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US defense chief seeks to reassure Asia-Pacific partners

Editor2 months ago08 mins

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has reconfirmed Washington’s strong commitment to the Indo-Pacific, as well as to working with allies and partners in the face of growing rivalry with China. Austin spoke at the Shangri-La Dialogue annual security forum on Saturday, just a day after meeting with his Chinese counterpart to open lines of communication between the two world powers. This was the secretary’s third time to speak at the forum and likely his last as a U.S. presidential election in November may bring changes in defense diplomacy. The Indo-Pacific “has remained our priority theater of operations,” Austin said, seeking to brush off concerns that other security challenges in Ukraine and Gaza may have shifted U.S. attention. He stressed that Washington is “deeply committed” to the region, adding “We are all in. And we’re not going anywhere.” He went on to list a number of cooperation projects between the U.S and countries including Australia, Japan, India and the Philippines. Austin said that the U.S. “can be secure only if Asia is secure.” “The defense secretary’s speech shows that the dynamics of U.S. strategic partnerships may have changed because Washington has to balance different world regions, but not so much,” said Alexander Vuving, professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii. Other factors that may have contributed to the slight shift, in Vuving’s opinion, are U.S. domestic politics and the “responses of regional states and non-state actors to the weakening of the current international order.” The Pentagon chief, meanwhile, emphasized what he called the “power of partnerships” amid a “new convergence” in the region. “This new convergence is about coming together, not splitting apart. It isn’t about imposing one country’s will,” Austin said in an apparent dig at China, “It isn’t about bullying or coercion. It’s about the free choices of sovereign states.” Beijing has been accused by some of its neighbors of acting aggressively in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. In his keynote speech on Friday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned “assertive actions that aim to propagate excessive, baseless claims through force, intimidation and deception,” believed to be committed by Beijing. The Philippines has accused Chinese coast guard vessels of harassing and preventing Filipino fishermen and law enforcement agencies from operating in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. While not mentioning China, Austin said that “the harassment that the Philippines has faced is dangerous” and the peaceful resolution of disputes should be achieved through dialogue and not coercion or conflict. “And certainly not through so-called punishment.” Just 10 days ago, the Chinese military held large-scale “punishment” drills around Taiwan after Lai Ching-te was sworn in as the new president of the democratic island. Strengthening partnerships The U.S. House of Representatives last month passed a $8-billion defense package to help Taipei counter Beijing, which considers Taiwan a Chinese province that should be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. China reacted angrily, saying this sends the wrong signal to “Taiwan independence separatist forces” and the “military collusion” between the U.S. and Taiwan would only push up tensions and the risk of conflict and confrontation in the Taiwan Strait. China has long said Washington is trying to build a NATO-like alliance in the Asia-Pacific, an accusation that was brought up and denied on Saturday by the U.S. defense secretary. Replying to a question by Chinese Senior Col. Yanzhong Cao about the U.S.’ “alliance system” in the region, Austin said that “like-minded countries with similar values and a common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific are working together to achieve that vision.” “And we will continue to do those kinds of things going forward,” he said. The defense secretary, however, called for better communication with China, saying that “dialogue is not a reward, it is a necessity,” and that “there’s no substitute for open lines of communication to avoid misunderstanding and miscalculations.” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin meets with Chinese Minister of Defense Adm. Dong Jun in Singapore, May 31, 2024. (U.S. Department of Defense) Austin and the Chinese minister of national defense, Adm. Dong Jun, held a one-hour meeting on Friday to discuss U.S.-China defense relations and other security issues. It was the first in-person meeting between the twos, marking a resumption of communication after then-defense minister Li Shangfu declined a meeting with Austin last year Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian told reporters afterwards that it showed the bilateral military relations were stabilizing. “The resumption of exchanges does not mean that differences and conflicts between the two countries have been resolved,” warned a Taiwanese analyst. “China is still conducting military exercises around Taiwan and the U.S. continues joint exercises with the Philippines and other allies,” said Shen Ming-Shih from the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taipei. He added that while both sides keep pursuing their own objectives, the best they can do is to “have more dialogue and exercise restraint.” Edited by Mike Firn.

