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Category: East Asia
Chinese official jailed for 11 years over bribes in Qinghai
A former top official in China’s Qinghai province was given 11 years in prison last month for taking more than $3 million in bribes from mining and construction groups, businesses and individuals during his time in office, according to state media reports. Wen Guodong had served as vice-governor in Qinghai from 2009 to 2020. He was sentenced on March 29 by the Chongqing First Intermediate People’s Court, which also fined him 2 million yuan ($314,213) and forced the return of his assets gained through bribes, sources said. While in office, Wen had protected illegal mining operations at Qinghai’s Muli coalfield, a vast mining area developed by the Kingho Group, a private company, according to a Feb. 2, 2021, report by the Beijing-based China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation. Located in Themchen (in Chinese, Tianjun) county in the Tsonub (Haixi) Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, the Muli coalfield was described in an Aug. 8, 2014, report by Greenpeace East Asia as a “growing cancer on an otherwise intact alpine ecological system.” “The opencast coal mining [at Muli] over the years has destroyed the alpine meadows connecting the glaciers on the mountains and the plateau, cutting off the channel for rainfall and melt water to feed the rivers,” the environmental watchdog group said. “As a result, the water-holding capacity of the landscape is significantly compromised,” Greenpeace added. Coverage of Wen’s case in the Chinese press has downplayed the impact of the former official’s corruption on the environment in Tibetan areas, though, said Sangay Kyab, a Tibetan researcher based in Spain. “By just highlighting the bribery charges against Wen Guodong, the Chinese official media have ignored the damage he caused to the region, and how the excessive exploitation of Tibet’s environment has deprived Tibetans of their traditional way of life,” Kyab said. “The Chinese government has always tried to conceal these problems, no matter what impact their development and environmental policies have had on Tibetans and the Tibetan plateau,” he added. Sentencing disparities in China’s justice system also point to the unequal treatment of Tibetans under Chinese law, Kyab said, calling Wen’s 11-year sentence “lenient” in relation to the harm his actions caused. Kyab noted that Go Sherab Gyatso, a 46-year-old monk at Kirti monastery in Sichuan’s Ngaba (Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, had been given a 10-year prison term in 2021 just for expressing loyalty to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. “So we can see that Chinese leaders and officials really do get away with crimes and atrocities,” he said. Tibet has become an important source of minerals needed for China’s economic growth, and Chinese mining and infrastructure projects in Tibetan areas have led to widespread environmental damage, including the pollution of water sources and destruction of sacred sites, experts say. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Shanghai warns people against ‘rumor-mongering’ as online pleas for food grow
Authorities in Shanghai on Friday warned the city’s 26 million residents not to post ‘rumors’ online amid growing public anger over food shortages amid a citywide COVID-19 lockdown. “The Cyberspace Administration of the municipal [ruling Chinese Communist] Party Committee reminds social media group chat members and moderators that … it is especially necessary in the current situation to prevent the spread of all kinds of rumors, false information or fear-mongering,” the municipal government said in a post to its official Weibo account. “[Social media users] must not make up rumors to cause trouble or for the purposes of grandstanding,” it said. “We will continue to work with police and other departments to track down rumor-makers and those who deliberately spread rumors, working from public tip-offs and online investigations, and punish them according to law,” the message said. The warning came after Shanghai police denied an online report that the authorities had banned group-buying practices among locked-down residents, who have been complaining of food shortages due to a lack of takeout services and inadequate fresh supplies from the government. The Shanghai government said its consumer protection committee had on Thursday updated a list of sites offering group-buying opportunities for fresh fruit and vegetables, sanitary towels and diapers, as well as baby formula and other dairy products. “Some group buying groups may be full,” the notice warned. “The municipal consumer protection committee [will] strive to meet the needs of the public.” “We will continue to urge enterprises and sellers on the list to make every effort to ensure supplies,” it said. It said officials would contact sellers and consumers “to properly resolve … problems with shopping as shown in online posts from users.” The government also denied a report that the authorities were planning to send in armed police to take over the running of residential communities from neighborhood committees, many of whom have been superseded by self-organizing mutual help groups. “On April 7, a rumor that the armed police will take over Shanghai communities” went viral on social media and online platforms,” the government said, adding that police had detained a 35-year-old man surnamed Zhou on suspicion of “disrupting public order through fake news.” People wear personal protective equipment (PPE) as they transfer daily food supplies and necessities for local residents during the Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai, April 5, 2022. Credit AFP Online search for food Residents across the city, including Pudong New District, Leyuan Road, Jinqiao township, Songnan No. 1 Village and Baoshan district, have posted in recent days to Weibo, appealing for help sourcing food, saying that promised supplies had failed to arrive, or were simply not enough. “We try and call the leaders every day, because nobody has food, because we’ve been locked down for many days now,” a resident of Jiading district told RFA on Friday. A