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Category: ASEAN

Week of fierce fighting forces 50,000 to flee Kale township in Myanmar’s north

Editor07 mins

Heavy artillery began raining from the sky onto villages to the north of Kale township on March 30, touching off what would become a week of fierce fighting between junta troops and local armed opposition forces. By the time the dust had settled on Wednesday, more than 50,000 residents of 17 villages had scattered, leaving a vast swathe of area on the outskirts of the bustling township in Myanmar’s Sagaing region eerily quiet and creating a humanitarian crisis in nearby population centers where many fled to seek shelter. “They all had to flee to the town of Kalay – the number of refugees coming into town amounted up to about 30,000 in two days, according to our calculations,” an aid worker assisting the displaced told Radio Free Asia. The influx of refugees amounts to nearly a quarter of the town’s population of around 130,000. “What they mainly need is mosquito nets, as there are a lot of mosquitoes in the summer. The weather is too hot, too. They need medicines and food such as rice, cooking oil and salt.” Following the artillery barrage, junta troops from the junta’s Kale-based Kha-La-Ya (228) unit, backed by forces from the regional command headquarters, conducted village raids using ground troops while aircraft provided support. A fighter jet and three military helicopters were deployed to attack a location near the village of Pyin Taw U on Monday evening alone, residents said. An official with the anti-junta Kale People’s Defense Force paramilitary group told RFA that multiple buildings were destroyed during the week of raids. “How the fighting broke out was that the junta forces first started firing heavy artillery on the villages in the north of Kale more than 40 times and then their ground troops [and air force] began to attack,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity citing security concerns. “We haven’t been able to confirm the details of the casualties and property damage in the villages yet. A Christian church and several houses have been damaged,” he said. “The junta threw fire bombs into the villages [on Thursday]. Nyung Kone and Kyi Kone villages are still burning.” The official said that two people from the Kale PDF had been captured by the junta, one was killed and three were injured in the fighting.  A spokesman for the Kale PDF claimed that 10 junta soldiers were killed and 20 were wounded over the course of the week, but RFA has not been able to independently confirm the numbers. A Baptist church in Kale’s Pyidaw village, Sagaing region, was destroyed by air raids by Myanmar junta forces, Monday, April 3, 2023. Credit: Chin National League (Upper Chindwin) Early on Tuesday, fighting broke out between junta soldiers stationed at Kale University and the anti-junta Siyin region Civic Defense Militia, the militia said in a statement. One junta soldier was killed and CDM forces captured some military weapons, the group said.  Attempts by RFA to reach Aye Hlaing, the junta spokesman for Sagaing region, about the clashes went unanswered Friday. ‘Our village is burning’ A resident of one of the villages north of Kale, who also declined to be named, told RFA that most of the people displaced by the fighting are sheltering in the homes of relatives in town, churches and Bible schools, or in the jungle. Other sources said that at least two civilians were killed by the military during the raids, while three others were injured by shelling and airstrikes. Meanwhile, the junta troops have set up camp at a Buddhist monastery in Nyang Kone village, making it impossible to return to the area, a resident said. “When the fighting paused, we returned home riding motorcycles to fetch our items of value, but once we heard them start back up, we had to flee again,” the Nyang Kone resident said. “We can hear gunshots and artillery shelling from the town. I dare not go back to my village. Other villagers who fled to the nearby woods said that our village is burning.” On Thursday, the anti-junta Kale Defense Force issued a warning to residents traveling to the north of the township that “a fight could break out at any time.” Residents estimate that since Myanmar’s military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup d’etat, around 70,000 people – or 1 out of every 5 inhabitants – have fled fighting in Kale township. Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

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More than 4,000 people flee into Thailand after fighting in Kayin state intensifies

