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Category: East Asia

Guangdong tainted milk parent-activist denied compensation for wrongful conviction

Editor05 mins

Tainted milk parent-turned-campaigner Guo Li has been denied compensation for wrongful imprisonment by the Supreme People’s Court RFA has learned. In 2017, a court in the southern province of Guangdong retrospectively acquitted Guo after he served a five-year jail term for demanding compensation after his infant daughter was sickened by the 2008 melamine-tainted milk scandal. The simultaneous interpreter was handed the five-year sentence by a court in Guangdong’s Chaozhou in 2010 for “extortion” linked to his campaign for compensation from Guangzhou-based infant formula maker Scient after his child became ill with kidney stones. Following his release, Guo then lodged an appeal with the Guangdong Provincial High Court, which found that the facts of the case were unclear, that there was insufficient evidence, that the court of first instance had breached due process on two occasions, and that the case was inconclusive. Guo later took his appeal to the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing, learning on April 10 that his attempt to win redress had been unsuccessful, he told RFA in a recent interview. He said his claim for state compensation was ruled “inadmissible” because a time limit had expired. “The court found that no compensation should be paid, and my appeal application was rejected,” Guo said. “I was advised to deal with the matter through other means.” Guo said the ruling was itself in breach of regulations governing state compensation claims. “I think this is a shameful and ridiculous ruling,” he said. “I will continue to pursue those responsible for compensation in the Guangdong Provincial People’s High Court, via the prison service, and through the detention center system.” Beijing-based lawyer Mo Shaoping said the two-year limitation does exist, but that the court should have ignored it. “If the judicial system has wronged a person and that person is eventually acquitted, they it should take the initiative to compensate them,” Mo told RFA. Tainted milk scandal Guo’s daughter was one of 300,000 made ill by infant formula milk laced with the industrial chemical melamine, which saw a total of 21 people convicted for their roles in the scandal, two of whom were executed. The government said after the 2008 scandal that it had destroyed all tainted milk powder, but reports of melamine-laced products have occasionally re-emerged. Guo has previously described three years of harsh treatment, including beatings and solitary confinement, during his prison sentence, as the authorities put pressure on him to “admit to his crimes.” Held in a cell measuring little more than one meter (3.3 feet) wide and deprived of adequate food and water, Guo was given moldy food and dirty ditch-water instead. Campaigners say promises from then-premier Wen Jiabao that the government would foot the medical bills for all of the children affected by melamine-tainted milk haven’t been kept. Instead, the scandal has led major health insurance companies in China to start excluding kidney-related diseases from policies, owing to the huge medical bills racked up following the scandal. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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Son of Dalian Wanda billionaire banned from Weibo after criticism of COVID-19 policy

