Spike in arrests leaves Chinese detention centers overflowing

Read coverage of this topic in Chinese. Detention centers in China are overflowing amid a sharp rise in the number of arrests in the first half of this year, according to defense lawyers and recent government figures. In the six months to June 30, prosecutors approved the formal arrest of 367,000 suspects, up 18.5% from the same period in 2023. They also prosecuted 761,000 people nationwide, a rise of 6.8% year-on-year, according to an article on the official website of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate dated July 29. The formal arrest figures don’t include people being held under criminal detention pending investigation by police, “residential surveillance at a designated location,” or administrative detention. The spike in criminal proceedings has led to overcrowded detention centers, prompting the authorities to build new facilities to hold the newly arrested, criminal defense attorney Wang Rui said in video footage uploaded to social media. “Detention centers are already overcrowded, with plans for expansion in a lot of places this year,” Wang said. “A few days ago, I met with a client who said there were more than 20 people in a cell that was designed to hold 12. Some people had to sleep on the floor.” “It was hot weather, but not only was there no air-conditioning; they didn’t even have an electric fan,” he said.  Criminal defense attorney Wang Rui. Undated. Unknown social media account. (Video screenshot/provided by Qianlang) A second lawyer from the central province of Henan who gave only the surname Sun for fear of reprisals confirmed Wang’s claim. “Usually you would have 12 or 14 people in a cell, but now that number has risen to more than 20,” he said.  According to January figures from the Ministry of Public Security, China has more than 2,300 detention centers, which are generally used to house people awaiting investigation, trial or appeal, while prisons are used to house those serving out their time. Minor rule-breaking Lawyers said that the likely reason for the sudden rise in the number of arrests was a nationwide clampdown on minor rule-breaking like irregularities in the accounts of small business owners, as well as on ordinary people lodging formal complaints about official wrongdoing. “Some people are being intercepted for petitioning, and may be charged with obstructing a public official in the performance of their duties, or picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” Sun said. “They are finding reasons to arrest people even if no crime has been committed — that really is the situation right now.” Criminal defense attorney Wang Kui. Undated. Unknown social media account. (Video screenshot/provided by Qianlang) Another lawyer, Wang Kui, had a similar story, saying officials seem to have zero tolerance for any kind of rule-breaking these days. “In the past, they would turn a blind eye to a lot of stuff, but that’s longer possible now,” he said in a video uploaded to his social media account. “For example, if you run a small business and don’t complete the right paperwork, you could be accused of illegal business operations.” “If you have poor turnover and default on some payments, you could be charged with fraud or breach of contract,” Wang Kui said. “It’s becoming clearer and clearer that heavy sentences are being handed down for minor crimes.” The current economic downturn is stepping up pressure on people who are heavily indebted due to their mortgages, car loans, kids’ education or who have black or gray-market income streams, the lawyers said. Pyramid schemes, fraud and money laundering are also rampant, due to falling corporate revenues, they said. Salaries down Meanwhile, cash-strapped local governments are slashing public servants’ salaries and imposing fees and fines in every area of people’s lives, including new highway tolls and roadside parking fees on quiet residential streets. Guo Min, a former deputy police station chief at the Zhuzhou city police department in the central province of Hunan, said the authorities have been steadily building new detention centers and prisons in his home province for a few years now. “The expansion of detention centers, jails and prisons began several years ago, probably under the guidance of the central government,” Guo told RFA Mandarin. “Take Zhuzhou for example. They started building jails and detention centers several years ago, and they have been coming into use over the past couple of years.” “It appears that the government has long anticipated the current situation and made arrangements accordingly,” he said. The number of people arrested in China increased by nearly 20% in the first half of this year, causing overcrowding in detention centers across the country. (Reuters file photo) According to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate article, law enforcement agencies are currently targeting “Taiwan independence diehards” accused of “splitting the country and inciting others to secession,” although no figures were supplied.  China warned earlier this year that nationals of democratic Taiwan could be tried in absentia and even sentenced to death for supporting formal independence for the country, but Taipei said Beijing has no jurisdiction over acts and speech on its territory. Meanwhile, the authorities are also vowing to get tough on organized crime, prosecuting 28,000 people for gang-related offenses in the first half of the year, and on drugs-related offenses, which yielded 26,000 prosecutions over the same period, the article said. It said “more than 85% of criminal suspects confessed and pleaded guilty during the prosecution stage.” Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Luisetta Mudie and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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North Korean farmers risk penalties if too many potatoes left in the ground