Editor08 mins

Intense fighting in southeastern Myanmar’s Kayin state has prompted more than 4,000 people to flee across the Thai border, where many have crowded together in makeshift camps on goat and cattle farms, aid workers said.  Citizen video obtained by Radio Free Asia showed several dozen people wading chest-deep across the Thaung Yin River into Thailand. Some carried a bag or wore a backpack while others appeared to be crossing without any personal possessions. The refugees staying on goat and cattle farms around Mae Sot don’t have enough access to toilets and are dealing with hot weather, aid worker Myo Myint Aung told RFA. April is the hottest time of year. “There is no toilet for them at the goat farm,” he said. “We will have to relocate them to the cattle farm but since there are too many refugees there and transportation is difficult, they are still kept at the goat farm.” A person helping the displaced war refugees said there are currently 3,000 war refugees in Thailand’s Mae Sot district and over 1,000 in Mae Yama district. The refugees have fled intensifying fighting in Kayin state between forces for and against the military junta, which took over the government in a 2021 coup. On Wednesday, the anti-junta Karen National Liberation Army, or KNLA, raided two outposts of the military junta and the Karen Border Guard Force – an ethnic Karen force aligned with the Myanmar military – near Shwe Kokko in Myawaddy township. Shwe Kokko is the site of a Chinese-backed U.S $15 billion real estate and casino mega-project that has gained notoriety as a bastion of illegal activity, including drug trafficking. Fierce fighting also broke out at a casino residence and at the village’s Kayin New Year celebration grounds. Myanmar citizens from Shwe Kokko are seen at the Thai border after fleeing fighting between the pro-junta Karen Border Guard Forces and anti-junta KNU’s Karen National Liberation Army on April 5, 2023, Credit: Citizen journalist ‘We left everything at home’ People only had time to grab a few clothing items before leaving their homes, said Min Thant, a Myawaddy township resident who fled to one of the new camps in Thailand. “Shwe Kokko residents said earlier that they were going to flee as the sound of heavy artillery shelling was too close to our village,” he said. “The artillery shelling got even closer to the village around 8 a.m. and everyone fled here… We couldn’t bring much with us except some necessary clothes and ran. We left everything at home.”  Thai authorities are helping displaced people flee from Myanmar to Thailand, and are helping them find shelter in five locations, said Ye Min of the Aid Alliance Committee, a Thailand-based migrant worker rights organization. “Thai authorities have designated some places in Thai villages, schools and some locations on the opposite side of the border from where battles broke out,” he said. “Thai residents from nearby villages cook food and send it to them. The Thai military is also providing them with water and health care.” Worries of possible forced return A staff member at Friends without Borders, a Thai NGO that works on the Thai-Myanmar border, told BenarNews that she is still worried that the refugees may be deported prematurely even though they are currently being treated with leniency by Thai authorities. “I praise the authorities for not barring them,” Pornsuk Kedsawang said. “But what worries me is that they may send them back too soon, so I beg the authorities to keep them until the situation is calm.”  A Mae Sot resident said residents are planning to provide food to refugees with physical and mental injuries. “When a war breaks out, people develop anxiety and fear,” he said. “They are scared of bullets or injuries. They are worried that their homes and belongings would burn. They cry with such worries and anxieties.” Saw Khin Maung Myint, the junta’s Karen state spokesman, said to RFA that he has reported the refugee situation to government officials in Nay Pyi Taw. “Our government (state administration) can’t reach out to the refugees who are in Mae Sot,” he said. “If I may say, I think that the Union government is responsible for such cases. That’s why we report the issues to the Union government.” Saw Khin Maung Myint did not answer RFA’s inquiry about the situation of the fighting. Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun also did not respond to a request for comment from RFA. A Myawaddy resident said fighting had calmed down by Thursday morning. The Karen Border Guard Force has not yet released any information about the casualties on both sides as a result of the fighting. RFA contacted the KNLA joint forces by telephone, but was unable to contact them. Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news organization.

