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Category: ASEAN

China, Mekong countries agree to combat scam centers, arms trafficking

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Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. The six Mekong River countries are working together to combat online scamming and arms dealing in the interests of their security, China’s embassy in Myanmar said, as authorities renew efforts to tackle a problem that is causing growing alarm across the region. The rescue of a Chinese actor and several other victims this month from an online scam center in eastern Myanmar has shone a spotlight on the criminal gangs running fraud, money-laundering and human trafficking operations from some of the more lawless corners of the region. The scam centers proliferated in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted casinos. Thousands of people have been lured by false job offers and then forced to work defrauding victims online in complexes often run by ethnic Chinese gangsters, human rights groups say. China, which is also home to many of the victims of the scammers, has been organizing action to tackle the problem with its southern neighbors, most recently at a meeting in the city of Kunming, in China’s Yunnan southern border province. “The operation brings together the law enforcement resources of various countries and is an effective cooperative force in the fight against telecommunications fraud and arms smuggling in the region,” China’s embassy in Myanmar said in a statement on Tuesday. “All parties unanimously agreed that regional security and stability were effectively protected,” it said. In 2025, members of the Lancang-Mekong Integrated Law Enforcement and Security Cooperation Center – China, Myanmar, Thailand Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam – will begin the second phase of an operation against the criminals, the embassy said. It did not give details of what it would entail. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army hands over 337 telecom and internet fraud suspects to Chinese police on Oct. 7, 2023.(Kokang News) RELATED STORIES Scammers lure jobseeking Hong Kongers to Myanmar from Japan, Taiwan Is Laos actually tackling its vast scam Industry? Myanmar border militia emerges as nexus in regional scam network From August to December, Operation Zin Yaw resulted in a collective 160 cases cracking down on telecommunications fraud, in which more than 70,000 criminals were arrested and 160 victims were rescued, the embassy said. Myanmar authorities have said the large majority of suspects detained in raids are from China. China can provide “effective protection” against both arms smuggling and online fraud, the embassy said. The recent abduction and rescue from an eastern Myanmar enclave on the Thai border of Chinese actor Wang Xing, and model Yang Zeqi, has attracted media attention across the region and raised public alarm about safety. Thailand has seen a rash of group tour cancellations for the upcoming Lunar New Year and its government has promised action to protect its economically important tourist industry. The leaders of militias loyal to Myanmar’s junta and the operators of online scam centers announced this month that they had agreed to stop forced labor and fraud after coming under pressure from Thailand and the Myanmar military, sources close to the militia groups said. “The threat posed by the scam gangs is large – if you read the newspapers you know – so something needs to be done,” said Aung Thu Nyein, a member of the Institute for Strategy and Policy Myanmar think tank. Myanmar’s exiled parallel National Unity Government said in a statement on Monday it and other anti-junta groups would work with neighboring countries to suppress the scam centers. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Hundreds block Cambodian highway to protest irrigation water shortage

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Hundreds of people in southern Cambodia used tractors and motorcycles to block a major national highway for three hours on Tuesday to demand that provincial authorities address severe water shortages that have damaged rice fields. Protesters tied tractors and other vehicles together across National Road 2 and used loudspeakers to rally farmers and other residents of Takeo province and to plead for help from Prime Minister Hun Manet and other government officials. Takeo resident Aob Ratana said in a Facebook live video from the protest that authorities could solve the water shortage by opening a dam in the province’s Bati district to allow water to flow into the Bati River, which runs alongside rice fields. Residents were angry that this particular request had gone unfulfilled, which was a major reason behind the blockage of National Road 2, which runs between Phnom Penh and the Vietnamese border. “The rice fields are dying and will be gone if they do not help solve the problem,” he said. “The district and provincial governments are not helping to solve the problem for the people.” Minister of Agriculture Dith Tina, Minister of Water Resources Tho Jetha and Minister in charge of Disaster Management Kun Kim met with the demonstrators at the site of the road blockage and promised to work on the issue. Im Rachana, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, didn’t answer when asked by Radio Free Asia how the government planned to solve the lack of water in the area. A hard time this year Cambodian farmers have faced several droughts over the last 20 years. At least 1.1 million hectares of rice crops were affected and more than 30,535 hectares were seriously damaged by drought during the 2023-2024 dry season, which typically runs from November to April, according to the National Disaster Management Committee. The national government should work to restore natural irrigation systems, such as existing lakes and canals, and should also look into building new canals, said Dy Kunthea, a board member of the Cambodian Farmers Solidarity Organization. Aob Ratana warned on his Facebook live video that Cambodia’s overall economy would face trouble if too many rice fields fail this year. “There is water,” he said. “But it is not being distributed to the people, and they say that the people will have a hard time this year.” Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Myanmar junta kills 28, including its own soldiers, in prison attack

