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Category: East Asia
Myanmar military defends Bhamo with bombing blitz, residents say
Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. Myanmar’s ruling military battled to defend a major northern town on Wednesday as its forces also came under pressure in the west and the east and its most important ally China worked to stop the onslaught by insurgents determined to end the generals’ rule. Forces of the junta that seized power in a February 2021 coup have been pushed back in different places across the country by ethnic minority insurgents and allied pro-democracy militias over the past year. Ethnic Kachin insurgents have been attacking the northern city of Bhamo on the Irrawaddy River for two weeks and have advanced towards the military’s headquarters there. Junta forces have responded with heavy airstrikes, residents said. “Last night at around 8 p.m., the planes were dropping bombs. There must have been about 100 strikes,” said one Bhamo resident, who declined to be identified in fear of reprisals. “On the side of the headquarters, fighting is continuing and we hear gunfire. We can also see houses near there burning.” An aid organization in the area said 30 civilians had been killed and nearly 150 wounded in Bhamo since Dec. 4. Among the dead were 10 children and five nuns, said a spokesperson from the group who declined to be identified. “It’s an approximation from people on the ground and those who fled,” said the spokesperson. “The dead were killed by airstrikes and heavy weapons, and some by shooting when they fled.” RFA tried to telephone Kachin state’s junta spokesperson, Moe Min Thein, to ask about the situation in Bhamo but he did not answer. China, the junta’s main foreign ally, has been trying to end the violence in its neighbour, where it has extensive economic interests including rare earth mines in Kachin state energy pipelines from the Indian Ocean, and has been pressing insurgents to strike ceasefires with the junta. The chairman of the Kachin Independence Organization, or KIO, General N’Ban La, met senior Chinese official Wu Ken in the Chinese city of Kunming on Dec. 12 for talks on a truce with the Myanmar military and trade along Kachin state’s border with China, said Kachin military information officer Naw Bu. “They discussed a ceasefire and opening gates along the border, then after fighting stops, they talked about having peace talks with the junta,” he said. “Neither side has made any formal decision or agreement.” He declined to say if China was putting pressure on the KIA but China has in recent days pressed two insurgent groups in Shan state, to the southeast of Kachin state, to agree to ceasefires after cutting off border trade. RELATED STORIES Chinese aid cannot overcome Myanmar junta’s declining finances and morale China undermines its interests by boosting support for Myanmar’s faltering junta Sources: Junta representatives, leaders of rebel group in talks in China Manerplaw re-captured In Myanmar’s western-most Rakhine state, ethnic minority Arakan Army, or AA, insurgents have surrounded the army Western Command base in the town of Ann, one of the military’s last major headquarters in the state. The AA released drone video footage of the base on Wednesday, showing burning buildings in ruins, with smoke rising. Radio Free Asia could not verify the date the video was taken but it was clearly of the Western Command headquarters. The AA also released video of scores of captured men, hands tied, marching in a line with white flags of surrender. In the east, Myanmar’s oldest insurgent group, the Karen National Union, or KNU, re-captured their headquarters at Manerplaw, which they lost in 1995 to the army following a split in their ranks. “We are taking back the headquarters that we lost for 30 years,” said the group’s spokesman, Saw Taw Nee. Manerplaw, on a river along the border with Thailand, is of great symbolic importance. The Karen headquarters was the hub of opposition efforts by an alliance of ethnic minority groups and student fighters from the majority Burman community after the military crushed a pro-democracy uprising in 1988. Those same groups are again striving for unity as they seek to end military rule and usher in what they say will be a democratic, federal Myanmar. Translated by Kiana Dunan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
UK court dismisses claim against intel agency by alleged Chinese ‘spy’
A London-based lawyer accused of secretly working with China’s propaganda arm has lost a legal appeal against the U.K.’s domestic intelligence service. Christine Lee said an “interference alert” from MI5 issued in January 2022 had violated her rights, leading to lost business, a barrage of racist emails and even death threats. Her son, David Wilkes, was part of the appeal and said that the alert also negatively affected him. But the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, an independent U.K. judiciary body, unanimously dismissed their claim, calling the alert issued to the British Parliament “a proportionate response to the threat posed” by Lee. The alert accused Lee of attempting to interfere with U.K. politics on behalf of the United Front Work Department, which Western governments say operates covert intelligence and influence campaigns abroad. The alert was the first ever issued related to China. However, officials did not deem her to have committed any prosecutable offense. Lee was born in Hong Kong but emigrated with her family to Belfast when she was 12. The advisory notice on lawyer Christine Lee from MI5, the U.K.’s domestic intelligence and security agency.