Cambodia’s traditional marble and sandstone sculptors still carve by hand

Editor2 months ago05 mins

As they draw closer to Ko Koh commune, drivers and passengers traveling on National Road 6 can spot the thousands of marble and sandstone statues and sculptures set out along the highway in central Cambobia’s Kampong Thom province. The sculptures – mostly of Buddha, various animals and the Angkor-era’s King Jayavarman VII – come from the area’s numerous hand-carving businesses. The traditional art dates back centuries. About 50 families in Ko Koh commune’s Samnak village are engaged in the local industry, which also provides employment opportunities to about 200 people from other nearby villages, commune chief Chap Thin told Radio Free Asia. Statues of the Buddha. (RFA) Stone sculptor Tep Thean said apprentices can earn from 600,000 (US$146) to 800,000 (US$195) riel a month, while skilled craftsmen are paid up to 100,000 riel (US$24) per day. But the craft is less popular these days, he said. “Carving is very difficult. It affects our health. Sometimes it breaks,” he said. “It is very dangerous if we are not careful.” For years, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has sent trainers to the area to help local sculptors hone their skills and to follow certain practices that make the works uniquely Cambodian, he said. Four steps by hand One has to go through four stages of stone processing. During the first stage, the sculptor trims a stone down into the desired shape of the sculpture, with outlines of the shoulders, arms, legs and face. The second step is to create six corners on the stone, and the third step is to sketch out the face of the sculpture. During the last stage, the sculptor polishes the face and cleans the sculpture before putting it out for sale. A major selling point for the sculptures is that they are produced by hand, Chap Thin said. “Those who love Khmer sculptures will differentiate those made by hands and machines,” he said. “They won’t value those made by machines.” Undated video screenshot of Stone sculptor Em Ri Phon. (RFA) The sculptures are sold in Cambodia and in areas of southern Vietnam where ethnic Khmers live – often referred to as Kampuchea Krom. They are also shipped abroad to the United States, Canada and Australia. Although Cambodian sculptors are skilled and meticulous, they can’t carve stone surfaces as smoothly as those made by computer-guided machines. Some of the sculptors in Ko Koh commune are worried that machine-operated stone carvings from Chinese and Vietnamese-owned companies could tarnish the reputation of Cambodian stone carvings. Master stone carver Em Ri Phon said his family is earning 50 percent less from orders than they did a year ago. “This artistic work – I want to promote our art culture as well as Khmer sculpture,” he said. “We want to preserve this culture for a long time.” Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed.

Chinese agents highly active in democratic Taiwan, dissidents say

Editor2 months ago014 mins

On Jan. 13, 2023, Guangdong dissident Xiao Yuhui crossed the 10-kilometer (6-mile) stretch of water from China to Kinmen, a small island that is still controlled by Taiwan, paddling across on a surfboard. But Xiao’s bid to escape the influence of the Chinese government didn’t end there. He believes the ruling Chinese Communist Party under Xi Jinping is now focusing closely on “cleaning up” opposition voices overseas, and has spotted people he believes to be Chinese agents a number of times at public events in democratic Taiwan. According to a former Chinese agent who spoke recently to Australian broadcaster ABC, this is exactly what’s going on. Former Chinese spy “Eric” told the station that he has been involved in surveillance, abductions and the silencing of targets around the world since 2008. The Spanish-based group Safeguard Defenders, which has warned the world about China’s secret police stations, its network of “consular volunteers” and its targeting of dissidents and activists overseas, has now launched a “one-stop shop” legal advice center to help fight transnational repression by Beijing. “The Chinese Communist Party kidnaps and threatens people at home, and they do the same thing overseas,” Xiao said, in response to a question about the ABC report. The sight of unidentified people he suspected were agents of the Chinese state filming and recording at pro-democracy events in Taiwan worried him enough that he now stays away from protests, rallies and other public events that are seen by Beijing as “anti-China.” He’s not the only one who’s worried, either. “Both the Taiwanese government officials and the human rights groups who have assisted me have said they hope I won’t take part in so many activities or give public interviews, which could lead to my whereabouts being exposed,” Xiao told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview. “They told me this because [China] has so many political collaborators in Taiwan,” he said. Strange behavior Li Jiabao, a former exchange student from China who applied for political asylum after speaking out against constitutional amendments allowing Xi to abandon term limits for his own job, said he has been continually targeted by authorities in China since then. One unidentified person approached Li as he took part in a documentary in 2019 about his life story and situation, demanding that the director delete all footage, he said. “[The director] didn’t even know whether he had captured the person following us or whether he was just a very suspicious sort of person,” Li said. “The man seemed very nervous and panicky, and behaved unacceptably, threatening us.” On another occasion, Li spotted someone who appeared to be following him in a park near his home. The man would watch him, but then looked at his phone if Li looked in his direction. Chinese exchange student Li Jiabao shouts ‘defend freedom of speech’ and ‘defend Taiwan’s sovereignty,’ at a protest in Taiwan’s southern port city of Kaohsiung, April 7, 2019. (Hsia Hsiao-hwa/RFA) Li noticed people exhibiting similarly strange behavior at rallies he attended in Taipei to mark the anniversaries of the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen massacre, he said. Shortly after his denunciation of Xi, someone contacted him claiming to be a journalist, and sent him emails in a bid to have him download an app to his phone. “He used a disposable account,” said Li, who later realized what had likely happened after reading media reports of Chinese agents posing as journalists. “Turns out he was phishing me.” “The main thing they want is to get access to your contacts … as well as the Telegram, Facebook and other chat records commonly used by dissidents,” he said. “They can also be used to track your location at any time, to know who you are meeting, what you did and what activities you took part in.” Money for spying Li has also been approached and offered money to spy on fellow dissidents in Taiwan, he revealed. “Someone asked me how much you can make a month in Taiwan, said I must be short of money, and told me to go and film the Falun Gong, and the next day to film dissidents, including asking them how they’re doing,” he said. “They told me just to live my life, and that they would contact me via a Hong Kong account if I thought it was too sensitive,” he said. “The Chinese want to find out if you’re willing to do stuff for them for money. I always refuse.” Xiao said the Chinese agents clearly knew of his love of photography, because he remembers being approached in October 2023 to take photos of planes taking off and landing at Taipei’s Songshan Airport, home to a Taiwanese Air Force base that runs the flying service for the president and vice president of Taiwan. “They give you some simple tasks to do and some financial support, to see if you can be bought, then more work would follow,” he said. Xiao smelled a rat at the time, and turned down the offer. Threats to family members back home are another key part of the Chinese state security police playbook, according to dissidents overseas. Li said he once received a message from his family asking if he was “being used by overseas or foreign forces.” Xiao said the authorities back home had visited his mother at her home and tried to get her to call him and find out his whereabouts and future plans. Abduction threats Sometimes, the goal is to get the target to a location where they can be handed over to the Chinese police, the former Chinese agent, who gave only the pseudonym “Eric,” told ABC. During the program, it emerged that RFA political cartoonist Rebel Pepper, whose real name is Wang Liming, was one of the targets, with Eric detailing a plot to lure Wang to Cambodia, using a Chinese-owned conglomerate that has become one of the fastest-growing companies in Cambodia – the Prince Group – to carry out the scam. RFA has verified…