Shanghai resident surnamed Xia said: “The government did distribute a batch of supplies, but even if it distributes that amount to more communities, it’s far from enough to last the whole length of this lockdown.” She said auction site Taobao has halted deliveries, and buying groups are hard to find and get into. “Some babies have split diapers, some people’s wifi is down, and nobody has come to repair it, and some people need teeth filled that have exposed nerves, but they can’t go out,” Xia said. She said some online stores had produce available, but it sold out very fast online first thing in the morning. “Fruit, coffee and snacks are already luxuries, and some people have no salt left. Things are very bad,” she said. A resident surnamed Gu said he had received just two deliveries of groceries in 28 days of lockdown, that were enough to last his household 10 days. The lockdowns were announced too suddenly for most people to lay in sufficient stores of food, he said. “We are locked into our residential community and can’t go out to buy stuff,” Gu said. “There is basically no supply chain left, and online deliveries have been disrupted or stopped altogether.” “There isn’t anything available to buy online, nor enough people to deliver it,” he said. “There’s a problem with the food supply chain.” View of a residential building during a COVID-19 lockdown in the Jing’an district in Shanghai, April 8, 2022. Credit: AFP Closed medical facilities A video clip taken in Shanghai’s Putuo district and seen by RFA showed one man on the phone with police, yelling that there was nobody to take care of his elderly grandmother in or his parents in Xuhui district. “Is the government of Shanghai even human?” the man yells in the clip. Another video circulated of shots of people falling from a number of different tall buildings. RFA was unable to verify the content of the video independently, but its reporters have received reports of suicides, sometimes by people unable to access life-saving medical treatment due to the lockdown and the closure of a number of medical facilities to new patients. The Shanghai government released a list of closed medical facilities on its Weibo account on Friday, showing a total of 26 hospitals and clinics in Xuhui, Baoding, Pudong, Changning and other districts were closed. “Some medical institutions in this city have suspended some medical services due to their cooperation with pandemic investigations,” it said. “Citizens are reminded to pay attention to the information released by official websites and social media accounts of various medical institutions in a timely manner before seeing a doctor,” it said, but offered no emergency number or other avenue to seek assistance. A man in Kailu No. 5 Village called the emergency services to tell them he hadn’t eaten in four days, according to a recording posted online. “Hello, is that the … police station? I’m not trying to cause trouble, but if I charge past the community cordon and you arrest me, will I get something to eat?” the man says. “You can’t rush out of the residential community,” the officer replies, to which the man says: “Then you’d better…
Henan rights activist in secret ‘defamation’ trial after visit to rights lawyer
Xing Wangli, a rights activist in the central Chinese province of Henan, has been put on trial behind closed doors on charges of “defamation” after he supported human rights attorney Jiang Tianyong, who remains under house arrest following his release from prison. Xing, who is currently being held at Henan’s Xi County Detention Center, stood trial by video link at the Xi County People’s Court on April 7 on charges of “defamation” after he posted an open letter accusing a local propaganda official of corruption and intimidation. The court building was closed for business on Thursday, with a large police presence on the streets outside. More than a dozen fellow activists went to support Xing, but they were prevented from approaching the building by court police, who deleted photos of the scene from their mobile phones. Xing has been denied permission to meet with his lawyer, who didn’t receive a copy of the indictment until March 21, the U.S.-based rights group, the Dui Hua Foundation said in a statement on its website. The authorities cited disease prevention restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, it said. Blunt-force head injuries Xing’s wife Xu Jincui was at the court to observe the trial, which was closed to journalists or members of the public. “The prosecution accused Xing Wangli of continuing to speak out about the unusual deaths of two petitioners in Xi county: Diao Yanfang and Feng Guohui,” Xu told RFA. “[They] claimed that Xing Wangli instigated his son to participate in rights protection activities.” “But more importantly, Xing Wangli said that the serious injuries he suffered were directly linked to three well-known local officials,” she said. Xing suffered serious head injuries in 2016 while being held at Xi County Detention Center. He later said they were the result of an attack with a blunt weapon. He has repeatedly requested an official probe into the incident via the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Xing’s son Xing Jian, who now lives in New Zealand, said the authorities have claimed that the injuries were the result of a fall during a botched suicide attempt, and he said the video presented by the prosecution as evidence had likely been tampered with. He said he believes the current prosecution was sparked by his father’s attempt to visit Jiang Tianyong. “After my father was arrested, my mother was illegally detained many times by the local stability maintenance personnel,” Xing Jiang said. “During this period, these stability maintenance personnel also told my mother many times not to interact with [Jiang] in future, otherwise there will be endless trouble for her.” “The authorities believe that lawyer Jiang Tianyong tried to subvert state power, saying that he is anti-party and anti-state, but I don’t think a regular lawyer could do that,” he said. ‘Picking quarrels and stirring up trouble’ He said an unidentified driver had scraped Xing’s lawyer’s car in the court parking lot on Thursday. “[That kind of] psychological pressure would affect his performance in court,” Xing Jian said. Xing was originally detained on suspicion of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble” in May 2021 after he tried to visit Jiang, who remains under house arrest, in April 2021. He was formally arrested in June 2021, but for “defamation,” and indicted by the county prosecutor in January 2022. While defamation cases in China have previously been private prosecution cases, new guidelines issued in 2013 paved the way for it to be brought as a criminal charge against people accused of “spreading disinformation or false accusations online can constitute criminal acts. If a post deemed to contain disinformation or false accusations accrues more than 5,000 views or 500 reposts, then it is considered a “serious circumstance,” according to the U.S.