the “scoop” was leaked from the hacked email of Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal. But no credible media outlets reported on the leaked emails.The statements the claim relies on use questionable language that normally would not be appropriate for official documents. For example, the claim alleges that the mMinister of hHealth demanded that NATO’s donor blood “not be collected on the African continent.” The possibility of such racist language appearing in a formal government document is unlikely. Eliashevsky-Chraibi said the alleged government letter is “very suspicious” as there’s “no date, no signature, no stamp” and it was “not formal procedure.” Through the Ukraine based fact-checking organization StopFake, AFCL checked with the Ukrainian government regarding the veracity of this claim. On Nov. 7, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health published a statement on its official website refuting the claim. Ukraine has never requested blood donations from any organization outside of the country, and all donor blood needed for the battlefield comes from within Ukraine and meets European standards, according to the ministry’s statement. Whenever there is an urgent need at a blood center, people respond quickly to requests for donations, negating the need for any supplies from outside of the country. The statement adds that Ukraine does not have a “random sampling” system of donor blood. Instead, it tests all donations to ensure they are safe and reliable. The alleged letter from Ukraine’s Minister of Health is a forgery, the statement says. The allegation about blood donated to Ukraine originated on the Russian telegram channel Breaking Mash [left] and then was picked up by a pro-Kremlin account on Twitter [center] and a few hours later by an account on Weibo [right] with 6.44 million fans. Credit: Asia Fact Check Lab screenshots Background Information In late October, the Kyiv Post, a leading English newspaper in Ukraine, published a report that Russia’s Wagner private military company had recruited Russian prisoners suffering from severe infectious diseases, in particular HIV and hepatitis C. This news bears some similarities with the claim made on the Breaking Mash Telegram channel, including the mention of HIV, hepatitis and the war, but…

China uses carrots and sticks to boost Uyghur-Han intermarriage-report

Editor2 years ago07 mins

China mixes financial, education and career incentives with coercive measures such as threats to families under state policies to promote intermarriage between majority Han Chinese and ethnic minority Uyghurs in the restive Xinjiang region, a new report by a Uyghur rights group has found. The Uyghur Human Rights Project analyzed Chinese state media, policy documents, government sanctioned marriage testimonials, as well as accounts from women in the Uyghur diaspora, that government incentivizes and coercion to boost interethnic marriages has increased since 2014. “The Chinese Party-State is actively involved in carrying out a campaign of forcefully assimilating Uyghurs into Han Chinese society by means of mixed marriages,” said the report. The findings on forced marriage by Washington, DC-based NGO come as Western governments and the United Nations have recognized that Chinese policies in Xinjiang amount to or may amount to genocide or crimes against humanity. Forced labor, incarceration camps and other aspects of China’s rule in Xinjiang have drawn sanctions from Britain, Canada, the European Union and the United States. The study, “Forced Marriage of Uyghur Women: State Policies for Interethnic Marriage in East Turkistan,” draws on state media propaganda films, state-approved online accounts of interethnic marriages and weddings, state-approved personal online testimonials from individuals in interethnic marriages, as well as government statements and policy directives. “The Party-State has actively encouraged and incentivized ‘interethnic’ Uyghur-Han intermarriage since at least May 2014,” the Uyghur Human Rights Project says in the report, released on Nov. 16. Interethnic marriage policies gained momentum after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a “new era” at the Xinjiang Work Forum in 2014, touting a policy of strengthening interethnic “contact, exchange, and mingling,” the report said. “Uyghur-Han intermarriage has been increasing over the past several years since the Chinese state has been actively promoting intermarriage,” said Nuzigum Setiwaldi a co-author of the report. “The Chinese government always talks about how interethnic marriages promote ‘ethnic unity’ and ‘social stability,’ but these actually are euphemisms for assimilation,” she told RFA Uyghur. “The Chinese government is incentivizing and promoting intermarriage as a way to assimilate Uyghurs into Han society and culture. Carrots include cash payments, help with housing, medical care, government jobs, and tuition waivers. When it comes to sticks, “young Uyghur women and/or their parents face an ever-present threat of punishment if the women decline to marry a Han ‘suitor,’” the report said, citing experiences of Uyghur women now living in exile. “Videos and testimonies have also raised concerns that Uyghur women are being pressured and forced into marrying Han men,” said Setiwaldi. The report cites an informal marriage guide for male Han party officials published in 2019, titled “How to Win the Heart of a Uyghur Girl.” Han men who want to marry Uyghur women are told that the woman they love “must love the Motherland, love the Party, and she must have unrivaled passion for socialist Xinjiang,” it said. Commenting on the report, scholar Adrian Zenz said the Chinese Communist Party’s “policy of incentivizing Han and coercing Uyghurs into interethnic marriages is part of a strategy of breaking down and dismantling Uyghur culture.” Zenz, a senior fellow in China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C., was the first outside expert to document the network of mass internment camp for Uyghurs launched in Xinjiang in 2017 and he has analyzed China’s Uyghur population policies. The intermarriage strategy serves the goal of “optimizing the ethnic population structure, breaking the ‘dominance’ of concentrated Uyghur populations in southern Xinjiang as part of a slowly unfolding genocidal policy,” he told RFA. “It’s important that people pay attention to the different forms of human rights abuses that are taking place in the Uyghur region, particularly those that are underreported, like forced marriages,” said Setiwaldi. “People can raise awareness and push their governments to hold the Chinese government accountable.” China had no immediate comment on the report. Last month, a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement dismissed U.S. efforts to debate the U.N. report, saying, “the human rights of people of all ethnic backgrounds in Xinjiang are protected like never before” and “the ultimate motive of the U.S. and some other Western countries behind their Xinjiang narrative is to contain China.” Written by Paul Eckert for RFA.