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U.S. Embassy says it doesn’t support opposition – only ‘multi-party democracy’

Editor07 mins

The U.S. Embassy said Thursday it doesn’t “support any particular individual, institution, or political party” in Cambodia, and only wants the country to have “an inclusive, multi-party democracy.” The statement from Embassy spokesperson Stephanie Arzate on Thursday followed a public warning from Prime Minister Hun Sen earlier this week of a break in diplomatic relations if “Cambodia’s foreign friends” support opposition party groups and politicians.  “Promoting democracy and respect for human rights is central to U.S. foreign policy in Cambodia and around the world,” Arzate said in response to an inquiry from Radio Free Asia. “We support the Cambodian people and their sustained aspirations for an inclusive, multi-party democracy that protects human rights as enshrined in the Kingdom’s constitution.” Speaking at a hospital inauguration in Tbong Khmum province on Monday, Hun Sen alluded to recent lawsuits and criminal court verdicts against prominent opposition party politicians.  “You have to choose between an individual group that breaks the laws and the government,” he said. “Please choose one. If you need those who were penalized by law, please do so, and you can then break diplomatic relations from Cambodia.” In recent months, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and Hun Sen have been working to silence and intimidate opposition figures ahead of the July general elections through a series of arrests and lawsuits. In the same remarks on Monday, Hun Sen said he would continue to hunt and eliminate opposition groups – who he accused of committing treason – out of the political arena.  In one high-profile example, opposition party leader Kem Sokha was sentenced to 27 years for treason last month in a decision widely condemned as politically motivated.  The charges stemmed partly from a 2013 video in which he discusses a strategy to win power with the help of American experts. The United States Embassy has rejected any suggestion that Washington was trying to interfere in Cambodian politics. Cambodia’s Defense Minister Tea Banh says that if countries want to hold joint military exercises with Cambodia, they should invite it to do so and should also cover the costs. Credit: Associated Press file photo Ammo, fuel, explosives Defense Minister Tea Banh laid down his own challenge to foreign countries, saying that if any nation wants to hold joint military exercises with Cambodia, they should invite Cambodia to do so and should also cover the costs. Cambodia and China are currently holding joint military exercises – focusing on security operations during major events and humanitarian relief – at the Military Police Training Center in Kampong Chhnang province. The Golden Dragon exercises run from March 23 to April 8. Earlier in March, the two nations staged their first-ever joint naval drills in waters off Sihanoukville in southwest Cambodia. The province is home to the Ream Naval Base that China is helping Cambodia to develop.  Tea Banh said the Chinese military has provided ammunition, explosives, gasoline and other military equipment for the joint drills. Additionally, the Chinese military will hand over all military equipment to Cambodia once the drills have been completed, he said.  China has been the only country to reach out to Phnom Penh about joint exercises, the minister said at a ceremony on Wednesday. Other countries have only complained about Cambodia’s military, but have taken no action, he said. “If you truly have a genuine intent, please come have a real discussion about this,” he said. “How much would you responsibly be able to cover for the costs of expenses of a joint exercise?” Military ties between China and Cambodia have deepened in recent years, with Beijing providing aid, equipment and training. In 2021, the United States imposed an arms embargo on Cambodia over concerns about “deepening Chinese military influence” in the country. Wei Wenhui, China’s southern regional commander, said at Wednesday’s ceremony that China and Cambodia are important countries in the region with responsibility for safeguarding security and prosperity. He added that China promotes the development of peace in the world and pursues a policy of defense – not hegemony, or perpetual expansion or influence. The United States is committed to working with partners in the region to support a common vision for freedom and openness in the Indo-Pacific, Arzate told RFA via email on Thursday when asked about Tea Banh’s remarks.  Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

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Junta court sentences 4 people to life for ‘funding terrorism’