(MI5) At the time the alert was issued, she was working as an attorney largely on behalf of members of the British Chinese community. Lee’s work on Anglo-Chinese relations garnered an award in 2019 from then-Prime Minister Theresa May. Wilkes, her son, was a diary manager for Barry Gardiner, a member of Parliament to whom Lee had donated more than 500,000 GBP over five years. The issuance of the alert prompted a barrage of news reports alleging that Lee was a Chinese agent, which she claimed caused her emotional distress. The judgment issued this week notes that Lee received rape and death threats following the issuance of the alert. Lee said the alert led to “irreparable reputational harm” and ended her work on behalf of asylum seekers. Wilkes alleged that he was told by his employer to resign or be dismissed the day the alert was issued. Gardiner denied the claim, and the two later reached a settlement. But the alert forced him to change careers and cost him friendships, Wilkes said. However, the tribunal ruled today that MI5’s warning about Lee’s alleged threat was justified, and that the agency was not responsible for abuses she faced from the media and public. The court was established in 2000 to weigh cases in which public entities, in particular British intelligence agencies, are alleged to have violated individual rights. The decision to dismiss Lee and Wilkes’ claims comes as fears over Chinese efforts to influence politics have gripped Britain. RELATED STORIES EXCLUSIVE: United Front-linked group lauded Yang Tengbo’s links to David Cameron EXCLUSIVE: Alleged Chinese spy tied to Prince Andrew is businessman Yang Tengbo EXPLAINED: What is China’s United Front and how does it operate? On Monday, British officials named Yang Tengbo as the alleged Chinese spy who had been barred from entering the United Kingdom due to national security risks in 2021, confirming an RFA Dec. 13 report. Yang had served as a business adviser to Prince Andrew and, as also was reported by RFA, had connections with former British Prime Ministers David Cameron and Teresa May through his consultancy, the Hampton Group International. British authorities allege Yang plotted to secretly advance Beijing’s interest in the U.K. through his ties to high-profile figures. China’s Foreign Ministry said the UK’s allegation of YangTengbo engaging in espionage was ‘ridiculous’ and called on both sides to work towards mutual benefit. Chinese officials have denied the allegations, saying Yang’s work was part of normal exchanges to promote international business. Yang himself had asked British authorities to release his name publicly. “The widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is entirely untrue,” he said in a statement. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Tuesday called the spying allegations against Yang “ridiculous.” Edited by Abby Seiff and Boer Deng We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
Rebels in Myanmar’s Rakhine state seize another stronghold, shun talks
Read RFA coverage of these topics in Burmese. Ethnic minority guerrillas in Myanmar’s Rakhine state have seized a major stronghold from the military, a spokesperson for the group said on Monday, another step towards their goal of controlling the entire state, while rejecting a junta call for talks. The Arakan Army, or AA, which is fighting for self-determination in Myanmar’s western-most state, is one of the country’s most powerful forces battling the junta that seized power in 2021. The insurgent force controls about 80% of the state, where China has extensive energy interests, and it fully captured the 12th of the state’s 17 townships before dawn on Saturday. “We managed to seize control of Operational Command Center No. 5 in Toungup township,” said AA spokesperson Khaing Thu Kha. “That means the Arakan Army has been able to completely seize the township.” RFA attempted to contact military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment but he did not respond by the time of publication. Hours after the insurgents captured the base, the junta chief, Senior General Ming Aung Hlaing, called on the AA and two of its allies to agree to ceasefires and talks to end the war. “You can’t achieve your aims by demanding them through armed conflict, you must come to the political table,” Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech on the 50th anniversary of Rakhine State Day. “I urge you to give up the way of conflict so that we can peacefully solve our problems and arrive at a good path,” he said. RELATED STORIES In viral video, besieged Myanmar troops bemoan lack of support from junta chief EXPLAINED: What is Myanmar’s Arakan Army? Chinese aid cannot overcome Myanmar junta’s declining finances and morale The AA and the two allied groups, both based in Shan state on northwestern Myanmar’s border with China, launched a stunning offensive late last year, seizing large areas from junta troops including major towns and bases. Under pressure from China the two Shan state groups – the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, and Ta’ang National Liberation Army – have recently declared ceasefires and agreed to talks. A delegation from the MNDAA met representatives of the Myanmar military in the Chinese city of Kunming on Sunday, a source close to the military told Radio Free Asia, adding that Chinese officials also attended. But the AA rejected the junta’s call for a ceasefire, Khaing thu Kha said. “I consider it a dishonorable and brazen thing to say because in Myanmar, the military are the real violent ones,” he said. “Nobody in Myanmar supports them … they can not represent Myanmar anymore. The terrorist military should apologize to the public and surrender their weapons as quickly as possible,” Khaing Thu Kha said. The AA spokesman said his forces were closing in on another major military base in Rakhine state, its Western Command near Ann town, while junta forces were defending Gwa, in the far south of the state, with air power and fire from navy vessels, he said. “The situation is good, we can say that we’ll capture it soon,” the AA spokesperson said of the Ann base. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
A long-deferred dream realized. My reunion with my mother
