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Category: East Asia
North Korea ends COVID-19 travel restrictions as ‘fever cases’ subside
North Korea has lifted COVID-19 travel restrictions nationwide, a sign the government may soon claim victory over the coronavirus pandemic, RFA has learned. After two years of denying the virus had penetrated its closed borders, North Korea in May acknowledged COVID had begun to spread among participants of a large-scale military parade the previous month and declared a “maximum emergency” to fight the disease. As part of its response, the government restricted movement between provinces and prohibited large gatherings. But now, after a partial lifting of the travel ban in late May, North Korea ended the limitations completely on June 12, a source from the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “Residents are able to travel to other provinces and even to the capital city, Pyongyang,” the source said. “The new order from the National Emergency Quarantine Command was given to residents of each neighborhood in Pohang district.” Each neighborhood watch unit held meetings to explain the policy change to residents, the source said. “They have been unable to travel outside the provincial borders with only the partial lifting of restrictions, so they welcome the news,” he said. “It is especially great news for merchants who rely on long-distance travel between provinces for their businesses. “But even if the restrictions are completely ended, there is still a separate procedure that requires travelers to carry a COVID-19 test certificate issued by the quarantine command. We can get a travel pass only if we have the test certificate,” he said. North Korea requires passes for travel between provinces even under normal circumstances. Residents with mobile phones can access test certificates through a smartphone app, a resident of the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA. Others must travel to receive a paper copy. “In rural areas such as Pakchon county, you have to visit the town quarantine center, which is miles away, to get a COVID-19 test certificate,” the second source said. “If a resident who wants to get a test certificate does not have a mobile phone, it is inconvenient.” But she agreed that most residents are happy the restrictions are ending. “Now they hope that the residents will have their livelihoods restored as soon as possible, but also by lifting the blockade of the border with China,” she said. After briefly restarting rail freight shipments from China earlier this year, new outbreaks in China forced Beijing and Pyongyang to suspend trade again. Aside from the short respite, trade has been suspended since the beginning of the pandemic in January 2020, with disastrous effects on the North Korean economy. The first source said that not all residents were overjoyed at the lifted restrictions, believing that the government had an underlying and unsaid motive. “There are speculations that restrictions were lifted in order to mobilize the residents,” the first source said, referring to the government practice of forcing residents to provide free labor for construction, farming and other government projects. “The COVID-19 lockdown restricted mobilizations on national construction projects and on rice planting duties,” he said. Nevertheless, the government has been saying that it is the leadership of Kim Jong Un that has eradicated the coronavirus, the second source said. Sources told RFA that North Korean traders and their Chinese counterparts are preparing to resume trade quickly once the Sino-Korean border reopens. They anticipate that cross-border trade will resume once coronavirus case numbers subside. German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported Monday, citing North Korea experts and South Korean government sources, that North Korean authorities were preparing to declare victory over COVID-19 and give the credit to Kim Jong Un. The North Korean government has only reported a handful of confirmed COVID-19 cases, but it has been tracking fever symptoms since the beginning of the maximum emergency. According to data published by the state-run Korea Central News Agency, more than 4.67 million people have come down with fever, at least 99.4 percent of whom have made full recoveries. Translated by Claire Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Experts raise concern about implementation of US law on Uyghur forced labor
A U.S. law that bans the importation of products from Xinjiang in China in response to allegations that Uyghurs in the region are being used as forced labor took effect this week, but the tough new prohibitions could prove difficult to enforce, experts said Wednesday. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) created what is referred to as a “rebuttable presumption” that assumes goods made in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are produced with forced labor and thus banned under the U.S. 1930 Tariff Act. The law requires U.S. companies that import goods from the region to prove that they have not been manufactured at any stage with Uyghur forced labor. In previous U.S. investigations of imports from China, cotton used in major clothing brands, tomatoes and polysilicon for solar panels have been linked to forced labor in the XUAR. The U.S. and several Western parliaments have said that China’s action in Xinjiang constitute a genocide and crimes against humanity. China denies that it has persecuted Uyghurs or other ethnic minority groups in the region. The new forced labor law passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress and was signed into law by President Biden on Dec. 23, 2021. But Douglas Barry, vice president of communications and publications for the U.S.