Editor03 mins

A military court in Myanmar’s northern Sagaing region has sentenced four people to life imprisonment under the junta’s anti-terrorism laws, locals told RFA. They were all arrested by troops in their homes in Indaw township on March 5 this year. Residents identified them as Thein Hla, a civil disobedience movement teacher in her 40s; two other women, Khin Pyae Pyae Tun and Aye Aye; and a 24-year-old man, Aye Min Tun. “The 24-year-old man was sentenced on April 1,” an Indaw resident told RFA, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Three other women were also sentenced [on April 3]. All received life time imprisonment under Sections 50 (j) and 52(a)”, a local man told RFA. Section 50 (j) of the Counter-Terrorism Law relates to funding terrorism, while 52 (a) covers the organization of or participation in terrorist acts along with harboring terrorists or hosting meetings. The four were among 22 people arrested and accused of donating money to the Indaw People’s Defense Force. The other 18 were released on bail. “A PDF member was arrested first. Then [more] people were arrested and accused of having their names on the donor list [to the PDF]. But there is no evidence,” said a woman who also declined to be named for fear of reprisals.  “The arrest of the teacher Thein Hla also has no evidence. She was accused of providing 100,000 to 200,000 [kyat or U.S.$48-96] in that list and was arrested. She has committed no serious crime. It’s only because she participated in the anti-regime civil disobedience movement. The other three are ordinary people.” Locals say another man from Indaw was sentenced to life imprisonment under the same terrorism financing law on Feb. 27 this year. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) more than 21,200 civilians have been arrested nationwide during the more than two years since the junta seized power in a coup, of which over 17,300 are still behind bars. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Influx of Chinese nationals means tough competition for merchants in Laos

Editor07 mins

An influx of Chinese investors and business owners to Laos in recent years is crowding out Lao entrepreneurs, who say the visitors have an unfair advantage in capital and are taking away their clientele. Some 7,500 Chinese nationals have settled in Laos within the last 4-5 years, according to official estimates – most following the opening of a U.S.$6 billion high-speed railway connecting the two Communist neighbors in December 2021. While the railway promises to offer land-locked Laos closer integration with the world’s second largest economy, most of the trade has been one way – with China exporting its machinery, auto parts, electronics and consumer goods. Laotian exports, on the other hand, were hindered by China’s strict COVID policies at the border. But now, business owners say another Chinese export is driving up competition in their own country: Chinese people. “Chinese merchants compete for customers with Lao merchants, making Lao merchants earn less income,” said one Lao entrepreneur who, like others interviewed by Radio Free Asia for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity citing fear of reprisal. The entrepreneur said there are now Chinese merchants in “most markets” in the country, adding that with their higher amounts of capital and know-how, “we won’t be able to compete with them.” Prior to the influx, there were already 31 Chinese companies operating within Laos and 20 Chinese-led projects underway in the capital Vientiane. But sources said Chinese nationals operating independently are increasingly entering into sectors previously dominated by Laotians, such as guesthouses, restaurants, and grocery stores. At the same time as Chinese businesses are thriving, Lao businesses are beginning to shrink in places like Vientiane, said another Lao entrepreneur. “Stores that sell clothes and food now mostly belong to Chinese and Vietnamese merchants,” he said. “Most Lao merchants are now forced to sell their goods at markets outside the city, while Chinese and Vietnamese merchants run the markets inside the city.” Other Lao merchants noted that their Chinese counterparts tend to operate within their own community in Laos, keeping their profits within a sort of enclave. A leg up in local markets When asked whether Chinese merchants have any specific advantages over their Lao counterparts in Laos, one Chinese national told RFA that the playing field is equal, as both must adhere to the same regulations. “My store pays the same import fees and taxes as stores owned by Laotians,” he said. “We enjoy no special privileges.” But Lao store owners said that a strong yuan and weak kip has given Chinese nationals a leg up in local markets. “[While] the rental rate is the same for both Lao and Chinese store owners, the rent is high at markets in the city” and Chinese entrepreneurs can more easily afford it, said another Lao businessman. A Lao intellectual who focuses on the relationship between social and economic matters in the country told RFA that the increase in Chinese entrepreneurs has affected Laos in both positive and negative ways. “[Chinese investment] is developing the cities, but the bad part is that Lao merchants can’t compete with them,” he said. “When we talk about investment know-how and experience in trade, Lao merchants have less than them.” And the size of China’s footprint is only growing in Laos. Kham Jane Vong Phosy, the Lao minister of planning and investment, told a meeting of government officials in July that there have been a total of 933 Chinese-led projects launched in Laos since 2015, valued at around U.S.$16.4 billion. Among the projects are new rail lines, highways, and dams. As more Chinese flock to Laos, a Lao trade official told RFA that the government is monitoring the newcomers to ensure they play by the rules. “In the past, we have received reports that some Chinese investors have violated our rules and regulations,” he said. “Trade officials strictly monitor Chinese investment in Laos in order to make sure investors are following the rules, and if we find any violations, authorities will address the problem.” Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Matt Reed.