-based rights group, the Duihua Foundation. Jiang was “released” from prison in February 2019 at the end of a two-year jail term for “incitement to subvert state power,” a charge often used to imprison peaceful critics of the government. He was allowed to return to his parents’ home in Luoyang, but remains under close surveillance and heavy restrictions. Jiang’s U.S.-based wife Jin Bianling has repeatedly expressed concern for her husband’s health after he was tortured by cellmates during his time in detention. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Women harmed by China’s draconian family planning policies still seek redress
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of Chinese women are still seeking redress after their health was destroyed by botched or untested reproductive procedures aimed at keeping births within targets set by Beijing. Peng Dongxiang, of Qianjiang in the central province of Hubei, gave birth to two children in defiance of population controls, drawing the ire of local officials. “We did as the government said and went to the family planning station to get injections,” Peng said. “But they were experimenting on us; using our bodies.” “They injected us straight into the Fallopian tubes … I fainted and was freezing cold instantly,” Peng recalls. “Later they told me I had to get another injection because I hadn’t had tubal ligation, but that second injection ruined my health.” Peng has suffered from decades of lower back pain, abdominal pain and organ adhesions, and was bed-bound for several years immediately after the sterilization shots. Her sons were sent to live with their grandparents because she was unable to work any more. “If [my husband’s family] hadn’t treated me well, I wouldn’t be here today,” said Peng, who has been engaged for more than a decade in a bid to win redress through official channels. She knows of hundreds of other Qianjiang women who had similar experiences. “Some of them died outright … the government didn’t care and just injected anyone at the time, even pregnant women,” Peng said. Birth quotas The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a long history of controlling the reproductive lives of Chinese women, mostly through a decades-long “one-child” policy that led to widespread violence and rights violations against women by local family planning officials keen to stay within birth quotas. The period became infamous worldwide for the use of late-term, forced abortions, compulsory sterilization, female infanticide or selective abortion and the constant policing of women’s fertility, as well as violent attacks, forced evictions and other privations imposed on families guilty of “excess births.” Liang Zhongtang, a former government family planning adviser, said the Qianjiang women could have been subjected to a particular form of “adhesive surgery” that was used in Hubei, Sichuan and Shanxi in the mid-1980s. “The National Family Planning Commission supported this method to a certain extent back then,” Liang said. “But … the operation wasn’t recognized by the Ministry of Health, so it was dropped after a while.” But the women have yet to find any kind of redress for their grievances. One of the Qianjiang victims said she was exhausted by years of petitioning and official violence, and gave up the struggle. Another said she had stopped petitioning for fear that her children’s careers would be politically tainted by her actions. “My family … has to make money so that I can keep taking my medications and stay alive,” one 60-year-old woman told RFA. “If I give a media interview, will my son lose his job? Will they refuse to pay my compensation?” Liang said poorly educated rural cadres likely also contributed to the women’s suffering. “Back in the 1960s and 1970s, there were very few medical institutions in rural areas below county level, and the conditions weren’t there for the implementation of such family planning policies,” Liang said. In December 2007, Zhang Weiqing, then director of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, admitted that one-third of the 150,000 family planning technical service personnel — the ones carrying out abortions and sterilizations — lacked any kind of medical qualification, while many facilities used outdated equipment. An official who answered the phone at the Qianjiang municipal government denied there was an issue with the mass sterilization of women in the 1980s. “[You will] need evidence and some basis for this … and if you do investigate I think you will find … it never happened; it’s a rumor,” the official said. Repeated calls to the Hubei provincial health commission and the Qianjiang municipal health commission rang unanswered in early April. Call for compensation Zhang Jing, New York-based founder of Women’s Rights in China, said the CCP has long controlled the reproductive lives of Chinese women. “If the party tells you to give birth, you will give birth. If it tells you not to, then you won’t,” Zhang said. “This is a terrible and tragic policy.” Zhang called on the CCP set up a nationwide compensation system for women who have been harmed by family planning policies over the years. “The CCP and the Chinese government control the wombs of Chinese women,” she said, adding that rural women are most vulnerable to the kinds of abuse and mistreatment described by the women of Qianjiang. And they aren’t the only victims. Fifty-eight-year-old Jing Liping