North Korean censors destroy more than half of soldiers’ Mother’s Day letters

Editor2 years ago05 mins

North Korea’s military ordered soldiers to write letters to their mothers ahead of the country’s Mother’s Day, which was on Wednesday, but military censors destroyed more than half of them for ideological reasons, sources in the country told Radio Free Asia. To make matters worse, the censors even used the contents of some letters to identify and punish problematic soldiers, sources said. “The letters from soldiers of each unit … are opened before they arrive at the regimental postal office, and the ones that contain complaints about the difficulties of military service are sorted out and destroyed,” a source from the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. The number of mothers who aren’t receiving letters is likely in the hundreds of thousands. Every able-bodied North Korean must serve in the military. Until recently, male soldiers spent 10 years in the service, but since 2020, men serve eight years and women five as part of a fighting force estimated by the CIA World Factbook to be 1.15 million strong. From the letters sorted out, the censors made a list of soldiers with “weak ideological wills” – in other words, those who complained about hunger or fatigue, the source said. Those soldiers will be sent to ideological training. Letters written by a unit of soldiers guarding the border with China in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong had to pass through two rounds of censors, a source there told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely. “The letters were first opened and censored by the company security officers, then they were all collected at the regiment and the military’s security authorities inspected them again,” the second source said. Some of the soldiers on the weak ideology list did not even complain. Instead they made the mistake of asking about their mothers’ wellbeing, the second source said. “A soldier sent his regards to his mother and asked her if the house had not collapsed in a recent flood and if the farming was going well,” the second source said. “However, the military security department pointed out that this shows that the soldier … does not trust the Party and speaks weakly instead of trusting that the Party takes care of the lives of all citizens.” Because so many soldiers are now going to be sent to ideological reeducation, they are griping about the authorities’ duplicitous behavior, because they are the ones that ordered them to write the letters in the first place, the second source said. Though Mother’s Day is most commonly celebrated around the world on the second Sunday in May, it falls on other dates in many countries. It is a relatively new holiday in North Korea, introduced in 2012 during the first year of Kim Jong Un’s reign, and became a public holiday in 2015. Authorities chose Nov. 16 in remembrance of an iconic speech about mothers delivered on that day in 1961 by Kim’s grandfather, national founder Kim Il Sung. Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

“The results may be unpredictable”, said Xi schooling Trudeau over media leaks

Editor2 years ago2 years ago04 mins

Chinese leader Xi Jinping schooled Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit on Wednesday over leaks about their one-on-one meeting, according to a video of the incident. The encounter was apparently sparked after Reuters quoted Canadian government sources as saying that Trudeau had held a side meeting with Xi on Tuesday, their first in more than three years. During it, Trudeau reportedly expressed concerns about Chinese interference in Canadian elections. “Everything we’ve discussed has been leaked to the papers, and this isn’t appropriate,” Xi says while seeming to force a smile in comments translated by an interpreter. “That was not the way the conversation was conducted.” “This isn’t how we go about it, right? If there is sincerity on your part, then we shall conduct our discussions with mutual respect,” Xi said in footage from a break at the G20 obtained by CTV News Channel’s Annie Bergeron-Oliver, a reporter accompanying Trudeau. The Chinese interpreter failed to fully translate the entirety of Xi’s Chinese into English. After Xi said “this is inappropriate” while shaking his head in seeming disapproval, he gave Trudeau one last look, spread both hands and shook his head again while uttering, “otherwise the results may be unpredictable.” Between Xi’s two utterances, Trudeau tried to emphasize the importance of open communication between leaders. “In Canada we believe in free and open and frank dialogue and that is what we will continue to have,” he said. “We will continue to look to work constructively together but there will be things we disagree on.” Halfway through listening to his interpreter’s translation of Trudeau’s speech however, Xi noticed the nearby cameras. Xi then repeated the phrase, “Let’s create the conditions” twice, shook hands with Trudeau and quickly left. A report from Reuters on Tuesday revealed that Trudeau and Xi’s meeting had been preceded by the arrest of an employee from Canada’s largest power company. The man was charged with stealing trade secrets for China. At a routine press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning declined to comment on the incident.