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Cambodia sells research monkeys to the world. It’s not all legal, US says.

Editor022 mins

Visitors are not welcome at the monkey farm co-owned by the sister of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. The farm is ringed by moat-like canals, 6-foot-6-inch-high (2 meters) earthworks and a brick wall topped with razor wire.  A former employee told RFA that guards with Kalashnikov assault rifles patrol the grounds inside the farm in rural Kampong Speu province, which is two hours’ drive from the capital Phnom Penh. So, what’s there to secure behind the walls?  The answer is the captive animals within: long-tailed macaques, a breed of primate favored for medical research.  Cages of monkeys are seen on the grounds of a farm co-owned by the sister of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in rural Kampong Speu province, March 2023. Credit: RFA Once an unremarkable player in the business of providing the animals for a global research industry, Cambodia has become a hub for exports of long-tails – a lucrative but shadowy business tied to the nation’s political elite.  Growing demand from the COVID-19 pandemic meant primate farms like the one owned by the prime minister’s sister exported about a quarter of a billion dollars worth of research macaques in 2022, according to U.N. trade data. But as the business booms, questions are emerging about the origin of the monkeys Cambodia ships around the world. Allegations of illicit trade are at the core of a high-profile legal case brought by U.S. wildlife prosecutors against senior Cambodian government officials.  Two officials have been charged with issuing fraudulent export permits certifying poached monkeys as captive-bred animals to circumvent U.S. import restrictions and international treaties governing the trade in endangered species. Cambodia’s wildlife and diversity director, Kry Masphal, was arrested in New York in November while traveling to a conservation conference in Panama. His boss, Forestry Administration Director General Keo Omaliss, was also indicted but remains at large in Cambodia. A permit issued by the Cambodian government for the export of monkeys. Credit: Handout Kry is currently under house arrest near Washington, D.C., and set to face a court proceeding in Miami in June. Yet with so much money to be made in Cambodia, experts fear there is little incentive for reform in the country. “It’s kind of like the realization of our worst fears,” said Ed Newcomer, a recently retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent who spent 20 years investigating wildlife crimes around the world. “When government officials, and relatives of high-powered officials, are involved in the wildlife trade, how are the Cambodian regulatory and enforcement agencies supposed to effectively enforce the law?”   The monkey business Long-tailed macaques, which are native to Southeast Asia, are so-named because their tails are usually longer than the length of their bodies. Other distinguishing characteristics include tufts of hair atop their heads and whiskers around their mouths.  An engineer takes samples of monkey kidney cells at a lab in China. Credit: AFP file photo Also known as “crab-eating” monkeys, they are highly prized by biomedical researchers for their similarity to humans. Testing on the animals helped lead to a vaccine for yellow fever. More recently, they’ve been used to test treatments for issues ranging from reproduction to obesity and addiction. Demand for their species soared with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, as macaques were critical in the development of the mRNA vaccines for COVID.  Until recently, China was the world’s top supplier. But in a bid to protect its own vaccine development, Beijing banned exports of research monkeys, leaving Cambodia as the number-one source for a global research industry that was suddenly facing a severe shortfall. In 2019, Cambodia exported the most primates it had ever shipped in a single year, sending 14,931 overseas for $34 million – an average cost of just over $2,271 per monkey, according to the U.N. trade data. The number of macaques being exported and the average cost per monkey continued to rise. Countries reported importing around $250 million worth of monkey shipments from Cambodia in 2022 alone, according to the data.  Questions of origin But experts say it would be impossible for all of them to have been legitimately raised and sourced according to rules that govern the use of research primates. Partly to protect dwindling wild populations, but also to reduce potential contamination of experiments, only captive-bred macaques are allowed in medical research. However, they are also slow-breeding, with infants taking three years to reach maturity. So, captive-bred stocks frequently struggle to meet researchers’ needs, and suppliers are often incentivized to pass off wild-caught monkeys as farm-reared. Although a black-market trade in the monkeys has long blighted the industry, the COVID-driven supply shortage has sent illicit poaching into overdrive, conservationists say.  “There’s just too much money in this business now for these macaques to stand a chance,” said Lisa Jones-Engel, a primatologist who now advises the animal rights group Peta. A study published last month in One Health, a peer-reviewed veterinary science journal, found that Cambodian breeders would have needed to more than quadruple production rates – from 81,926 over a four-year period to at least 98,000 in a single year – to have legitimately exported the number of macaques shipped during the pandemic. As Cambodia has never reported importing long-tailed macaques, such an increase would have to have been driven entirely by an increase in domestic supply. Yet “Cambodia has historically been incapable of producing second generation offspring macaques, therefore increasing their production capacity legally seems unlikely,” the researchers wrote. The sister The farm owned by the prime minister’s sister Hun Sengny sits at the end of a dusty road on the outskirts of the sleepy town of Damnak Trach.  It is registered under a Cambodian firm, Rong De Group, for which she serves as chairwoman. The uniforms of the security guards who wield the assault rifles bear the insignia of her private security firm, Garuda Security Co.  Locals who spoke to RFA all described the “boss” of the farm as being Chinese expatriate, Dong Wan De, who Commerce Ministry records identify as the…