-China Business Council, said the law is unclear about how companies can definitively prove that no forced labor was involved in the goods they import from China. Several Chinese companies are already on the U.S. government’s Entity List, which forbids American firms from doing business with them unless they obtain special licenses, Barry said. Beyond that, the UFLPA places the onus on the U.S. firms to provide evidence that no forced labor was involved in the production of imported goods. “That’s a challenge because of the lack of independent third party auditors on the ground in China,” he said. “At the end of the day our member companies are fanatical about working in their supply chains to make sure there is no forced labor involved,” he said. “We hope that when enforcement issues arise in the coming days, the government agencies will work with the business community to resolve the issue as quickly as possible adjusting enforcement of tactics as the facts on the ground require.” ‘Challenging but doable’ Jessica Rifkin, an attorney who leads the customs, trade and litigation team at Benjamin L. England & Associates, said that exporters could get around the law by shipping their products to another country before they arrive in the U.S. “[Y]ou have a good that’s subject to certain legal requirements based on its manufacture in one country, but then is shipped to another country, and then shipped through there to the U.S. in order to potentially evade those requirements,” she said. These types of transactions could still happen under the new law, although Rifkin said that U.S. customs officials have ways to identify those goods. U.S. companies could also divide their supply chains to get around the new requirement, presenting a major challenge to enforcement, said Peter Irwin, senior program officer for advocacy and communications at the Washington, D.C.-based Uyghur Human Rights Project. “You have one supply chain that is for the U.S. market to comply with the law, and then maybe they’ll bifurcate their supply chain and have another supply chain that doesn’t necessarily need to follow this law,” he told RFA. Since 2017, Chinese authorities have allegedly ramped up their repression of predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in the XUAR, detaining up to 1.8 million members of these groups in internment camps. The maltreatment also includes severe human rights abuses, torture and forced labor. Sophie Richardson, China director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, said the law’s implementation will be difficult but not impossible. “Some of the most complex challenges may be for companies that have, for example, taken a semi-finished product and sent it to the Uyghur region for finishing, and then sent it someplace else, and then sent it on into the United States,” she said. “Tracking the actual trajectory of the full supply chain is going to be challenging, but it is doable,” Richardson added. “Over time, hopefully what will happen is that companies will be do a better job of keeping records and sharing information about how things were produced and how they reached the U.S.” Holding China to account Rushan Abbas, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign for Uyghurs, said called U.S. Customs and Border Protection should release data about any violations to the new law it finds. “Data should be released on the Customs and Border Protection’s website on a regular basis about the goods it holds, re-exports, excludes, and seizes, including information on the company importing the banned goods, their nature, value, and why the action was taken,” Abbas said in a statement issued on Wednesday. At a regular news conference in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called the allegations of forced labor in the XUAR “a huge lie made up by anti-China forces to denigrate China.” “It is the complete opposite of the reality Xinjiang, where cotton and other industries rely on large-scale mechanized production and the rights of workers of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are duly protected,” he said. “The U.S.’s Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is built on a lie and designed to impose sanctions on relevant entities and individuals in Xinjiang,” said Wang. “This move is the furtherance of that lie and an escalation of U.S. suppression on China under the pretext of human rights. Moreover, the act is solid evidence of U.S.’s arbitrariness in undermining international economic and trade rules and global industrial and supply chains.” The U.S. government has taken measures to promote accountability in the XUAR, including visa restrictions, financial sanctions, export controls and import restrictions, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Wednesday. In July 2021, multiple U.S. agencies released an updated business advisory on Xinjiang warning of the legal risks…
Protest in Malawi over Chinese video showing children saying anti-Black racial slur
Civic groups in Lilongwe, Malawi, marched in protest over the actions of Chinese national Lu Ke, who was arrested by Zambian authorities after filming a racist video involving local children, calling for him to be tried in the country rather than sent back to China, the Nyasa Times reported on Wednesday. Protesters from the University of Malawi Child Rights Legal Clinic and other civil society organizations also called for compensation and psychological support for the children exploited by Lu and made to say racist things about themselves in Chinese, the paper said. The Maravi Post cited clinic supervisor Garton Kamchedzera as saying that Lu’s treatment of the children was in breach of the Malawian constitution. The group said it would also deliver a petition to the Chinese embassy. The paper said Lu had been “using violence to force the children say the phrases he wanted.” Lu fled the country after being outed by BBC journalist Runako Celina as the maker