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Category: ASEAN

Vietnam’s crackdown on corruption in private sector seen as potential turning point

Editor09 mins

Recent arrests in Vietnam of business leaders amid a larger crackdown on corruption could cause some bumpy days on the stock market and hit the property sector, but a serious housecleaning will improve the overall business climate, analysts told RFA. In late March, authorities arrested Trinh Ban Quyet, chairman of property and leisure company FLC Group and its subsidiary Bamboo Airlines, on charges of stock market manipulation, after he failed to report to authorities his sale of 74.8 million shares in the company in January. In early April, authorities arrested Do Anh Dung, chairman of the Tan Hoang Minh property development group, on suspicion of fraudulent appropriation of assets, after the company issued private bonds between July 2021 and March 2022 while submitting false information and hiding other relevant information about the business. International and local media called these arrests a signal that Vietnam’s largest companies were now a target of the Vietnamese Communist Party’s anti-corruption efforts. “Big companies with long lasting business issues should be very nervous,” Nguyen Van Duc, the CEO of the Dat Lanh Real Estate Company, told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. “This could trigger a collapse of the real estate market, especially in the area dealing with resorts and leisure. Many businesses have invested tens of thousands of billions of dong [hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars] in a resort development project, but purchasing power hasn’t been able to catch up,” he said. Reuters reported that as of Wednesday, Vietnam’s benchmark index had fallen 13.8 percent this month, with investors and brokers partially blaming the recent arrests for the downturn. The market had been steadily trending upward since hitting a low in March 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the country’s relative success at keeping the number of cases down for 2020 and early 2021, the pandemic still had a major impact on the economy. “Households still experienced lower incomes, job loss, and hardships. Inequalities, differences in abilities to cope, vulnerabilities, and policy implementation challenges… are cautionary signs and offer relevant lessons to consider as Vietnam faces a much more challenging phase of COVID-19 ahead,” the World Bank said in a report. The turmoil in Vietnam’s economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic is pushing the government to tackle corruption in hopes of speeding a recovery, Duc said. “They’d rather do it earlier than later to avoid an even more damaging collapse,” he said. Authorities have tried to calm investors’ fears about the arrests. The crackdown on questionable dealings of real estate tycoons would have the beneficial effect of easing the rise of real estate prices, said Duc. “During Tan Hoang Minh Group’s case, the government discovered a plot to increase real estate prices in Ho Chi Minh City, and the country in general, when they offered a bid on a property that was 8.3 times higher than the initial offering,” he said. “As a result the government decided to examine the entire company. I think this was a sound action of the government that prevented an unreasonable and dangerous price spike of real estate.” Le Dang Doanh, the former president of Vietnam’s Central Institute for Economic Managment (CIEM), told RFA that the arrests of Dung and Quyet might represent a turning point for the country. “In the short term, some investors will be worried about market fluctuation, but this will bring about a better business environment for the stock market in the long term,” said Doanh. “I believe regulations to prevent corruption like we’ve seen in these cases will be created. For example, there are currently no regulations on bonds issued by enterprises, therefore we have not been able to effectively monitor this issue,” he said. The Tan Hoang Minh group used bonds to raise money for a specific project but then used the acquired capital for other purposes, authorities allege. “Many similar incidents have been discovered. I think that’s a positive sign for Vietnam’s business environment,” Doanh said. More investigations into large companies and arrests of key personnel are likely as the Standing Board of the Central Steering Commitee on Anti-Corruption, under the Politburo, has set up eight inspection teams to detect corruption, local new outlet Vietnam+ reported. During a meeting on Wednesday, members of the anti-corruption committee reviewed their response to FLC and Tan Hoang Minh, a major embezzlement scandal involving the Vietnam Coast Guard High Command, and a bribery case at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for spaces on COVID-19 rescue flights for Vietnamese citizens abroad, the report said. Investigators have examined more than 1,200 cases involving more than 2,000 suspects. More than 700 cases involving more than 1,500 defendants have been brought to the court, Vietnam+ said. Analysts have said that recent high-profile arrests are intended to demonstrate that Vietnam is getting tougher on corruption. At the same time, the country’s government continues to punish citizens who discuss the cases publicly. In mid-April,  authorities arrested Hanoi resident Dang Nhu Quynh for allegedly posting information on Facebook about the arrests of Trinh Ban Quyet and Do Anh Dung, and said that the Ministry of Public Security would continue prosecuting people and companies that are guilty of similar crimes. Quynh was charged with violating state interests for publishing “unverified information.” The law applied in Quynh’s case is designed to prevent the spread of false information that could damage the reputation of people and companies, legal experts said. But many people who have been punished were found guilty even if the information was true. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Junta troops torch 500 homes in 3 days in Myanmar’s Sagaing region