lives alone in a dangerous building on the outskirts of Beijing. She gave birth to a single child more than three decades ago, then spent a month recuperating at her husband’s family home in the western province of Gansu. There, the local family planning team caught up with her and forced her to undergo tubal ligation using metal clips. Jing’s health was also destroyed by the procedure, she told RFA. “The doctors told me that my Fallopian tubes were inflamed … but I had to rely on others to get me anti-inflammatory drugs,” Jing said. “No local doctor in Gansu would help me because I was ligated.” “It wasn’t until 2017, when I passed out on the side of the road and was sent to the hospital, that they found a problem with the clips. My Fallopian tubes had been inflamed for a long time, and they already had necrotic tissue, so I could only have them removed,” said Jing, whose husband left her, taking the couple’s son, because she started passing out every time the couple attempted intercourse. A staff member surnamed Zheng who answered the phone at the Gansu provincial health commission said officials hadn’t approved Jing’s procedure, which would have been carried out based on “expert” medical opinion. “This decision can only be made by experts … whose opinions we…
Ukraine war disrupts cereal markets, threatens food security in SE Asia
As war rages across Ukraine, farmers have been busy towing captured Russian tanks, artillery, and downed helicopters. In addition to their new calling, is the planting of the spring crop. It’s another reminder that Russia’s illegal invasion is occurring in one of the world’s major bread baskets, with consequences for food security in Asia and beyond. What’s at stake? In 2021, Ukraine was the third largest producer of wheat, exporting 60 million of its 80 million-ton harvest. That accounted for 17 percent of global exports. In addition, Ukraine was the second largest producer of barley, the fourth largest producer of corn, and the largest producer of sunflower oil. Both Ukraine and Russia are major players in global markets. But they have a greater role in the developing world and in humanitarian disasters: Half of the World Food Program’s grain is purchased in the Ukraine. In 2021, Ukraine exported U.S. $2.9 billion in wheat to Africa. Since the war began the price of wheat, which was already at a historic high, has increased by 30 percent. Ukraine, along with Russia, is an important provider of grain and food staples to Southeast Asia. In 2020, Ukraine exported $708 million to Indonesia, accounting for 25 percent of imports; $92 million to Malaysia, 23 percent of imports; and $131 million to Thailand, around 17 percent of imports. But Indonesia and the Philippines – Southeast Asia’s most food insecure nations – will be hit particularly hard. Almost 75 percent of Indonesia’s imports from Ukraine consists of cereals, including wheat. In 2021, Indonesia imported 3.07 million tons of wheat from Ukraine. In 2020, Ukraine was the single largest source of grain for the most populous Southeast Asian nation, and the largest in 2021. And in both Indonesia and the Philippines, demand for wheat is growing. According to the Philippine statistics agency, in 2021 imports of cereals increased by nearly 48 percent over 2020. In Indonesia, flour consumption increased by almost 5 percent in 2021. At the same time, the populations of the neighboring countries are growing. Indonesia’s population is increasing by 1.1 percent per annum and the Philippines’ at 1.3 percent – making it the fastest growing population in Southeast Asia. In both countries, food production has never kept pace with population growth. And both governments are very sensitive to inflation in food commodities. Fighting spreads to farm fields Meanwhile, in the middle of Ukraine’s sowing season, the war has shifted from north of Kyiv, to the eastern part of the country. The fighting is now taking place in some of Ukraine’s most productive farmland. In places where it is not too dangerous to farm, the physical infrastructure has been destroyed. Able-bodied men and women are serving in the military or territorial defense forces. The Ukrainian government is expecting a 30 percent decline in agricultural production this year because of the war. Dire warnings by the government suggest that exports in 2022 could plummet to 15 to 20 percent of 2021’s exports. Even if the farmers are able to grow crops, there are questions about their ability to get the grains to global markets. The Russians razed Mariupol and have devastated the physical infrastructure and depopulated most of the other of Ukraine’s ports on the Sea of Asimov. Odessa is the last major port that Russia has not attacked, but Russian forces are blockading it. For the time being, Ukrainian grain exports are only leaving the country by train or truck, but if the Russians target logistic nodes in western Ukraine even those exports could be dented. Local farmers are also vulnerable to a liquidity crisis, unable to get the loans they need to cover operations in the first half of the season. That’s not suggest that there is a shortage of sources of wheat outside Ukraine. Last year, Indonesia imported 4.69 million tons from Australia. In 2020, it imported 2.63 million tons from Argentina. Having suppliers in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres is essential for the steady importation of food stuffs. And next to Russia, the United States, and Canada, Ukraine is the largest exporter in the Northern Hemisphere. Without a doubt, the war is bad news for global food markets. Prices for cereals have been climbing steadily in the past few years at a time when most countries have experienced economic slowdowns, the loss of income, and climbing poverty rates due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Inflation in energy markets and food staples is hitting consumers hard the world over. Other uncertainty in food markets Beyond the Russian invasion of Ukraine there are other factors unsettling global food markets. China’s winter wheat harvest was described by their agriculture minister as “the worst in history.” A decline in water levels along the Mekong River due to damming has increased salt intrusion into the Mekong