of a video in which children from Lilongwe’s Njerwa village said “I am a black ghost. I have a low IQ” to camera. The phrase “black ghost” is considered the Chinese equivalent of the N-word. Lu’s video was far from being a one-off. Celina’s documentary also uncovered a lucrative industry in short videos featuring Africans. “There’s something inherently sinister in swanning into a village somewhere in Africa, tossing a few coins at people less privileged than you and being able to instruct them to do whatever you want,” Celina wrote in an article on the BBC website after the documentary aired. “If the price (or pay off) is high enough, or the sense of humor crude enough the possibilities are endless.” “It’s this exact boundless freedom, plus a deeply ingrained racist ideology that has made an online Chinese industry I’ve spent the last year investigating possible,” she wrote. A social media post with a commenter in blackface supporting anti-black racist commenters. Weibo. Anti-Black racism remains uncensored Immigration authorities in Zambia confirmed they had arrested Lu on June 21. Ghanaian YouTuber Wode Maya told the Black Livity China podcast that the Chinese term “heigui,” or “black ghost,” is equivalent to the N-word in English. Guests told the show that anti-Black racism remains largely uncensored on China’s tightly controlled internet, and that the video was part of a lucrative industry exploiting African adults and children with custom-made greetings videos. Not everyone in China likes the videos, which have been sold on online stores, but many believe they are a harmless and fun way to send a novelty greeting, while others see anti-Black racism as a function of Chinese colonial power in Africa, according to views expressed on the podcast and on social media. One video resulting from a keyword search on Wednesday showed young black men dressed in coordinated clothing, performing to camera to cheer up residents of Shanghai during the grueling COVID-19 lockdown in April. Another showed black children dressed in red holding flowers and chalk boards with birthday messages for a Chinese woman called “Xingxing.” The Malawian Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has called on the Chinese embassy in Malawi to apologize to black Malawians over the racist video filmed by Chinese national Lu Ke, and called for an immigration sweep for Chinese nationals who remain illegally in the country. “CDEDI is hereby challenging both the Malawi and the Chinese governments to treat this matter with the urgency and seriousness it deserves,” Namiwa said in a June 17 statement posted to the group’s website. A screenshot of the Chinese embassy statement on Twitter on June 13 that it had “noted with great concern” the findings of the BBC documentary Racism for Sale. ‘Zero tolerance’ “It should be emphasized that any attempts to downplay the issue or help the suspect to beat the long arm of the law will only succeed in stirring avoidable actions with far-reaching consequences,” Namiwa said, but said the group didn’t want anyone targeting the Chinese community for retaliation as a whole. “Since the matter also borders on aspects of profit-making, CDEDI is urging the relevant authorities to ensure that survivors of the exploitative filming should benefit by way of compensation,” it said. The Chinese embassy said via Twitter on June 13 that it had “noted with great concern” the findings of the BBC documentary Racism for Sale. “We strongly condemn racism in any form, by anyone or happening anywhere,” it said. “We also noted that the video was shot in 2020. It shall be stressed that Chinese government has zero tolerance for racism.” It added on June 17: “We demand internet & social media platforms to strictly prohibit the dissemination of all racist contents.” The BBC documentary found that two Douyin accounts were sharing the video in question, along with other anti-Black racist content, and that Lu had bribed the kids with food and candy to take part in the shoot. Shih Yi-hsiang of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights said China’s response to the incident was inadequate. “The Chinese government is condemning this matter and also saying that China has zero tolerance for racism, which is ridiculous, because what the Chinese regime has done to Tibetans [and] Uyghurs … for a long time is seriously racist,” Shih said. “What we actually see behind [these words] is exploitation and oppression,” Shih said. “Chinese people are abusing these kids.” Shih called for further investigation into the exploitation of African children by Chinese content creators. Blackface on CCTV Taiwan strategic analyst Shih Chien-yu cited the use of blackface on the CCTV Lunar New Year TV gala, as well as costumes associating black people with monkeys. Chinese people go to Africa to shoot these videos to make money, rationalize racism, which is clearly colonialism with Chinese characteristics, Shih Chien-yu said. “They believe that the local people are poor and they will be obedient if you give them some small benefits,” Shih said. “We see the 19th century colonial mentality being replicated in 21st century China.” Gong Yujian, a Chinese dissident now living in democratic Taiwan, said…
80,000 tons of Chinese diplomacy
China has launched a third aircraft carrier, a Type 003 christened the Fujian, firming up its place in an elite group of countries led by the United States that are able to deploy huge seaborne military airports. The Fujian–which follows the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s Liaoning carrier in 2012 and the Shandong in 2019–will “enhance the ability to safeguard world peace,” said a Chinese Embassy spokesman in Washington. Taiwan, which has come under intense Chinese political and military pressure aimed at unifying the island with the mainland, views the vessel differently than Beijing.