Editor011 mins

Government censors have banned the son of Dalian Wanda billionaire tycoon Wang Jianlin from posting on a major social media platform after he cast aspersions on a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula currently being distributed to homes around the country to treat COVID-19, state media reported. Online influencer Wang Sicong was banned for life from Weibo on Tuesday for “violating relevant laws and regulations,” the Global Times newspaper, which has close ties to ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) paper the People’s Daily, reported. It said the ban came after Wang’s “controversial remarks on Weibo about Chinese herbal medicine Lianhua Qingwen,” and that the comments have now been deleted. The last post to remain visible on Wang’s account is dated April 14, and takes issue with the popular belief that Lianhua Qingwen has been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the treatment of COVID-19, the Global Times said. “The post also raised doubts about the efficacy of Lianhua Qingwen, claiming that its producer Yiling Pharmaceutical should come under scrutiny from related authorities,” it said. The paper said Wang had also called on the China Securities Regulatory Commission investigate the medicine’s makers, Yiling Pharmaceutical, but later deleted the remark. “Lianhua Qingwen has been widely used to treat COVID-19 patients in China and is currently being distributed to almost every household in Shanghai,” it said, adding that some 15 billion yuan was wiped from Yiling Pharmaceutical share prices after Wang’s post appeared. Wang, 34, is the only son of Wang Jianlin, one of the richest people in China. Residents play table tennis at a residential area under lockdown to curb the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Panjiayuan, Chaoyang district, in Beijing, April 27, 2022. Credit: AFP Challenging official narrative YouTuber and current affairs commentator Yue Ge said Wang’s privileged background likely led him to believe he could challenge the official CCP narrative on social media, something that has resulted in expulsion from the party and even prison sentences for outspoken members of the elite under CCP leader Xi Jinping. “He mainly studied in the UK, and he was admitted to some prestigious schools, and went to University College London, which cultivates subversive thinking,” Yue Ge said. “Western education has no qualms about cultivating critical minds.” “The second generation of super-rich has a lot of wealth, but also operates outside of the [political] system, with not much in the way of official curbs,” Yue Ge said. He said Wang had also been highly critical in online comments of the lockdowns in Shanghai that have left people struggling to get enough to eat amid stringent restrictions on the movement of trucks and delivery personnel. “What Wang Sicong said about any lack of access to food in the 21st century being due to politics … can be understood as a criticism of the CCP’s disease prevention policies,” he said. “Some even thought he was questioning the legitimacy of CCP rule.” Current affairs commentator Wei Xin said Wang was likely voicing simmering public discontent over lockdowns in Shanghai. “Wang Sicong’s comments weren’t just a form of personal expression, but also a form of political protest,” Wei said. “What may have been a casual comment on Weibo actually reflects deep discontent among Chinese capitalists.” “Wang Sicong was the kid who shouted out that the emperor wasn’t wearing any clothes.” Financial elite no longer safe Wei said the move to silence Wang comes after the CCP under Xi has rolled back privileges for the financial elite, imposing CCP committees at boardroom level and intervening in labor disputes likely to cause social unrest. “The second generation of capitalists, represented here by Wang Sicong, is currently at a very delicate crossroads,” he said. “They are eager for political recognition, and even if that’s hard for them to achieve under the current system, it will inevitably mean further conflicts in future.” Chinese Twitter users reported on April 27 that Shanghai police had arrested Wang on suspicion of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble.” RFA was unable to verify the content of those tweets. Meanwhile, residents of Shanghai are continuing to report a spike in suicides by people jumping from buildings, as the ongoing lockdown is enforced with steel-link fences and panels, and amid continuing complaints about lack of food. Video clips showed one person falling from a building in Xizang Road, and a mother hugging the body of a dead child in Qingpu, Pudong New District. Meanwhile, residents banged pots and pans to express dissatisfaction during a visit by the Huangpu district party secretary and mayor to Datong secondary school on Quxi Road, according to another clip. Many others have been left homeless or with no access to life-saving medical treatment by the lockdown. “Right now I have hydronephrosis, so I want to get surgery as soon as possible,” a woman from Anhui who has been living on the streets since being discharged from an isolation facility, told RFA. “But the hospital told me that most Shanghai hospitals are closed, their operating rooms not fully operational, and medical resources are very limited, so I have to wait for two weeks,” the woman, who gave only a nickname Anna, said. “My hydronephrosis is getting worse, and quite painful now, and I need to get treatment as soon as possible,” she said. Challenges for Xi Media reports from NetEase Finance and Phoenix Satellite TV aired a video clip from someone in the northern province of Hebei saying they had been ordered to put their front door keys outside for officials to hold, or face detention by local police, prompting online criticism over the safety implications. Beijing-based rights lawyer Mo Shaoping local officials have no legal right to lock residents in their homes: ” I personally think that they have no legal basis for doing this,” Mo told RFA. Veteran Democracy Wall dissident Wei Jingsheng said CCP leader Xi Jinping is currently in a difficult situation. “Just as he thought he’d been successful in eliminating dissidents from party ranks and in controlling public speech, the virus…

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Tibetan schoolteacher released from jail in Qinghai