Delta, leading to a smaller harvest. According to the Stimson Center, the delta accounts for 50 percent of Vietnam’s rice crop, but 90 percent of rice exports. In 2020, Vietnam’s exports accounted for 7.4 percent of the global supply. Indonesia and the Philippines are amongst Vietnam’s top export markets. The economic fallout from Myanmar’s coup d’état is another factor. The kyat lost 60 percent of its value since the February 2021 military takeover, prompting a shortage of U.S. dollars and making imports of pesticides and fertilizers exorbitant. While Myanmar itself will remain food secure, the expected diminished crop will impact global markets. Myanmar is the seventh largest exporter of rice in the world. In 2020 it accounted for 3.2 percent of global exports. Optimistic estimates suggest that exports will be around 2 million tons in 2022, down from their normal export of 2.5 to 3 million tons. With the exception of Singapore, countries in Southeast Asia have been reluctant to criticize Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and none have been willing to impose sanctions, professing a desire to be neutral. But most countries in Southeast Asia will be feeling the economic pain cause by Russia’s military strike on its neighbor next-door. As this year’s president of the G-20, Indonesia is causing controversy by inviting President Putin to the Bali summit,…
Japanese gangster, 3 Thais ‘brokered’ heroin, meth deals for missiles, US alleges
The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday announced the arrests of a suspected Japanese organized crime leader and three Thais who allegedly tried to sell large amounts of heroin and methamphetamine internationally to arm rebel groups in Myanmar and Sri Lanka with surface-to-air missiles and other weapons. Takeshi Ebisawa, who is a Japanese citizen, Thai nationals Somphop Singhasiri and Sompak Rukrasaranee, and American-Thai dual national Suksan Jullanan (alias Bobby) were arrested in Manhattan earlier this week following a probe that began as early as June 2019, according to a document filed in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of New York. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency began investigating Ebisawa in 2019 and identified him as a Yakuza organized crime leader. “We allege Mr. Ebisawa and his co-conspirators brokered deals with an undercover DEA agent to buy heavy-duty weaponry and sell large quantities of illegal drugs,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a news release announcing the arrests. “The drugs were destined for New York streets and the weapons shipments were meant for factions in unstable nations.” “The Yakuza is a network of highly organized, transnational crime families with affiliates in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and is involved in various criminal activities, including weapons trafficking, drug trafficking, human trafficking, fraud and money laundering,” U.S. justice officials said. Investigators allege that Ebisawa introduced an undercover agent posing as a narcotics and weapons trafficker to associates in Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and the United States to set up drug and weapons transactions – noting that the four suspects “negotiated multiple narcotics and weapons transactions” with the undercover agent. Ebisawa, Jullanan and Rukrasaranee conspired to broker the purchase of U.S.-made surface-to-air missiles and other weapons “for multiple ethnic armed groups in Burma, and to accept large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine for distribution as partial payment for the weapons,” the charges allege. Joined by Singhasiri, Ebisawa sought to sell 500 kg (1,100 pounds) of methamphetamine and 500 kg of heroin to an undercover agent, justice officials said, adding that the drugs were to be distributed in New York. Singhasiri allegedly conspired to possess machine guns and other firearms to protect narcotics shipments and Ebisawa allegedly worked to launder U.S. $100,000 in “purported narcotics proceeds from the United States to Japan.” Ebisawa faces charges of conspiracy to import narcotics; conspiracy to acquire, transfer and possess surface-to-air missiles; conspiracy to possess firearms including machine guns and destructive devices; and money laundering. Charging documents allege that Ebisawa sought to buy the surface-to-air missiles, rockets, machine guns and automatic weapons for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a Sri Lankan rebel group also known as the Tamil Tigers. “Though defeated militarily in 2009, the LTTE continues to attract international financial support,” the justice department said in the charging document, adding that the LTTE is designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Singhasiri faces charges of conspiracy to import narcotics and conspiracy to possess firearms including machine guns and destructive devices. Jullanan and Rukrasaranee face charges of conspiracy to import narcotics; conspiracy to acquire, transfer and possess surface-to-air missiles; and conspiracy to possess firearms including machine guns and destructive devices. Justice officials allege the two and Ebisawa discussed potential deals to supply missiles and other weapons to the Myanmar groups including the Shan State Army and United Wa State Army. The weapons and drug charges carry penalties of up to life in prison if convicted. “The expansive reach of transnational criminal networks, like the Yakuza, presents a serious threat to the safety and health of all communities. Ebisawa and his associates intended to distribute hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine and heroin to the United States, using deadly weapons to enable their criminal activities, at a time when nearly 300 Americans lose their lives to drug overdose every day,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a prepared statement. “These arrests represent the unwavering determination of the DEA, together with our U.S. and international partners, to target and bring to justice violent criminals who lead transnational drug trafficking organizations that continue to flood our country with dangerous drugs.” BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news outlet.