Well-heeled Chinese plan to flee amid COVID lockdowns, economic shift

Editor2 years ago016 mins

A growing share of wealthy and middle class Chinese are making plans to leave the country, citing the government’s stringent zero-COVID policies and a perceived return to the planned economy of the Mao era under leader Xi Jinping, according to online data and Chinese nationals with experience of the phenomenon. The WeChat Index, which publishes search statistics from the social media giant, on Thursday showed around 38.3 million searches using the keyword “emigration.” While the #emigration hashtag wasn’t blocked on Weibo on Thursday, the number of views was in the tens of thousands, with much of the content focusing on the disadvantages of living overseas, suggesting some kind of intervention by the ruling Communist Party’s “public opinion management” system. At their peak, search queries for the keyword “emigration” hit 70 million several times during the Shanghai lockdown between March and May, and 130 million immediately afterwards. The same keyword also showed peaks on Toutiao Index, Google Trends and 360 Trends between April and the end of June 2022. Two highly educated Chinese citizens told RFA in recent interviews that they and their friends are either leaving or planning to leave soon, as the grueling zero-COVID program of rolling lockdowns, compulsory mass testing and tracking via the Health Code smart phone app have taken their toll on people’s mental and physical health, not to mention their livelihoods and the economy as a whole. Gao, a Shanghai-based financial executive who asked for his full name to be withheld for fear of reprisals, said that lately he has been binge-watching YouTube videos in Mandarin from consultants promising to offer Chinese nationals a better life — in the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, in Moldova, even war-torn Ukraine — anywhere, in short, but China. The phenomenon even has its own code name using a Chinese character playing on the English word “run.” “I strongly and strongly encourage everyone to run!” gushes one immigration consultant on a YouTube video viewed by RFA. “Today I will be sharing how easy it is to emigrate to the United States,” the YouTuber promises. “It is very likely that after watching this video, you will start re-examining your life and making plans.” ‘Lost all hope for the future’ Gao, who had absorbed a number of such videos before speaking to RFA, said he has been looking for somewhere else to live for some time now. “The current situation isn’t looking very good,” he told RFA. “Since the 20th party congress [last month], everyone has lost all hope for the future.” “Everyone has looked at their ideas, their values, their policies, the stringency of the zero-COVID policy, the return to a planned economy and heavy-handed suppression [of dissent], and come to their own conclusions,” Gao said, adding that he and his high-earning friends all share the same view. “The fact that we are facing economic collapse — there’s nothing left worth staying on for,” he said. “Everyone is taking a risk-averse approach to planning their future, because the risks associated with staying are getting bigger and bigger.” The night market in Chiang Mai, Thailand. One Chinese activist visited an emigre Chinese arts and cultural community in the town. “There are a lot of cultural types who have congregated there … and who aren’t going back,” she says. Credit: AFP Chinese social activist He Peirong, who has nearly 40,000 followers on Twitter, said she had just left for Japan. “I had been preparing to leave the country since July, but I didn’t let anyone on WeChat know that I was leaving,” she told RFA. “I spent more than 10,000 yuan on home renovations, and I left halfway through.” “China has set off an immigration wave,” she said. “A lot of people are now heading off to live in Japan, Europe and the United States. Where people go depends on their economic situation.” She said she had also visited an emigre Chinese arts and cultural community in Chiang Mai, Thailand. “We would eat, drink and perform together every day; everyone was very happy,” she said. “There are a lot of cultural types who have congregated there … and who aren’t going back.” Before she left, He Peirong had been a vocal critic of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, and was instrumental in aiding the daring escape from house arrest and subsequent defection of blind Shandong activist Chen Guangcheng. She later took supplies to Wuhan to support citizen journalists reporting from the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. She said she decided to leave China after being barred from the railway ticketing system owing to a poor “social credit” rating. “In the fall of 2018, I was blacklisted by the ministry of railways, so I filed a lawsuit against them,” she told RFA. Long waiting lists There are currently very long waiting lists for people hoping to emigrate to Europe, the United States, Canada or Australia, while price tags for investment visas in those countries are also fairly high. Southeast Asian nations are seen as too risky, due to their close ties with China, and willingness to deport Chinese nationals wanted by the authorities back home. Rights groups say China currently engages in illegal, transnational policing operations across five continents, targeting overseas Chinese for harassment, threats against their families back home and “persuasion” techniques to get them to go back, according to a recent report. Hong Kong, itself in the grip of a citywide national security crackdown and mass emigration wave following the 2019 protest movement, is also no longer a safe springboard to overseas residency, Gao said. Gao is now looking at Ukraine, where he already has a friend. “Ukraine is war-torn right now, but that won’t go on for long … there is all kinds of hope and vitality in the future of this country,” he said. “I have a friend living in the westernmost part of the country, where there’s no fighting, and they are living quite peacefully.” “People have told me that you can apply for a…