Editor07 mins

Junta troops torched more than 500 homes in five villages over the past three days in Myanmar’s Sagaing region, residents said Thursday, where nearly three-fourths of townships have been cut off from internet access since early March amid ongoing military raids. The arson attacks occurred between April 25 and April 27 in the Sagaing townships of Mingin, Khin Oo, and Shwebo, residents told RFA’s Myanmar Service, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal. Soldiers destroyed around 200 and 70 homes in Mingin’s Thanbauk and Zinkale villages, respectively, on April 25, some 220 homes in Khin Oo’s Thanboh village the following day, and an unconfirmed number of homes in Shwebo’s Malar and Makhauk villages on the evening of April 27, they said. The number of homes set alight in Shwebo township was not immediately clear because residents remain in hiding. One resident of Khin Oo said that the fires in Thanboh broke out early in the morning April 26 after two columns of troops entered the village. “The fires were burning almost the whole day and died down only at about 5 p.m.,” he said. “There have been more raids since they cut off the internet. More troops have been brought in and there have been more atrocities committed, such as setting houses on fire and killing people.” Aung San Myint, a 35-year-old villager who was arrested during the raid on Thanbo village and forced to work as a guide, was later shot dead by the soldiers who held him captive, he said. Residents said Thanboh village is home to around 300 houses and is adjacent to Magyee Tone village, where many members of the pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia live. They said that while the military and Pyu Saw Htee often enter the area, Tuesday marked the first time homes there had been set on fire. A resident of nearby Kyauk Myaung sub-township, who declined to be named for security reasons, said the attacks likely took place after informants reported to the army that members of the anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitaries are active in the area. Other sources said that the military unit responsible for the arson attacks was accompanied by Pyu Saw Htee fighters and identified it as the Kalemyo township-based Infantry Battalion No. 87, with an estimated force of around 150 troops. An aerial view of Chaung Oo village, in Sagaing region’s Pale township, where junta troops and Pyu Saw Htee fighters burned more than 300 homes, Dec. 18, 2022. Credit: RFA Internet restrictions Attempts to contact junta deputy information minister, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, for comment on the burnings went unanswered Thursday. However, in a statement on April 4, he told RFA that soldiers were not responsible for arson attacks in Sagaing. “Some PDFs and [armed ethnic] groups attacked villages where [pro-junta] militias have been formed,” he said at the time. “They set the villages on fire when they leave and blame the military or Pyu Saw Htee. … When villages are destroyed by fire, it is the [junta] who must rebuild them. So, we have no reason to burn the villages.” Since early March, internet access has been cut off in 27 of the 37 townships under the administration of Sagaing — including the embattled townships of Debayin, Kani, Pale, Khin Oo and Shwebo, where much of the fighting between the military and the PDF has taken place in the region. A member of the Monywa University Students’ Union, who declined to be named, called the shutdown a violation of residents’ right of access to information. “People in these areas have no way of learning about what is happening in other parts of Myanmar, about the political situation outside Sagaing region, or how the fight against the military is going on in various townships,” he said. “They only have information from those around them, as if they are cut off from the outside world.” Residents have been reduced to sharing information between themselves via weekly text messages, he said. Data for Myanmar, a research group that monitors how conflict affects communities, recently said that as of April 16, junta troops have torched more than 9,000 homes across the country since the military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup. More than 60% of the homes — the most of any of Myanmar’s 15 states, regions and territories — were located in Sagaing, the group said. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Cambodia arrests leader of opposition political party who was in hiding