Australia sanctions entities linked to North Korea-Russia arms deal

Editor2 months ago04 mins

Updated May 17, 2024, 04:47 a.m. ET. Australia has imposed targeted sanctions against entities linked to the unlawful weapons trade between North Korea and Russia. “Australia is imposing targeted financial sanctions, in coordination with international partners, on a further six entities associated with North Korea’s supply of arms and related materiel to Russia,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong in a statement on Friday. “Australia condemns, in the strongest possible terms, North Korea’s illegal export and Russia’s procurement and use of North Korean ballistic missiles, in support of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.” Noting the continued transfer of weapons from North Korea to Russia is a flagrant violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, Wong said Australia would work with Western allies to hold Russia and North Korea to account and address the security threat posed by the North. Wong’s statement came a day after the United States announced sanctions on two Russian individuals and three Russian companies for facilitating arms transfers with Pyongyang. U.S. Treasury officials said in a statement that the two countries had strengthened their military cooperation over the past year, with the North providing ballistic missiles and munitions to Russia in return for weapons and economic aid. The U.S., South Korea and others have accused Pyongyang of supplying Moscow with weapons to use in its war in Ukraine – an accusation that both countries have denied. A now-defunct U.N. panel of experts tasked with investigating violations of sanctions related to North Korea’s prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile programs, released a report in March, detailing with photographs Russia’s arms dealings with North Korea. A few hours after Australia’s announcement, North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, the South Korean military said. “We identified several projectiles believed to be short-range ballistic missiles fired into the East Sea [Sea of Japan] from the Wonsan area of North Korea,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The North Korean missile flew about 300 km (186 miles) before falling into the Sea of Japan, the JCS added. This is North Korea’s fifth ballistic missile test launch this year. The JCS said it was analyzing details of the missiles and shared relevant information with the U.S. and Japan. “We strongly condemn North Korea’s missile launch as a clear act of provocation that seriously threatens the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula,” the JCS said, adding that South Korea will closely monitor the North’s activities. Edited by Mike Firn. This story was updated to include information about North Korea’s missile launch.

