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Category: East Asia
North Korea requires cellphone users to install invasive surveillance app
North Korea is forcing smartphone users to install an app to use the isolated country’s closed intranet that also allows the government to remotely track their locations and monitor their devices in real time, sources there told RFA. The Kwangmyong app connects users to a corner of the intranet where they can access their subscription to the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper and other educational and informational services. But some North Koreans say that the app is a massive invasion of privacy, as it enables the Ministry of State Security and other law enforcement agencies to see exactly where they are or if they are using their phones to access forbidden content like movies from South Korea or foreign news. “At the post office these days, residents are lining up to pay the fee to get their quarterly [license] card,” a resident of Pukchang county, South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “Starting this month, cellphone users are forced to install an intranet app called Kwangmyong to get their quarterly cards,” he said. Citizens are not happy that they must agree to increased surveillance just to use their mobile phones. “They are reluctant to set it up because they know that they can be watched by the State Security Department at any time through the intranet. But the postal authorities stress that the Central Committee has ordered that they install Kwangmyong on all personal mobile phones. The cards cannot be issued unless Kwangmyong has been installed,” said the source. “Many of the residents reluctantly installed Kwangmyong on their phones … but some have refused to install the app and have been able to buy the quarterly card on the black market,” he said. The black-market version of the quarterly communications license is U.S. $12, much more expensive than at the post office, where it costs just 2,840 won ($0.40). Authorities have been touting the usefulness of the Kwangmyong app, a resident of Ryongchon county, in the northeastern province of North Pyongan, told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely. “They say that installation of Kwangmyong can provide mobile phone users with information about the Rodong Sinmun [newspaper], foreign language education, and cooking techniques,” the source said. “The real intent is to monitor the residents through the Kwangmyong network installed on people’s mobile phones,” he said. Kwangmyong even tracks how devices are used as media players, according to the source. “When Kwangmyong … is installed on a personal mobile phone, the Ministry of State Security can monitor the users from that moment on. It can check when the users watched South Korean movies and how many times they read or downloaded illegal materials from abroad. It provides real-time monitoring,” he said. Because the North Korean intranet is not connected to the global internet, the illegal materials must be passed around from person to person on physical media like USB flash drives and easily concealable SD cards. With Kwangmyong installed, the authorities could easily learn that users viewed illicit material. “For this reason, many residents had been using their mobile phones without installing access to the intranet. But now, the post offices sell the quarterly cards only after they have installed it,” he said. “They are accusing the authorities of using the intranet network as a surveillance tool,” he said. Another way that mobile phone users can avoid surveillance is to use a mobile phone smuggled from China, the second source said. These phones are illegal, but can access the Chinese network in areas close to the border. They are also not registered with North Korean authorities, so it is not necessary to purchase quarterly communications licenses. A 2019 report by the Washington-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea described in detail how the government was able at that time to monitor cellphone activity and file sharing. The report said that all North Korean smartphones were required to have an application called “Red Flag” that kept a log of webpages visited by users and randomly took screenshots of their phones. Those could be viewed but not deleted with another app called “Trace Viewer.” “The system is sinister in its simplicity. It reminds users that everything they do on the device can be recorded and later viewed by officials, even if it does not take place online. As such, it insidiously forces North Koreans to self-censor in fear of a device check that might never happen,” the report said. Kwangmyong appears to have eliminated the need for a device check, as it allows remote monitoring through the intranet. Translated by Claire Shinyoung O. Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Late former prime minister saw the fates of Taiwan, Japan as bound together
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on Friday, once remarked: “If Taiwan has a problem, then so do Japan and the United States.” On a democratic island facing the threat of invasion by neighboring China, that warning is quite a legacy. In a post to her Facebook page on Friday, President Tsai Ing-wen eulogized Abe as “Taiwan’s most steadfast friend,” as well as a friend she had known for more than 10 years. “Taiwan and Japan have worked together to overcome many challenges and build deep friendships, and I am grateful for Abe’s support,” Tsai wrote. When Taiwan was still reeling from the 2019 Hualien earthquake, Abe had sent a personal message saying “Go Taiwan!”, Tsai said. He had also played a part in promoting the island’s pineapple exports in the face of an import ban from China, she revealed. The Japanese government had also made a point of shipping COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan in 2021, at a time when supplies were tight. She said Abe had once more repeated his warning about the interconnectedness of Taiwan’s national interests with those of Japan and the U.S. when they spoke via video call in March 2022. “Taiwan and Japan will continue to support each other and prove to the international community that the axis of good will continue to stand in the face of violence,” Tsai wrote. Tenure as PM Abe was born into a political family in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1954, becoming prime minister for the first time in 2006, one of the youngest to hold the office, and the first prime minister born after World War II. In 2012, he served again as prime minister again for eight years, resigning due to illness. By then, he was the longest-serving prime minister in Japan