Read a version of this story in Korean North Korean farm managers who are not carefully harvesting their potato crops – leaving some behind – are getting in trouble with authorities, residents with links to the agricultural sector told Radio Free Asia. Inspectors recently swooped down on several collective farms in the northern potato-growing region of Ryanggang province to check the fields. “The inspectors drove around in cars and dug up every nook and cranny of the potato fields on the farm,” a resident who works in agriculture said on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “If the inspectors conclude that the fall harvest was not done properly, the farms must redo it until they pass the inspection,” another provincial resident said. The reason behind the checks appears to be that farmers are spending more time tending their personal fields than the collective farm’s lots, the sources said. In North Korea’s collective farming system, farmers are paid the standard government salary to work the land, and then all crops are collected by the state and distributed to the people. But since the collapse of the country’s economy in the 1990s, that salary is nowhere near enough to live on.  Bales of straw in North Korean fields after the rice harvest, as seen from the Ganghwa Peace Observatory across the border in South Korea, Sept. 23, 2024. (Yonhap News)   So the farmers, like everyone else, must support themselves by other means – and are planting their own personal potato patches–usually on land surrounding their homes. The potatoes grown there are either eaten or sold for extra income. When harvest time comes around, citizens are mobilized to provide free labor to the farm managers, who order them to quickly dig up the collective farms just to make quota by the Sept. 30 deadline. The farm managers have a tendency to not to watch the collective farms too, and they acknowledge that they are mostly going through the motions, the first resident said. “They are working so irresponsibly to the point that they joke that the mobilized workers are ‘digging for potatoes with their eyes closed,’” he said. Farmers beware But the government wants them to be more thorough, so it is sending inspection teams to check. “The Cabinet Agricultural Commission dispatched a 20-member harvest inspection team in Hyesan City on Sept. 26,” the second Ryanggang resident said, referring to a city in the province. Punishments for farm officials who fail inspections can be harsh, he said. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects potato fields and agricultural machinery warehouses while touring a farm in Samjiyon county, Ryanggang province, in July 2018. (Yonhap News) Last year, many farm officials in the province were expelled from the Workers’ Party, and they lost all the housing and employment privileges that go with membership, and some were even sent to prison because they were sloppy in their management of the harvest. “Farm officials can’t sleep at night because they think something like that could happen to them right now,” the first resident said. At a farm in the city of Hyesan, the harvest was completed on Sept. 27, but then the workers were remobilized, that is, called to provide unpaid labor once again, when they heard that the inspection team had arrived. “They even mobilized middle and high school students to complete the harvest again,” he said. “The farm officials would rather miss the deadline than fail the inspection.” Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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

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

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China’s workers complain of being ‘beasts of burden’