Pacific gets ‘record’ share of Australia’s static foreign aid budget

Editor2 months ago07 mins

Pacific island countries are getting an increased share of Australian foreign aid, budget documents show, as it shifts into funding infrastructure such as undersea cables and ports in response to China’s inroads in the region. Overall, Australia’s foreign aid budget is flat and it remains one of the least generous donors in the OECD club of wealthy nations, ranking 26th out of 31 countries. The increased focus on infrastructure also means that proportionately less of the aid budget will be spent on health. In the Pacific, the largest aid increases in Australia’s 2024-2025 government budget are directed at Fiji, where Australia will help fund a port upgrade, and Tuvalu. The atoll nation of 12,000 people last year ceded a partial veto of its foreign policy and security relationships to Australia under the Falepili Union agreement. “If we look at this reduction in health — is this because our partners have told us they’re not that interested in health — I don’t think so,” said Stephen Howes, director of the Australian National University’s Development Policy Center. “If we’re going to go into Fiji and tell them we are using our aid to help them expand their port, that’s because we don’t want China to do it, and that’s going to mean less funding for health,” he said at a panel Wednesday on the budget’s aid component. China’s government has courted Pacific island nations for several decades as it seeks to isolate Taiwan diplomatically, gain allies in international institutions and erode U.S. military dominance. Its inroads with Pacific island nations, including a security pact with the Solomon Islands in 2022, have galvanized renewed U.S. attention to the region. The budget released Tuesday shows the government has allocated A$4.96 billion [US$3.29 billion] to aid, an increase of 4.0% from the previous year. “Australia is delivering a record $2 billion in development assistance to the Pacific, maintaining Australia’s position as the region’s largest and most comprehensive development partner,” the budget papers said. In real terms, the spending is flat at 0.19% of Australia’s national income, according to the Australian Council for International Development, and less than half of its level in the 1980s. “This budget provided the government with an opportunity to show real humanitarian leadership in responding to human suffering across the world,” the council said in a statement. “Australians see what is happening on their screens in all corners of the globe and expect their government to do more. This budget barely touches the surface,” it said. Howes said the budget documents project aid spending to be unchanged for the next decade and beyond. Pacific island countries now account for more than 40% of the aid budget, almost doubling from a decade earlier, at least partly reflecting government concerns about China’s role in a region that Australia has regarded as its sphere of influence. Australia remains the single largest donor to Pacific island countries despite China’s enlarged presence in the region. At least a fifth of the Australian aid budget is spent on what Australia calls governance programs that aim to bolster democracy, anti-corruption efforts and transparency of public institutions. For Tuvalu, Australia will provide additional funds for its land reclamation projects that aim to protect against king tides and projected sea-level rise and also contribute the lion’s share of the country’s first undersea telecommunications cable. Tuvalu, one of the dwindling number of nations that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, last year signed a treaty with Australia that requires it to have Australia’s agreement for “any partnership, arrangement or engagement with any other state or entity on security and defence-related matters.” In Fiji, Australia is providing budget support to the government as the tourism-dependent economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. It also is supporting an upgrade to Fiji’s largest bulk cargo port and its shipbuilding industry. Papua New Guinea, with its estimated 12 million people, remains the single largest recipient of Australian aid in the Pacific at A$637.4 million. The Solomon Islands, where Australia has a security force stationed after riots in 2021, is the second largest with A$171.2 million. The budget documents also revealed that Australia’s government agreed in December to provide an A$600 million loan to Papua New Guinea, a day after the two countries signed a defense cooperation agreement. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

Manila says China obstructs, damages its ships at disputed shoal

Editor3 months ago07 mins

Updated April 30, 2024, 04:40 a.m. ET. The Philippines said that Chinese coast guard vessels fired water cannons at two of its ships on Tuesday, causing some damage in the latest confrontation near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. The shoal, called Bajo De Masinloc in the Philippines and Huangyan Dao in China, is within the Philippine exclusive economic zone but is under de-facto control by China. Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said in a statement that the Philippine coast guard ship BRP Bagacay and fishery patrol ship BRP Bankaw were carrying out “a legitimate maritime patrol” in the waters near the shoal. “During the patrol, the Philippine vessels encountered dangerous maneuvers and obstruction from four China Coast Guard vessels and six Chinese maritime militia vessels,” Tarriela said. Chinese vessels fired water cannons at the BRP Bankaw first, and afterwards at the BRP Bagacay, causing damage to both ships, he said. Philippine media reported that Chinese coast guard ship 3305 also collided with the BRP Bankaw, damaging its railings. A video clip released by the Philippine Coast Guard shows the BRP Bagacay being shot at with powerful streams of water by Chinese vessels 3105 and 5303. As a result, the Philippine ship’s suffered damage to its railing and canopy. “This damage serves as evidence of the forceful water pressure used by the China Coast Guard in their harassment of the Philippine vessels,” the Philippine spokesman said, adding that the Philippine ships continued their maritime patrol despite the harassment. The Chinese Coast Guard has also installed a 380-meter floating barrier that covers the entire entrance of the shoal, “effectively restricting access to the area,” Tarriela noted. Chinese spy ship China Coast Guard Spokesperson Gan Yu said that on April 30, Philippine Coast Guard Ship 4410 and Government Ship 3004 ignored China’s repeated warnings, insisting on “invading the waters” adjacent to China’s Huangyan Island. “In accordance with the law, the Chinese Coast Guard took necessary measures such as follow-up, water cannon warnings, and blockade control to drive away illegally intruding Philippine ships,” the statement said. China claimed its operations were “professional, standardized and legal,” saying the Philippines’ actions “infringe on China’s sovereignty and seriously violate international law and basic norms of international relations.” It urged the Philippines to stop what it called “infringement” on territory where China claims sovereignty, saying the Coast Guard would continue to carry out “rights protection” in the area. China’s state media reported on Tuesday morning that Chinese ships expelled two Philippine vessels that “intruded into the waters adjacent to Huangyan Dao.” China’s state-run tabloid Global Times quoted a Chinese analyst as saying that “professional control measures taken by the Chinese side are required to prevent the escalation of a possible maritime confrontation.” The Philippines says its ships that routinely sail to the area around the Scarborough Shoal to distribute fuel and food supplies to fishermen have been harassed by Chinese vessels. China claims historical rights over most of the South China Sea even though a landmark international arbitration case brought by Manila in 2016 rejected those claims entirely. The Scarborough Shoal was under the Philippines’ control until 2012 when a standoff resulted in China’s taking over. The latest confrontation took place as a major U.S.-Philippines annual military exercise is underway, this year with the participation of France and Australia. Exercise Balikatan 2024 has just completed a five-day multilateral maritime exercise component that began on Apr. 25. The combined naval force of one U.S. and one French warship, together with two Philippine vessels, was constantly shadowed by Chinese surveillance ships, as well as other surface combatants, according to the Philippine military, quoted in domestic media. Surveillance ships, commonly known as “spy ships” for their reconnaissance capabilities, have been frequently spotted at the times the United States and its allies stage major naval drills, including the biennial Rim of the Pacific. Radio Free Asia contacted the Chinese foreign ministry for comment but did not immediately receive a response. More than 16,000 troops from the Philippines and the U.S are taking part in the Balikatan 2024 which is scheduled to end on May 10. Edited by Taejun Kang. Jason Gutierrez in Manila contributed to this report. Updated with China Coast Guard statement.