and had been in Japanese politics for nearly 30 years. One grandfather was Hiro Abe, a former member of the House of Representatives, while another was prime minister Nobusuke Kishi. His great-uncle was also a prime minister — Eisaku Sato. Japan is no stranger to the assassination of former prime ministers: Inuyo Hamaguchi, Ito Hirobumi, Takahashi Nissin, and others have met with the same fate as Abe. Three days after Abe stepped down as prime minister, he visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, where the Class-A war criminals of World War II are enshrined, triggering a backlash from China and South Korea. Abe also urged the revision of the constitution, hoping to revise constitutional limits on Japan’s military. Both Abe and his grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, successfully bid for the Olympics during their tenure, but neither of them actually presided over the opening of the Olympics their country hosted. After taking office in 2006, Abe chose China instead of the United States for his first foreign trip, which was seen as an “ice-breaker.” Both sides were looking to end the diplomatic deadlock caused by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine. But Abe stepped down for health reasons after only one year in office. Elected to the House of Representatives in 2009, he led a number of congressmen to visit Taiwan the following year and met with former President Lee Teng-hui, then-President Ma Ying-jeou and then-DPP Chairman Tsai Ing-wen. In 2012, Abe led the Liberal Democratic Party to victory again, but Sino-Japanese relations deteriorated over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands and over Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine. When he eventually visited China in 2018, it was the first time in eight years that a Japanese leader had met with a Chinese leader — in this case, Xi Jinping. Abe invited Xi Jinping to Japan in return, but the pandemic and further deterioration in Sino-Japanese ties meant that trip never happened. Abe also presided over the end of 40 years of Japanese economic aid to China. Pro-Taiwanese leader In Taiwan, Abe is seen as the most pro-Taiwanese prime minister Japan has ever had. Five hours after he was fatally shot, many politicians and members of the public were offering prayers for him via social media. When the news of Abe’s death came, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, the Kuomintang, the Times Power Party, the People’s Party, and the Fundamental Progress Party all issued statements of condolence. When Abe was at a low ebb, politically, he was encouraged by former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, who gave him some tips to aid his comeback. Lee told Abe that nobody else could be trusted to do the job, and suggested Abe try to revise Japan’s constitution. The two former leaders were like father and son, according to some account. Abe once said: “There is no politician in the world who thinks about Japan like Lee Teng-hui.” Chen Tang-shan, chairman of Taiwan’s Friends of Abe Association, said there had been plans for Abe to visit Taiwan on the second anniversary of Lee’s death at the end of July, but the schedule had yet to be finalized at the time of Abe’s death. “At a time when the international situation is at its most dangerous for Taiwan, we had a good friend who supported Taiwan very strongly,” Chen said. “He sadly lost his life in the shooting. As a political figure in Taiwan, I am very grateful for his support.” “He saw Japan and Taiwan as bound together in the same community,” he said. “We are very sad that someone who saw politics so clearly, and who had the courage to speak out publicly is no longer with us.” Chen Yongfeng, director of the Center for Japanese Regional Studies at Tokai University, said Abe’s stance on Taiwan had become hugely influential in Japanese political circles. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Fears grow for Guo Feixiong, on hunger strike in a Guangzhou detention center
Fears are growing over the health of Chinese dissident and former legal advocate Guo Feixiong, also known as Yang Maodong, who has been on hunger strike for several months while in detention. Guo has been detained and held incommunicado since writing an open letter to Chinese premier Li Keqiang, asking him to lift a travel ban and allow him to visit his critically ill wife Zhang Qing in the United States. His sister Yang Maoping told RFA that Guo now weighs less than 50 kilograms (110 pounds), citing a July 6 video call between Guo, who is being held in the police-run Guangzhou No. 1 Detention Center, and his defense attorney. Yang said her brother began refusing food shortly after being detained, and is only still alive due to force-feeding by the prison guards. “The lawyer told me that Yang Maodong has been on hunger strike since Dec. 5, 2021, and that they have been tube-feeding him, although his weight has dropped rapidly to around 100 pounds,” she said. “If he continues to lose weight, his life will be in danger,” she said. “He has two children, and one of them is still a minor.” “I am very sad and don’t know what to do … I don’t want his kids to be orphans,” Yang said. She said the state security police had tricked Guo into making a “confession” by promising he would be allowed to go to the U.S. to visit his then terminally-ill wife Zhang Qing, who died in January. ‘Ridiculous accusation’ Instead, when he confessed, they charged him with “incitement to subvert state power,” Yang said. “It’s a ridiculous accusation,” she said. “Who is he supposed to be subverting? Can he do it all alone?” “I kept writing letters to everyone in our country who could help him go abroad and see his dying wife,” Yang said. “I even told them I was willing to be a hostage, but Zhang Qing died without seeing him.” An employee who answered the phone at the Guangzhou No. 1 Detention Center appeared to confirm the news of Guo’s hunger strike. “His going on hunger strike was his personal choice, but we are also carrying out ideological work with him,” the employee said. “As for the next step, his lawyer should also [try to influence him], right?” Zhang Lun, a professor at the University of Sergi-Pondoise in France who has been a vocal advocate for Guo internationally said he is very worried about Guo’s health, given that his health was already poor after serving so many years in jail already. Zhang said activists had appealed to U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet to visit Guo Feixiong during her visit to Guangzhou in May, but to no avail. “Naturally, I am very worried,” Zhang said. “Mr. Guo Feixiong has been in prison several times before, to the great detriment of his health.” “I think the Commissioner has the responsibility to express her concern to the Chinese authorities,” he said. “The United Nations High Commissioner must make a statement on this matter.” ‘The inhumanity of this tyranny’ U.K.