Editor08 mins

Authorities in Cambodia on Thursday arrested the president of a small Cambodian political party who had been on the run since last week after being charged with forging documents to compete in local elections in June. RFA reported April 18 that Seam Pluk, president of the National Heart Party, had gone into hiding after authorities issued a warrant for his arrest and ordered him to appear in court on April 25. His lawyer, Sam Sok Kong, said that he intended to appear but that the court date did not give sufficient time to prepare to fight the charges. Choung Chou Ngy, another lawyer representing Seam Pluk, told RFA’s Khmer Service that the arrest was not legal because the warrant expired two days ago. “It is wrong for the police to implement an expired warrant. The court should take action against the police,” he said. Choung Chou Ngy also sought to cast doubt over the allegation that Seam Pluk forged registration documents so that his party could participate in elections. “The Ministry of Interior did a unilateral investigation without the National Heart Party’s participation. Was it an accurate audit? It is a secret,” he said. Among the 4,000 thumbprints collected for party registration, the Ministry of Interior only identified 200 that may have been forged, he said. Even if there are forgeries, the party has enough support to register, assuming the remaining prints are legitimate, Choung Chou Ngy said. The political party registration process should not lead to arrests, Kang Savang, a monitor with the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel), said.   “I haven’t seen the ministry file a complaint over thumbprint issues. This is new to me. I am concerned they are using the court to deal with the case. It will affect people’s right to participate in the electoral process,” Kang Savang said. “I think authorities shouldn’t use the court to resolve this issue. The ministry should have just refused to register the party,” he said. The Ministry of Interior moved to prosecute Seam Pluk after they accused him of receiving funds from exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy to participate in the election, an accusation Seam Pluk has denied. Sam Rainsy is one of two prominent leaders of the now-banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017 in a move that allowed Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party to win all 125 seats in Parliament in a July 2018 election. Sam Rainsy, 72, has lived in exile in France since 2015. He was sentenced in absentia last year to 25 years for what supporters say was a politically motivated charge of attempting to overthrow the government. Choung Chou Ngy said he will meet Seam Pluk April 29 in prison to discuss an appeal against his detention. RFA reported last week that another small opposition party, the Candlelight Party, believed that Sam Pluk has been targeted because of his previous support for Candlelight. The Candlelight party has been gaining steam over the past year and its leaders believe it can challenge the CPP in the upcoming elections. After the National Heart Party’s registration was denied, Candlelight party leadership encouraged Heart party supporters to join Candlelight. The Candlelight Party, formerly known as the Sam Rainsy Party and the Khmer Nation party, was founded in 1995. It merged with other opposition forces to form the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in 2012. Freedoms monitor Seam Pluk’s arrest comes as three NGOs released a report that listed hundreds of instances of rights abuses in the country, which Hun Sen has led for decades. “Despite the government’s duty to respect, protect and promote the freedoms of association, expression and assembly, the report records more than 300 restrictions and violations of fundamental freedoms in every province,” the report by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc), and the Solidarity Center said. The report’s findings show that “fundamental freedom is being restricted while opposition parties are being abused by the state, authorities and third-party actors,” Hun Seanghak, who coordinated the report, told RFA. But a spokesperson for a government-aligned rights group dismissed the report’s conclusions. “When individuals break the law, authorities must implement the law. Is that human rights abuse? In Cambodia people enjoy their freedom,” Kata Orn, spokesperson for the pro-government Cambodia Human Rights Committee, told RFA. He said the report was designed to please donors and doesn’t reflect the truth about democracy and freedom in Cambodia. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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China says Taiwan ‘playing with fire’ over alleged Taiping Island plans