Vietnam should ask Cambodia to delay canal project: experts

Editor3 months ago09 mins

Participants at a Vietnamese-sponsored consultation have suggested that Hanoi should ask Phnom Penh to delay a proposed canal project for further discussions, amid Vietnamese worries about the project’s environmental and economic impact. Construction of the 180 km (112 mile) Funan Techo canal, connecting the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, with the Gulf of Thailand, is planned to begin later this year and to be completed within four years. The proposed canal will include a section of the Mekong River, raising concern in Vietnam about the impact downstream, especially in Vietnam’s rice-growing Mekong Delta. The canal could “reduce the flow of the river by up to 50% by the time it comes to Vietnam,” said Le Anh Tuan, a prominent Vietnamese scientist. Vietnam needs more time for consultation in order to protect the river’s delta, home to 17.4 million people, Tuan told the meeting in the town delta of Can Tho. Another expert, Dang Thanh Lam from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said Vietnam must ask for an environment impact report from Cambodia. The U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh also called for more information, saying that the Cambodian people as well as people in neighboring countries “would benefit from transparency on any major undertaking with potential implications for regional water and agricultural sustainability.” “We urge authorities to coordinate closely with the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to provide additional project details and to participate fully in any appropriate environmental impact studies to help the MRC and member countries fully understand, assess, and prepare for any possible impacts of the project,” an embassy spokesperson said. Ly Van Bon, the owner of the Bay Bon fish pond located on the Mekong river which was affected by sediment, shows redtail catfish inside his fish pond in Mekong’s regional capital Can Tho, Vietnam, May 25, 2022. (Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha) For its part, Cambodia said it had secured endorsement for the project from the MRC chairman – Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith. Sisoulith has just visited Phnom Penh and, during a meeting with Cambodian Senate leader and former prime minister Hun Sen, he was asked to show his support for the canal. “In response, the Laotian president, without hesitation, announced his support,” Cambodia’s Fresh News media outlet, which is supportive of the government, reported. No obligation Laos and Cambodia are both long-term allies of Vietnam but both have in recent years leaned more towards China. Vietnam has repeatedly expressed concerns about the possible environmental and economic impacts of the project. This month, a Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesperson urged Cambodia to provide information and an impact assessment on the water resources and ecological balance of the delta region. In response, a senior Cambodian official said that Phnom Penh was not obliged to do so. Cambodia’s Minister Delegate attached to the Prime Minister in charge of ASEAN affairs, So Naro, told the Khmer Times that Cambodia was not legally required to submit any document to Vietnam regarding the studies and construction of the Funan Techo canal. Cambodia had submitted “all documents of the studies on the canal related to the impacts on the environment and the water resources” to the MRC, So Naro said. The MRC is an intergovernmental organisation in charge of the sustainable management of the Mekong basin. “The Vietnamese authorities can request access to those files,” So Naro said. Cambodia has insisted that the canal would not disrupt the flow of the Mekong. The projected Funan Techo canal (in blue). (Google Maps/ RFA) Officially known as the Tonle Bassac Navigation Road and Logistics System Project, the Funan Techo canal will be developed by a Chinese company at a cost of US$1.7 billion. It will mean that more trade can flow directly to Cambodian ports, bypassing Vietnam. The Cambodian government said it would cut the transport costs and reduce dependence on Vietnamese ports. It also said that the project will bring great social and economic benefits to 1.6 million Cambodians living along the canal. Security questions Besides the environment and economic impacts, analysts say Vietnam is also worried about the security implications of the canal. There have been suggestions that the canal could allow Chinese navy ships to travel upstream from the Gulf of Thailand and the Chinese-developed Ream naval base on the Cambodian coast close to the border with Vietnam. Cambodia has rejected such speculation with Hun Sen insisting that Cambodia and Vietnam “are good neighbors and have good cooperation in all fields.” But Vietnam has been in dispute with China over some island chains in the South China Sea and it eyes China’s involvement in the region with suspicion. Vietnam shares a long land border with Cambodia. Between 1977-1978 there was fighting between Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese troops during the so-called southwest border war, which led to a Vietnamese invasion and the establishment of a pro-Hanoi government in Cambodia. The situation on Vietnam’s western border should get more attention because of “threats of untraditional security challenges, mostly over the Mekong delta,” said Nguyen The Phuong, a Vietnamese political scientist at the University of New South Wales in Australia. “A loss of the Mekong’s ability to sustain large scale food production will have tremendous impact on Vietnam’s security in the south,” Phuong said. “From my point of view, the western front is becoming more critical day by day but Vietnam is too distracted by maritime issues at the eastern front, or the South China Sea.” Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