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Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. The Myanmar military killed 28 of its own soldiers and their detained relatives in an airstrike on insurgent positions near an ancient capital in Rakhine state, according to the rebels and a human rights group. The Arakan Army, or AA, is fighting for control of Rakhine state and has made stunning gains over the past year, seizing 14 of its 17 townships from the control of the junta that seized power in an early 2021 coup. The military has struck back with its air force, launching numerous bombing raids, which early on Sunday included a strike on Kyauk Se village, to the north of Mrauk U town. “We don’t know the exact details yet but we do know that dozens are dead,” Myat Tun, director of the Arakan Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Association, told Radio Free Asia. “There were no residents affected, it affected prisoners of war, including children,” he said. The AA said 28 people were killed and 29 were wounded when the air force dropped three bombs on a temporary detention center run by the AA before dawn on Sunday. “Those killed/injured in the bombing were prisoners and their families who were arrested in battles,” the AA said in a statement. “Military families were about to be released and were being temporarily detained in that place.” Some of the wounded were in critical condition and the death toll could rise, the group said. RFA tried to contact AA spokesperson, Khaing Thu Ka, and Rakhine state’s junta spokesperson, Hla Thein, for more information but neither of them responded by time of publication. Bodies of some of the 28 people killed in the bombing of a detention camp in Myanmar’s Mrauk U, Rakhine State, released on Jan. 19, 2025.(AA Info Desk) RELATED STORIES Myanmar military regime enters year 5 in terminal decline Junta blockades keep Myanmar children malnourished and without vaccines Rakhine rebels seize first police station in Myanmar’s heartland Mrauk U is the ancient capital of Rakhine kings who were conquered by Burmese kings in 1784. The AA has captured hundreds of junta soldiers, police officers and their family members, in its relentless advance across the state, from its far north on the border with Bangladesh, down to the south where AA fighters have launched probes into neighboring Ayeyarwady division. Families of soldiers and police in Myanmar often live near them in family quarters. This was not the first AA prison to be bombed. In September, military aircraft struck a detention center and hospital in Pauktaw town, killing more than 50 prisoners of war, the AA said at the time. On Jan. 8, junta airstrikes in Ramree township’s Kyauk Ni Maw village killed more than 50, including women and children, and some 500 homes were destroyed in a blaze that the bombing sparked. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Bodyguard for Vietnamese monk controls his every move

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.” Then in November, the monk announced plans to travel on foot to India. Who is Doan Van Bau? On his personal YouTube channel, Bau described himself as a retired security officer and an active Communist Party member. He previously held the rank of senior colonel and served as director general of the Political Theory Division within the Central Propaganda and Education Department. RELATED STORIES EXPLAINED: Why is an internet-famous monk on a trek to India? Vietnamese followers of ‘barefoot monk’ question call for social media silence Vietnamese monk leaves Laos, enters Thailand In early posts on YouTube, Bau described himself as a “retired ordinary citizen” volunteering to assist Minh Tue in his pilgrimage, saying he had a deep respect for the monk’s commitment to Buddhism. In December, Minh Tue said in one of Bau’s YouTube videos about trip preparations posted that he only asked Bau to handle the immigration procedures on the way to India. But in more recent comments on social media, Bau said the Vietnamese government had issued official documents assigning him to be the “head of the delegation.” In another Facebook video on Jan. 7, Bau told Thich Minh Tue that while he has “no objections” to his “self-cultivation,” he hoped the monk “will not interfere with my planning, organization or management of the delegation.” Bau has since rejected at least three people from joining the pilgrimage, including two monks. Vietnamese monk Thich Minh Tue prepares to take a nap in Thailand, during his walk to India, Jan. 1, 2025.(RFA) Even before the pilgrimage started, officials appeared to be controlling the endeavor. A document released on Dec. 1 by Phat Tam Thien Dinh Tue Ltd., a company founded by Thich Minh Tue’s elder brother, listed 10 individuals authorized by the monk to accompany and assist him during the pilgrimage to India. But on the departure day, only two of them — Bau and Le Kha Giap – were officially allowed to join the delegation. Media blackout Bau is live-streaming the monk’s journey on YouTube – which many people in Vietnam are following – but the country’s state-run media has had no coverage of the entourage. Vietnamese journalists told RFA that the propaganda department has told them not to publish any news about it. After about a week of walking in Thailand, Bau said on his personal social media account that the delegation had many “adversities” in the journey so far, including foreign reporters and others observing the pilgrimage. As Thich Minh Tue heads toward Bangkok, Bau continued to keep a tight lid on the monk’s interactions, particularly with the media. “Bau has always spoken on behalf of the monk, taking over his right to communicate,” said Tuan Khanh, the musician who has been monitoring the pilgrimage closely. “The monk no longer has the opportunity to speak.” Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Myanmar military regime enters year 5 in terminal decline