-based scholar Wang Jianhong said the treatment of Guo and his family was tyrannical. “Even when Guo Feixiong’s wife Zhang Qing fell ill, the authorities still refused to allow him to leave the country and arrested him, instead,” Wang said. “The tragic experience of this family shows us the inhumanity of this tyranny [regime].” Wang said an international campaign over jailed Shanghai citizen journalist Zhang Zhan’s hunger strike had led to a partial improvement in her health following her hunger strike. “We have not achieved our goal of medical parole, but we learned in mid-February that Zhang Zhan’s situation in prison had improved, so we should speak out for Guo Feixiong today,” he said. The U.S. State Department said in a statement on Zhang Qing’s death on Jan. 10, 2022 that the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had subjected Guo to “years of mistreatment, imprisonment, routine harassment and surveillance.” “We call on [China] to immediately grant Guo humanitarian relief and allow his travel to the United States to be reunited with his children and grieve the passing of his wife,” the statement said. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Shooting death of Japan’s Shinzo Abe gets mixed reactions on Chinese internet
UDPATED at 10:40 a.m. EDT on 2022-07-08 The shooting death of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe Friday prompted mixed reactions on China’s tightly controlled internet, with nationalistic Little Pinks openly celebrating Abe’s death and government censors blocking a cryptic hashtag that could be a reference to public anger at the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s own leaders. The news of Abe’s death following a shooting by a gunman in Nara during an election campaign made it to the front page of the CCP’s official People’s Daily newspaper online edition, but as a fairly small headline below a plethora of stories about CCP leader Xi Jinping. The paper carried a factual news report from state news agency Xinhua in full, with a statement from the foreign ministry wishing Abe recovery as emergency medics tried to save him. However, its Japan channel also carried a Xinhua article about relations with South Korea dated July 6 and titled “From forced labor to ‘comfort women,’ Japan’s human rights misdeeds cannot be denied.” China’s nationalistic Global Times newspaper quoted Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida’s reaction, condemning the “barbaric” attack, and Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian as saying that China was “shocked” by the incident. “After Japan’s announcement of Abe’s death, Chinese Embassy in Japan also mourned Abe’s passing and extended condolences to his family,” the paper said. It quoted “analysts” as saying that “Japanese right-wing forces may use this incident to push forward the trend of conservative transformation in Japanese politics … bringing more security risks to the geopolitics of Northeast Asia.” It quoted Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, as saying that Abe’s death could boost nationalistic sentiment in Japan. “Japanese nationalism is also likely to be further strengthened by the incident,” Da said. “People may have concerns about whether the volume of calls in Japan to return to the path of war will increase further.” This image received from the Asahi Shimbun newspaper shows former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe (C) on the ground after being shot while attending a campaign event at Yamato Saidaiji Station in the city of Nara on July 8, 2022. Credit: Asahi Shimbun via AFP Hateful comments Some online comments reacting to Abe’s death on Chinese social media platforms were nakedly hateful, according to The Great Translation Project Twitter account, which translates and curates social media commentary in China. “The people of Shaanxi extend our warm congratulations to this,” the account translated one comment as saying. Several other comments followed with the exact same wording, but referring to different parts of China. Meanwhile a hashtag #kexibushini, which translates as “a pity it wasn’t you,” but could also be read as hinting at the wording “but Xi it wasn’t you” in a possible reference to CCP leader Xi Jinping, was blocked on social media platforms. One comment read: “These censors seem to know [what we mean] better than we do!” while another replied: “It’s so funny. Everyone knows.” “Someone is likely getting scared in Zhongnanhai,” another comment read, referring to the headquarters of the CCP leadership in Beijing. Abe, 67, was shot from behind minutes after he started his speech in Nara, the Associated Press reported. He was airlifted to a hospital for emergency treatment but was not breathing and his heart had stopped. He was later pronounced dead despite emergency treatment that included massive blood transfusions, the agency quoted hospital officials as saying. Police arrested the suspected gunman at the scene of the attack, while prime minister Fumio Kishida and his cabinet ministers rushed back to Tokyo to respond to what Kishida called a “dastardly and barbaric” attack. Sunday’s parliamentary elections will go ahead as planned, he said. Territorial, historical grievances China and Japan have been at loggerheads over a disputed island chain, visits by Japanese politicians to the Yasukuni shrine, where some Japanese war criminals are interred, and an ongoing war of words over Tokyo’s recognition of past military aggression and human rights abuses in East Asia. In 2012, a tense diplomatic standoff with Japan sparked nationwide protests and anti-Japanese riots over the Senkaku, or Diaoyu, Islands, while China held war drills in waters near Japan after then opposition leader Shinzo Abe visited the controversial Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo which honors Japan’s war dead, including Class A war criminals. The CCP later launched a crackdown on “irrational” forms of nationalism at home, after thousands of people took to the streets in a wave of mass protests in Chinese cities that lasted for several weeks. On the democratic island of Taiwan, where former president Lee Teng-hui was known to have a close relationship with Abe, President Tsai Ing-wen severely condemned the violence of the attack. “Japan … is an important democratic partner of Taiwan … and former prime minister Abe was committed over the long term to deepening friendly ties between Taiwan and Japan,” Tsai said. A similar statement was issued by the office of former president Ma Ying-jeou. Ko Wen-je, chairman of the Taiwan People’s Party, said Abe’s death was “a great loss for Taiwan-Japan relations.” Sadness, praise from Dalai Lama, Cambodia The Dalai Lama wrote to Abe’s widow Akie Abe offering his condolences. “I am deeply saddened to hear that my friend, Mr. Abe Shinzo has passed away following a gunshot attack this morning,” the Tibetan exiled spiritual leader wrote. “I pray for him and offer my condolences to you and members of your family.” “As you know, your late husband was a steadfast friend of the Tibetan people. I very much appreciated his friendship and support of our efforts to preserve our rich Buddhist cultural heritage and identity,” the letter said. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed grief for Abe, who he called a “”a long-time good friend of mine and Cambodia.” “I was extremely shocked and deeply saddened to learn about the passing of His Excellency Abe Shinzo, resulting from the daylight assassination.” Abe, he said, “was an outstanding Japanese…
Junta bid for Russian deal to address Myanmar’s energy shortages faces hurdles
Myanmar’s junta is in talks with Russia to address the country’s fuel and electricity shortages, although inking a deal may be difficult amid Western sanctions and other obstacles, according to observers. A junta delegation attended the June 15-18 International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, that included Myanmar’s ministers of electricity and energy, international cooperation, planning and finance, investment and foreign trade, economy and trade, and the deputy governor of the central bank. According to a June 20 report by the pro-military Myanmar Alin Daily, the delegation met with Russian Minister of Energy Shulginov Nikolay on the sidelines of the forum to discuss energy cooperation. During the meeting, the two sides held talks on Russian oil drilling in Myanmar and the export of oil and petroleum products, as well as the construction of a nuclear power plant, it said. They also discussed the possibility of direct exchanges of currencies between the two countries’ central banks and the purchase of fuel from Russia. In May, the junta announced that Russia would soon begin participating in Myanmar’s energy industry in place of international companies that quit, in response to the exit of three big Asian firms from a gas field in the nation a month earlier, citing commercial reasons. At least one of the three – Japan’s ENEOS – also mentioned Myanmar’s “current situation, including the social issues” as one of the reasons for quitting, referring to human rights excesses by the military that have led to the deaths of at least 2,069 civilians since a Feb. 1, 2021 coup. Speaking to RFA Burmese on condition of anonymity, a businessman with knowledge of Myanmar’s energy sector said that cheaper fuel imports from Russia could reduce the cost of high-priced commodities in the country that are the result of Western sanctions over the takeover and the junta’s subsequent crackdown on its opposition. “If we can buy cheap oil from a country that produces a lot of oil and gas, it’d benefit our energy sector and it’ll be good for energy security,” the businessman said. “I think we might also get a break from the high costs of food and consumer goods.” More than 17 months after the coup, Myanmar is mired in political and economic turmoil, while life is increasingly difficult for average people due to the rising cost of food, as well as regular power and water shortages. Even in Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon, which is home to an estimated 7 million people, sources say power is cut off twice in every 24-hour period, with homes sometimes left dark for six hours each day. Only the capital Naypyidaw, where the country’s military junta is based, has enjoyed uninterrupted electricity since the overthrow of civilian rule. A difficult deal Myanmar-based political analyst Than Soe Naing said the junta is only in the beginning phase of negotiations with Russia to deal with its ongoing energy crisis and will need to overcome several obstacles before moving towards an agreement that will solve its problems. “Cooperation with Russia over a nuclear program is unlikely without China’s support. In addition, the junta, which is facing a foreign exchange crisis, cannot afford to spend money on nuclear energy,” he said. “The main purpose of [the junta attending] this business forum was to seek help as a way to resolve the current oil crisis in Myanmar. I think they are looking for a way to get engine oil and fuel. But it is unlikely that anything more than that would happen.” Than Soe Naing said it will be difficult for Myanmar to secure the help of Russia, which is itself facing sanctions as well as an economic downturn related to its invasion of Ukraine. Amid the sanctions, the Kremlin has been forced to improve relations with countries in the Middle East, as well as China and India, in a bid to find new markets for its oil and natural gas. Myanmar, which has seen its fuel prices skyrocket as a result of Western sanctions, is one prospective buyer of said Russian exports. However, a source in Yangon, who also declined to be named for security reasons, said he doubts that the junta’s claims of cooperation with Russia will end Myanmar’s energy shortages. “The junta has said a lot about many things. For instance, they said they will produce electric cars and electric trains as soon as possible,” said the source, who also has ties to Myanmar’s energy sector. “Nothing has happened since they seized power. In fact, our people see these promises as daydreams.” A car is refueled at a gas station in Yangon, in a file photo. Credit: RFA Seeking fuel imports Sources from Myanmar’s fuel industry have told RFA that companies close to the son and daughter of junta chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing are in the midst of negotiating import deals with Russia, although the claims could not be independently confirmed. RFA contacted Win Myint, secretary of the Myanmar Petroleum Importers and Distributors Association, seeking comment on the junta’s alleged attempts to purchase fuel from Russia, but he declined to discuss the issue. Oil traders say that even if Myanmar, which normally imports through Singapore, could buy fuel at a cheaper price from Russia, the cost of transporting it would essentially negate any discount. Another member of Myanmar’s business community told RFA that, despite ongoing political instability, the junta must find a way to end the country’s energy shortages if it hopes to cling to power. “It is true that there is instability. Global politics are unstable … but people have to go on with their lives. They are struggling to survive. All nations must have food and energy security,” he said. “The Ukraine conflict has been going on for four or five months, while the crisis in our country has continued for more than a year. We cannot stop our lives because of these problems. So we must find a way out.” Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Uyghurs abroad in shock after finding relatives listed in leaked police files
