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Category: ASEAN

ASEAN openness constrained at Laos summit

Editor06 mins

Southeast Asian leaders wrapped up this month’s summit in the Lao capital Vientiane by reaffirming their commitment to an “open, inclusive and transparent” ASEAN community. But some of the international media covering the meeting of the 10 member countries complained the vision was far from reality due to tough local reporting restrictions.  Authorities would not allow the 800-or-so media members to talk to people on the streets to ask how they were coping with inflation that the Asian Development Bank forecasts will average 20% this year. The media coverage manual said the press must report only from the National Convention Center hosting the summit or the Media Center a few kilometers away. Permission to report in the field was not available during the Oct. 6-11 meetings, an official at the Lao ministry of foreign affairs told Radio Free Asia. “They keep us in a small zone and keep a close watch, we can’t go anywhere or interview anyone,” said a reporter at a Japanese news service who, like all the journalists interviewed for this report, didn’t want to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. “I could not enter the meeting rooms and take a photo there. The bland press releases are not the reason we come here,” a Lao reporter for a Western news agency said. A journalist at another Japanese agency agreed that lack of access and the expectation that reporters would write their stories from official handouts meant it was impossible to get to the “essence” of the meetings.   “The press releases are too bland,” they said. “At the convention center, there were no officials to advise the media about the programs, press releases, how to get access to the internet, slow connections and arrangements for photo opportunities. We have to deal with that among ourselves.”     A man walks past a billboard for a bank which finances Lao energy projects, Oct. 6, 2024 (RFA) On the streets of the capital the only indication a summit was taking place were ASEAN billboards and the motorcades intermittently passing by. Even tourists trying to take photos of the Vietnam-gifted National Assembly House were waved away by plain-clothes police. Back at the media center, there were no briefings from Lao leaders or high-ranking officials to talk about the topics discussed or inform journalists about the views of the country chairing ASEAN this year. RELATED STORIES Blinken warns ASEAN of China’s ‘dangerous’ actions in sea disputes Malaysia’s Anwar calls for a united ASEAN amid rising ‘global tensions’ Laos’ ASEAN chairmanship propels foreign minister to PM contender The newsworthy items came from visiting officials such as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., with all three weighing in on recent Chinese actions in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. Reporters told RFA they were impressed by the prompt briefings from Thai officials after key events such as the China-ASEAN and U.S.-ASEAN Summits, but a Lao reporter was less complimentary about their own government’s briefings. “The Lao foreign ministry is always late in handing out statements, and yet there’s nothing interesting there. We cannot add more information to make the news interesting either.”   Lao authorities almost totally control the media according to Reporters Without Borders. The country ranks near the bottom of its 2024 World Press Freedom Index. Translated by RFA Lao. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Insurgent army tightens its grip on northern Myanmar town