Biden: US will defend Philippines if vessels are attacked

Editor4 months ago010 mins

U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday that American military support for the Philippines was “ironclad,” and any attacks against its vessels in the South China Sea would invoke a 1951 treaty that compels each country to come to the other’s aid in the event of a conflict. The comments came ahead of an unprecedented summit between Biden and his Japanese and Philippine counterparts at the White House. A senior U.S. official said the talks were arranged because of the recent flare-up in tensions between Beijing and Manila in the South China Sea. “I want to be clear, the United States’ defense commitments to Japan and to the Philippines are ironclad,” Biden said at the opening of the meeting. “Any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defense treaty.” The U.S. has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines and a military alliance with Japan, both of which were inked in 1951. Chinese coast guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel, the Unaizah, on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal) in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. (Adrian Portugal/Reuters) Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that increased trilateral cooperation between the Pacific nations was borne from their shared democratic values and evidenced by joint military drills in the South China Sea last weekend. “It is a partnership born not out of convenience nor of expediency,” Marcos said, “but as a natural progression of a deepening cooperation amongst our three countries, linked by a profound respect for democracy, good governance and the rule of law.” Water cannon attacks Chinese coast guard vessels have in recent weeks fired water cannons at Philippine boats attempting to supply a deliberately sunken warship that serves as a Philippine naval outpost at the Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal), with Beijing also warning Manila against trying to access it. The shoal lies in South China Sea waters within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, where Manila holds sovereign rights. But Beijing claims most of the sea as its historic territory and says Manila must ask permission from Chinese authorities to access the area. People protest against the Marcos administration’s 2023 decision to grant the United States greater access to military bases in the Philippines, as they demonstrate in a park near the White House in Washington, where the leaders of the U.S., Philippines, and Japan were holding a summit, April 11, 2024. (BenarNews) Earlier on Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning accused Manila of “violating China’s sovereignty” for decades due to the half-sunken BRP Sierra Madre, which was grounded at the shoal in 1999 to maintain Manila’s sovereignty but now needs repairs. Speaking at a daily press briefing, Mao said Chinese authorities were “willing to allow” Philippine vessels to freely access the increasingly dilapidated outpost – but only to “tow” it away, and not repair it. She said Manila needed to inform Beijing of any such plans before accessing the area, and then “China will monitor the whole process.” “If the Philippines sends a large amount of construction materials to the warship and attempts to build fixed facilities and a permanent outpost, China will not accept it and will resolutely stop it in accordance with law and regulations to uphold China’s sovereignty,” Mao said. She added that China’s recent “activities” in the South China Sea, such as the water-cannoning of Philippine vessels, “are in full compliance with international law” and “there’s nothing wrong about them.” ‘Crystal clear’ A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity prior to the summit, told reporters that Biden had been “crystal clear” about American military support for Manila, and said the flare-ups with China in the South China Sea were an impetus for Thursday’s summit. USS Mobile, JS Akebono, HMAS Warramunga, BRP Antonio Luna and BRP Valentine Diaz sail in formation during a multilateral maritime cooperative exercise between Australia, the United States, Japan and the Philippines within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, April 7, 2024. (POIS Leo Baumgartner/Royal Australian Navy) “It is one of the reasons for the meeting because we are very concerned about what we’ve been seeing,” the official said. “He has repeated many times that the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty applies to the South China Sea, including Philippine vessels that may be underway there, including its coast guard vessels,” the official said. Another U.S. official added that Philippine and Japanese coast guard officers would be welcomed aboard U.S. Coast Guard ships during a maritime exercise later this year “to further train and synchronize our work together” in case of a future attack that sparks a conflict. Philippine activists protesting outside the U.S. Embassy in Manila on April 11, 2024, warned that a Washington summit between the leaders of the Philippines, United States and Japan could provoke an angry response from China over the South China Sea and threaten regional stability. (Gerard Carreon/BenarNews) The two officials also said the United States would help fund a major infrastructure project in the Philippines known as the Luzon corridor, as part of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, which is the U.S. answer to China’s high-spending Belt and Road Initiative. The Luzon corridor, they said, would help connect Subic Bay, Clark, Manila and Batangas in the Philippines, with investments in infrastructure “including ports, rail, clean energy, semiconductor supply chains and other forms of connectivity in the Philippines.” “We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Marcos,” one of the officials said, “ready to support and work with the Philippines at every turn.” U.S. President Joe Biden hosts Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a summit of the three nations’ leaders at the White House, in Washington, April 11, 2024. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) In his final remarks before talks opened behind closed-doors Thursday, Biden said the newfound cooperation between the United States, Japan and the Philippines would be a boon…