Mes Aynak Threatened By Chinese Copper Mines
Mes Aynak Threatened By Chinese Copper Mines Mes Aynak (meaning “little source of copper“), also called Mis Ainak or Mis-e-Ainak, was a major Buddhist settlement 40 km (25 mi) southeast of Kabul, Afghanistan, located in a region of Logar Province. The site is also the location of Afghanistan’s largest copper deposit. Located at the confluence of Hellenistic and Indian cultures, Mes Aynak near Kabul was once a vast city organised around the extraction and trade of copper. The site of Mes Aynak possesses a vast 40 ha (100 acres) complex of Buddhist monasteries, homes, over 400 Buddha statues, stupas and market areas. The site contains artifacts recovered from the Bronze Age, and some of the artifacts recovered have dated back over 3000 years. As its name suggests, the presence of copper at Mes Aynak has been known about for some time, while the site’s archaeological wealth had been discovered by Russian and Afghan geologists in 1973–74. Mes Aynak was at the peak of its prosperity between the 5th and 7th centuries AD. A period of slow decline began in the 8th Century, and the settlement was finally abandoned 200 years later. Archaeologists believe that Mes Aynak is a major historical heritage site. But the need for the Taliban, who returned to power in August last year, to find new revenue streams after international aid was frozen has made mining the project a priority, and could put an end to further archaeological work. In November 2007, a 30-year lease was granted for the copper mine to the China Metallurgical Group (MCC) for US$3 billion. Fifteen years later, the mine still does not exist — insecurity and disagreements between Beijing and Kabul over financial terms of the contract have caused delays. The project is once again a priority for both parties. All of this historical material is in imminent danger of destruction by the mining endeavor. Many experts are comparing the Chinese mining company to those who destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Despite the imminent danger, negotiations between Afghanistan’s new Taliban government and China’s state-owned MCC and its publicly listed subsidiary Metallurgical Corp. of China are underway over the resumption of mining activity at the Mes Aynak Logar copper project. The discussions are about “80% finished“, says the Taliban spokesman, with only technical points remaining to be settled, which should be done soon. The Taliban are demanding that the contract, which includes the construction of a power station to supply the mine and Kabul, and a railroad to Pakistan, be respected. They also insist that the copper be processed locally with an Afghan workforce. China, whose economy is in dire need of copper, is reluctant to meet these demands. MCC, which did not respond to AFP, also continues to demand a reduction in royalties due. When it was last in power the Taliban shocked the world by dynamiting the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan in March 2001, but today they say they are determined to preserve the findings of Mes Aynak. “It is the duty of the Ministry of Information and Culture to protect them,” Esmatullah Burhan, the spokesman for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, told AFP. But while the rhetoric seems sincere, many of the remains are simply too bulky or fragile to be moved and seem destined to disappear. The Chinese favors open-pit rather than underground mining. If this goes ahead, it would open up the copper mountain and bury all the fragments of the past. The Taliban hope to earn more than $300 million a year from Mes Aynak. This is about 60% of the full state budget for 2022. Therefore, it wants to speed up the process undermining the environmental consequences and cultural values attached with the place. Mes Aynak would qualify as a World Heritage site if the government of Afghanistan were to apply for that status. This is an outstanding and complex archaeological landscape, with astounding quality of preservation. archaeologist and UNESCO advisor Tim Williams in 2017 So instead of destroying a potential UNESCO World Heritage Site with emotional and cultural connect of the Buddhist World, it should be preserved as a Buddhist Civilizational Wonder of the world.
Unvaccinated North Korean soldiers told to use saltwater, mugwort smoke when sick
With a shortage of vaccines in North Korea, the government is telling unvaccinated soldiers to rely on unproven folk remedies if they come down with coronavirus symptoms, sources in the country told RFA. North Korea has been importing Chinese vaccines for use among the military and has held widely publicized vaccination campaigns involving soldiers. But not every member of the military has been fortunate enough to receive the so-called “potion of love” from the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un. Instead, they have been told to turn to unproven folk remedies if they get sick. “Fever continues to emerge among soldiers who could not be vaccinated due to a lack of vaccines,” a resident of South Hwanghae province, on the peninsula’s western coast, told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “Military authorities are recommending folk remedies such as indoor disinfection using mugwort smoke and gargling with salt water,” she said. According to the source, only soldiers working off base were vaccinated due to an insufficient amount of vaccine inventory imported from China. “The vaccinations were limited to the soldiers of the military police squadron who perform crackdowns against other soldiers, the communication battalion, the divisional medical office, and the rear support battalion. Even so, soldiers within those units who are on ordinary guard duty, are known to have been excluded from the vaccination,” she said. “Unvaccinated troops and soldiers were excluded from rural support or community service. Last year, soldiers helped rice planting and harvesting at a nearby farm. But, this spring, the authorities banned the unit from rural support activities due to fear of the spread of COVID-19,” said the source. In North Hamgyong province, in the country’s northeast, only the coast