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Manila, Kuala Lumpur to negotiate with Beijing in South China Sea

Editor011 mins

Malaysia and the Philippines have said that they’re willing to discuss oil and gas exploration with China in the South China Sea, a move that analysts say may cause friction within ASEAN as the Southeast Asian bloc wants to accelerate negotiation for a Code of Conduct in order to avoid conflict. On Tuesday the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said Manila would resume talks with Beijing on joint oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea, despite the country’s Supreme Court already having ruled against such activities. The court in January decided that a trilateral joint exploration agreement between the Philippines, China and Vietnam – another party in the South China Sea dispute – was unconstitutional because it allowed “foreign corporations to participate in the exploration of the country’s natural resources” without observing required safeguards. The agreement was signed in 2005 but failed to materialize.  In 2018, under then-President Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines and China also signed a document on Cooperation on Oil and Gas Development but Duterte himself terminated the talks last June after both sides failed to resolve the issue of sovereignty over Reed Bank in the Spratlys. For its part, Malaysia has informed China that it is ready to negotiate on the oil exploration in the waters both countries claim. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (L) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Mar 31, 2023. Credit: Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia via AP Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Monday that he told China’s President Xi Jinping during his recent visit to Beijing that, as a small country, Malaysia needs to continue with oil exploration but “if the condition is that there must be negotiations to secure [our rights], then we are prepared to negotiate.” On Tuesday the prime minister seemed to adjust his conciliatory tone by adding that he “insisted that the area … falls within Malaysia’s territory” and that “in the meantime our exploration efforts will continue.” Bilateral negotiations China responded that it is “firmly committed to safeguarding our lawful rights and interests in the South China Sea.” Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Mao Ning said at a Tuesday briefing that, at the same time, “we are ready to work together with the Malaysian side and continue to properly handle maritime disputes through dialogue and consultation.” Some other ASEAN countries that are also embroiled in disagreements with China over natural resources in the South China Sea – Vietnam and Indonesia – have yet to react to the latest developments but analysts warned against what they see as “China’s bilateral approach.” “Xi Jinping has used official state visits by President Marcos Jr. of the Philippines in January and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in April to press China’s claims in the South China Sea and to press for bilateral discussions,” said Carlyle Thayer, a veteran regional specialist. “China’s insistence on bilateral discussions has been consistent for the last decade and a half,” the Canberra-based analyst told Radio Free Asia, adding that China can “divide and conquer” using its superior economic weight. Another analyst, Collins Chong Yew Keat at Universiti Malaya, told RFA’s affiliate BenarNews that the scope and level of the negotiations remains to be seen “but it must not be based on a bilateral basis, as Beijing will exercise its burgeoning leverage and cards at its disposal now, to use economic tools and other measures to dictate more favorable terms.” A woman walks past a billboard showing the CNOOC 981 deepwater oil platform, used in the South China Sea, outside of the headquarters of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation in Beijing on July 28, 2016. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein ASEAN countries restarted negotiations with China on a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, with the first round of talks taking place in the second week of March.  Several member states have accused China of impeding and harassing their oil and gas activities in areas within their exclusive economic zones that also fall within China’s nine-dash line that Beijing uses to claim “historic rights” to almost 90% of the South China Sea.  This imaginary boundary was declared as illegal by a U.N. tribunal in a case brought by the Philippines in 2016. ‘Not an indication of success’ “Indonesia has a long-standing policy of refusing to discuss maritime disputes with China on the grounds that its maritime boundaries are in accord with international law,” said Carl Thayer. Vietnam, which saw several oil development projects with foreign partners stopped under China’s pressure, has always maintained that any joint exploration should abide by international law, especially the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).   As a rule, Hanoi does not publicly criticize other ASEAN members’ policies but Vietnamese scholars said that Beijing-led joint projects in the South China Sea could become “dangerous precedents” if pursued. China has been offering other countries to “set aside dispute and pursue joint development,” viewing it “as a measure to assert sovereignty in the negotiated area,” wrote a Vietnamese researcher, Bui Sang Minh, in the South China Sea Studies Journal, which usually reflects the Vietnamese government’s stance.  “Most of the areas in which China has brought up such offers are well within other countries’ economic exclusive zones and continental shelves.”  As the Philippines and China are to resume talks, Manila should “try not to fall for the ‘setting disputes aside and pursuing joint development’ concept and refrain from prioritizing economic benefits over maintaining its sovereignty in the process,” Minh added. Some other analysts such as Jay Batongbacal, director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at the University of the Philippines, said that a desire to settle disputes amicably “does not mean they will simply give in to China’s demands.” “An announcement that they will discuss and negotiate is not an indication of success in the bilateral approach,” he said. Meanwhile, Carl Thayer told RFA that in his opinion, “China’s bilateral approach is…