Editor07 mins

China has reacted strongly against Taiwan’s alleged plans to extend a runway on the contested Taiping Island in the South China Sea, saying it was “playing with fire.” Taiwanese media reported last week that the island’s military is planning to lengthen the existing 1,150-meter-long airstrip by 350 meters so that it will be able to accommodate F-16 jet fighters and P-3C anti-submarine aircraft. Taiwanese officials have yet to confirm the plans, reported by United Daily News, a conservative Taiwanese newspaper. But recent satellite imagery suggests some kind of changes on the ground at the western tip of Taiping, which is located in the north-western part of the Spratly islands. Taiping, also known as Itu Aba, is the biggest natural feature in the Spratly islands. It is currently occupied by Taiwan but is also claimed by China, the Philippines and Vietnam. On Wednesday, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, warned Taipei of “playing with fire” with the Taiping extension plan. “Any attempt to collude with external forces and betray the interests of the Chinese nation is playing with fire and will surely be punished by both sides of the [Taiwan] Strait,” Ma was quoted by the state-run China News Service (CNS) as saying. “It will be rejected by the people and punished by history,” he said. The island, officially considered a “rock” under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is named after the warship “Taiping” that China sent to take over the island after Japan surrendered at the end of World War II. It has been under Taiwan’s control since 1956. ‘Inherent territory’ Ma Xiaoguang was quoted as saying that “the Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands), including Taiping Island, are China’s inherent territory, and China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and its adjacent waters.” Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday rejected China’s statement, saying that the islands in the South China Sea belong to the Republic of China (ROC or Taiwan), and “the Taiwanese government’s determination to defend the sovereignty of the islands in the South China Sea has never wavered,” the island’s news agency CNA reported. The ministry however did not confirm nor deny the alleged runway extension. Taiwan’s air force earlier declined to comment. Taiwan, Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, are all claimants of the South China Sea, but China holds the most extensive claim of nearly 90 percent of the sea, demarcated by the so-called nine-dash line. The U-shaped demarcation line was actually first introduced in 1947 by the ROC and it is now being used by both Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC or China) to back their claims in the South China Sea. An international tribunal in the case brought against China by the Philippines in 2016 rejected the Chinese “historical claims” in the South China Sea and invalidated the U-shaped line. Both Taiwan and the PRC refused to accept the ruling. Taiwan was not party to the case but its claims in the South China Sea are similar to those of China. Satellite photos Satellite imagery taken on March 24 and April 23, 2022, appears to show topographical changes at the western end of Taiping Island over the past month. Credit: EO Browser, Sinergise Ltd. Taiping is located in the north-western part of the Spratly islands, 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from Taiwan and 850 kilometers (530 miles) from the Philippines. It is under the administration of Kaohsiung Municipality. The current runway was only built in 2008. Proposed plans to develop the infrastructure on Taiping Island were criticized by the other two claimants – the Philippines and Vietnam – as stoking tensions in the disputed South China Sea. Last week, a Beijing-based Chinese think-tank said it had obtained new evidence of the runway extension plan. The South China Sea Probing Initiative (SCSPI) said satellite imagery obtained via the satellite data provider Sentinel Hub shows that reclamation work has begun on the western tip of Taiping Island, supporting the news about the island’s intention of extending the existing airstrip to 1,500 meters. Satellite photos from Sentinel taken on March 24 and April 23 and seen by RFA show noticeable differences in the topography of the western areas of the island. The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense declined to comment when asked by RFA. In March, the Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-Cheng said that Taiwan had no intention of militarizing Taiping despite reports that China had completed building military facilities on three artificial islands nearby.

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Pro-junta ‘Blood Comrades’ claim killings of 8 opposition members in Mandalay