There’s a new social media buzzword making the rounds in China that is a shorthand way for workers to complain about being overworked and exploited — “oxen and horses.” The metaphor has gone viral again recently with a video clip of talk show star Xu Zhisheng quipping about his company: “So what, are you gonna milk me now?” While China has long been known for its unforgiving office culture, as the post-lockdown economy flags and jobs get harder to come by, those who are in work find that more and more is being asked of them, leading them to describe themselves as beasts of burden. “Treatment of workers is getting worse and worse during the economic crisis,” a worker in the solar energy industry who gave only the pseudonym Jiang Ling for fear of reprisals told RFA Mandarin by email. “Oxen and horses is a popular buzzword in China … which expresses how badly workers are being treated.” An employee works at a workshop of an engineering equipment manufacturing enterprise, Feb. 29, 2024 in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. (Yang Bo/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images) Long working hours, low pay and no way to stand up for their rights were the most frequently cited complaints by workers who spoke to Radio Free Asia in recent interviews. A white-collar employee with more than 10 years’ experience in the state-owned and private sector, who gave only the nickname Amesis for fear of reprisals, said both sectors are as bad as each other when it comes to wringing the last drops of productivity out of employees. “The worst thing about private companies is the boss’ arrogant attitude towards their employees,” he said. “Private companies will expect you to do overtime if they get a request from another department.” “But in state-owned enterprises, you’re treated like beasts of burden — expected to produce a report within a specified timeframe,” Amesis said. “In those companies, most of the tasks they assign to you are outside of your job description.” ‘No room to say no’ Regardless of the company structure, “requests” from management are non-negotiable. “There’s no room to say no, and no basic rights as an employee,” he said, adding that at least state-owned companies pay overtime, although at the same rate as regular wages. Dong Ming, who has held both white- and blue-collar roles since entering the workplace in 2005, said the hours are pretty long regardless of the type of labor you do. On the shop floor of a listed flooring manufacturer, Dong used to work “8.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. or 8.00 p.m. to 8.00 a.m. two weeks on day shift and two weeks on nights,” he said. A 2024 survey by human resources company Zhaopin found that nearly 70% of white-collar and blue-collar workers put in more than eight hours a day, with scant difference between them. And 34% of respondents described themselves as beasts of burden, or “oxen and horses.” Employees check electronic components at the workshop of Jiangxi Yingteli Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., June 8, 2023 in Jincheng, Shanxi, China. (Wei Liang/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images) Zhang Chao, a former national marketing director of a Chinese brewery, said there is little choice for workers faced with ever-increasing demands on their time. “In some low-end jobs, it’s pretty easy to recruit people, especially in the current environment,” Zhang told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview. “A lot of people competing on the bottom end of the ladder for basic jobs are unemployed.” In the private company where Zhang used to work, there was no such thing as overtime pay, and pressure to put in long hours is greater the further you are down the pecking order. But there are also oxen and horses among senior management, he said. “It depends on what kind of division of management labor you have with your boss,” he said. “If he trusts you, he will leave a lot of stuff to you — that makes you kind of a senior beast of burden.” ‘Wolf culture’ Amesis agreed, saying managers are no more able to resist the demands of their employer than workers further down the company hierarchy. “The managers report directly to the boss, and they’re the ones who get scolded if there are problems,” he said.  For Dong, who has put in shifts in restaurants, coal mines, factories and opticians, most workplaces don’t treat workers like human beings. Even at the opticians, where the job was somewhat easier, his boss used his lowly background to belittle and criticize him. “He told me that people like me with a poor background are incompetent and would never achieve anything,” Dong said. “He looked down on poor people, and saw them as narrow-minded and ignorant of everything, like fine dining.” An employee works on the production line at a workshop of wig, June 4, 2024 in Xuchang, Henan, China. (Kan Li/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images) The 12-hours shifts at the flooring factory left him exhausted at the time, but he didn’t see himself as exploited until later. “I was a little self-critical that I probably wasn’t up to it,” he said. The predatory attitude of employers towards those they hire has been dubbed “wolf culture” in the Chinese workplace. “Wolf culture basically means that everyone has to work together as a team, work overtime, and put up with things being tough,” Zhang said. “A team is only allowed to speak with one voice.” Anyone who steps out of line, even to raise a minor objection, is seen as the problem, even if the repercussions don’t come immediately. Bias toward companies This means that few Chinese employees are willing to put their neck on the line. “Even if you open your mouth and your manager politely refuses, if you go back a second time, the outcome may not be very good for you,” Zhang said. “Sometimes the manager will even start to target you.” And when that happens, there is little redress outside the workplace….