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Activists find illegal logging evidence in protected area in northern Cambodia

Editor04 mins

Forest protection activists found more than 200 fallen trees that had been illegally cut down in a vast protected area of northern Cambodia that showed signs of around-the-clock operations, transport trucks, motorcycles and armed security. Activists with the Prey Lang Community Network for Preah Vihear province traveled through the area for four days and three nights in late March.  Prime Minister Hun Sen has promised publicly that he would take action to prevent illegal logging in Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, which covers land in Preah Vihear, Stung Treng, Kampong Thom and Kratie provinces.  He’s even blamed Cambodia’s poor in recent years for the country’s growing loss of forest cover. But activists have said that government authorities have done nothing to prevent supporters of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party from illegally exporting timber to neighboring Vietnam, a major buyer of luxury hard wood. A 2020 survey by researchers at Denmark’s University of Copenhagen showed that Cambodia had lost 26 percent of its tree cover, equivalent to about 5.7 million acres, since 2000, according to satellite imagery Moving timber day and night Activists told Radio Free Asia on Monday that logging transport trucks and motorcycles seen last month carried an identifying logo from the Phnom Penh-based Macle Logistics (Cambodia) Co., Ltd. A Prey Lang community network member, Srey They, said the perpetrators brought wood out of the forest day and night in an area where forest crimes are on the rise. Groups of between five and 10 people – some of them armed – were seen cutting and transporting timber in Preah Vihear’s Rovieng district, he told RFA. “It is very sad that the government has established the protected area, but there are still perpetrators of deforestation for companies,” Srey They said.  Illegal logging continues in Cambodia because of compliant government officials, Cambodian Youth Network project coordinator Oath Latin said. “This involves corruption between the timber traders, the perpetrators and the officers who are stationed around the Prey Lang checkpoint,” he said. RFA was unable to contact the director of the Department of Environment, Song Chan Socheat, and the spokesman for the Ministry of Environment, Neth Pheaktra, on Monday, calling several times without an answer. Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

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New construction spotted on Myanmar island