Meeting may signal warmer relations between Myanmar and China
A recent meeting between the Myanmar junta’s foreign minister and his Chinese counterpart may signal China’s softening to the military rulers who came to power in a coup last year and an eagerness to revive its own economic initiatives in the war-torn country, analysts said. Wunna Maung Lwin, foreign minister of the State Administration Council, as the junta regime is called, met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in eastern China’s Anhui province during the Myanmar diplomat’s March 31-April 2 visit. Wunna Maung Lwin was appointed to his position after the Myanmar military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi more than 13 months ago. He was barred by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from attending a February meeting of regional organization’s foreign ministers in Cambodia. Analysts said that Wunna Maung Lwin’s meeting with Wang Yi signals Myanmar’s desire for deeper economic ties to its ally China, as it struggles to repress widespread opposition to its rule that has left thousands dead. Beijing meanwhile wants to get its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in Myanmar moving forward. Beijing now seems more willing to side with the junta, as it had done with previous military regimes in Myanmar, political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe said. “China is consistently focused on the One Belt, One Road Initiative,” he said. “They may have something to do economically at present. They must also have many plans to invest in Myanmar, so they seem to be looking at what they can get out of it.” Chinese investments in Myanmar under the BRI, a trillion-dollar infrastructure program, have been hampered by ethnic unrest, the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-coup turmoil. China especially wants its main infrastructure project in Myanmar — the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor — to be completed so that it has a direct route from Yunnan province to the Indian Ocean oil trade. Wang Yi told Wunna Maung Lwin that China would support the junta’s efforts to safeguard independence and territorial integrity and find a path to development that suits Myanmar’s situation, according to a report by China’s official Xinhua news agency. He also said China was ready to deepen exchanges and cooperation in all fields. Zin Mar Aung, foreign minister of Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG), said the Chinese government’s move to invite the junta’s foreign minister on an official visit raises questions about Beijing’s support for Myanmar citizens. “It’s a very disappointing development,” she said. “It is questionable whether China has reversed its previous position when it said Beijing will stand by our people in the return of power to the people. Has it now taken a one-sided approach? Is Beijing standing on the other side against the Myanmar people?” So far, China has been in contact only with the State Administration Council and has yet to formally engage with the NUG. Sun Guoxiang, Beijing’s special envoy for Asian affairs met with Wunna Maung Lwin in Myanmar in August 2021. Afterwards, Sun said he would work with the international community to help bring about social stability and democratic change in the Southeast Asian country. When the Chinese Communist Party held an online conference of political parties in Southeast Asia in September 2021, the National League for Democracy, Myanmar’s ruling party until it was overthrown by the military, was invited to attend, but could not participate in discussions. ‘Main thing is economics’ China-based Myanmar observer Hla Kyaw Zaw said the Chinese government gives priority to its economy. “It is true that China had invited [Wunna Maung Lwin], but it was for its own interests,” she said. “China also wants democracy in Myanmar for stability, and it has said it will render all the help it can.” “The main thing is economics,” she said. “In the past, there were matters agreed upon during the time of Aung San Suu Kyi. Parts of the Silk Road project undertaken by Myanmar seem to have stopped, and China wants them to resume.” In a statement following the visit between Wunna Maung Lwin and Wang Yi, the junta’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for the implementation of joint projects between the two countries, the opening of a Myanmar consulate in Chongqing in central China, and the addition of new border crossings between the two countries. The ministry also said the two foreign ministers discussed the implementation of a Five-Point Consensus, an agreement between Myanmar’s military ruler and ASEAN countries at a meeting held after the coup. Major General Zaw Min Tun, the junta’s spokesman, said the regime had no further comments on details of talks between the two foreign ministers. “We already have issued a statement. I have nothing else to say,” he said. Prashanth Parameswaran, a fellow with the Wilson Center’s Asia Program in Washington, said China believes that it is in its interest to increase its public support for the increasingly isolated Myanmar military regime. “But this support will not be cost-free for Myanmar,” he said. “The key question is what China will ask for in return for increased support, and Wang Yi’s comments suggest what this could entail, whether it be advances on infrastructure projects or diplomatic support for other issues.” Jason Tower, the country director for Myanmar U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, said that China is betting that the Myanmar military will not relinquish power. “The problem, though, is that the junta has no possible pathway towards achieving stability in the country,” he told RFA. “Over the longer term this means that China will be placing its economic plans for Myanmar far out of reach by continuing to support the junta in this way.” The potential consequences of China’s backing of the junta could have negative consequences throughout the region, Tower said. “If Beijing moves forward with this level of support for a genocidal military with no popular legitimacy, it risks undermining any hopes of maintaining a strong friendship with the Myanmar people,” he said. “This could produce a regional crisis of tragic proportions…
North Korea issues high-denomination money voucher, photo evidence shows