Editor05 mins

Authorities in China’s Qinghai province have freed a Tibetan schoolteacher after holding her in jail since last year, when her school for Tibetan students was closed for teaching classes in their own language, RFA has learned. Rinchen Kyi, 42, was released on Aug. 24 at about 8:00 p.m. local time and taken to her family home in Qinghai’s Darlag (in Chinese, Dali) county without advance word given to family members, a Tibetan living in exile told RFA this week, citing local sources. “Two cars carrying security personnel arrived that evening at the door of Rinchen Kyi’s family home,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “A few neighbors came out to see what was happening and saw Rinchen Kyi get out of one the cars and immediately enter her house.” “Police prevented people from getting too close to her, so no one was able to learn where she had been held all this time,” the source added. Kyi was a teacher of 2nd and 3rd grade students at the Golog Sengdruk Taktse School in Darlag when it was closed on July 8, 2021 amid a regionwide clampdown on schools offering instruction in the Tibetan language, sources told RFA in an earlier report. Authorities took her to a hospital on Aug. 1 citing an alleged mental illness, and she was later charged with inciting separatism and arrested at her home, with no word given to her family concerning her whereabouts or condition of health. Separatism is a charge frequently used by Chinese authorities against Tibetans promoting the preservation of Tibet’s language and culture in the face of domination by China’s majority Han population. Pema Gyal, a researcher at London-based Tibet Watch, confirmed Kyi’s release from jail. “We need to know now where she was detained and what kind of reeducation program she may have been subjected to,” Gyal added. Tibetan students at the Sengdruk Taktse School in Qinghai’s Darlag county are shown in an undated photo. Photo: From Tibet. Darlag-area students at Sengdruk were divided into different sections when the school closed and were sent to study at separate schools, while students who had come to Sengdruk from areas in neighboring Sichuan province had trouble at first finding schools to take them in, sources told RFA in earlier reports. Authorities in Sichuan have meanwhile also closed down private Tibetan schools offering classes taught in the Tibetan language, forcing students to go instead to government-run schools where they are taught entirely in Chinese. The move is being pushed in the name of providing uniformity in the use of textbooks and instructional materials, but parents of the affected children and other local Tibetans have expressed concern over the imposed restrictions, saying that keeping young Tibetans away from their culture and language will have severe negative consequences for the future. Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with informally organized language courses in the monasteries and towns deemed “illegal associations” and teachers subject to detention and arrest, sources say. Translated by Rigdhen Dolma for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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Low interest in events hailing North Korea’s warm relationship with Russia

Editor06 mins

While much of the Western world views Russia as a pariah state over its invasion of Ukraine, North Korea’s autocratic government called on its people to focus on the Cold War comradeship it shared with its powerful neighbor and sponsor. As part of the celebration to commemorate the 110th birth holiday on April 15 of Kim Il Sung (1912-1994), the country’s founder, North Korea published a photo book promoting solidarity with Russia and its lost Soviet Union empire. “The Great Years of North Korea and Russia” encourages readers to relive the relationship much like a family photo album does, only in this case the focus is on Kim Il Sung’s friendship with Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. “The photobook emphasizes North Korea’s friendship with Russia,” an official from Pyongyang told RFA’s Korean Service April 18 on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “The book was displayed at the exhibition halls for the Day of the Sun celebration in Pyongyang from April 8th to the 18th. … It is a photo book of 219 pages of propaganda.” Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un, was born on April 15, a major holiday now known as the “Day of the Sun.” The book was on display at three exhibition halls in Pyongyang, including the one that hosted the celebration’s opening ceremony, according to the source. But North Koreans, many of whom are struggling under dire economic circumstances largely due to trade restrictions related to COVID, did not seem interested in reliving past glories, even as they were forced to attend celebratory events, sources said. “Only the officials from the Propaganda and Agitation Department, and workers from the publishing house attended the opening ceremony the first day. But the exhibition hall was quiet because the number of visitors was small from the next day,” the source said. “Only a few copies of the booklets were displayed, and copies were distributed as e-books instead, so that reduced the effectiveness of the propaganda,” the source said. Authorities encouraged state-run organizations, universities and factories to send employees to the exhibition halls, but the people were less than enthusiastic about attending, he said. “Residents who reluctantly visited the exhibition hall under the direction of their affiliated supervisors complained, questioning the intent in emphasizing the friendship between North Korea and Russia at this time,” the source said. A resident of the city told RFA that authorities forced people to attend exhibitions that glorified Kim Il Sung, including the photobook exhibition, but actual turnout was lean because companies and organizations reported more attendees than they actually sent. “The authorities are trying to emphasize the blood alliance with Russia and focus on promoting long-standing friendly ties,” he said. “The Pyongyang citizens had no choice but to visit the exhibition emphasizing our friendship with Russia, but that does not change the people’s opinion on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” this source said. The Kim Dynasty owes its early legitimacy to Soviet backing. Kim Il Sung led guerilla campaigns in and around the Korean peninsula against the occupying Japanese in the 1930s and 1940s, eventually earning the rank of major in the Soviet Army. When Japan surrendered at the end of World War II, Stalin installed Kim as first secretary of the Korean Communist Party north of the 38th parallel, a position that enabled him to consolidate power and wage war on the South in 1950, largely with Soviet military equipment. Soviet aid played a huge role in propping up the North Korean economy up until its collapse in 1991. The sudden cutoff of aid to the country, along with Kim’s death in 1994, resulted in a famine that killed millions of North Koreans. Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Eugene Whonng.