guard, the military police and staff of military hospitals are vaccinated, a resident there told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely. “The military authorities are designating units and soldiers to be vaccinated separately as there is a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines. Only officers and soldiers who have been vaccinated are permitted to engage in outside activities,” the second source said. “Most soldiers who did not get vaccinated were instructed not to leave the barracks and to prevent COVID-19 with folk remedies such as mugwort smoke disinfection and gargling salt water,” she said. Soldiers tending two salmon farms, one of which Kim Jong Un once visited to provide guidance on its operations, were also excluded from vaccination, according to the source. Places visited by the country’s leaders are usually given special considerations long after the trip, so it is somewhat surprising that the fish-raising soldiers did not receive vaccines. “There are complaints within the military over what authorities have implemented. The authorities have declared a national emergency and even implemented nationwide lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but they have failed to secure enough COVID-19 vaccines,” said the second source. “Very few soldiers have been vaccinated. However, some soldiers are rather fortunate in that they were not mobilized for rural support labor because they are not vaccinated,” she said. RFA reported in May that the North Korean government began a vaccination campaign for soldiers working on a high-priority construction project in Pyongyang. The event was filmed and used as propaganda, complete with soldiers weeping at receiving Kim Jong Un’s “Immortal Potion of Love.” Citizens who saw the propaganda complained that the government only secured enough vaccines for the military, not for the general public. After two years of denying the pandemic had penetrated its closed borders, North Korea in May declared a “maximum emergency” and acknowledged the virus had begun to spread among participants of a large-scale military parade the previous month. Though North Korea has not been tracking confirmed coronavirus cases, possibly due to lack of testing equipment, state media has been publishing daily figures of people who report fever symptoms. As of Monday, 4.65 million people have come down with fever, nearly 99.4 percent of whom have recovered, according to data published by the state run Korea Central News Agency. Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Number of Chinese nationals seeking asylum grows tenfold under Xi Jinping
The number of Chinese nationals seeking political asylum overseas has skyrocketed under ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping, according to a recent report. Figures released by the United Nations’ refugee agency UNHCR showed that while around 12,000 Chinese nationals sought asylum overseas in 2012, the year that Xi took office as CCP general secretary, that number had rising to nearly 120,000 by 2021. “Year by year since Xi Jinping came to power, in lockstep with a more oppressive system of governance, the number of asylum-seekers from China has continued to grow at an alarming rate,” the overseas-based rights group Safeguard Defenders reported on its website. “In 2020, and now with new figures just released for 2021, it shows continued growth despite COVID restrictions,” it said. In total, around 730,000 Chinese nationals have sought asylum since 2012, with more than 170,000 living outside China under refugee status, the report said. “Seeking asylum is for many a desperate act, reserved for those with few other options, which does not apply to the great many Chinese who have moved, and continue to do so, to the U.S, Australia, and beyond, often via naturalization, work visas or property purchases,” Safeguard Defenders said. The U.S. remains the most popular destination, accepting 88,722 applicants from mainland China last year. Australia took 15,774 asylum-seekers in the same year, the figures showed. Thousands also apply for asylum in Canada, Brazil, South Korea, and the U.K. Transnational repression The group warned of a growing risk of transnational repression, including the use of involuntary returns, now that a growing number of Chinese nationals have fled the country. Safeguard Defenders researcher Jing-jie Chen said the data also reflect the impact of Xi’s zero-COVID policy, that has led to grueling lockdowns and draconian restrictions of people’s movements under the guise of disease control and prevention. “China has basically been in a state of lockdown during the past couple of years that these data are from, and it is actually very difficult for asylum seekers to go abroad,” Chen told RFA. “Yet we can see that the number has reached a new high … with the number of asylum seekers rising every year over the past three years.” The figures don’t include Hong Kong, where a draconian crackdown on public dissent and peaceful political opposition has been under way under a national security law imposed by Beijing since July 1, 2020. Chen said many more people are voting with their feet and opting to emigrate from China, either through overseas study or investment visas and residency cards. World Uyghur Congress spokesman Dilxat Raxit said many of the asylum-seekers are Uyghurs fleeing a network of concentration camps and technological totalitarianism in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. He said overseas Uyghurs remain at risk from the Chinese authorities. “Uyghurs in exile are constantly at risk from China putting pressure on their countries of residence to detain and forcibly return them,” Dilxat Raxit said. “We call on the international community to continue to take measures to provide Uyghurs at risk with adequate protection,” he said, adding that many Uyghur asylum-seekers had been unable to renew expired passports and sometimes had trouble documenting the oppression they suffered back home. Foxhunt and Skynet Chen said the CCP has a coordinated international operation called “Operation Foxhunt” to force Chinese nationals to return home. “Since Xi Jinping took