North Korea’s Central Bank has printed a 50,000 won (U.S. $8.30) money voucher worth 10 times its highest currency denomination, photo evidence obtained exclusively by RFA has revealed. North Korean paper currency is available in denominations ranging from the practically worthless 5 won ($0.00083) note to the 5,000 won note, worth less than $1. People generally use a mixture of foreign currencies like dollars and Chinese yuan in conjunction with the North Korean won to pay for goods and services. RFA received photos of the new voucher from the J.M. Missionary Union, a Seoul-based organization with knowledge of the situation. The note bears the name of the Central Bank of the DPRK with an issue date of “Juche 111,” the current year in the North Korean calendar that starts in 1912, the birth year of national founder Kim Il Sung. The background shows Mt. Paektu, a mountain on the Sino-Korean border that is sacred in Korean culture. RFA was unable to confirm how many 50,000 won notes have been printed or whether they are in circulation. The organization said the voucher was issued earlier this year and is in use in Pyongyang. South Korean sources who requested anonymity due to the country’s presidential transition period told RFA’s Korean Service that North Korea issued a high-denomination money coupon earlier this year but could not confirm that it was a 50,000 won voucher. They said that the high denomination vouchers were for transactions between businesses. South Korea’s Ministry of Unification could not confirm whether North Korea has issued money vouchers worth more than 5,000 won ($0.83), which the Central Bank of the DPRK did in the second half of last year. “Issues related to the issuance of the [5,000 won] money coupons have been identified through messages to North Korean escapees … but the purpose of their issuance and distribution have not been specifically identified,” the ministry told RFA. A photo provided exclusively to RFA by the J.M. Missionary Union in Seoul shows the reverse of a new 50,000 won money voucher produced by North Korea’s central bank. Photo: J.M. Missionary Union During a South Korean National Assembly audit last year, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), Seoul’s spy agency, confirmed that the 5,000 won vouchers were in circulation. The NIS said in their report that the vouchers were issued because North Korea lacks the paper and ink necessary to print money due to the suspension of imports at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Imports resumed on a limited basis at the beginning of this year, but trade volume has not yet reached normal levels. The issuance of money vouchers also may indicate that North Korea is attempting to avoid inflation by not printing actual currency, the Bank of Korea, South Korea’s central bank, said in a report last month, which did not mention vouchers in the 50,000 won denomination. The report said cashflow in the North was disrupted due to the economic slump and the vouchers are a means to increase the money supply, possibly for use in transactions between companies, while North Korean authorities can keep the companies’ cash in reserve. “Money should circulate. From the authorities’ point of view, they circulate money, but it’s not coming back to them,” Lim Song, an economist that focuses on North Korea at the Economic Research Institute of the Bank of Korea, told RFA. “The central bank has to print money to circulate money, but that will cause inflation, so instead of paper bills, they are circulating money coupons which they can convert when the economic situation gets better,” he said. Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Lack of engine could sink Thai purchase of Chinese submarine
Thailand’s long-planned purchase of three Chinese submarines, which a former top Bangkok diplomat described as “an insult to the Thai-U.S. treaty relationship,” could run into trouble, officials and analysts said. In April 2017, the Thai government approved the Royal Navy’s plan to buy three Yuan-class submarines from China valued at 36 billion baht (U.S. $1.05 billion). Because of budget constraints, the purchase of one submarine – now valued at 13.5 billion baht ($403 million) – got the green light but the other two were shelved. The Chinese state-owned submarine developer – China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co. (CSOC) – could not obtain the diesel engine from Germany to fit into the sub because of the European Union arms embargo imposed on China, according to a German official. The engine is manufactured by Germany’s Motor and Turbine Union (MTU). “The export [of the engine] was refused because of its use for a Chinese Military/Defense industry item,” said Philipp Doert, the German defense attaché to Thailand, told the Bangkok Post. “China did not ask/coordinate with Germany before signing the Thai-China contract, offering German MTU engines as part of their product.” The EU imposed its arms embargo on China in 1989 after the violent suppression of pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Thai-China relations ‘not affected’ Earlier this week, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said that if China could not fulfill the agreement, the submarine deal could be canceled. “What do we do with a submarine with no engines? Why should we purchase it?” Prayuth, who serves as the nation’s defense minister, told local media. Previously, Vice Adm. Pokkrong Monthatphalin, the Royal Thai Navy spokesman, said talks were to be held later this month with CSOC to discuss the engine issue. Local media reported that CSOC had offered an alternative engine – an offer rejected by the government, which paid its first installment of 700 million baht (U.S. $20.9 million) in 2017. The submarine’s delivery is scheduled for 2024. Despite his concerns, Prayuth told Thai reporters that any cancellation would not affect Thai-Chinese relations, according to the Bangkok Post. A Chinese navy submarine leaves Qingdao Port, Shandong province, in a file photo. Credit: Reuters Trust issues An analyst, meanwhile, said Bangkok’s growing military ties with China have led to trust issues with the United States. “Thailand and the U.S. are treaty allies. Thailand was designated by the U.S. as a Non-NATO ally,” Kasit Piromya, a Thai former foreign minister, told BenarNews. “The fact that Thailand commissioned the Chinese submarines is an insult to the Thai-U.S. treaty relationship,” he said, adding that the issue “must be reset and redressed.” Earlier this year, the Thai Royal Air Force expressed interest in purchasing F-35 stealth fighter jets from the U.S. But the U.S. would be reluctant to sell their state-of-the-art aircraft to Bangkok because of the Thai military’s close links with its Chinese counterpart, said Ian Storey, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. In addition, the relationship between Thailand and the U.S. has been up and down in recent years. “The Thai military establishment does not like criticism of its role in Thai politics by the U.S. and Western allies, while China avoids political judgment and offers military hardware at friendship’s cost,” Kasit said. “The result is Thailand and the U.S. have been failing to hold heart-to-heart talks as allies and strategic partners,” he said. Southeast Asian countries, especially those with competing claims in the South China Sea, are joining the submarine club to deal with new security challenges. Vietnam bought six Kilo-class submarines from Russia, both Indonesia and the Philippines are discussing purchasing submarines from France. Singapore and Malaysia operate four and two subs, respectively. China by far has the largest fleet in Asia, with an estimated 76 submarines. The Yuan-class is a diesel-electric submarine designed to operate in shallow coastal waters, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.