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Unfavorable US views of China ‘at new high’: report

Editor04 mins

Negative views of China are growing among U.S. citizens, with around two-thirds of those surveyed in a recent poll considering China’s rising power and influence in the world a “major threat,” according to a new report released on Thursday. A survey conducted at the end of March by the Washington-based Pew Research Center shows increasing levels of U.S. concern on a wide range of issues, including China’s economic relationship with the United States, China’s partnership with Russia, and growing tensions across the Taiwan Strait. Unfavorable opinions of China rose in the U.S. during the last year, with around 8 out of 10, or 82%, of the 3,581 adults surveyed reporting negative views, 40% of whom reported holding views described as “very unfavorable.” “[This was] a 6-point increase in negative views from 2021 and a new high since the center began asking this question on its American Trends Panel in 2020,” Pew said in its report. Most Americans still see China as a competitor rather than an enemy, by a 62% to 25% margin. Another 10% call China a U.S. partner, the survey said. On economic issues, the United States should take “a tougher stance” against China rather than “strengthening the relationship,” more than half of the survey’s respondents said. Only 28% said the U.S. should “prioritize the economic relationship, even if it means ignoring human rights issues,” according to the report. “These views have changed little in the last year,” Pew said. Police stand at attention while a Chinese national flag is lowered at sunset at Tiananmen Square in Beijing in a file photo. Photo: AP Seven out of 10 respondents to the poll said the U.S. remains the world’s strongest military power, with only two-in-10 saying China now holds the lead. “Still, the share who say China is the highest since the question was first asked in 2016 and has more than tripled from 6% who held that view in 2020. “Americans have [also] become more concerned about the relationship between China and Taiwan,” the report said. “While 28% saw the tensions as very serious in 2021, 35% now consider cross-strait tensions a very grave concern.” Of special concern to Americans responding to this year’s poll was China’s partnership with Russia, now fighting a war against its neighbor Ukraine. “About six-in-10 say the relationship poses a very serious problem — 15 percentage points higher than the next highest response,” Pew said, noting that China recently voted against expelling Russia, which has been accused of serious war crimes in Ukraine, from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

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Another Mekong River dam in Laos begins review process