office, he has brought the ‘foxhunt’ plan for the global oppression of dissidents that extends internationally,” Chen said. “If you only have a simple immigrant residency status, you may not be able to actually be protected in some countries,” he said. “Sometimes, asylum and refugee status application can offer more protection.” The CCCP’s law enforcement agencies routinely track, harass, threaten and repatriate people who flee the country, many of them Turkic-speaking Uyghurs, under its SkyNet surveillance program that reaches far beyond China’s borders, using a variety of means to have them forcibly repatriated. Beijing often relies on pliant allies to circumvent criminal justice processes and ensure political refugees and Muslims are sent back. China will target ethnic groups like the Uyghurs, but also political dissidents, rights activists, journalists and former officials using its overseas networks, according to a 2021 report by Safeguard Defenders. Between the launch of the SkyNet program in 2014 and June 2021, China repatriated nearly 10,000 people from 120 countries and regions, the report said. Yet according to Safeguard Defenders, just one percent are brought back to China using judicial procedures; more than 60 percent are just put on a plane against their will. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Social media comments express ‘shock’ over Tangshan police’s treatment of reporters
Authorities in the northern Chinese city of Tangshan have been obstructing state media journalists after they tried to follow up on a crackdown on organized crime in the city, sparked by thugs beating up women at a barbecue restaurant earlier this month, social media reports said. In one video on Weibo, a woman faces the camera in the style of a news anchor and introduces a video clip of a Guizhou journalist who tried to cover the anti-gangs campaign in Tangshan, known as Operation Thunderstorm. “I am a reporter,” the woman says. “According to the Regulations on News Reporters, journalists who carry a press card are protected by law when carrying out their reporting duties. Individuals and organizations are prohibited from interfering or harassing a reporter or a news organization in carrying out legal reporting activities.” “Despite this, journalists who go to Tangshan to cover the campaign against organized crime, are running into obstructions at the hands of the campaign itself.” In the video clip, the Guizhou journalist said he was shoved around and manhandled by police. “A police officer yelled at me, twisted my neck, roughly pressed my hair, told me to kneel, and put my hands behind my back,” the man says in the video clip. “Four or five police officers surrounded me and searched me.” “They confiscated my cell phone, power bank and other items.” He added: “When I showed my press card a policeman came into the interrogation room where they were holding me and yelled at me … calling me unqualified … and ignorant.” Reporter targeted Weibo user @Brother_He,_Shaanxi commented that such behavior was more appropriate when “catching criminals.” “But sadly, the police in Tangshan did not target the underworld forces this time, but a reporter who had a press card,” the user wrote. “According to various media reports … it is very difficult to enter Tangshan now. When you arrive at Tangshan Station, you cannot move around freely. You need to take a designated vehicle, and you must take a photo with the car before leaving,” the post said. The woman in the video also cited a Phoenix news reporter as saying that authorities in Tangshan had deleted all of his video footage, claiming he was there to “make money.” “What’s even more shocking is that you might think that they would take a bit more care of [state broadcaster] CCTV, but that several CCTV news vehicles have been smashed up,” she says. “Yes, that’s right. CCTV news vehicles. Pretty outrageous, huh?” @Albert_Qiang commented: “Tangshan is rebelling!” while @Cai_Xukun’s_mother-in-law wrote: “Isn’t it a bit of a joke asking the police to go after criminal gangs? They are a criminal gang.” “Operation Thunderstorm is blocking the news with its thunder,” user @Hongru_hrh quipped, while @JOHN-976 added: “If you can’t solve the problem, then go after the people asking about the problem.” The reports prompted criticism of the journalists from professor Liu Qingyue of the media studies department of Beimin University in the central province of Hubei, who wrote on the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-backed account Jinri Toutiao that “a press card isn’t an access-all-areas pass.” Social media backlash Liu said the journalists should reflect on their own behavior in traveling to a sensitive area, prompting an angry backlash on social media. Veteran journalist Cheng Yizhong, who edited the once cutting-edge Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper, said Liu was just acting as a “mouthpiece” for what is CCP policy. “What this professor said strikes exactly the same tone as the CCP propaganda department,” Cheng told RFA. “She is just a mouthpiece.” “The CCP has already eradicated all … possibility of freedom of the press in China … and journalism departments in universities have been brought totally in line [with the government],” he said. Cheng said all news stories are seen as political in the eyes of the CCP. “After an incident like Tangshan happens, local news agencies will receive a ban from the local authorities, usually communicated by phone call or verbally, warning news organizations not to do any reporting on their own, but to rely on approved copy circulated by the centrally controlled news media,” Cheng said. Current affairs commentator Johnny Lau, who once worked as a journalist in Beijing, said the reactions to Liu’s comments indicate growing public dissatisfaction with official controls on free speech. “The CCP controls the media and public speech, not only through its machinery of suppression, but also through its public opinion management … which means that it controls a group of people who will endorse official policy,” Lau told RFA. “The backlash [against Liu’s comments] is part of public dissatisfaction with the entire CCP public opinion industry,” he said. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Hong Kong’s new leadership to keep up hard line on dissent, political opposition