Editor010 mins

A newly formed pro-junta militia is terrorizing members of the deposed opposition party in Mandalay, residents of Myanmar’s second largest city said, claiming responsibility for eight brutal killings over the past week by placing a signature badge on the bodies of its victims. All eight of the victims, who were members of the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) or supporters of the party, were found brutally murdered with badges or cards on their bodies displaying the insignia of a group calling itself the Mandalay branch of the Thway Thauk, or “Blood Comrades,” militia. A woman close to the Mandalay NLD, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity citing fear of reprisal, said the killings had created a sense of panic among party members in the city. “The situation’s getting worse these days. There’s much more reason to be afraid,” she said. “Some people won’t even dare stay in their own homes because [Thway Thauk] could come in with guns and take them away. They’d leave the body the next morning. Some [victims] were party members and some weren’t — just party supporters. But everyone is scared.” She said death threats were also recently found at the homes of some NLD members and supporters. A Mandalay resident, who also declined to be named, said he believes the attacks are meant to send a message to those protesting the military’s Feb. 1, 2021, coup. “It’s revenge because soldiers, the police and their families have [since] been attacked [by the armed opposition], so they’re doing the same thing,” he said. “This group is in civilian clothes, but they must be from the military. In the past, they would at least arrest people under vague laws before killing them. Now, they are openly committing murder.” Another member of the Mandalay NLD told RFA that several party supporters who have received death threats have fled their homes, fearing that they may become the Thway Thauk’s next victims. A badge showing the insignia of the pro-junta Blood Comrades. Credit: S ‘Operation Red’ On April 21, the group announced via the Telegram social media platform that it had launched “Operation Red” to “destroy” members of the NLD party and its supporters, as well as anti-junta paramilitaries with the People’s Defense Force (PDF). Three days later, the body of an NLD village chairman from Mandalay’s Maha Aungmyay township was found along a road by residents of nearby Aungmyay Tharzan township, who told RFA’s Myanmar Service that a Thway Thauk badge had been conspicuously placed on the victim. The same day, Khin Maung Thein — the owner of the Sein Win Win Tea Shop in Mandalay’s Chan Aye Tharzan township — his wife, Daw Kha Kha, and his brother, U Tin, were reported missing in an apparent abduction. On Monday morning, residents found Khin Maung Thein’s stabbed and bullet-ridden body in front of the district NLD office in Mandalay along with his severely injured wife, sources close to the NLD told RFA. His brother’s body was discovered later that day near a low-income housing unit on Mandalay’s Strand Road. The bodies of both men had Thway Thauk badges affixed to them, the sources said. Daw Kha Kha is currently receiving treatment at an area hospital, they said. Thway Thauk issued a statement on Monday claiming responsibility for the killings and warning of more to come. It said the operation had expanded to include “PDF supporters, members of the fake news media, people living abroad and inciting murder on social media, people who are not part of the armed opposition but are calling for the death of so-called ‘Dalans’ [military informers] … and their family members.” In the statement, Thway Thauk claimed that it is “not affiliated with the police” or the pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia that has sworn loyalty to the military and targeted civilians in attacks in Myanmar’s remote border regions. On Monday evening, two more men were found shot to death in Mandalay’s Patheingyi township, according to sources, who said the pair had yet to be identified. On Tuesday, residents of Maha Aungmyay township found the body of an unidentified man who had been stabbed in the neck and the body of another man was discovered floating in Mandalay’s Palace Moat. Sources told RFA that all five of the bodies discovered since Monday exhibited gunshot and stab wounds and had cards reading “Thway Thauk Group – Operation Red MDY” attached to them. Ko Moe, the brother of Maha Aungmyay township NLD lawmaker Zaw Zaw Aung, became the eighth victim in six days when his body was discovered Wednesday morning near Mandalay’s Thingaza Creek on 26th Street. He had been abducted by an unidentified group two days earlier, according to his family. Group affiliation When asked about the killings on Wednesday, junta deputy information minister, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, said that “only one militia group has been formed and no other,” in an apparent reference to the pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee. In a statement issued Wednesday, the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) said that “action will be taken against those committing terror acts against supporters of the NUG and their families, including the Pyu Saw Htee, in accordance with the law.” Speaking to RFA, Myanmar-based political analyst Than Soe Naing echoed Mandalay residents who said they believe the Thway Thauk was formed by pro-junta elements to retaliate against the opposition after “hundreds of their village and ward administrators were assassinated,” mostly by members of the PDF. “I don’t think the junta itself would directly form such groups,” he said. “It may have been formed by junta’s supporters or the Pyu Saw Htee. And I’m sure the junta forces would encourage them or support them.” Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Another Mekong River dam in Laos begins review process