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Myanmar’s military approaches the fourth anniversary of the coup d’etat that put them in power in terminal decline. The economy continues to atrophy, with even . Further south, the Karen National Liberation Army and allied people’s defense forces (PDFs) are slowly taking pro-junta border guard posts along the frontier with Thailand. In Tanintharyi, local PDFs have increased their coordination and are pushing west from the Thai border towards the Andaman Sea coast, diminishing the scope of the military-controlled patchwork of terrain in Myanmar’s southernmost state. Some of the most intense fighting of late has been in the Bamar heartland, including Sagaing, Magway, and Mandalay. The military has stepped up their bombings, artillery strikes, and arson, that killed 52, wounded over 40 and destroyed 500 homes, had no military utility. Finally, the state of the economy is even more precarious given the loss of almost all border crossings. RELATED STORIES Chinese aid cannot overcome Myanmar junta’s declining finances and morale Perhaps it would be better if Myanmar’s civil war became a ‘forgotten conflict’ Myanmar’s junta answers rebel proposal for talks with week of deadly airstrikes Although the SAC technically still controls Muse and Myawaddy, which links them to China and Thailand, respectively, opposition forces control much of the surrounding territory. While Karen forces have not made a bid to take Myawaddy, the main border crossing, they are pinching in along Asia Highway 1 to Yangon. On Jan. 11, some 500 reinforcements in 30 armored personnel carriers were deployed from Hpa-An to Kawkareik in Kayan state near the Thai border to keep the last main overland trade artery open. To sum it up, the junta is entering the fifth year of military rule with its power rapidly slipping away. Although they still control one-third of the country – land that holds two-thirds of the population – their mismanagement of the economy has left the military regime broke. Spread too thin across too many fronts simultaneously, it’s hard to see the SAC doing anything to arrest their terminal decline in 2025. Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and an adjunct at Georgetown University. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College, Georgetown University or Radio Free Asia. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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In bilateral talks, Philippines complains about China’s ‘monster’ ship in EEZ waters

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MANILA — Senior Philippine diplomats confronted Chinese counterparts in face-to-face talks about China’s “monster” coast guard ship intruding into Manila’s territorial waters, as the two sides met to discuss the hot-button issue of the South China Sea. Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro led the Philippine delegation in the 10th Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea, or BCM, which took place on Thursday in the Chinese city of Xiamen. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong headed the Chinese delegation in the BCM, a series of bilateral talks that were started in 2017 with the aim of lowering tensions between the two countries – rival claimants – over the contested waterway. The Philippine side expressed “serious concern” about the presence and activities of China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels lately within Manila’s exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, including the 12,000-ton ship, dubbed “The Monster.” CCG 5901, the world’s largest coast guard ship, had been spotted patrolling the resource-rich Scarborough Shoal area in recent days and waters off the coast of Luzon, the main island in the Philippines. Manila had already lodged protests and diplomatic complaints about the ship’s intimidating presence in Philippine-claimed waters. Earlier this week, a Philippine National Security official said China was “pushing us to the wall” as he indicated that Manila was considering pursuing a new lawsuit against Beijing over the South China Sea. While CCG 5901 had not carried out any dangerous maneuvers so far, Philippine officials said its activities within Manila’s waters were not backed by any international law, according to a statement from the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs. “Our position is clear and consistent, but so is our willingness to engage in dialogue. We firmly believe that despite the unresolved challenges and differences, there is genuine space for diplomatic and pragmatic cooperation in dealing with our issues in the South China Sea,” the statement quoted Lazaro as saying at the meeting. China’s actions were “inconsistent” with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, which both Manila and Beijing had signed, and the recently passed Philippine Maritime Zones Act, according to the Philippine foreign office. Beijing earlier said that the presence of its ships in Scarborough was “fully justified,” reiterating its jurisdiction over the shoal. “We call on the Philippines once again to immediately stop all infringement activities, provocations and false accusations, and stop all its actions that jeopardize peace and stability and complicate the situation in the South China Sea,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday. This photo, released by the Philippine Coast Guard, shows Chinese Coast Guard ship 5901 sailing in the South China Sea, Jan. 15, 2025.