Editor07 mins

Read RFA coverage of these topics in Burmese. An insurgent group battling Myanmar’s junta in Shan state has taken full control of a major town, a spokesperson told Radio Free Asia on Monday. The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, said it captured the final junta base in Hsipaw on Sunday and plans to use its position to strike other military camps in the area. The TNLA, is a member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance that launched Operation 1027 nearly a year ago in an effort to seize territory from the military that took power in a 2021 coup.  Since launching the offensive, heavy fighting for control of Lashio, Nawnghkio and other northern Shan towns has sparked concern from China, which borders the state to the east, and forced it to shut previously busy border crossings.  China has tried to protect its interests by brokering ceasefires between the junta and alliance members, but these haven’t lasted long.  The second round of Operation 1027 began when a five-month truce collapsed in June. Since then the TNLA has captured Kyaukme, Mongmit and Nawnghkio towns in northern Shan state, as well as Mandalay region’s Mogoke town.  Two months later, the TNLA turned its sights on Hsipaw. It captured most of the town on Aug. 12 but the junta held on to an infantry camp. On Sunday, the Infantry Battalion 23 base finally fell to the TNLA, spokesperson Lway Yay Oo said.  “We managed to completely control Hsipaw,” she told RFA. “According to our list, there must be over 50 captured soldiers and over 100 members of military families. We will release the family members.” Neither side has reported any casualties and RFA’s calls to Shan state’s junta spokesperson Khun Thein Maung went unanswered. RELATED STORIES: Myanmar junta charges hundreds for scamming on Chinese border Traders in Myanmar struggle as borders with China remain closed in rebel-held areas Rebels seize junta base near Chinese rare-earth mine in northern Myanmar By taking full control of Hsipaw the TNLA is in a stronger position to attack nearby junta camps. After capturing most of the town in mid-August it started targeting light infantry battalions 503 and 504 about a kilometer away. The junta has been hitting back with daily airstrikes. A Y-12 airplane dropped more than 80 bombs on TNLA positions on Friday, the group said in a statement published the following day.  In over two months of fighting in Hsipaw, junta airstrikes and artillery fire have killed 32 people, including young children and injured 100 more residents, according to local civil society groups.  Lashio under fire Another Three Brotherhood Alliance member has also been taking territory off junta forces in Shan state. Since the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, captured the junta’s military headquarters in Lashio in July, and took full control of the town in August, civilians have borne the brunt of junta retaliation through frequent airstrikes and shelling. Junta bombs killed three villagers on Monday morning in the township’s Ei Naing village, residents said.  Three men in their 40s died and two other people were injured, including a child, according to a resident who didn’t want to be named for fear of reprisals. “The men who were attacked died on the spot. They didn’t have time to dodge because the bomb fell straight on their house,” he said.  The injured were moved to a safe location to receive medical treatment, he added. The bombs destroyed a church and five houses, according to an MNDAA-associated aid group. Residents stand outside a house bombed by junta planes in Ei Naing village, Lashio Township, Shan state on Oct. 14, 2024. (Facebook: Lashio Reconstruction) Frequent battles near Ei Naing village prompted heavy shelling by the junta, causing most of the 1,000 people living in the area to flee, residents said. Many returned to Lashio after the MNDAA took control of the township, but fled again following Monday’s attack.  In September, the MNDAA said it had cut ties with Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government. It said it would work with China to bring peace and announced it had no plans to capture large towns in Shan state.  Days later the junta bombed Lashio and peace talks never took place. Since June, over 20 junta airstrikes on Lashio have killed three people and injured over 100, according to an MNDAA statement on Oct. 4. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Mike Firn.  We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Cambodians conjure up US bogeyman behind Vietnam canal concerns