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

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

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PRC at 75: Deng Xiaoping never delivered on young people’s desire for freedom

Read RFA’s coverage of this in Chinese. Editors note: This is the second in a series of profiles of Chinese leaders on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Many in China under Communist Party leader Xi Jinping look back to the economic boom-time under late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping with nostalgia, as a freewheeling era in which it was easier to get rich, and when the government had less control over people’s lives. But the reality of life under Deng was much grittier, political activists and commentators told RFA Mandarin in recent interviews. In June 1983, postgraduate philosophy student Chen Kuide was singled out for political criticism after taking part in an academic conference in the southwestern city of Guilin, as part of a political campaign against “spiritual pollution.” It was just a few years after then supreme leader Deng had kicked off a slew of economic reforms and “opening up” to the rest of the world in the wake of the death of Mao Zedong and the trial of the Gang of Four that marked the end of the Cultural Revolution. But despite the rosy glow that often suffuses people’s memories of China in the 1980s, the political campaigns didn’t stop when the universities reopened and the government started the massive task of rehabilitating people who had been persecuted under Mao and his wife, Jiang Qing. Then Chinese Vice President Deng Xiaoping meets U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the White House in Washington, Jan. 29, 1979. (AP) Instead, Deng launched the “spiritual pollution” campaign targeting anyone with any liberal tendencies, who advocated humanitarianism, market economics or appreciation of the arts for their aesthetic, rather than social, value. By the time Chen got back to his dorm at Shanghai’s Fudan University, there was a red circle around his name on a list in the municipal government, and Chen and a fellow student were suspended from their studies for three months. Luckily for Chen, the campaign was later called off and he was reinstated.  His friend with government connections told him at the time: “There was a red circle round your name, as if you were going to be exiled to Qinghai or something.” Leaving aside the upbeat official narrative of “reform and opening up,” the 1980s was not an easy time to be Chinese, according to veteran U.S.-based democracy activist Wang Juntao. “I don’t think there was any golden age during the 1980s,” Wang said. “Intellectuals back then were pretty unhappy with Deng Xiaoping and Zhao Ziyang.” Fall of Hu Yaobang A 1980 amendment to the country’s constitution deleted a clause protecting people’s right to “speak out, air their views freely, hold debates and make big-character posters,” while a 1978 amendment made two years after Mao’s death deleted their right to “reproductive freedom,” amid growing concerns about the burgeoning population. A system of film censorship was set up in 1980, while the right to private ownership of land disappeared with a constitutional amendment in 1982. Nationwide student protests in 1986 were sparked by local officials’ insistence on interfering in local elections to the People’s Congresses, and spread from eastern Anhui province to Shanghai and Beijing, in protests that lasted 28 days. Former 1989 student leader Chen Pokong also took part in the 1986 student protests in Shanghai. “We didn’t do anything much; just walked along the street and sometimes sat in front of the city government,” he said. “We weren’t trying to overthrow the government, just asked them to move a little faster and meet some of people’s demands for democracy and equality.” “It all fizzled out peacefully in the end, because the weather was cold, and the winter vacation was about to begin, and a lot of students wanted to go back home for the Lunar New Year,” he said. Deng Xiaoping and French President Francois Mitterand share a toast at a state banquet in Beijing, May 5, 1983. (Gabriel Duval/AFP) Soon afterwards, news emerged that premier Hu Yaobang would resign to take the fall for those protests, blamed for his “ineffective leadership.” Then the party expelled a number of prominent dissidents from its ranks, including journalist Liu Binyan, physicist Fang Lizhi and author Wang Ruowang. “Before that, I didn’t have much of an impression of Deng Xiaoping — he just seemed like a short little guy among the old guys in charge of the Chinese Communist Party,” Chen said. “But he had suddenly made such a big move, and I started to think about why that would be. I felt he didn’t really understand young people or our ideas.” “Once young people get started with economic reform, they’ll immediately start to want political reform too, and as soon as they start to interact with the West, they’ll want freedom and democracy,” he said. “But this old man just wanted to take a leisurely walk — he was behind the times, and not suited to ruling the country. He should have let younger people take charge,” Chen said. 1980s political purges Following the 1986 protests, the right to demonstrate was stripped from students in Beijing, with the passage of new regulations warning that anyone who took part in “unauthorized parades” would be prosecuted. Those rules were enshrined in national law after the 1989 Tiananmen Square mass protests. “For me, there was nothing good about the 1980s. Anyone who tried to fight for freedom and democracy was still suppressed,” said Wang, citing the heavy jail terms handed down to 1979 Democracy Wall dissidents Wei Jingsheng and Wang Xizhe. “The political purges continued throughout the 1980s, and large numbers of people were affected each time,” he said. “I think people who remember the 1980s as a good time probably didn’t care much about politics.” “I don’t think there has ever been a good time under the Chinese Communist Party, and that hasn’t changed.” Deng Xiaoping meets with foreign guests in Beijing on April 8, 1989. (AP) U.S.-based former Party School professor Cai Xia agreed…