Rabigul Haji Muhammed was stunned to see a former classmate on a leaked list of Uyghurs and other Turkic people detained in internment camps in China’s far-western Xinjiang region. The doctoral student in Turkology at Hacettepe University in Turkey was searching through a trove of classified documents published by a U.S.–based human rights group in May. One of the group’s researchers had been given the information from an anonymous source. Muhammad saw that Nurali Ablet had been detained for “engaging in online propaganda about violence and terrorism.” Ablet majored in the Uyghur language at the Central Nationalities University, also known as Minzu University, in Beijing and graduated in 2015, she said. “I knew him very well from those five years in college. He was a very hard-working and active student at the university,” she told RFA. “People like Nurali are not just images for us, they are living beings like us and everyone else.” Muhammad and other Uyghurs living in exile have scoured the Xinjiang Police Files since the document was first published by the Washington, D.C.-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation on May 24, searching for information about missing relatives or friends, or on the off chance they might know someone who unbeknownst to them had been detained by Chinese authorities. Many say that the abducted Uyghurs are college-educated, law-abiding and working-class –– not “terrorists” in any sense of the word. The extraordinary leak of evidence from internal police networks in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) describes prison-like “re-education” camps and provides fresh evidence of the direct involvement of top Chinese officials’ in the mass internment campaign. The files were analyzed and authenticated by a team led by Adrian Zenz, a researcher at the foundation who is an expert on the region. They were peer-reviewed by scholarly research and investigative teams from several major global media outlets. The documents include clear images and detailed information about camp detainees who were arrested in 2018 in Kashgar Kona Sheher (in Chinese, Shufu) county in Kashgar (Kashi), a southern city in the XUAR. Among the county’s more than 3,700 detainees labeled as “trainees” in Chinese government documents, the youngest is 14 years old, and the oldest is 73. Some photos show police minders wielding batons standing next to the detainees. Previously leaked Chinese government documents contained only the names and identification numbers of some detained Uyghurs. The new information includes photos and more information about their alleged crimes. The documents also describe a “shoot to kill” directive should the trainees try to escape what the Chinese government has called “voluntary vocational training centers” and the Chinese media has described as ordinary places of education. In one of the leaked documents, Chen Quanguo, former Chinese Communist Party secretary of the XUAR, said in a classified speech in May 2017 that if that “if they [trainees] try to escape, shoot them on the spot and report back later.” “The Xinjiang Police Files prove that China’s so-called vocational training centers are really prisons,” said Andrew Bremberg, president and CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, in a statement issued in May. “These documents conclusively demonstrate that Beijing has been lying about its gross human rights violations in Xinjiang,” he said. “The international community must take immediate and concrete action to hold China accountable for these atrocities.” Police guard detainees as they stand in line apparently reciting or singing at the Tekes County Detention Center in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region in an undated photo. Credit: AFP/The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation ‘Revelations are very disturbing’ The police files were obtained by a third party through hacking into computer systems operated by the Public Security Bureau in Kashgar Kona Sheher country and in Tekes (Tekesi) county in Ili (Yili) Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. Both areas are dominated by Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups. Zenz authenticated the documents in a peer-reviewed academic paper published in the Journal of the European Association for Chinese Studies and in a second paper published in the online magazine China File. “These findings are significant because they provide us with frank policy implementation directives along with the thought processes and intentions that made them a reality,” Zenz said in the statement. “This gives an unprecedented look into the personal attitudes of Chinese authorities and the personal involvement of [Chinese President] Xi Jinping,” he said. “Documents with this kind of insight have never before been published and their revelations are very disturbing.” The leaker, who managed to access some of the encrypted material, attached no conditions to the provision or publication of the documents, though the person requested anonymity due to safety concerns. According to the files, Tajigul Tahir’s son was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2017 for being a “non-alcoholic and non-smoker” — signs, according to authorities, of his extremism. The 60-year-old woman was later arrested herself because she was the mother of an imprisoned Uyghur. Abdurrahman Qasim, a Uyghur based in Turkey, said he found the name of his former cellmate, Mehmutjan Nasir, in the leaked documents. They were in detention together in Hotan (Hetian), another city in southern Xinjiang, but met each other previously in Hotan when Nasir was a student at the Hotan Uyghur Medical College. Authorities detained Nasir in 2010 for communicating with people who prayed. A few years earlier, he had posted his Chinese national identification card on WeChat, a Chinese instant messaging social media app, of which Qasim took a screenshot. Qasim said he was able to find Nasir’s ID details when the files were published. “I searched the images in the files for people I know or any relative who might be among the images, and after looking at more than 1,000 images, I found Mehmutjan Nasir who was my cellmate in Hotan from late 2010 to early 2011,” Qasim said. “I was very saddened to find him on the detained Uyghurs’ list.” At least 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities are believed to have been held in…