Editor012 mins

I was recently offered documents purporting to show that U.S. intelligence agencies have “been guiding Vietnam to sabotage” the Funan Techo Canal, Cambodia’s controversial megaproject that critics say poses a serious ecological threat to Vietnam’s southern rice-growing heartland. The Vietnamese-language documents offered by an official in Phnom Penh reveal nothing about alleged secret meetings or misinformation campaigns, merely restating Vietnam’s concerns about what its neighbor was doing based on publicly available reports.   It isn’t entirely surprising if Phnom Penh is now pushing the line that complaints about the canal are mostly American propaganda that Washington is helping direct Vietnam to regurgitate.    A Cambodian national flag is displayed during a groundbreaking ceremony of China-funded Funan Techo canal in Prek Takeo village, Cambodia, Aug. 5, 2024. (Heng Sinith/AP) It may make some psychological sense for Phnom Penh to pretend all the noise is a result of U.S.-China geopolitics and to think that Vietnam, its closest neighbor and increasingly important economic partner, isn’t actually angry at all about Funan Techo.  And Phnom Penh, somewhat justifiably, feels hemmed in by the uproar that followed Prime Minister Hun Manet’s announcement in May that construction of the canal will go ahead.  Although China has been funding almost every other megaproject in Cambodia, it refused to pony up most of the money for this one, leaving the Cambodian state to cover the costs that will likely end up being much higher than the $1.7 billion estimate.  Vietnam has made it known in private conversations with Cambodia’s leaders that it is unhappy about how Phnom Penh went about its assessments of the canal’s impact on the Mekong Delta. Reticent Vietnam The people of Southeast Asia would “benefit from transparency on any major undertaking with potential implications for regional water management, agricultural sustainability, and security,” a U.S. embassy spokesperson in Phnom Penh said recently. Yet it’s fanciful for Phnom Penh to think Vietnam doesn’t have concerns of its own about a neighbor’s construction of a 180-km (110-mile) canal near their shared border, or to think that Vietnam needs prodding from America to express these concerns to Cambodia’s government.  More often than not, in fact, it has been Washington that does the ventriloquizing for Hanoi.  One struggles to remember any Vietnamese minister giving a press conference or an official going on the record about Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base. Washington has alleged for years that Phnom Penh will allow China direct access to the base, which Phnom Penh denies.    Workers use excavators during the construction of the Funan Techo canal in Kandal province, July 9, 2024. (Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP) A Chinese naval presence in Cambodia wouldn’t be ideal for America’s security interests in the region, but the biggest threat would be to Vietnam, which lies just 30 km (18 miles) from the site. A Chinese naval base to its southwest would leave Vietnam pretty much encircled by Chinese forces at sea.  Yet most of what we know of Vietnam’s concerns comes from what the U.S. government has said about the matter.  Likewise, what we know about Vietnam’s concerns over the Funan Techo Canal comes either from its officials speaking anonymously to Vietnam’s state-run media, from the Cambodian government responding publicly to Vietnam’s concerns, or what one can infer from U.S. government statements.  Blaming foreigners The fact that American statements about the canal focus on the potential ecological and economic impact on Vietnam — hardly a top-line U.S. national security concern — suggests these fears originated in Hanoi.  It’s illogical to maintain that Hanoi would need U.S. intelligence services to warn it of the potential economic and ecological impacts of the canal.  Perhaps this has been discussed between Vietnamese and U.S. officials, but to imagine it’s all an American conspiracy to hammer Cambodia is rather desperate. But it has worked for Cambodia before.  In 2017, the Cambodian government instructed the Supreme Court to forcibly dissolve the country’s largest opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which might have given the ruling party a tough run at a general election the following year.    A supporter of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party wears a poster of party leader Kem Sokha as she stands outside the Supreme Court in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Oct. 31, 2017. (Heng Sinith/AP) The false narrative Phnom Penh constructed was that the CNRP was plotting a “color revolution” with U.S. support. The party’s dissolution came months after Phnom Penh shut down newspapers and civil society groups it has accused of being part of a U.S. plot.  Not a shred of evidence was offered to prove any of this, yet it jibed with the ruling Cambodian People’s Party’s parochial and paternalistic view of Cambodian society: Everyone is peaceful until foreigners start whipping up our locals; its foreigners who convince Cambodians to demand their rights and liberty.  The claim that America is now dripping poisonous misinformation into Hanoi’s ears over the Funan Techo Canal has a similar ring to it. As it implies, Asia would be entirely peaceful if it wasn’t for a captious U.S. pressuring countries in the region to do its bidding.   RELATED STORIES Cambodia’s Funan Techo canal exposes cracks in Vietnam ties Will Cambodia’s Funan Techo canal be a success? Cambodian anti-Vietnamese sentiment will stalk Hun Manet beyond trade zone spat Cambodia launches ambitious Funan Techo canal project Chinese whispers Read between the lines, and what one can also infer is an argument that the region would be entirely happy with China’s behavior if it weren’t for U.S. interference.  Indeed, the Cambodian official who contacted me claimed that “the U.S., in collaboration with Vietnam, is obstructing the Canal Project…to eliminate Chinese influence in Southeast Asia.” These claims echo Chinese propaganda that asserts that it’s not really Vietnam or the Philippines who wants to assert their sovereignty in the South China Sea in the face of Chinese aggression, but the Americans who are forcing them to challenge China.  Beijing’s line that Vietnam is a proxy of U.S. geopolitical interests now appears to have seeped into…

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Did an American admiral claim the US will attack China in 2027?