Editor011 mins

Lao officials will soon submit plans for the Phou Ngoy Dam and hydropower plant to the Mekong River Commission for review, but villagers whose livelihoods would be hurt by the construction worry they will be left out of the process. “We can’t tell you what day or when exactly we’re going to do that,” said an official at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, who declined to be named to speak freely. “We think we’ll do it at the end of this year. Right now, we’re preparing the paperwork.” The 728-megawatt Phou Ngoy Dam in southern Laos’ Champassak province will be the seventh of nine existing or planned large-scale hydropower projects on the Mekong River mainstream. Thailand’s Charoen Energy and Water Asia Co. Ltd. is the lead developer of the U.S. $2.4 billion hydropower dam project, whose power is anticipated will be sold to Thailand. The hydropower dam would be built by two South Korean construction companies: Korea Western Power Co., Ltd. and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Ltd. It is slated to be completed in 2029. A power purchase agreement has not yet been signed. Laos’ government believes that it came greatly boost the country’s economy by becoming the battery of Southeast Asia by selling power generated by dams along the Mekong to its neighbors. But villagers whose lives have been disrupted by the plans say they haven’t been fairly compensated for being forced to move to make way for the progress. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) is an intergovernmental organization that works with the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam to jointly manage the Mekong. The Phou Ngoy Dam will be located about 18 kilometers north of Pakse, the capital of Champassak province, and 50 kilometers from confluence of the Mekong River and Mun River, a tributary of the Mekong that flows through northern Thailand. During the MRC’s consultation process, states and other stakeholders will discuss and review the benefits and risks of proposed water-use projects that may have potential significant cross-border impacts on water flow, water quality and a host of other environmental and socioeconomic conditions. Surasri Kidtimonton, secretary-general of Thailand’s Office of National Water Resources, told RFA that the consultation depends on all MRC members. “As for Thailand, we’re right now looking at a lot of documents about the Phou Ngoy Dam project,” he said. “We’re doing our best to protect our interest,” he told the National News Bureau of Thailand. The map shows existing and planned hydropower dams along the Mekong River in Laos. Credit: RFA graphic ‘The losers are the local people’ A representative of the Love Chiang Khong Group, a Thai NGO, expressed concern that project investors and Lao authorities will exclude communities that will be affected by the dam from the ongoing review. “The Lao government keeps pushing many projects forward, and the investors keep looking for more benefits. The losers are the local people,” the source, who requested anonymity so as to speak freely, said. The investors and the Lao government have not paid any attention to past studies on the project’s impact and did not allow locals to participate in the decision-making process, he said. “The Phou Ngoy Dam is being built not for the benefit of the locals in the area, but for the benefit of the investors,” the person said. “This large dam will block the Mekong River, which is the international mainstream river that goes through many countries. It’ll destroy our livelihoods, our jobs and our ecosystem.” An official at the Lao Ministry of the Information, Culture and Tourism said he was worried in particular about the dam’s impact on Vat Phou, a ruined Khmer Hindu temple complex at the base of a mountain about six kilometers (3.7 miles) from the Mekong River in Champassak province, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Though the Phou Ngoy Dam is more than 30 kilometers from the city of Pakse, capital of Champassak province, it could have an impact on the Phou Phaphin area close to Vat Phou, he said. “If the Lao government and the Phou Ngoy Dam developer really want to build this dam, they’ll have to do the Heritage Impact Assessment, similar to the one for the Luang Prabang Dam Project that has been submitted to UNESCO,” he said. Plans for the Phou Ngoy Dam and hydropower plant have also sparked concern among residents of Khonken village in Champassak province, who fear they may get a raw deal from Lao authorities and the project developer when it comes to compensation for lost land and forced resettlement in other communities. The project will affect 88 villages, including 57 villages above the dam, and 31 villages below the dam. About 800 residents in more than 140 households in Khonken village are expected to be the most heavily affected by the project. Most of the villagers are farmers who grow rice and vegetables and raise livestock, while others run small businesses like restaurants and guesthouses to accommodate growing numbers of Thai tourists to the area. One resident told RFA in late December 2021 that local Lao authorities and the dam developer had conducted a survey asking villagers about their property, shops and fruit trees. Since then, however, they have not heard anything more about the impending relocation. “We don’t want to be relocated,” he said. “We don’t know where to move to. We’ve been here for years, and we believe that this is our permanent home.” Another villager said he wants the Lao government to reconsider building the dam. “Yes, the government builds dams for business, but this dam will destroy the natural beauty and our property.” Pak Beng Dam MOU Meanwhile, two investors in another hydropower project on the mainstream Mekong signed a tariff memorandum of understanding for the Pak Beng Dam, Laos’ Vientiane Times reported on Wednesday. China Datang Overseas Investment Co., Ltd. and Gulf Energy Development Public Co., Ltd. as project cosponsor inked the deal with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT)…

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Uyghur high school principal from Xinjiang’s Ghulja city said to be detained