Editor011 mins

Lao officials will soon submit plans for the Phou Ngoy Dam and hydropower plant to the Mekong River Commission for review, but villagers whose livelihoods would be hurt by the construction worry they will be left out of the process. “We can’t tell you what day or when exactly we’re going to do that,” said an official at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, who declined to be named to speak freely. “We think we’ll do it at the end of this year. Right now, we’re preparing the paperwork.” The 728-megawatt Phou Ngoy Dam in southern Laos’ Champassak province will be the seventh of nine existing or planned large-scale hydropower projects on the Mekong River mainstream. Thailand’s Charoen Energy and Water Asia Co. Ltd. is the lead developer of the U.S. $2.4 billion hydropower dam project, whose power is anticipated will be sold to Thailand. The hydropower dam would be built by two South Korean construction companies: Korea Western Power Co., Ltd. and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Ltd. It is slated to be completed in 2029. A power purchase agreement has not yet been signed. Laos’ government believes that it came greatly boost the country’s economy by becoming the battery of Southeast Asia by selling power generated by dams along the Mekong to its neighbors. But villagers whose lives have been disrupted by the plans say they haven’t been fairly compensated for being forced to move to make way for the progress. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) is an intergovernmental organization that works with the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam to jointly manage the Mekong. The Phou Ngoy Dam will be located about 18 kilometers north of Pakse, the capital of Champassak province, and 50 kilometers from confluence of the Mekong River and Mun River, a tributary of the Mekong that flows through northern Thailand. During the MRC’s consultation process, states and other stakeholders will discuss and review the benefits and risks of proposed water-use projects that may have potential significant cross-border impacts on water flow, water quality and a host of other environmental and socioeconomic conditions. Surasri Kidtimonton, secretary-general of Thailand’s Office of National Water Resources, told RFA that the consultation depends on all MRC members. “As for Thailand, we’re right now looking at a lot of documents about the Phou Ngoy Dam project,” he said. “We’re doing our best to protect our interest,” he told the National News Bureau of Thailand. The map shows existing and planned hydropower dams along the Mekong River in Laos. Credit: RFA graphic ‘The losers are the local people’ A representative of the Love Chiang Khong Group, a Thai NGO, expressed concern that project investors and Lao authorities will exclude communities that will be affected by the dam from the ongoing review. “The Lao government keeps pushing many projects forward, and the investors keep looking for more benefits. The losers are the local people,” the source, who requested anonymity so as to speak freely, said. The investors and the Lao government have not paid any attention to past studies on the project’s impact and did not allow locals to participate in the decision-making process, he said. “The Phou Ngoy Dam is being built not for the benefit of the locals in the area, but for the benefit of the investors,” the person said. “This large dam will block the Mekong River, which is the international mainstream river that goes through many countries. It’ll destroy our livelihoods, our jobs and our ecosystem.” An official at the Lao Ministry of the Information, Culture and Tourism said he was worried in particular about the dam’s impact on Vat Phou, a ruined Khmer Hindu temple complex at the base of a mountain about six kilometers (3.7 miles) from the Mekong River in Champassak province, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Though the Phou Ngoy Dam is more than 30 kilometers from the city of Pakse, capital of Champassak province, it could have an impact on the Phou Phaphin area close to Vat Phou, he said. “If the Lao government and the Phou Ngoy Dam developer really want to build this dam, they’ll have to do the Heritage Impact Assessment, similar to the one for the Luang Prabang Dam Project that has been submitted to UNESCO,” he said. Plans for the Phou Ngoy Dam and hydropower plant have also sparked concern among residents of Khonken village in Champassak province, who fear they may get a raw deal from Lao authorities and the project developer when it comes to compensation for lost land and forced resettlement in other communities. The project will affect 88 villages, including 57 villages above the dam, and 31 villages below the dam. About 800 residents in more than 140 households in Khonken village are expected to be the most heavily affected by the project. Most of the villagers are farmers who grow rice and vegetables and raise livestock, while others run small businesses like restaurants and guesthouses to accommodate growing numbers of Thai tourists to the area. One resident told RFA in late December 2021 that local Lao authorities and the dam developer had conducted a survey asking villagers about their property, shops and fruit trees. Since then, however, they have not heard anything more about the impending relocation. “We don’t want to be relocated,” he said. “We don’t know where to move to. We’ve been here for years, and we believe that this is our permanent home.” Another villager said he wants the Lao government to reconsider building the dam. “Yes, the government builds dams for business, but this dam will destroy the natural beauty and our property.” Pak Beng Dam MOU Meanwhile, two investors in another hydropower project on the mainstream Mekong signed a tariff memorandum of understanding for the Pak Beng Dam, Laos’ Vientiane Times reported on Wednesday. China Datang Overseas Investment Co., Ltd. and Gulf Energy Development Public Co., Ltd. as project cosponsor inked the deal with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT)…

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Philippines’ Duterte intends to skip ASEAN summit in Washington

Editor05 mins

Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte announced his intention to skip the U.S.-ASEAN summit in Washington next month, telling Filipinos he doesn’t want to take a stance that could go against his successor who will be elected the same week. Previously, Duterte had repeatedly said he would not travel to the United States, a country which he has not visited as president and with which he’s had a stormy relationship because of Washington’s criticism of his administration’s deadly war on drugs. As he prepares to leave office in June, Duterte faces an International Criminal Court investigation over the drug war, which has left thousands of Filipinos dead. “If it is a working conference, there might be some agreements or commitments that will be made and I might take a stand that will not be acceptable to the next administration,” he said, without elaborating. In his weekly televised speech to the nation late Tuesday, Duterte cited the May 9 General Election as the main reason for declining the invitation to attend the summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations scheduled for May 12-13. “By that time, the elections will be over and we will find out who the next president will be,” Duterte said, according to transcripts released Wednesday. “So I told them it would not look good if I attend and there will be a new president.” Duterte’s six-year term will end when his successor takes office on June 30. Duterte also cited “personal reasons” for declining President Biden’s invitation, adding that U.S. officials had wanted him to attend but he refused “as a matter of principle.” During the meeting with Southeast Asian leaders in the U.S. capital, Biden is expected to seek to strengthen relationships with ASEAN members to counter China’s perceived aggression and military expansionism in the contested South China Sea. Missed meetings This is not the first time that Duterte will be missing an ASEAN-related meeting. Last year, he cited “pressing domestic concerns in light of the surge of COVID-19 cases” as an excuse to not attend an emergency summit of ASEAN leaders who met in Jakarta to discuss the post-coup crisis in Myanmar. As president, Duterte pivoted the Philippines’ foreign policy closer to China and away from the United States, the country’s staunchest military ally for the past seven decades. He has traveled to China six times as president and called leader Xi Jinping a close friend while insisting that Manila cannot go to war with Beijing.  Duterte also banked on Chinese money to fund his infrastructure projects, and of late, he has profusely thanked Beijing for sending COVID-19 vaccines ahead of other nations.  In 2020, Duterte vowed to skip a U.S.-ASEAN summit – which was later postponed indefinitely because of the global pandemic – after the U.S. Embassy refused to issue a visa to Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, the former police chief who implemented his administration’s brutal war on drugs. He also threatened to scrap an agreement that allowed American troops to hold large-scale joint military exercises here, but later reversed his stand. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.