Editor07 mins

A claim emerged in Chinese-language social media posts that U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti revealed during an internal meeting a U.S. plan to launch a war against China in 2027.  But this is misleading. Franchetti’s comments were part of a public statement in which she said it was important to ensure the U.S. is prepared for a potential conflict with China by 2027. The claim was shared on Douyin, Chinese version of TikTok in late September, 2024, alongside a 30-second video that shows U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti.  “A leaked video shows that Franchetti revealed U.S.’s plans to launch a war with China in 2027 during internal U.S. Navy operations meeting,” the claim reads in part. Chinese online users claim that in a leaked conversation Admiral Franchetti said the U.S. plans to go to war with China in 2027. (Screenshots /X, Douyin and Weibo) There are growing concerns about a potential U.S.-China war, particularly the assumption that such a conflict would be short and decisive.  War games and military novels often portray limited, quick engagements, such as battles over Taiwan, but history shows that wars between great powers are rarely brief. Instead, they tend to drag on, expanding across multiple regions and involving other nations.  Several factors could trigger a U.S.-China war, with Taiwan being the most significant. A Chinese attempt to invade or blockade Taiwan could prompt a U.S. response. Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where China’s claims clash with those of U.S. allies like the Philippines, also pose risks. Additionally, alliances involving nations like Russia or North Korea could draw more countries into a broader conflict, turning a regional dispute into a larger war. The same claim about Franchetti was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Weibo.  But the claim is misleading.  Original clip A combination of keyword searches and reverse image search on Google found that the clips of Franchetti were taken from a video released by the U.S. military on Sept. 18, titled: “CNO Release Navigation Plan 2024.” “Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti released her Navigation Plan (NAVPLAN) for America’s Warfighting Navy at the Naval War College, Sept. 18,” the caption of the video reads in part. “This strategic guidance focuses on two strategic ends: readiness for conflict with the PRC by 2027 and enhancing long-term advantage,” it reads further. Separately, the Navy’s navigation plan, the first update in two years, sets the year 2027 as a baseline for U.S. naval operations in response to goals stated by Chinese President Xi Jinping regarding target dates for China’s military modernization.   A review of the video and the navigation plan found no mention of a  U.S. plan to launch a war with China in 2027. Chinese military modernization China proposed  accelerating the modernization of its defense forces at a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee in October 2020.  The meeting signaled that China’s armed forces should be prepared for the country’s great rejuvenation by 2027, a goal frequently mentioned by Chinese officials and reported in state-run media.  Since then, U.S. officials have debated and offered different viewpoints about whether China will attack Taiwan in 2027 or 2035.  When Chinese President Xi Jinping met U.S. President Joe Biden at a summit in San Francisco in November 2023, he denied that China planned to attack Taiwan in 2027 or 2035, according to media reports.  Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Shen Ke and Taejun Kang. Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Myanmar military transfers prisoners as insurgents advance

Editor06 mins

Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. Junta authorities in western Myanmar have transferred nearly 370 prisoners out of the town of Sittwe in anticipation of an attack by ethnic minority fighters of the Arakan Army, or AA, to free them, a politician and family of the detainees told Radio Free Asia. The AA is one of the most powerful guerrilla forces battling the Myanmar military and it has repeatedly announced its aim to capture the coastal town of Sittwe, capital of the western-most state, and one of the last important places the military holds there. The military is worried that the prisoners may escape or be released if the AA attacks Sittwe, said a Pe Than, a former member of parliament from the state. “Sittwe wouldn’t be controlled by the junta if the AA attacked so they don’t not want to see the inmates released after being prosecuted,” said the former member of the Arakan National Party. “That’s why, I think, those arrested in such incidents have been transferred to other prisons,” he said, referring to people imprisoned on charges of aiding or collaborating with the insurgents. RFA tried to contact Rakhine state’s junta spokesperson, Hla Thein, for information on the transfer but he did not answer calls. The AA has captured territory some 24 kilometers (15 miles) from Sittwe but it does not appear an immediate threat to junta forces there. However, AA fighters are advancing on the junta’s Western Command headquarters in Ann township, about 120 km (75 miles) southwest of Sittwe, capturing an important junta defensive position on a hill on the approach to Ann on Monday. The AA, battling for self-determination for the mostly Buddhist Rakhine people, has taken territory across Rakhine state and controls 10 of the state’s 17 townships, and one in neighboring Chin state. It would be the first Myanmar rebel group to take over a state if it seizes, as it has vowed to do, all territory in military control there. RELATED STORIES ‘Direct hit’ airstrike on homes kills 15 civilians in Myanmar’s Rakhine state Myanmar military court jails 144 villagers detained after massacre Myanmar junta arrests dozens for sending supplies to rebel zone ‘Transferred to Insein’ About 200 of the 366 people transferred from Sittwe’s prisons were detained during a bloody junta raid on Byain Phyu village, on the outskirts of Sittwe, in June for being suspected AA supporters, residents of Sittwe said. “He said that they were about to be moved to other prisons and gave a message for the family not to worry and to take care of each other,” said a woman whose husband was among those transferred. “He said they were being transferred to Insein and Pathein prisons,” said the woman, who declined to be identified for safety reasons. Insein is Myanmar’s most notorious prison, in the main city of Yangon. Pathein is a town to the west of Yangon. Dozens of people were killed in the sweep of Byain Phyu, human rights group said, by soldiers fearful that AA fighters would stage an attack on Sittwe from the village. Most of the Byain Phyu villagers held in the prison were jailed for three years for unlawful association. Rakhine-based reporter Htet Aung and an unidentified colleague from the Development Media Group news outlet, which has reported on human rights violations by junta troops, were among those transferred, family members said. The two had been jailed for five years under a counter-terrorism law. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.  We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Police question students of shuttered Vietnamese education company