Editor05 mins

A Uyghur educator and high school principal in Ghulja in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region who went missing nearly a year ago is being detained in the city, municipal education officials told RFA. Dilmurat Abdurehim has been missing since the Eid al-Fitr Muslim religious holiday on May 13, 2021, that marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan. He left his home in the city’s Dongmehelle area but never returned, said the source who requested anonymity for security reasons. Ghulja (in Chinese, Yining) is the third-largest city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) after Urumqi (Wulumuqi) and Korla (Kuerle) and the seat of the Ili Kazakh (Yili Hasake) Autonomous Prefecture. Abdurehim’s family members did not give any information to their friends and neighbors about the principal’s disappearance, the source said. Nevertheless, friends and neighbors began to suspect he had been abducted by police, who warned his family not to disclose his whereabouts, the source added. Abdurehim graduated with a degree in history from Xinjiang University in 1990. He began teaching at Ghulja’s No. 7 high school and later became a principal at the Nos. 3, 8 and 9 high schools, the source with knowledge of the matter said. A staff member at the No. 3 High School told RFA that Abdurehim had worked at the school but moved to another school years ago. The official also said he was aware that Abdurehim was in custody. An official at No. 8 High School, where Abdurehim had his longest tenure, said the educator had been detained while he was working at the No. 9 High School. He did not mention the reason for Abdurehim’s arrest and suggested that RFA contact officials at the No. 9 High School for more information. “I don’t know how long has it been since he was detained,” he said. “I don’t know the reason behind his arrest since he was not detained while he was in our school.” After calls to No. 9 High School went unanswered, RFA again contacted the No. 8 High School and asked whether Abdurehim was being held in a prison or an internment camp. The official said the information was a “state secret” and that the school was not authorized to comment. Authorities have targeted teachers and intellectuals in Xinjiang as part of an effort to weaken Uyghur culture and identity, Abdureshid Niyaz, an independent Uyghur researcher based in Turkey, told RFA in a 2021 report. More than 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities are believed to have been held in a network of detention camps in Xinjiang since 2017. Beijing has said that the camps are vocational training centers and has denied widespread and documented allegations that it has violated the human rights of Muslims living in in the region. The United States and the legislatures of some Western countries have said Chinese policies toward the Uyghurs constitute a genocide and crime against humanity. Translated by RFA’s Uyghur Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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Philippines’ Duterte intends to skip ASEAN summit in Washington

Editor05 mins

Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte announced his intention to skip the U.S.-ASEAN summit in Washington next month, telling Filipinos he doesn’t want to take a stance that could go against his successor who will be elected the same week. Previously, Duterte had repeatedly said he would not travel to the United States, a country which he has not visited as president and with which he’s had a stormy relationship because of Washington’s criticism of his administration’s deadly war on drugs. As he prepares to leave office in June, Duterte faces an International Criminal Court investigation over the drug war, which has left thousands of Filipinos dead. “If it is a working conference, there might be some agreements or commitments that will be made and I might take a stand that will not be acceptable to the next administration,” he said, without elaborating. In his weekly televised speech to the nation late Tuesday, Duterte cited the May 9 General Election as the main reason for declining the invitation to attend the summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations scheduled for May 12-13. “By that time, the elections will be over and we will find out who the next president will be,” Duterte said, according to transcripts released Wednesday. “So I told them it would not look good if I attend and there will be a new president.” Duterte’s six-year term will end when his successor takes office on June 30. Duterte also cited “personal reasons” for declining President Biden’s invitation, adding that U.S. officials had wanted him to attend but he refused “as a matter of principle.” During the meeting with Southeast Asian leaders in the U.S. capital, Biden is expected to seek to strengthen relationships with ASEAN members to counter China’s perceived aggression and military expansionism in the contested South China Sea. Missed meetings This is not the first time that Duterte will be missing an ASEAN-related meeting. Last year, he cited “pressing domestic concerns in light of the surge of COVID-19 cases” as an excuse to not attend an emergency summit of ASEAN leaders who met in Jakarta to discuss the post-coup crisis in Myanmar. As president, Duterte pivoted the Philippines’ foreign policy closer to China and away from the United States, the country’s staunchest military ally for the past seven decades. He has traveled to China six times as president and called leader Xi Jinping a close friend while insisting that Manila cannot go to war with Beijing.  Duterte also banked on Chinese money to fund his infrastructure projects, and of late, he has profusely thanked Beijing for sending COVID-19 vaccines ahead of other nations.  In 2020, Duterte vowed to skip a U.S.-ASEAN summit – which was later postponed indefinitely because of the global pandemic – after the U.S. Embassy refused to issue a visa to Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, the former police chief who implemented his administration’s brutal war on drugs. He also threatened to scrap an agreement that allowed American troops to hold large-scale joint military exercises here, but later reversed his stand. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.