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Jailed Vietnamese citizen journalist allowed to meet wife after secret hearing

Editor04 mins

Vietnamese citizen journalist and political prisoner Le Trong Hung was allowed to see his wife for the first time since his arrest more than a year ago, a 40-minute meeting last week, his wife told RFA.  Born in 1979, Hung is known for livestreaming on Facebook and YouTube videos on controversial social and political issues, particularly land rights cases that have been at the center of controversies in Vietnam. He was arrested in March 2021 on charges of “disseminating anti-State materials” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code shortly after nominating himself to run for Vietnam’s National Assembly elections in defiance of the ruling Communist Party and sentenced in December to five years in prison and five years of probation.  Hung was able to see his family on April 22, three days after an appeal’s court in Hanoi upheld his sentence in a hearing that neither his lawyers nor his family were informed about in advance, said Hung’s wife, Do Le Na. “My husband said that on April 19, the trial day, he was ‘kidnapped; and sent to the court. He did not agree to stand the trial as he hadn’t got a chance to see his lawyers,” she told RFA. Her 40-minute meeting was closely monitored, Na added. “They repeatedly reminded me and my husband not to mention the appeal trial,” she said. “They warned that our talk over the phone would be stopped and we would be kicked out if we talked about the trial.” Na said that she would keep fighting for her husband. “I myself will keep speaking up and reaching out to human rights organizations and civilized countries which pay attention to the human rights situation in Vietnam. I want to point out how my husband has been treated and expose all of the Vietnamese government’s wrongdoings.” Before his candidacy, Hung was a chemistry teacher at Xa Dan junior high school in Hanoi, but he quit teaching after unsuccessfully petitioning for reforms to the educational system. He had also participated in protests for environmental conservation, as well as sharing news about protests in Myanmar and the cases of other activists targeted by Vietnam’s government. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Nawar Nemeh.

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Myanmar military court sentences Aung San Suu Kyi to 5 more years in jail

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A military court sentenced deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to five years in jail on Wednesday finding her guilty of corruption in closed-door proceedings, a source familiar with the trial said. In the first of 11 corruption cases against the 76-year-old Nobel laureate, the judge in the capital Naypyidaw pronounced her guilty minutes after the trial opened, within moments of the court convening, said the source, who declined to be identified for security reasons The former State Counselor’s lawyers have been barred since October by Myanmar’s military rulers from releasing information or speaking publicly about the two cases being tried. The junta-controlled court said Aung San Suu Kyi had violated section 55 of the Anti-corruption Law in a case that alleged she accepted 11.4 kg (402 oz) of gold and cash payments totaling $600,000 from former Yangon chief minister Phyo Min Thein. She has rejected all allegations, which her supporters, rights groups and foreign governments have condemned as political charges aimed at ending her career. Aung San Su Kyi, who ruled the country for five years and won re-election in November 2020 in a landslide vote that the army refused to honor, is already serving six years for violating export-import laws, the communications law, and the natural disaster management law. “Myanmar’s junta and the country’s kangaroo courts are walking in lockstep to put Aung San Suu Kyi away for what could ultimately be the equivalent of a life sentence, given her advanced age,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This conviction on bogus corruption charges just piles on more years behind bars,” he said in a statement from Bangkok. “Sadly, there’s more where that came from in the coming months, with many additional trials on other criminal charges to follow,” added Robertson. According to the Association Assistance for Political Prisoners (AAPP), the military regime has handed out more than 1000 sentences among more than 10,300 civilians arrested or detained since the Feb. 1 coup that deposed Aung San Suu Kyi and her elected government. The junta has killed nearly, 1,800 civilians, the Bangkok-based group says. Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Written in English by Paul Eckert.