(Philippine Coast Guard) Located about 125 nautical miles (232 km) from Luzon island, Scarborough Shoal – known as Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines – has been under China’s de facto control since 2012. Beijing’s possession of the shoal forced Manila to file a lawsuit at the world court in The Hague. Four years later, an international arbitration tribunal ruled in Manila’s favor but Beijing has never acknowledged that decision, insisting on its historical claims over the waterway. Another flashpoint At Thursday’s meeting, the two sides also agreed to keep implementing a “provisional understanding” regarding Philippine resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre, a decrepit World War II-era military ship stationed in Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal, another disputed South China Sea feature. CCG vessels had been regularly blocking Philippine ships carrying supplies and troops to the shoal. But the two countries arrived at a provisional agreement in July, following a dramatic standoff the previous month between Filipino servicemen and CCG personnel at Second Thomas Shoal, during which a Philippine serviceman lost a finger. Philippine and Chinese officials, however, have not yet publicly disclosed the official document of the agreement or its details, with both sides making their own claims about the deal’s contents. RELATED STORIES Philippines on Chinese incursions: Not ruling out another South China Sea lawsuit China says ‘monster’ ship’s presence near Scarborough Shoal ‘fully justified’ Philippines says China’s ‘monster’ ship on a mission to intimidate At the talks on Thursday, both sides acknowledged the deal’s “positive outcomes” and “agreed to continue its implementation to sustain the de-escalation of tensions without prejudice to respective national positions,” Manila’s foreign office said. Both sides also “agreed to reinvigorate the platform for coast guard cooperation” but no specific details were provided. In 2016, under then-President Rodrigo Duterte who adopted a pro-Beijing policy, the two nations’ coast guards formed the Joint Coast Guard Committee (JCGC), establishing a hotline between the two maritime law enforcement agencies. In January 2023, amid increasing tensions in the disputed waters, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to set up a communication line between their foreign ministries. But a few months later, Manila officials said that China could not be reached in times of high tensions at sea. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Myanmar scammers agree to stop forced labor after actor rescued

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Pro-junta militia leaders in Myanmar and operators of online scam centers have agreed to stop human trafficking after the rescue of a Chinese actor this month raised international alarm about their operations and looks set to damage Thailand’s tourist industry. The ethnic Karen militia force based on Myanmar’s border with Thailand is suspected of enabling extensive internet fraud, human trafficking, forced labor and other crimes, and is being enriched by a business network that extends across Asia, a rights group said in a report last year. But the case of Chinese TV actor Wang Xing, rescued this month from the notorious KK Park scam facility in eastern Myanmar’s Myawaddy, has brought the issue to public attention across Asia like never before. The result has been pressure from both the Thai government and the Myanmar military, leading to a meeting on Wednesday between the militias and their business partners in which they agreed to stop human trafficking, said a businessman close to the ethnic Karen militia. “The current issue of the Chinese actor has brought pressure from Thailand and the junta council in Naypyidaw. That’s why the meeting was held to enforce rules,” the businessman, who declined to be identified as talking to the media, told Radio Free Asia. Leaders of Myawaddy-based Border Guard Force, or BGF, and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, or DKBA, which control the border zone under the auspices of the Myanmar military, agreed on a set of five rules with the business leaders, many of them ethnic Chinese, the businessman said. The list includes no use of force, threats or torture, no child labor, no income from human trafficking and no scam operations, according to a copy of the rules that the businessman cited. Anyone found breaking the rules will lose their business and be expelled from the area. RFA tried to contact senior members of the ethnic Karen forces, Maj. Naing Maung Zaw of the BGF and Lt. Gen Saw Shwe Wa of the DKBA, but neither of them answered their telephones. Leaders of Border Guard Force and Democratic Karen Buddhist Army meet online gambling business owners in Myanmar’s Myawaddy town on Jan. 15, 2025.