ASEAN leaders call for measurable progress on Myanmar peace plan

Editor2 years ago08 mins

ASEAN leaders called Friday for measurable progress in their peace plan for Myanmar, amid growing criticism over the Southeast Asian bloc’s failure to stem the deepening conflict in one of its 10 member states. Meeting at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Cambodia, the group reaffirmed their commitment to the Five Point Consensus that was agreed to in April 2021 and aims to bring peace and restore democracy to Myanmar following the military coup against the elected government that has spawned a deepening civil conflict. A statement emerging from the summit in Phnom Penh called on ASEAN Foreign Ministers to establish a specific timeline for implementation of a plan that includes “concrete, practical and measurable indicators” of progress. ASEAN reserved the right to review Myanmar’s representation at its meetings. The call for tangible progress comes as human rights groups assail ASEAN’s failure to pressure the Myanmar junta, which has largely ignored the Five Point Consensus and resisted dialogue with representatives of the civilian administration it ousted. Instead, the military has dubbed many of its key political opponents as terrorists or outlaws and waged a scorched earth campaign in the Burmese heartland. Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo speaks to the media during ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. CREDIT: AP/Apunam Nath Earlier Friday, Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo expressed “deep disappointment” about the worsening situation in Myanmar. Indonesia is set to take over the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN from Cambodia, which is nearing the end of its 12-month stint. Myanmar’s coup leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing was excluded from the summit, and Widodo told reporters he wanted to extend a ban on Myanmar junta representatives, who are barred from meetings of ASEAN leaders and foreign ministers, The Associated Press reported. Friday’s statement, however, stopped short of barring the junta from attending other ASEAN meetings. “Indonesia is deeply disappointed the situation in Myanmar is worsening,” Widodo said. “We must not allow the situation in Myanmar to define ASEAN.” Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also called on Myanmar to abide by and implement the Five Point Consensus. Analysts say there are clear fault lines among ASEAN’s 10 members on how to deal with the Myanmar crisis – with Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore reportedly taking a tougher line than nations such as Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. Nevertheless, as Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen kicked off Friday’s proceedings, he asserted: “Our Motto ‘ASEAN: One Vision, One Identity, One Community’ still holds true to its values today.” He was speaking at the opening ceremony of what were actually two summits in one day. ASEAN is required to hold two leaders’ meetings a year but countries that don’t have the cash to pay for separate meetings are allowed to hold them back-to-back. Also on the agenda were security issues, regional growth and geopolitics. Marcos seemed to urge caution over global powers gaining further influence in the region. Leaders of strategic rivals the U.S. and China – President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Li Keqiang – are joining summit meetings in Phnom Penh this week. “It is imperative that we reassert ASEAN Centrality. This in the face of geopolitical dynamics and tensions in the region and the proliferation of Indo-Pacific engagements, including the requests of our dialogue partners for closer partnerships,” he said. Marcos’ comments came a day after top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, said Saturday’s ASEAN-U.S. Summit would try to promote the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, whose signatories include the Philippines. That framework is widely seen as Washington’s effort to counter China’s investment in infrastructure and industry in Southeast Asia and beyond. “ASEAN is clearly at the center of the region’s architecture, and the U.S.’s strategic partnership with ASEAN is at the heart of our Indo-Pacific strategy,” Kritenbrink said. The 10 ASEAN members will still need international trade and investment partners as the world recovers from the impact of COVID-19. Hun Sen was cautious about expectations of a strong post-pandemic recovery. “While we are now enjoying the fruits of our efforts and moving towards sustainable growth we should always be vigilant as the current socio-economic situation in ASEAN as well as in the whole world remains fragile and divided,” he said. But he cited forecasts that economic growth in ASEAN would reach 5.3% this year and 4.2% in 2023, which he called “impressive compared to the rest of the world.” ASEAN leaders also held talks Friday with China, South Korea and the United Nations. On Saturday they meet with India, Australia, Japan, Canada and the U.S. Next week, there will be further summits of leaders of the G-20 in Indonesia, and APEC in Thailand. Indonesia is next to take the ASEAN chair and it may be hosting an 11th member. Leaders issued a statement Friday saying they agreed in principle to East Timor joining the bloc.

Category: Americas