Editor06 mins

New satellite images show renewed construction on a Myanmar archipelago close to India’s strategic islands, raising concerns about China’s geopolitical intentions in the region, a British think tank said. In a report titled “Is Myanmar building a spy base on Great Coco Island?” the independent policy institute Chatham House analyzed a number of satellite images of Coco Islands in the Bay of Bengal, taken in January this year but only recently released by the U.S. space technology firm Maxar Technologies. The archipelago consists of two main islands, Great Coco and Little Coco, and a number of smaller islets including Jerry Island located at the southern tip of Great Coco. They are some 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of the strategic Andaman and Nicobar Islands where India stations some major military facilities. A map showing the location of the Coco Islands. Credit: GoogleMaps The images “show renewed levels of construction activity on Great Coco,” Chatham House said in a new report.  The most recognizable change was the lengthening of the airport runway from 1,300 meters over ten years ago to 2,300 meters. Analysts said the runway was also widened and two new hangars were added.  “The width of the hangar appears to be close to 40 meters, limiting the list of aircraft it may eventually accommodate but opening the possibility for high-performance aircraft to be stationed there,” they said. This satellite image shows two aircraft hangars next to the runway at the Coco Island airport. Credit: Maxar Technologies The report’s authors spotted some new buildings to the north of the airport, a radar station and “a large pier is also visible.” In the southern part of the island, a causeway can be seen under construction, connecting the tip of the Great Coco to Jerry Island. Some land clearance is visible on the latter, they said, “indicating the future extension of Great Coco’s facilities.” China’s involvement? Chatham House’s analysis of Maxar’s imagery did not reveal any foreign military presence on Coco Islands, contrary to the rumors that China installed a signals intelligence station here in the early 1990s.  The latest images however revealed that “Myanmar may soon be intending to conduct maritime surveillance operations from Great Coco Island.” “Growing evidence suggests Myanmar’s military coup has increased Beijing’s influence in the country,” the report said, pointing to China’s large investment projects in Myanmar that lead to Beijing’s increasing influence over the Tatmadaw, or the Myanmar military. “With the Coco Island developments, India may soon face a new airbase close by in a country increasingly tied to Beijing,” the analysts said, “The militarization of the Coco Islands by the Tatmadaw, combined with the wider Chinese developments occurring inland, could pose a significant security challenge to India and its navy.” Satellite image of a radar station located south of the runway on Great Coco Island, January 2023. Credit: Maxar Technologies The Coco Islands are 1,200 kilometers (746 miles)  from the Strait of Malacca, through which around 40% of global trade passes. China has long been interested in securing access to this critical trade route. In 2018, China and Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of the so-called China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, part of the Belt and Road Initiative, under which China will help Myanmar develop major infrastructure projects including roads, railways, and seaports. There are fears it would increase Myanmar’s economic dependence on China, giving Beijing significant geopolitical leverage. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Junta raids kill 2, force 5,000 to flee Sagaing region villages

Editor02 mins

Two people have been killed and around 5,000 have abandoned their homes as junta troops raided two villages in Tigyaing township, in Myanmar’s northern Sagaing region, residents told RFA. Locals said that a junta column with more than 70 troops fired heavy artillery and entered Nyaung Pin Thar village on March 30. A 20-year-old woman named Zar Chi Win was killed by a shell. “Zar Chi Win was hit by the junta’s heavy artillery shell and died on March 30, while she was trying to escape,” said a resident, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. “The shell landed in the vicinity of Nyaung Pin Thar village.” Another column with more than 70 troops raided nearby Sit Tan village killing 30-year-old Than Pe Lay as he tried to escape, the local told RFA. “Than Pe Lay was shot dead by a column that entered Sit Tan village on April 2, while he was trying to escape near the village monastery,” he said. On the evening of April 3, the column that entered Nyaung Pin Thar village and the column that entered Sit Tan village combined and left the township.Calls to the military junta spokesman for Sagaing region, Aye Hlaing, went unanswered. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, between Feb. 1, 2021, when the military seized power in a coup, and April 3, 2023, a total of 3,206 people, including pro-democracy activists, were killed by the junta. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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