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Three Chinese nationals die in suicide bomb attack on Karachi Confucius Institute

Editor09 mins

Four people, including three Chinese nationals, have died in a suicide bomb attack on a Confucius Institute in Pakistan thought to be linked to Beijing’s Belt and Road projects in the country. Tuesday‘s attack near the Confucius Institute at the University of Karachi in southern Pakistan left four people dead, including the director, Huang Guiping, and teachers Ding Mupeng and Chen Sai. Another Chinese national, Wang Yuqing, was injured alongside several local people. CCTV footage of the blast showed a person in a burqa walking towards a van, which then exploded, covering the surrounding area in thick smoke. News photos from the aftermath of the blast showed the Confucius Institute building with shattered windows. Pakistani military personnel and police cordoned off the area, with news photos showing the remains of a charred, white Toyota van near the gate of the Confucius Institute on the Karachi University campus. The van, according to local media reports, had been carrying several teachers to the Institute when it was attacked, escorted by several motorcycles. The injured Chinese national was rushed to a local hospital for treatment, along with several injured security personnel and other staff. The Chinese Consulate General in Karachi confirmed that the three deceased were staff of the Confucius Institute at the University of Karachi. Rangers stand guard nearby the blast site a day after a suicide attack on a van near the Confucius institute which is the cultural programme that China operates at universities around the world at the Karachi University in Karachi, April 27, 2022. Credit: AFP. Security alert raised It said the “terrorist attack” took place at around 2.20 p.m. local time on April 26, and that the consulate has activated its emergency plan, raising the security alert level for all Chinese institutions, projects and personnel in Pakistan. A consulate employee who answered the phone declined to comment when contacted by RFA on Wednesday. “This isn’t my responsibility,” the staff member said. “I don’t know the specific details of the situation.” “It’s not that I don’t want to answer your query; I really don’t know. You need to contact the embassy,” the staff member said. Repeated calls to the Chinese embassy rang unanswered during office hours on Wednesday. “First of all, from a political point of view, Chinese people are a very big target and an influential target that can make the Pakistani government pay a high level of attention,” a Chinese national living in Pakistan told RFA. “The Chinese government will also always pay a high level of attention to security issues,” said the person, who asked to remain anonymous. “So these are some of the reasons for this terrorist attack against the Chinese.” The separatist group the Baloch Liberation Army, which has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Confucius Institute, said more deadly attacks on Chinese targets could follow. Mining and energy projects The group is one of several fighting for independence in Pakistan’s biggest province, where Chinese companies are involved in lucrative mining and energy projects under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative. “Hundreds of highly trained male and female members of the Baloch Liberation Army’s Majeed Brigade are ready to carry out deadly attacks in any part of Balochistan and Pakistan,” spokesman Jeeyand Baloch said in a statement on Wednesday reported by Agence France-Presse. He called on China to halt its “exploitation projects” in Balochistan and its “occupying of the Pakistani state.” The group named the bomber as Shaari Baloch, a 30-year-old mother of two who had been studying for a master’s degree. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Pakistan to take steps to guarantee the safety of all Chinese citizens and interests in the country and to launch a full investigation into the blast, warning Chinese nationals not to go out unless necessary, and to take “the strictest precautions.” The Prime Minister’s Office issued a message of condolence, and vowed to eliminate terrorists, while Prime Minister Shabazz Sharif paid a visit to the Chinese embassy to express condolences, condemnation, and to promise a full investigation. Taiwan strategic analyst Shih Chien-yu said the Karachi Confucius Institute was a relatively easy target for terrorist attacks. “Confucius Institutes are particularly vulnerable and don’t have very strong security,” Shih told RFA. “A lot of the infrastructure and engineering projects along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor employ various private security guards and even the Pakistani army [for protection], so it’s not easy to carry out an attack.” “Confucius Institutes are relatively vulnerable … so it’s not surprising it was the target of a suicide attack,” he said. Debt and resentment Shih said the attack came amid growing resentment over the presence of Chinese companies involved in Belt and Road projects. “People in Balochistan, the ethnic groups in the upper and lower reaches, have always felt that they are a neglected and bullied minority … who have received no benefits from the construction projects of the Belt and Road.” The attacks are a fresh blow for Belt and Road in Pakistan, following a Bloomberg report in 2021 that the planned flagship port and airport development at Gwadar, the last stop in the China-Pakistan Corridor and terminus for dozens of planned roads, railways and pipelines, was semi-moribund. Many infrastructure projects in Pakistan are still heavily indebted to China, while incoming Chinese investment has been falling year-on-year. In October, Pakistan was forced to borrow U.S.$6 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to meet its immediate needs. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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Residents in last-minute scramble to get out of Beijing amid lockdown fears