Concerns grow over sale of UK’s largest semiconductor plant to Chinese company
Concerns are growing over plans by a state-backed Chinese company to acquire the U.K.’s largest semiconductor plant for U.S. $82 million, amid reports that the British government has “quietly” approved the sale despite ordering a review a year ago. “This is about the United Kingdom’s biggest producer of microchips and semiconductors. It is about national resilience,” crossbench peer Lord Alton told the U.K.’s upper house on Thursday. “It’s about whether or not we wish to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the People’s Republic of China, which has been accused of genocide by Elizabeth Truss, our foreign secretary.” “Why aren’t we giving consideration [to] the remarks of Ciaran Martin, the former head of the National Cybersecurity Centre, that there are ‘very real concerns about the buyout’, and that it poses a greater threat than allowing Huawei to build the United Kingdom’s 5G network.” The question followed an April 1 report by the news website Politico, which cited sources as saying that ministers have decided not to intervene in the takeover of Newport Wafer Fab following a review by the government’s national security adviser, Stephen Lovegrove. “Lovegrove concluded there were not enough security concerns to block it,” the report cited two government officials as saying. Both the British government and Nexperia, the potential buyer, denied that the acquisition had been approved, however. The U.K.’s National Security and Investment (NSI) Act, which took effect on Jan. 4, 2022, empowers cabinet ministers to review and block foreign acquisitions that may damage national security. According to official guidelines on the government’s website, an acquisition is likely to fall within the scope of the act if the investor “is involved in the ownership, creation, supply or exploitation of intellectual property of … computer processing units, architectural, logical or physical designs for such units, the instruction set architecture for such units, code, written in a low-level language, that can control how such units operate, or integrated circuits with the purpose of providing memory. The House of Commons foreign affairs committee said on April 5 that it had sent letters to different government departments on many occasions regarding the deal, and had concluded that the review hadn’t been implemented according to the request of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. CCP backing Nexperia is ultimately owned by Wingtech, a Shanghai-listed company reportedly backed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), while Newport Wafer Fab (NWF) specializes in the fabrication of high-end silicon semiconductor chips and in manufacturing silicon chips for power conversion, and the industry in south Wales has received “significant financial support” from the government, the Committee said in its report. According to Chinese investment screening specialists Datenna, Wingtech is heavily backed by the CCP. Wingtech Chair Zang Xuezheng assumed the role of Nexperia CEO in March 2020, the report said. “Given the importance of semiconductors to the U.K.’s national security, we identified the acquisition of the U.K.’s largest semiconductor manufacturer by a company backed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a cause for concern; even more so in the context of global semiconductor shortages,” the report said. “We argued that it is crucial that the Government gets the new investment screening regime right from the beginning.” Ruling Conservative Party MP Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, said the government should act under national security powers to review sensitive and strategic foreign investments in the U.K. He said the deal had left many wondering why national security-related infrastructure was being handed over to overseas companies with clear links to the Chinese government. He warned against acting only for short-term economic interests, rather than for future economic stability. Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is “determined” to get control over access to key technologies amid a global semiconductor shortage. He warned against “appeasing” China, which was trying to block Western countries’ access to microchips and other sought-after electronic components. No.10 Downing Street declined to comment. The CCP-backed Global Times newspaper has hit out at Tugendhat for being “anti-China,” while he and eight other individuals are barred from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macau. “Their properties in China will be frozen, and Chinese citizens and institutions will be prohibited from doing business with them,” the paper reported on March 26. Similar sanctions have also been imposed on Duncan Smith, it said. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