Xian under seven-day lockdown amid surge in COVID-19 cases across eastern China
Authorities across China have stepped up mass testing and COVID-19 restrictions as cases continued to surge in major cities. Millions stood in line in Shanghai to get tested on Thursday, as the local authorities said they had traced a renewed outbreak to an underground karaoke parlor, with residents of several districts ordered to take two PCR tests between Tuesday and Thursday. Rapid self-tests are already mandatory to enter shopping malls or to use public transportation, while dozens of residential compounds were under lockdown. Meanwhile, authorities in the northern city of Xian have imposed a seven-day lockdown from Wednesday, with the growing raft of zero-COVID restrictions already having an impact on supply chains. Schools, restaurants and entertainment venues will be closed for seven days, including libraries, cultural venues and other indoor public places. The health code tracker app will be used to ensure anyone entering other public places like supermarkets or restaurants for takeout has a green code denoting a negative PCR test from the past 48 hours. “Now there are people infected in every district, so starting yesterday (Tuesday), everyone has to test twice over three days,” a Shanghai resident surnamed Wu told RFA. “Residents are allowed to go out, but you can’t get into hospitals, supermarkets or other stores without a code showing a PCR test in the past 48 hours.” In Wuxi city, Jiangsu province, authorities are also scrambling to prevent further community transmission after reporting 172 newly confirmed cases. A health worker takes a swab sample from a child to be tested for the Covid-19 coronavirus in Sixian county, Suzhou city, in China’s eastern Anhui province, July 4, 2022. Credit: AFP Supply concerns A resident of Wuxi surnamed Shen said that a number of factories are now operating in “closed-loop” bubbles, meaning that some supplies were unable to get through. “Many people are worried that supply chains will be disrupted again,” Shen said. Since June 26, 13 cities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui have reported outbreaks of cases totaling more than 1,000. Constitutional scholar Zhang Lifan posted video clips to his Twitter account on Wednesday showing a gathering of people and police at the Beijing Institute of Technology, in protest at current COVID-19 restrictions on campus. An employee who answered the phone at the university on Tuesday declined to comment when contacted by RFA. “Protest? Who is this?” the employee said, before hanging up the phone. Zhang said strict controls on people entering and leaving the campus had prompted the protest after the school authorities required anyone passing through a checkpoint at the gate to give a day’s notice of their movements. A lecturer surnamed Zhou said staff could use the “normal channels” to complain about school policies. “I will listen to your suggestions at any time,” Zhou said. “We have a meeting this afternoon, and we are willing to listen.” “I would like to take public opinion into account, but some people think one thing, and the rest another; it’s all different,” he said. A 93-year-old man who was beaten up by police after he tried to get a PCR test certificate to attend a hospital appointment lies in bed explaining the incident to neighbors in the northeastern city of Dandong. The man later took his life. Credit: Citizen journalist. Police beating followed by suicide Meanwhile, residents of the northeastern city of Dandong were left reeling after the suicide of a 93-year-old man who was beaten up by police after he tried to get a PCR test certificate to attend a hospital appointment. Police beat him after he started to drop his pants to show them his hernia, then lost his grip, leading to what the police said was “indecent behavior.” Wuhan-based activist Zhang Hai, who has campaigned for compensation after losing his father to COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic, said the treatment of the old man was unacceptable. “This 93-year-old man just wanted to see a doctor, and he was a bit slow and unsteady,” Zhang said. “Instead of treating him like an old man, they handcuffed him, and beat him up.” He said such police violence is very common in China. “When they beat someone, they call it law enforcement, but if people fight back, that’s assaulting a police officer,” Zhang said. “Police should be held legally responsible for beating people.” Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Hong Kong loses international luster as its sanctioned government calls for rebrand
Authorities in Hong Kong Thursday suspended flight bans on specific routes and boosted COVID-19 testing requirements for newly arrived passengers, in an apparent bid to send a message that it remains an international city despite U.S. sanctions on its leader John Lee. Since being sworn in by ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping on July 1, Lee has called on people to tell the rest of the world about Hong Kong’s “stories and achievements,” echoing Xi’s call for state media to “tell good stories about China.” But critics pointed to a lack of space in mandatory government quarantine facilities and a plummeting international reputation on human rights and freedoms, both of which will likely hamper Lee’s efforts to rebrand Hong Kong. “Further enhanced and more frequent [PCR] testing for inbound persons is more effective in halting the importation of cases,” the government said in a statement. “[We have] has therefore decided to suspend … the route-specific flight suspension mechanism until further notice.” Earlier, Lee had urged members of the city’s Legislative Council (LegCo) and media to “tell others about Hong Kong’s stories and achievements.” “This will create a sense of identity, including an international identity, and everyone will feel proud to be from Hong Kong,” Lee said, adding: “We have to work together to build this awareness.” A EuroCham survey found in March 2022 that 25 percent of companies that responded to its poll had said they will “fully relocate” out of the city during the next 12 months, citing highly restrictive COVID-19 measures. More than 50 percent said they were having trouble attracting talent from overseas, the survey said. Police gather in the Wanchai district of Hong Kong on June 29, 2022, close to where celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China took place on July 1. Credit: AFP Sanctions for