Editor08 mins

Residents fled Beijing on Wednesday amid rising COVID-19 cases and growing fears of an imminent citywide lockdown, according to social media reports and local residents. Photos and video uploaded to social media showed traffic jams and people wheeling suitcases on the city streets on Tuesday night. “They’re scared. Taking their luggage and leaving,” says one man on a video clip showing cars queuing up in the street, at a standstill. “They can’t leave because the police have sealed off the road,” a woman’s voice adds. The apparent mass movement of people out of the city comes despite an official ban on any non-essential travel out of the city, as residential compounds in Chaoyang, Xicheng and Haidian districts were ordered into lockdown after locally transmitted cases were confirmed there. A Beijing resident who gave only his surname Ye said police have blocked main thoroughfares leading out of the city towards neighboring Hebei province. “I live in Baishun, Xicheng district, and we’re under lockdown right now,” Ye said. “I’m only allowed into the garden of my bungalow, but I can’t go out.” “It seems infections in Beijing are on the rise, and now I have to apply to buy supplies,” he said. “It’s been four days now.” “They delivered some vegetables to each household, as well as ten pounds of rice and a small barrel of cooking oil,” Ye said. The lockdown in Xicheng extends across Baishun, Dabaishun and Xiaobaishun alleys as well as Shaanxi Lane and Shitou alleys, residents said, all of which now have large numbers of white-clad disease-prevention personnel patrolling around in full PPE, residents told RFA. Local resident Zhang Hong said most of those who are trying to leave the city are in middle- or high-income groups with good access to information, and may have been tipped off about future lockdowns by friends or relatives in official jobs. “A lot of people have left because of issues with the government’s restrictions … now that a lot of them, both big and small, have seen the light of day,” Zhang said. “Shanghai is one example, where we saw people jumping off buildings due to starvation,” Zhang said. “So some rich people are leaving without waiting for the government’s decision [on whether to lock down more of the city].” Online comments suggested Beijing residents could be denied access to accommodation outside the city, however, because they can be identified by the COVID-19 Health Code app on their phones, which is needed to access key services and public transportation. The city is currently undergoing three waves of mass, compulsory testing from April 26-30, according to official announcements. Employees of Chinese online shopping platform Meituan prepare deliveries in Shanghai, in a file photo. Credit: Reuters Group-buying schemes The news website Caixin reported that the online shopping and food delivery platform Meituan had shut down group-buying schemes, which have been widely used by residents of Shanghai to get food and other essential supplies in the face of a ban on individual delivery riders or shopping in person. A link to the group-buying function was removed from the homepage of the app and the service shut down from April 26, according to an announcement posted in the app. One comment said similar group-buying functions on other delivery apps had also been shut down. “Just when I need you, you’re not there,” wrote social media user @duoyun_kuanyin. Others said local neighborhood committees who control access to residential communities were well-placed to make money from delivery operations. “They won’t let [these platforms] operate … but the neighborhood committee’s own trucks will get through,” @Lenin’s_little_brain_axe commented. The Beijing Municipal Health Commission announced 31 newly confirmed, locally transmitted cases, and three asymptomatic infections on Wednesday. Testing halted Meanwhile, in Shanghai and other affluent eastern cities, the test and trace service has ground to a halt under the sheer weight of data being processed about infections, as the authorities restarted mass testing in several parts of the city from April 26. “The app in Shanghai is frozen, because there are so many volunteers on the front line,” one testing volunteer from Suzhou told RFA. “We’re like front-line troops, and yet the system they gave us to work with seems to be crumbling.” “Why is this happening?” A Shanghai resident surnamed Li said lockdowns are currently seen as the politically correct thing to do. “They are trying everything they can think of, but to be brutally frank, they really haven’t a clue,” Li said. “Who really knows what to do?” “They built all of those makeshift hospitals in Shanghai, the biggest of which had capacity for 40,000 people, but now the policy has changed again.” “It used to be that you had to go to a makeshift hospital for 14 days’ quarantine, but now they are letting people out after just a week, to make room for infected people to come in,” Li said. “It used to be that nobody who tested positive was taken there.” Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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