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Traders in Myanmar struggle as borders with China remain closed in rebel-held areas

Merchants of Chinese goods in Myanmar are reeling as China keeps its borders closed to areas of the Southeast Asian country that are controlled by anti-junta ethnic rebels, residents in Myanmar told Radio Free Asia. Since the junta took over Myanmar in a coup in February 2021, cross border trade between junta ally China and northern Shan state has amounted to a total of US$9 billion. But after rebel groups seized control of the area, Beijing shut down its border crossings, disrupting the livelihood of those in Myanmar who buy, sell and ship Chinese goods. “Many drivers have faced many difficulties,” a truck driver who works in northern Shan state told RFA Burmese. “In the past, we could drive cargo trucks. Now we have no jobs.” The trucker said that the owners of transportation firms are trying to get work in areas where the borders remain open, out of consideration for their drivers. Rebels control six border crossings with China on the Myanmar side. Five of these are under the control of the Three Brotherhood Alliance – which is made up of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Arakan Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army – while the sixth is under the control of the Kachin Independence Army. Man Wein gate near the Chinese border, Sept. 2019. (RFA) Daily trade at the Kyin Sang Kyawt gate in Shan state’s Muse township was around US$6.6 million daily when it was open.  A resident of Pang Hseng township, who sells produce to Chinese buyers, said the closed border is creating hardship. “We rely on this border gate by selling vegetables to make a living,” the resident said. “Some others buy Chinese products to be sold here. But with the border gate closed now, all of us are facing many challenges, and unemployment has also increased.” Singbyu gate in Muse township is the only open trade route to China in northern Shan state, with limited time for crossing, and the junta has increased custom duties and restrictions. As a result, prices of imported Chinese goods have sharply increased. RFA tried to contact the junta’s spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun to learn more about the situation at the border, but he did not respond by the time of publishing. Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Eugene Whong. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Residents of Myanmar’s Lashio flee relentless airstrikes

Hundreds of civilians in the rebel-controlled northeastern Myanmar town of Lashio are fleeing in the face of relentless junta air attacks as the military presses on with an offensive aimed at retaking territory captured by insurgent forces, residents said on Wednesday. Insurgents captured Lashio on Aug. 3, one of the most significant victories for a three-party guerrilla alliance that has made major advances since late last year against the junta that seized power in early 2021. But the junta now appears determined to recapture the town on a major trade link to China and is unleashing its air power to do so, residents say. “The planes normally come when night falls,” one Lashio resident who declined to be identified for security reasons told Radio Free Asia. “We worry about where they’re going to bomb, my home or others .. we pray no one gets hurt,” said the resident who is aiming to flee to the town of Taunggyi, about 25 kilometers (155 miles) to the south. “It’s happening almost every night so we just can’t stay anymore and have to flee again.”  Lashio had a population of nearly 250,000 but more than 200,000 have fled to Taunggyi, and other towns in Shan state such as Kalaw and Nyaung Shwe, as well as to the main cities of Mandalay and Yangon, residents say. RFA tried to contact Khun Thein Maung, a military council spokesman for Shan state, to ask about the situation in Lashio, but he did not answer phone calls. A damaged vehicle in the town of Lashio on Aug. 25 (RFA) The intensifying conflict in Myanmar’s civil war has displaced more than 3 million civilians, the United Nations says, and there’s no sign of the situation improving. The military has been shifting troops from southern to northern Shan state in a bid to recapture Lashio and other towns it has lost to insurgent forces in The Three Brotherhood Alliance, but at least for now it is mostly relying on its air power, rebel officials and residents say. The fighting comes despite peace efforts by neighboring China, which has brokered several short-lived ceasefires over the past year, and a vow by the main rebel force in Lashio, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, to cease fighting and end its cooperation with the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, set up by pro-democracy politicians. China has major investments in Myanmar including oil and natural gas pipelines running from Rakhine state on the Indian Ocean coast through Shan state to its border. Lashio residents said that the telecommunications and internet access in the town had been cut since Tuesday, adding to a growing sense of panic. “I can no longer communicate with home and the planes are bombing every day, so I’m worried,” said another city resident, who also declined to be identified. Residents said it appeared that the MNDAA had cut communication links but RFA was not able to confirm that or to contact an MNDAA spokesperson for comment. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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North Korea swaps soybean-based doenjang paste with wheat-based imitation