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Myanmar Civil Disobedience Movement ‘losing steam’ amid junta crackdowns

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Myanmar’s Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), a popular strike movement that at its peak brought the administrative machinery of the military regime to a halt, has lost more than one-third of its active members amid a crackdown by the junta, organizers and the country’s shadow government said Tuesday. Formed by doctors in Mandalay a day after the Feb. 1, 2021, coup, the CDM once boasted more than 360,000 members who chose to walk away from their state jobs and take part in peaceful anti-junta protests or other opposition activities in a bid to pry loose the regime’s grasp on power. The CDM captivated the international community for its effectiveness in the face of the junta’s violent repression and was even nominated for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. But Kyaw Zaw, a spokesman for the shadow National Unity Government’s (NUG) President’s Office, told RFA’s Myanmar Service that the number of active members in the CDM has dwindled significantly since the junta began to target them with a campaign of threats, arrest, and other forms of harassment. “CDM members have been arrested. They have endured many kinds of threats, and even torture in some cases. Furthermore, when CDM staff evade arrest, authorities detain their family members,” he said. “Many CDM members felt insecure to a point that they had to leave the movement.” Kyaw Zaw said the NUG estimates there are currently around 200,000 state employees still in the CDM, although “we don’t know exactly how many have left the movement.” The shadow government’s assessment suggests that the CDM has lost more than 150,000, or slightly more than 40%, of its peak membership. CDM sources told RFA that the junta also tries to lure CDM members away from the movement by making them offers that include reinstatement to their former jobs and guarantees that they will not be sent to prison. But they said those who refuse are often arrested on what they called “bogus charges” or can have difficulty earning a living due to policies such as a ban on hiring CDMs in the private sector. Hein Thiha, a senior CDM teacher from Magway region, said some of his colleagues had left the movement after receiving threats. “Your ability to participate can be different based on whether you are based in an area with a strong CDM or a weak CDM,” he said. “Where the CDM is strong, it is easier to operate. But it’s very difficult where the CDM is weak. Some people have reluctantly withdrawn from the CDM because of these pressures.” Hein Thiha said that, like many CDM employees, he has been struggling to make ends meet as a farmer since February 2021 with no source of regular income. Sit Min Naing, a CDM doctor, told RFA that public support for the movement appears to have shifted to the armed opposition since the NUG declared war on the junta in September and ordered allied prodemocracy People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary groups around the country to attack military targets. “This support grew stronger and stronger, and now they seem to have forgotten about the CDMs,” he said. In its first annual report issued on April 16, the NUG said it had provided 229 million kyats (U.S. $190,000) in financial support to CDM staff. But NUG officials said at a press conference accompanying the release of the report that they had shifted the focus of their financial support to military expenditures and acknowledged that doing so had likely led to a decline in the number of CDM members. A Civil Disobedience Movement protest by education workers in Yangon, Feb. 19, 2021. Credit: RFA Former security forces joining movement One of the few civil servant groups to grow the ranks of the CDM in recent months is that of the country’s security forces, according to the People’s Embrace — a faction within the movement that is made up of former junta soldiers. CDM Capt. Lin Htet Aung told RFA that former members of the security forces who have joined the movement now number around 10,000, which he said is partly because they no longer want to be complicit in the junta’s killing of civilians. “We realize we are fighting against the population. We are killing people and they hate us. We don’t have the support of the people anymore,” he said. “We realize we are working to benefit the personal interests of the military leaders and not in the national interest. … This has led to a steady increase in deserters.” Lin Htet Aung said more people would leave the military and the police force if their security could be guaranteed. Meanwhile, relatives of members of the security forces told RFA that the junta has tightened restrictions inside the military and police force in a bid to dissuade potential deserters, including by restricting their access to friends and family. Junta deputy information minister, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, dismissed claims that authorities have been targeting CDM staff. “In some cases, there have been terminations … but these actions were taken according to existing staff regulations,” he said. “However, in cases where [CDM staff] are found to have incited people during protests, they will be punished according to the law.” According to Thailand’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, there are around 100 CDM staffers serving prison sentences in Myanmar and at least 886 in detention. Myanmar-based political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe told RFA that the CDM will continue to lose members if they cannot be guaranteed personal and financial security. “After more than a year, we can say the CDM is losing steam,” he said. “This is because many employees in the CDM already must risk their lives for the movement. Things become untenable if they are also unable to earn enough to live.” Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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