Hong Kong’s new leadership-in-waiting will continue to focus on a “national security” crackdown when it takes office on July 1 under incoming leader John Lee, whose cabinet were confirmed by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing at the weekend. Lee, a former high-ranking policeman and government security chief, has said the ongoing crackdown on dissent under the national security law will be his “fundamental mission” when he takes over from chief executive Carrie Lam. Lee, who was the only candidate in an “election” for the city’s top job held earlier this year, has pledged to keep up the hard-line approach to dissent, which has led to the closure of civic groups including labor unions, pro-democracy newspapers and an organization that once organized annual candlelight vigils for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. More than 10,000 people have been arrested and the 2,800 prosecuted under the national security law, which was imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from July 1, 2020. Among them are 47 former pro-democracy politicians and activists awaiting trial for “subversion” after they took part in a democratic primary election in July 2020. The government later postponed the Legislative Council elections the primary was preparing for and changed the electoral system so that pro-democracy candidates couldn’t run. His incoming chief secretary Eric Chan, security chief Chris Tang and secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs Erick Tsang all have backgrounds in either the security or disciplinary services, and have been sanctioned by the U.S. government for their role in the crackdown. Lee’s cabinet received the nod from Beijing amid growing indications that CCP leader Xi Jinping may be planning to visit Hong Kong to mark the 25th anniversary of the city’s handover to Chinese rule. The South China Morning Post newspaper and the HK01.com news website said Lee and his team will immediately go into a “closed-loop” quarantine bubble, to ensure they are free from COVID-19 ahead of the ceremony, while the Ming Pao reported that some schools have been told to bring students for “pick-up and drop-off” ceremonies at the airport on June 30 and July 1. Funds from mainland China have been pouring into the Hong Kong stockmarket in recent weeks, boosting the Hang Seng Index ahead of a Xi visit that many think is likely based on his visit on the 20th anniversary of the handover. Hong Kong Chief Executive-elect John Lee (L) poses for photos with Chief Executive Carrie Lam during their meeting at the Central Government Complex ahead of a press conference in Hong Kong, May 9, 2022. Credit: AFP Disapproval of Lam Current affairs commentator Johnny Lau said this visit will be far more important to Xi than his 2017 trip. “This time will be very different from 2017, because it’s the 25th anniversary, which is half of the 50 years [China promised to maintain Hong Kong’s way of life],” Lau told RFA. “China will seize this opportunity to vigorously publicize the feasibility and success of its one country, two systems concept … even if they haven’t reached zero-COVID,” he said. “Also, the international community is also concerned about what will happen to Hong Kong in the future,” Lau said. “If Xi Jinping visits Hong Kong, it will show that Hong Kong is still a place you can make a profit … as the Chinese economy is in great difficulty, and Hong Kong is still the main bridge for foreign capital to enter China.” “Focusing on the economy and less on politics and security is good for Hong Kong in terms of atmosphere,” he said, adding that the trip should boost Xi’s image ahead of the 20th CCP National Congress later this year, when Xi is expected to seek an unprecedented third term in office. Lam is leaving her post under a cloud of disapproval after the 2019 protest movement that sparked Beijing’s crackdown on the city. The movement started with a mass protest that blockaded Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) on June 12, preventing lawmakers from getting into the chamber to pass the hugely unpopular legal amendment that would have allowed the extradition of alleged criminal suspects to mainland China. However, Lam refused to withdraw the amendment until several months later, by which time the protest movement’s demands had broadened to include fully democratic elections and official accountability for the handling of the protests, as well as an amnesty for political prisoners. The protest was the first of many to be quelled that year by widespread police violence that saw the firing of tear gas and rubber bullets on an unarmed and peaceful crowd, many of whom were unable to flee, as well as mass arrests and physical beatings of mostly young people. “For us, the damage she did to Hong Kong during her time in office is beyond words,” former pro-democracy politician Clara Cheung told RFA in a recent interview. “Shame on her for not apologizing, as if it had nothing to do with her, for not admitting that damage, nor her responsibility for it.” Hardline leadership Cheung and fellow pro-democracy activists in exile in the U.K. have written an open letter refusing to recognize John Lee as chief executive. “John Lee was one of the main forces behind the [crackdown] on the anti-extradition movement of 2019,” Cheung said. “He coordinated the crackdown, which used very cruel methods to suppress protesting citizens.” “On the one hand we feel angry, but we are also worried that things will get worse and worse in Hong Kong under his hardline leadership,” she said. The letter said that, under the new electoral rules that followed the democratic primary, only the 1,461 members of the Election Committee have any meaningful vote, out of the city’s population of 7.4 million people, and described Lee as a “puppet chief executive” appointed by Beijing with scant popular support. U.K.-based activist Finn Lau said it was significant that Lee would assume office on the 25th anniversary. “This year happens to mark the 25th anniversary of the handover, which is…