crackdown But Hong Kong’s international image is also being marred by the fact that Lee and many of his senior officials are subject to U.S. sanctions as individuals deemed responsible by Washington for implementing a draconian national security law, that ushered in a citywide crackdown on political opposition and peaceful dissent in the wake of the 2019 protest movement. Hong Kong current affairs commentator Chung Kim-wah said Lee will find it hard to leave Hong Kong, as any company — including banks and credit card companies — with a presence in the U.S. is now proscribed from doing business with him. “He has been sanctioned, so it’s hard for him to leave Hong Kong,” Chung told RFA. “He can only use cash, so how can he tell a good story about Hong Kong?” “It doesn’t matter how well he tells it; there are so many places he can’t actually get to … [including] important trading partners of Hong Kong, places where he might go to attract investors,” he said. Nearly all of Lee’s predecessors since the job was created with the 1997 handover, including shipping magnate Tung Chee-hwa, former financial chief Donald Tsang and pro-Beijing stalwart Leung Chun-ying, made sure that their first overseas trip after taking office was to Washington, where they tried to boost trade and economic ties with the U.S. But key members of Lee’s cabinet, including second-in-command Paul Chan and security chief Chris Tang, are themselves the targets of U.S. sanctions for their part in the suppression of Hong Kong’s promised rights and freedoms. The city’s human rights record will also be up for review at the United Nations from July 7-12, inviting further public scrutiny of the impact of the national security crackdown on the city’s seven million people. The bid to “talk about stories and achievements” is also part of an ongoing attempt by the authorities to erase collective memory of the city’s former freedoms and once vibrant political life, which once included one of the freest media sectors in the world. “[The handover anniversary on] July 1 always used to mean a demonstration, because there was nothing to celebrate about the return of Hong Kong [to Chinese rule],” former Polytechnic University social science lecturer Lake Lui, now based on the democratic island of Taiwan, told RFA. “There was always a march, from 2003 onwards. The first, back when I was in college, was in protest against [national security legislation],” Lui said. “Later, it was to fight for fully democratic elections.” People waving goodbye as a family makes their way through the departure gates of Hong Kong’s International Airport, July 22, 2021. Credit: AFP Net outflow of emigrants The people of Hong Kong may still be marching, but this time away from their beloved city. Immigration statistics for the first three months of 2022 showed a net outflow of more than 140,000 people from Hong Kong, far exceeding the number of arrivals. A Chinese University of Hong Kong poll last year found that nearly 60 percent of 800 respondents aged 15 to 30 wanted to leave the city. Wang Ssi-yue chose to study in Hong Kong after graduating from high school in 2011. “I probably wouldn’t choose to study or work in Hong Kong if [I were graduating] now,” she said. “There’s too much that’s unstable about living there, and a sense that it could be risky.” She remembers the city as being far freer than it is now. “There was no sense of self-censorship, even on sensitive topics. People would just joke about it,” Wang said. “[We felt] nothing would happen to us because it was Hong Kong.” “I didn’t expect that to end so abruptly,” she said. “It’s really scary; it’s like watching a city die.” Waning confidence Former Hong Kong Baptist University sociology professor Yao-Tai Li agreed. “Since the national security law was implemented, people have less and less confidence in Hong Kong as an international city,” Li said. “Many of my former colleagues in academic and financial circles have now left.” “Hong Kong is slowing losing what once made it unique, which was the intersection of…
FBI and MI5 team up to warn of the risks of Chinese hackers and spies
In an unprecedented joint appearance Wednesday, the heads of U.S. and U.K. security agencies warned about China’s hacking and economic espionage, which they called “the most game-changing challenge we face.” FBI director Christopher Wray in a speech delivered at the London headquarters of MI5, the British domestic intelligence service, said “it’s the Chinese government that poses the biggest long-term threat to our economic and national security.” He added that Beijing was “set on stealing your technology, whatever it is that makes your industry tick, and using it to undercut your business and dominate your market.” MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said that his agency “has already more than doubled” the effort against Chinese activity of concern in the last three years. “Today we’re running seven times as many investigations as we were in 2018,” he said, adding that MI5 plans “to grow as much again” to counter threats by China. “The Chinese Communist Party is interested in our democratic, media and legal systems. Not to emulate them, sadly, but to use them for its gain,” said the MI5 head. This joint appearance by the two agencies’ heads is seen as a show of Western solidarity and, as Wray put it, “FBI and MI5 are united in this fight.” McCallum meanwhile said: “Today is the first time the heads of the FBI and MI5 have shared a public platform. We’re doing so to send the clearest signal we can on a massive shared challenge: China.” ‘Immense threat’ “Such a joint appearance, focused on the activities of one country, is highly unusual,” said Matthew Brazil, Fellow at the Jamestown Foundation and co-author of the book “Chinese Communist Espionage’. “It indicates that London and Washington think their business communities are insufficiently aware, or even negligent, of technology theft by Beijing’s security services,” said Brazil, who also serves as China analyst for Washington D.C.-based firm BluePath Lab. “This is not hyperbole. The 2021 annual survey of members by the U.S.