(AEC News) The Karen militia force in power in the eastern region emerged from a split in the 1990s in Myanmar’s oldest ethnic minority guerrilla force, the largely Christian-led Karen National Union, when Buddhist fighters broke away, formed the DKBA and sided with the military. The military let the DKBA rule in areas under its control in Kayin state, set up a Border Guard Force to help the army, and to profit from cross-border trade, and later from online gambling and scam operations. RELATED STORIES Online scam centers have proliferated in some of the more lawless parts of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. Lao teen says she’s been released from Chinese scam center in Myanmar Scammers lure jobseeking Hong Kongers to Myanmar from Japan, Taiwan Tricking investors The scam centers in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos have ensnared thousands of human trafficking victims from all over Asia, and as far away as Africa. Many victims say they were lured by false job offers, then forced to scam people by convincing them over the phone or online to put money into bogus investments. University of Texas researchers estimated in a report in March last year that scammers had tricked investors out of more than US$75 billion since January 2020. People forced to work at the scam centers are often tortured if they refuse to comply, victims and rights groups say. The rules announced by the militias and scam operators come after a string of high-profile kidnappings, including that of Chinese actor Wang. Hong Kong authorities have sent a task force to Thailand in a bid to rescue an estimated 12 victims in Myanmar and have imposed a yellow travel advisory for Thailand and Myanmar, warning of “signs of threat,” but without mentioning the scam parks. The Bangkok Post reported on Wednesday that Thai hotels and airlines have been getting a flood of cancellations from Chinese tour groups for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday. Authorities in the region have accused Chinese gangsters of organizing the centers but Chinese nationals in Thailand said Chinese state-owned companies were behind operations in Myanmar, and behind them is the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department. “Wherever you have these scam parks, you will find Chinese companies plying the biggest trade,” a realtor who only gave the surname Pan for fear of reprisals recently told RFA Mandarin. “The Myawaddy park was built by Chinese state-owned companies.” Pan said the parks were the criminal face of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s United Front outreach and influence operations. “All of the big bosses are back in China,” he said. The Justice for Myanmar human rights group has accused governments and businesses across the region of enabling the cyber scam operations by failing to take action against the profitable flows they generate. Edited by RFA Staff. 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Japan to raise South China Sea issue with new Trump administration

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MANILA — Visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said his government hoped to impress upon incoming U.S. leader Donald Trump how important the South China Sea issue is to peace in Asia. Iwaya visited Manila on Wednesday as part of a high-profile diplomatic push by Tokyo in Southeast Asian countries that border the strategic waterway. Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba traveled to Malaysia and Indonesia to promote deeper defense and economic ties. In Manila, Foreign Minister Iwaya met with his Filipino counterpart, Enrique Manalo. Overlapping claims in the South China Sea “is a legitimate concern for the international community because it directly links to regional peace and stability,” Iwaya told a press briefing afterward. “Southeast Asia is located at a strategic pivot in the Indo-Pacific and is a world growth center, thus partnership with Southeast Asia is vital for regional peace and stability,” Iwaya said through an interpreter. “We will approach the next U.S. administration to convey that constructive commitment of the United States in this region is important, also for the United States itself.” The South China Sea, which is potentially mineral-rich and a crucial corridor for international shipping, has become one of the most perilous geopolitical hot spots in recent years. China claims almost the entire waterway while the Philippines, as well as Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Taiwan have overlapping claims to parts of it. Over the past few months, Manila and Beijing have faced off in high-stakes confrontations in the disputed waters. Iwaya said he was expected to attend Trump’s inauguration in Washington on Jan. 20, during which he would seek to build momentum on a trilateral arrangement that the Philippines and Japan forged with the outgoing Biden administration. Iwaya said Tokyo “strongly opposes any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force” in the South China Sea, where an increasingly bold China has been intruding into the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. China has maintained its claim in the sea region, saying that the activities of its coast guard vessels there were lawful and “fully justified.” Manalo, the Philippines’ top diplomat, said Chinese and Philippine officials were set to discuss their dispute in their latest bilateral meeting in the Chinese city of Xiamen on Thursday. Both sides are likely to discuss recent developments in the waterway, including the presence of China’s biggest coast guard ship – and the world’s largest – at the contested Scarborough Shoal. RELATED STORIES Philippines on Chinese incursions: Not ruling out another South China Sea lawsuit South China Sea: 5 things to watch in 2025 US presidential elections: Implications for Manila-Washington alliance, South China Sea During the news briefing on Wednesday, Manalo said that Manila and Tokyo had made “significant strides” in defense and security cooperation. Japan does not have territorial claims that overlap with China’s expansive ones in the South China Sea, but Tokyo faces a separate territorial challenge from Beijing in the East China Sea. “As neighbors, we face similar challenges in our common pursuit of regional peace and stability. Thus, we are working together to improve resilience and enhance adaptive capacity in the face of the evolving geopolitical landscape in the Indo-Pacific region,” Manalo said. Last month, the Philippine Senate ratified a so-called Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Japan, allowing the two allied nations to deploy troops on each other’s soil for military exercises. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (left) visits a fishing community in Tagburos village on Palawan island, a frontline territory in the Philippines’ dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea, Nov. 22, 2022.(Jason Gutierrez/BenarNews) Also on Wednesday, in an exit telephone call to Marcos, outgoing U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris emphasized the need for the two countries to carry on with their alliance after the presidential transfer of power and “in the face of provocations from the People’s Republic of China.” She noted that Washington “must stand with the Philippines in the face of such provocations and the enduring nature of the U.S. defense commitments to the Philippines,” her office said in a statement. Marcos and Harris had enjoyed a close working relationship and met six times during her term. In November 2022, the American vice president visited Palawan, the Philippine island on the frontline of Manila’s territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea. The U.S. and the Philippines are bound by a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty that calls on both nations to come to each other’s aid in times of aggression by a third party. The Biden administration has indicated it would help the Philippines defend itself in the event of an armed attack “anywhere in the South China Sea.” Jeoffrey Maitem in Manila contributed to this report. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Myanmar insurgents say they launched rocket attack on junta deputy

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Pro-democracy fighters in Myanmar launched a barrage of rockets at junta facilities in the eastern town of Loikaw as the deputy of the ruling military council was visiting, a rebel group said on Wednesday. There was no confirmation from the junta of the Tuesday night attack and the anti-junta Brave Warriors for Myanmar, or BWM, militia force said it had no information about casualties. The group said its members fired five 107 mm rockets to the State Hall in Loikaw, capital of Kayah state, and two rockets at a regional military command headquarters in the town as junta deputy Lt. Gen. Soe Win was visiting for Kayah State Day on Wednesday. “We want to make sure that even the deputy leader of the junta council is worried about his life, that’s why we had to attack,” an official from the militia group told Radio Free Asia. He said his group was trying to gather information about the attack, which was organized with help from two other militia groups, the Mountain Knight Civilian Defense Forces and the Anti-Coup People’s Liberation Force. A Loikaw resident said that he heard loud explosions and the sound of shooting on Tuesday night while some pro-junta channels on the Telegram messaging service said rockets had exploded at Loikaw’s airport and nowhere else. RFA tried to telephone the junta spokesman for Kayah state, Zar Ni Maung, but could not get through. RELATED STORIES Internet freedom has plummeted under Myanmar’s junta: report Myanmar’s junta answers rebel proposal for talks with week of airstrikes 31 political prisoners died in prisons across Myanmar in 2024 Anti-junta forces have on several occasions used short-range 107 mm rockets in actual or planned attacks on junta leaders, including its chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. It was not the first time that Lt. Gen. Soe Win has been in the vicinity of an insurgent attack. On April 8, 2024, anti-junta fighters used drones to attack the Southeast Regional Military headquarters in Mawlamyine town when he was visiting. There was speculation at the time that he had been hurt in the attack and he was not seen in public for about a month afterwards, fueling rumors he had been wounded. Military-controlled media on Wednesday made no mention of any rocket attack in Loikaw but newspapers did carry a Kayah State Day statement from the junta chief, in which he called for people to reject the armed opposition and blamed the democracy supporters and foreign countries for “terror acts.” “The current instability and terror acts occurring within the country are the result of individuals claiming to be promoting democracy, but instead, they have resorted to electoral fraud to unlawfully seize state power,” he said, apparently referring to Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, which won elections in 2015 and 2020. He made no mention of any attack in Loikaw. “Rather than resolving issues through lawful democratic methods, they have chosen armed terrorism approaches,” he said. The military complained of fraud in the 2020 polls, despite there being no evidence of any major cheating, organizers said, and ousted Suu Kyi’s government in a coup on Feb. 1, 2021. She and many others have been locked up ever since. Min Aung Hlaing also accused foreign countries of “supporting dictatorship disguised as democracy.” “Some foreign countries, which claim to be defending democracy, are also supporting and encouraging armed terror attacks that are directly or indirectly against the democratic system,” Min Aung Hlaing said. He did not identify any countries. While Aung San Suu Kyi and her government attracted diplomatic and economic support from Western countries and some Asian neighbors, no foreign governments are known to have supported any anti-junta forces. The military gets most of its weapons from Russia and China. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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