North Korean marketplaces go from bustling to empty during pandemic
In the photo of Sinpo Market in Sinuiju, taken on November 2019 (top), the market was crowded with merchants and customers, but in March 2021 (middle) the market seems noticeably quieter after blockade of the NK-China border. / Source: Google Earth. On the other hand, the satellite image that was taken on May 30th 2022 (bottom) shows no vehicles or people around the market due to full lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid. / Source: Planet Labs PBC Commerce in North Korea’s once bustling marketplaces has slowed to a trickle thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, raising questions about the long-term prospects for Kim Jong Un’s experimental effort to give citizens a bit more economic freedom. Marketplaces, called jangmadang in Korean, had dramatically expanded under the watchful eye of the North Korean dictator, who has sought to kick start the beginnings of a market economy in the communist country. But those plans took a hit when Beijing and Pyongyang closed the Sino-Korean border and suspended all trade in January 2020 in response to the pandemic. The lack of imported goods to trade meant fewer things to sell at markets. The border closure has devastated the country’s economy, which had already suffered under international sanctions aimed at depriving Pyongyang of resources it could funnel into nuclear and missile programs. While a resumption of rail freight with China earlier this year had brought on hopes of recovery, the “maximum emergency” declared by Pyongyang after officials announced that the virus was spreading among participants of a massive April military parade killed activity at the markets altogether, satellite images show. ‘Chaeha Market’ in Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province, North Korea. In the photo taken on October 7, 2016 (above), cars were parked in the parking lot, but in the photo taken on March 17, 2021 (below), the parking lot is empty and there is no activity./ Google Earth Jacob Bogle, curator of the Access DPRK blog, which uses satellite imagery in its analysis of North Korea, told RFA’s Korean Service that the markets have seen a massive downturn since the pandemic. According to Bogle, an analysis of satellite images shows that there are at least 477 markets in North Korea, of which 457 are official markets recognized by North Korean authorities. Markets have continued to grow in North Korea since Kim Jong Un came to power. At least 39 markets have opened and 114 markets have expanded since 2011, Bogle said. But the growth stopped once the pandemic hit, he said. The chart shows the total area of the new markets constructed each year. / Source: Jacob Bogle (AccessDPRK.com) “In 2019, there was over 23,000 square meters of new market space built around the country. By 2021, it was only 630 square meters of new space,” Bogle said. “I think there’s a clear connection with market activity and the impacts of COVID and shutting down trade that it greatly impacted the economy,” he said. The import ban had its biggest impact on those markets near the border, Joung Eunlee of the Seoul-based Korea Institute for National Unification told RFA. “It seems that the market has contracted more because supply has decreased a lot due to the COVID-19 situation, “ Joung said. The border closure did not completely kill off the markets, though. Most were able to continue in some capacity with domestically made products. The coronavirus outbreak has taken a “decisive blow” on the North Korean economy, Lim Eul Chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University in South Korea’s southeast. Markets in North Korea / Source: Jacob Bogle (AccessDPRK.com) “Mobility must be guaranteed for a market to a certain extent, but since mobility is not guaranteed, the market inevitably shrinks. Second, raw materials, fuel, and various subsidiary materials must be smoothly supplied from China,” Lim said. “Without these, market activities shrink. North Korea under COVID-19 is in an environment that is difficult to control. The situation itself can only result in a shrinking market,” he said. The apparent end of the emerging free market in North Korea may be permanent, Jiro Ishimaru, the founder and editor-in-chief of the Osaka-based Asia Press news outlet that specializes in North Korea, told RFA. “At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, controls rapidly tightened. First of all, they continued to put pressure on food sales, and gradually introduced a system to sell food through state-run food vendors,” he said. “It was then that people started saying that they felt like the era of free trade and free economic activity in the market is coming to an end,” Ishimaru said. Ishimaru said that the state could be using the pandemic to assert more control over the economy and the people. At the 8th Party Congress in January 2021, Kim Jong Un emphasized that the country and the people would have to get through the pandemic and its accompanying economic crisis through strict adherence to the principle of self-reliance, harkening to the country’s founding Juche ideology. Lim said this was the beginning of the state exerting more control on the market. “The national self-reliance is a more orderly self-reliance, that is, the market will also be led by the state. It aims for marketization that is managed and led by the state. As a result, the market is bound to contract,” he said. North Korea’s Tongil Market / AP Even with a market contraction and policy changes, North Koreans still want to conduct business, a North Korean refugee who now lives in Seoul, identified by the pseudonym Kim Hye Young, told RFA. Kim was a trade worker in North Korea prior to her escape. She says that a middle class used to higher living standards has developed in the country. “The demographic composition of North Korea has also changed to favor the jangmadang generation,” she said, referring to the generation that came of age after the marketplaces had become entrenched — in other words, millennials. “The younger generations are doing things that…