Read a version of this story in Korean  North Korean authorities are providing the public with “foul tasting” wheat paste as a substitute for doenjang, the fermented bean paste that is a staple in Korean cuisine, residents told Radio Free Asia.  Something magic happens in the traditional making of soy sauce: when the salty liquid is siphoned off the top, the urn it’s been fermenting in still holds a treasure. It is the pungent paste of legend, doenjang – a key ingredient in Korean soups, stews, sauces and even snack foods. Doenjang is the subject of South Korean rap songs and tops ice cream dishes served at the Biden White House.  The paste has been made on the Korean peninsula for millenia. But North Korea, which has been suffering from food shortages, recently boosted wheat production at the expense of other crops. Packaged gochujang and bara gochujang sold at Pyongyang department stores and markets. Gochujang is a spicy red chili paste made with meju, fermented blocks of mashed boiled soybeans, a precursor to doenjang and soy sauce. (RFA) The result has been an excess of wheat and a shortage of soybeans, leading to the unlikely production of doenjang using the former. But people find it disgusting, a resident of the eastern province of South Hamgyong told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “Starting this year, wheat-based doenjang is being supplied to residents in the city of Sinpo instead of soybean-based doenjang,” she said, adding that most residents are saying they can’t eat it. “They say it is because the white color of the paste is unsightly and the taste is foul compared to the soybean-based doenjang which was previously supplied.” She said the wheat paste’s quality is poor because the production process leaves part of the wheat husk in the final product. “The eater ends up chewing on the husk and smelling a strange, sourish odor.”   She said that even after a deadly famine in the 1990s, when the government had almost no food to give to the people, supplies of doenjang never completely ran out. But now, the situation is so dire that the government is trying to pass off an inferior substitute. Because it is a fermented food, doenjang has a very long shelf life. An urn can be buried in the ground and used for several years. So in 2000, North Korea upscaled production, putting doenjang factories in every province and major city.  But there’s a shortage of soybeans these days, the resident said. “The doenjang you could get in the grocery stores up until last year was not 100% soybeans. It was mixed with corn,” she said. But even the corn-soybean mix doenjang was better than the wheat substitute, she said. Wheat-based doenjang is unpalatable, a resident of the northeastern city of Rason told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.  A lemon bar ice cream with fresh berries, mint ginger snap cookie crumble and doenjang caramel dessert dish is displayed during a media preview, Monday, April 24, 2023, in advance of Wednesday’s State Dinner with South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) She said that the municipal government did give out soybean-based doenjang to residents, but only as a gift on the four major North Korean holidays–New Year’s Day, the two birth anniversaries of leader Kim Jong Un’s late father and grandfather, who were his predecessors, on Feb. 16 and April 15, and the founding day of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party on Oct. 10. Additionally on holidays, residents of Rason “sometimes got small amounts of soy sauce,” she said. While the government-supplied doenjang was made with soybeans, it wasn’t as good as homemade varieties, “it was still good enough to eat.” “Many families, who cannot make their own doenjang or buy it homemade from others, had relied on soybean doenjang supplied by grocery stores,” she said. The wheat doenjang is a poor substitute, they say.   “Many people say it is too salty and stinks because it is not stored properly,” she said. “They wish that they could just get doenjang made from soybeans.” Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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South Korea unveils missile that can hit the North’s bunkers