Indonesia recovers bodies of 11 Rohingya from capsized boat off Aceh coast

Editor4 months ago07 mins

Indonesian search-and-rescue officials said Monday they had recovered the bodies of 11 Rohingya refugees, mostly women, who were on a boat that capsized off the coast of Aceh province last week. Some of the 75 Rohingya who were rescued had told officials that the wooden boat was carrying around 150 members of the stateless minority group from Myanmar, but an Indonesian official, who declared an end to the search operation on Thursday, later pushed back at reports that people had died. On Friday, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said it feared that more than 70 refugees were dead or had gone missing from the boat that overturned in waters off West Aceh regency last Wednesday. Of the 11 bodies recovered from the capsized boat, six were found relatively close to each other in waters off Jaya district in West Aceh, on Monday afternoon, said Mirza Safrinadi, an operations commander at the local Search and Rescue Task Force. “The bodies were initially spotted by local fishermen and reported to authorities. Because the location was near Banda Aceh, the [search-and-rescue] team quickly responded to evacuate the victims,” he said. The bodies were transported to Calang City and then transferred to Teuku Umar General Hospital in Aceh Jaya district. One body was discovered by fishermen who were searching for turtle eggs at a beach in Arongan Lambalek District, West Aceh, on Monday morning, Mirza said. “After discussions with UNHCR and IOM [International Organization for Migration], we can confirm that these individuals were Rohingya refugees who were victims of the capsized boat incident,” Mirza said. The bodies were laid to rest in the mass cemetery in West Aceh for victims of the 2004 tsunami in Aceh, an official said. Two more bodies of Rohingya refugees, found on Saturday and Sunday, were also laid to rest in the same cemetery. Of the 11 dead refugees, nine were women, said Faisal Rahman, a UNHCR protection associate. Boat originated in Bangladesh Of the 75 Rohingya rescued, six were saved on March 20, and 69 others, who had been clinging to their wooden boat for nearly a day and were suffering from hunger and dehydration, were brought ashore the next day. Supriadi, the captain of the search-and-rescue ship that saved 69 refugees, on Friday took issue with the UNHCR and IOM’s contention that 76 people may have perished or were missing at sea. He said he didn’t believe this was the case because the 69 (of 75) refugees rescued Thursday “had clear coordinates provided by fishermen who witnessed the refugees in distress.” “If there are still victims, where are they located?” he had said. Meanwhile, UNHCR’s Faisal said the agency was able to get more clarity on how many passengers were on the boat and where it had originated. Faisal said that after collecting more data the agency concluded that there were 142 Rohingya refugees and seven crew members on the boat. Additionally, he said the boat had not originated in Malaysia with Australia as the planned destination as they were originally told, he said. The boat had left from Cox’s Bazar in southwestern Bangladesh, where the refugee camps host some 1 million Rohingya, including 740,000 who fled a brutal military crackdown by the Myanmar military in 2017. “Through our interviews with several refugees, we can confirm that they departed from Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh,” Faisal said. “Initially, they were headed to Malaysia, where some of their family members already resided. Others had plans to reach Indonesia.” This latest incident occurred amid the increasing arrival of Rohingya refugee boats in Indonesia. “In 2023 alone, more than 2,300 Rohingya refugees arrived [in Indonesia], with a significant increase from November onwards. This number exceeds the number of arrivals in the previous four years as a whole,” UNHCR and IOM said. The Rohingya have been accommodated in locations across Aceh, according to the UNHCR. UNHCR reported that 569 Rohingya refugees had died or gone missing at sea last year, as they made the perilous journey by sea to oppression in their home country or the crowded and violent refugee camps in southwestern Bangladesh to get to Southeast Asia. Pizaro Gozali Idrus in Jakarta contributed to this report. BenarNews is an online news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia.