-China Business Council indicate that American firms may be worried about the bilateral relationship, but they are still making money in China,” he said. The China analyst warned there is a systemic problem with corporations seeking short-term returns and some high-tech businesses being “more focused on being a generation ahead of competitors than losing last year’s technology to a foreign government.” In his remarks to business leaders in Thames House, London, Christopher Wray, who spent 12 years in the private sector, called the threat by China “immense” and “a far more complex and pervasive threat to businesses than even most sophisticated company leaders realize.” “Where we see some companies stumble is in thinking that by attending to one, or a couple, of these dangers, they’ve got the whole Chinese government danger covered—when really, China just pivots to the remaining door left unattended,” the FBI boss said. The FBI and MI5 leaders gave a number of examples of Chinese economic espionage, with Ken McCallum warning that “privileged information is gathered on multiple channels, in what is sometimes referred to as the ‘thousand grains of sand’ strategy.” China’s ambition “The aim here is not to cut off from China – one fifth of humanity, with immense talent,” the MI5 head said. “We’re not talking about Chinese people,” he said, adding that his agency is focused on the Chinese Communist Party and certain parts of the Chinese State, whose “scale of ambition is huge.” The FBI’s Wray was more direct when he said that the Chinese government is “using intimidation and repression to shape the world to be more accommodating to China’s campaign of theft.” “The Chinese Government sees cyber as the pathway to cheat and steal on a massive scale,” he said, adding that China’s “lavishly resourced” hacking program is bigger than that of every other major country combined. The Chinese government has yet to respond but a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington rejected the allegations given in the joint address. Liu Pengyu said in an emailed statement to the Associated Press that China “firmly opposes and combats all forms of cyber-attacks” and called the accusations groundless. Christopher Wray warned about the possibility that China may try to forcibly take over Taiwan, saying “it would represent one of the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen.” The intelligence chiefs called for more cooperation to counter imminent threats. The U.K. has shared intelligence about cyber threats with 37 countries, according to MI5’s McCallum who said that security alliances such as the Five Eyes comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States “remain at the heart of our response.”
Vietnam criticizes Facebook for not removing “malicious news”
Vietnam’s government has hit out at Facebook, accusing owners Meta Platforms of ignoring calls for it to block posts containing content considered “malicious” in the country. The government considers any comments that criticize the ruling communist party or the government as “malicious” along with content that incites violence. There are around 70 million Facebook users in Vietnam. The platform was singled out by Luu Dinh Phuc, Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information at the Ministry of Information and Communications. Speaking at a workshop last week on activities in the field of electronic information in the first six months of the year Phuc said “Some foreign enterprises providing cross-border services to Vietnam still find ways to avoid preventing malicious information in Vietnam, typically its Facebook.” Social media companies bow to government calls to remove posts VietNamNet’s ictnews website said on March 29 that foreign social networking platforms including Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok removed thousands of posts with allegedly malicious content that slandered the Vietnamese Party and State in the first three months of this year. The figures, supplied by Vietnamese authorities, showed that the social media companies took down all but 10% of the posts objected to by the government. The figures also showed that Alphabet’s Google removed 2,679 videos identified as breaking the law on its YouTube platform with a removal/blocking rate of 93%. ByteDance’s short form video site TikTok removed or blocked 71 videos, or 87% of the total. Facebook removed 5% fewer posts than in the same period last year and Google’s removal rate dropped by 3%. Nguyen Ngoc Truong, the former president of the Center for Strategic Studies and International Relations Development (CSSD), told RFA he didn’t believe government censors were being too heavy handed. “I find social media in Vietnam very good, compared with China and Russia. Here there is freedom and comfortable access. There are no restrictions with the exception of a few sensitive areas,” he said. When RFA asked Nguyen for his views on the blocking of some foreign news sites in Vietnam he said it made sense to censor sensitive material but in general “there are things that are not worth interfering with,” adding that sometimes authorities can be too sensitive when dealing with foreign news sources. Hanoi-based teacher Tran Thi Thao, who often criticizes the regime and government officials on Facebook, told RFA that in May one of her articles was restricted by the platform due to what it called a “legal requirement.” She said on another occasion her post was moved to a lower position on the news feed for nearly a month. Thao said she believed that Facebook was still complying with requests to block news considered critical of the communist party and the government. The seventh largest Facebook user base in the world Figures from the World Population Review website show that Vietnam had the seventh highest number of Facebook users in the world in 2020 and 2021, which may explain why Facebook responds favorably to government censorship requests. Last October the Washington Post reported that Facebook co-founder and Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally signed a commitment with the Vietnamese Government to limit posts on the social network that are considered “anti-state,” because he didn’t want to be shut out of one of the most important social media markets in Asia. Not all Vietnamese Facebook users are critical of the site’s policies. Hanoi-based civil activist Do The Dang, who writes and share articles related to many issues in Vietnam, said he had been using Facebook for more than 10 years and had never been suspended. RFA emailed Meta’s California headquarters to ask for its response to the Vietnamese government’s criticism but did not receive a reply. The company’s Transparency Center page says “Meta responds to government requests for data in accordance with applicable law and our terms of service. Each and every request we receive is carefully reviewed for legal sufficiency and we may reject or require greater specificity on requests that appear overly broad or vague.” In its section on Vietnam the Transparency Center said it had received six requests from the Vietnamese government to delete Facebook posts in the second half of last year and removed two of them. In the first half of the year it received three requests and removed one post.