South Korea unveiled its latest domestically produced ballistic missile, the Hyunmoo-5, on Tuesday as President Yoon Suk Yeol warned North Korea that it would face the end of its regime if it attempted to use nuclear weapons. Dubbed the “monster missile,” reflecting a destructive capacity that South Korean media says is comparable to that of a nuclear weapon, the Hyunmoo-5 can carry a warhead weighing up to 9 tons and is capable of striking deeply buried command centers. It incorporates an advanced cold-launch system, which uses compressed gas to propel the missile from its launcher before ignition, minimizing damage to the launcher and increasing operational stability, South Korean media has reported. Media have drawn parallels between the Hyunmoo-5 and China’s Dongfeng-31 intercontinental ballistic missile, with the former estimated to have a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,107 miles), capable of targeting critical infrastructure in North Korea and beyond.  The new missile is a centerpiece of the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation plan, designed to respond to damage caused by a North Korean nuclear weapon by targeting its  leadership and military headquarters in a retaliatory strike. “Our military will immediately retaliate against North Korea’s provocations based on its robust combat capabilities and solid readiness posture,” Yoon said at a ceremony to mark the 76th founding anniversary of the founding of South Korea’s armed forces, where the new missile was showcased for the first time.  South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a celebration to mark the 76th anniversary of Korea Armed Forces Day, in Seongnam, South Korea, Oct. 1, 2024. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool/Reuters) “If North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face the resolute and overwhelming response of our military and the South Korea-U.S. alliance. That day will be the end of the North Korean regime,” Yoon added.  Denouncing North Korea for threatening the South with its nuclear weapons and missiles, as well as other provocations, Yoon urged the North to abandon “delusions” that nuclear weapons could guarantee its security “False peace, based on the enemy’s goodwill, is nothing but a mirage. History has proven that the only way to safeguard peace is by strengthening our power so the enemy cannot dare challenge us,” he added, vowing to build a strong military and strengthen security based on the strong alliance with the U.S., as well as trilateral cooperation involving Japan. The South Korean military would reportedly aim to use dozens of Hyunmoo-5s to destroy the North Korean military command’s underground bunkers and devastate Pyongyang in the event of an emergency. RELATED STORIES INTERVIEW: Former ‘Office 39’ official on how North Korea finances nukes North Korea may conduct nuclear test after US election: South’s spy agency Satellite photos show expansion of suspected North Korean uranium enrichment site ‘Never bargain’ Some 5,000 troops and 340 pieces of military equipment, including the Hyunmoo-5, K9 self-propelled howitzers and four-legged robots, were mobilized for an anniversary ceremony parade that began at Seoul Air Base in the city of Seongnam, according to the South’s defense ministry. The ministry said the event was organized to show South Korea’s “overwhelming” capabilities to powerfully retaliate against enemy provocations. The showcasing of the Hyunmoo-5 came amid growing concern in South Korea as North Korea has intensified its nuclear posturing with the first public disclosure of its uranium enrichment facility last month. North Korea’s envoy to the U.N., Kim Song, said on Monday that the North would  never bargain over its “national prestige,” reaffirming the isolated country’s adherence to its nuclear weapons program. “When it comes to the right to self-defense, a legitimate right of a sovereign state, we will never go back to the point in the far-off past,” he said during a general debate at the U.N. General Assembly, repeating North Korea’s accusations of America’s “hostility” and claiming that its nuclear weapons were “just made and exist to defend itself.” “When it comes to national prestige, we will never bargain over it with anyone for it was gained through the bloody struggle of the entire Korean people,” he added.  The ambassador also said that no matter who wins the U.S. presidential election in November, North Korea would only deal with “the state entity called the U.S., not the mere administration.” “Likewise, any U.S. administration will have to face the DPRK which is different from what the U.S. used to think,” he said, using the acronym of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, without elaborating. Edited by Mike Firn. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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