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Read this story in Vietnamese A non-profit organization that offered courses aimed at fostering independent thinking among Vietnamese citizens still has the attention of government investigators almost a year after it was forced to shut down.  Authorities have summoned some 50 students and teachers for questioning in the 10 months since FreeHub Education Solutions Company Ltd., or FreeHub, was closed, according to Nguyen Ho Nhat Thanh, the company’s founder. FreeHub opened in 2022 with the goal of giving learners the ability to think from multiple perspectives and make sound decisions in their personal lives. It offered courses – both online and in person – in philosophy, psychology, sociology, economics, history, culture and art.  Even though the classes didn’t discuss Vietnamese politics, authorities still viewed FreeHub as a threat, Thanh told Radio Free Asia on Monday. “It worried security agencies, who accused us of having toppling schemes,” he said. “The current regime is an ideological dictatorship. Therefore, different thinking flows are seen as threats.” Students sit inside a stadium ahead of celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the 1954 Dien Bien Phu victory over French colonial forces in Dien Bien Phu city on May 7, 2024. (Nhac Nguyen/AFP) Vietnamese courts have sentenced numerous journalists, boggers and activists over the last decade in an ongoing campaign to crush dissent.  Additionally, more than 60 people have been convicted and jailed for long terms for suspected links to a self-proclaimed government-in-exile that was founded in the U.S. in 1991. The Ministry of Public Security listed the group – known as the Provisional National Government of Vietnam – as a terrorist organization in 2018.  Summoned for questioning Thanh, also known as Paulo Thanh Nguyen, said he closed FreeHub in late 2023 in response to police harassment of its students in several locations. In the announcement posted on his personal Facebook page, Thanh wrote that trouble with authorities began after FreeHub offered a course on community development. Since then, FreeHub’s Facebook page has been taken down and its service provider has blocked access to its website. Security forces have continued to target students anyway, going to their homes or summoning them to government offices where they have been told to write personal reflections or reports, Thanh said, citing discussions with students. Security officers forced them to hand over their cellphones and laptops and to provide passwords, he added.  “Teachers have also been summoned,” Thanh said. “Security officers said the program was run by a reactionary organization, distorting many things and warning them they were not allowed to continue participating.” RELATED STORIES Vietnamese Authorities Raid a Civil Society Training Class Vietnamese Authorities Beat Dissident Bloggers on Human Rights Day The Ministry of Public Security seems to want to make FreeHub into a major case by linking it with overseas organizations already labeled as “hostile forces,” Thanh added.  Police have only summoned FreeHub students and teachers so far. Thanh said he believes authorities are collecting evidence for his eventual arrest. RFA called the Ministry of Public Security’s Security Investigation Agency to seek comment on Thanh’s accusations. The officer who answered the phone suggested that RFA’s reporter come to headquarters in person or send in a written request in order to receive a response. Thanh previously organized human rights events like “Human Rights Coffee” – a space for activists to meet following anti-China protests in Hanoi in 2014. He has also conducted training programs for young activists in various cities and provinces. Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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

Editor07 mins

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

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

Editor06 mins

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

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

Editor013 mins

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

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Cambodia publicly shames maid deported after criticizing Hun Sen

Editor07 mins

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

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