In debt and desperate, misled Vietnamese seek political asylum in Australia

Editor4 months ago014 mins

After four months in limbo about his refugee status and heavily in debt, Hung has some advice for anyone from Vietnam planning to work in Australia on a tourist visa: “If you are keen on coming to Australia, you’d better choose a legal way,” said the part-time laborer from Hanoi, who was duped into paying an immigration service company to apply for an entry visa on his behalf. “Arriving with a student or skilled labor visa is OK, but you should think twice about using a tourist visa,” he said. For years, Hung made ends meet in Hanoi on a monthly income of 10 million dong (US$400), but was unable to build any savings due to the high cost of living in Vietnam’s capital. After hearing stories of other Vietnamese landing good-paying jobs while visiting Australia, Hung, who spoke to RFA Vietnamese using a pseudonym due to security concerns, decided to travel the 5,000-odd kilometers (3,100 miles) southeast to try his luck. He hoped to earn a better salary Down Under – where minimum wage workers earn AU$70,000 (US$48,000) a year, or 14 times the average income in Vietnam – and save money to improve his living standard back home. Vietnamese who are unable to obtain work visas for Australia are eligible for a Work and Holiday Visa, which allows people to work while traveling in the country for up to one year. Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 30, have no criminal record and provide evidence that they have completed at least two years of undergraduate study. They must also show that they can support themselves financially while in Australia and have attained a certain level of English proficiency. In debt and desperate Hung, who did not disclose his age, had no employer to sponsor a work visa and was unable to meet either the education or English proficiency requirements for a Work and Holiday Visa. But a Vietnamese immigration services company told him that he could legally work in Australia as a tourist. Australian tourist visas have a significantly lower barrier to obtain. They are good for three months and can be extended to a full year in special circumstances. However, entrants are not eligible to work during their visit. Unfamiliar with the application process, Hung took on debt to pay 100 million dong (US$4,000) – a substantial amount for the average Vietnamese laborer – to the immigration services company to handle his visa, as well as purchase an airline ticket, and he flew to Australia in July 2023. Hung had hoped to live and work in Australia for up to two years, to pay off what he had borrowed in getting there and to build wealth. Instead, by October, his tourist visa was about to expire and he had only accrued more debt while supporting himself for three months in a nation with a vastly higher cost of living. Increasingly desperate, Hung sought help from fellow Vietnamese through social media, and was advised to apply for an Australian Onshore Protection Visa (Subclass 866) as a political refugee, which would allow him to stay in Australia for longer and work legally. He paid someone AU$1,000 (US$650) to prepare his application, went to the local immigration department to be fingerprinted, and was granted a bridging visa (BVE 050) that allows him to lawfully reside in the country while awaiting a decision on his status. While Hung will be required to present evidence of his asylum claim, it is unclear when he will be called for an interview, due to the large backlog of applications. Topping the list for asylum seekers According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs, 2,905 Vietnamese nationals applied for the Australian Onshore Protection Visa in 2023, making them the largest ethnic group to do so and accounting for 12% of the total number of applicants. Vietnamese topped the list of asylum applicants in Australia, beating out Indians and Chinese, in each of the last five months of 2023, and ranked second in three other months last year. Thai officers talk to Vietnamese and Cambodian refugee and asylum seekers in Bangkok, Aug. 28, 2018 after rounding up more than 160 who are believed to be at risk of persecution if they are returned to their homelands. Refugee applications to the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, also sent from Thailand and Australia, tend to increase after political upheavals, says one immigration attorney. (AP) Many of them end up in situations like Hung’s, nervously awaiting a verdict on their claim to learn whether they will be granted residential status or forced to return home. The bridging visa does not expire and grants holders the right to work and access a national health insurance assistance program so that they can receive medical care in Australia. However, if asylum status is denied, the bridging visa will be automatically canceled within 28 days, and the holder will be required to leave the country. Those denied status have the right to appeal the decision with an immigration court. The chances of being awarded political asylum in Australia are fairly low. In 2023, the Australian Department of Home Affairs processed nearly 1,000 asylum applications, of which only 53, or 5.6%, were approved. The stakes are considerably higher for applicants who have fled persecution in Vietnam, where the one-party communist state brooks no dissent. Being forced to return home can often mean a jail sentence, or worse. ‘Extraordinary surge’ in applications Vietnamese-Australian immigration attorney Le Duc Minh told RFA that his law firm has helped many “genuine” Vietnamese political asylum seekers successfully apply for status in Australia. But he acknowledged that he regularly hears stories like Hung’s from people who ended up in debt after trying to work illegally in the country. “Some people simply ask me, ‘Please find a way for me to stay longer to earn money and pay off my debts. I borrowed hundreds of millions of dong in Vietnam to make this trip. I cannot go home…

Category: Australia