Uyghur-American lawyer Nury Turkel hadn’t seen his mother in more than two decades. But she and two other Uyghurs, who were subjected to an exit ban in China, were included in a prisoner swap between the United States and China in November. Here, Turkel relates the story of his long-delayed reunion with his mother. My heart is overwhelmed with joy, relief and renewed hope this holiday season. After more than 20 years of separation, I am finally reunited with my beloved mother here in America. The most precious moment was seeing her embrace her grandchildren for the first time — a long-deferred dream finally realized. For much of my life, holidays like Thanksgiving felt hollow because of our family’s fractured reality. I have always been close to my mother. Our family often joked that I was an only child, although I have three younger brothers. My mother relied on me when she felt stressed or sad. This deep bond traces back to my birth during China’s notorious Cultural Revolution in a Communist reeducation camp. Chinese authorities used this bond to torment me, despite my having lived in America as a free Uyghur for nearly three decades. I had not seen my mother since 2004 and had spent only 11 months with my parents since leaving China 29 years ago. While on a flight from Rome, Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the people released by China, November 2024. I was born in 1970 in the midst of unspeakable horrors. My mother had already spent over six months in the camp before my birth. Severely malnourished and suffering from a fractured hip and ankle, she gave birth to me while in a cast from the chest down. We lived under dire conditions, marked by scarce food and constant surveillance. I was malnourished and frail, a living testament to my mother’s suffering. The first several months of my life were spent in detention alongside her. We were starved, isolated and stripped of our dignity. Yet, through it all, her resilience and unwavering strength sustained me through the darkest times. In the summer of 1995, driven by a long-standing admiration for freedom in America and inspired by the end of the Cold War, I arrived in the United States as a student and was later granted asylum. Witnessing the collapse of former Soviet blocs, including Central Asia regions with deep cultural, historical and geographical ties to the Uyghur people, reinforced my desire for freedom and higher education. Despite my life as a free American and four years as a U.S. official, the past continued to haunt me. I endured years of sanctioned isolation, unable to be there when my father passed away in 2022. The Chinese government’s retaliation intensified, barring my mother from traveling and isolating her socially. My mother, facing severe health issues, remained under constant surveillance and travel restrictions. These are common sufferings and struggles for countless Uyghurs around the world. I have been sanctioned by both China and Russia for what appears to be retaliation against my service in the U.S. government and decades-long human rights advocacy work. Every attempt to reunite us was blocked, and my mother’s deteriorating health intensified the urgency. Yet, our determination to be together never wavered. On the eve of Thanksgiving, a miracle unfolded. Three days before her arrival in America, security officials in Urumqi notified my mother that she would need to get ready to go to Beijing at 4 a.m. the next day. She had about 20 hours to prepare for this trip. It was a journey she had longed for with hope and prayer for over two decades. In her final hours in China, she visited my father’s grave to say goodbye one last time, honoring their shared history and fulfilling a deeply personal need for closure before embarking on her long-awaited journey. They had been married for 53 years, sharing countless memories, from raising a family to weathering life’s challenges with unwavering love and commitment. On the night of Nov. 24, around the same time Chinese security informed my mother about the trip to Beijing, I received a call from the White House notifying me about developments I would learn more about the next day at a pre-planned meeting with a senior National Security Council official. I woke up my wife and children and shared the news. I felt relieved, excited and deeply grateful. Early on Thanksgiving morning, while driving to Dulles Airport for my flight to Texas where I was to meet my mother, I received a call from a U.S. official who put her on the phone. “Son, I am on a U.S. government plane and free,” she said. “I don’t know what to say. So happy beyond words.” For so long, I lived with the constant fear that one day I might receive the unthinkable news of my mother’s imprisonment — or worse — just as I lost my father over two years ago. But when I heard my mother’s voice, hope prevailed, and the long-held darkness lifted. That fear and the unthinkable are no longer part of my life. At the U.S. Joint Base in San Antonio, Texas, I watched my mother descend the plane’s stairs, supported by a U.S. diplomat and greeted by a military commander in uniform. A wave of emotions washed over me, and I ran toward my mother. We embraced, tears streaming down our faces, overwhelmed by the reality of our long-awaited reunion. Her first words — “Thank God I’m here with you, and I won’t be alone when I die” — shattered and mended my heart all at once. This has been more than a reunion. It’s the restoration of a piece of my soul. Words cannot fully express my gratitude. On Thanksgiving morning, my brother, who had flown with me to Texas, and I brought our mother to Washington. Watching her embrace her grandchildren for the first time was a moment of incredible joy and healing. Though my father…
South Korea votes to impeach President Yoon over failed martial law bid
South Korea’s National Assembly voted on Saturday to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed bid to impose martial law, to the delight of a huge crowd of anti-Yoon protesters outside the legislature.
Hong Kong verdict against Yuen Long attack victims prompts widespread criticism
The verdict by a Hong Kong court has generated widespread criticism after it found seven people — including former lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting — guilty of “rioting” when they tried to stop white-clad men wielding sticks from attacking passengers at a subway station in 2019. Exiled former pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui, who like Lam is a member of the Democratic Party, accusing authorities of “rewriting history.” “It’s a false accusation and part of a totally fabricated version of history that Hong Kong people don’t recognize,” Hui told RFA Cantonese after the verdict was announced on Dec. 12. “How does the court see the people of Hong Kong?” he asked. “How can they act like they live in two separate worlds?” The District Court found Lam and six others guilty of “taking part in a riot” by as dozens of thugs in white T-shirts rained blows down on the heads of unarmed passengers — including their own — using rattan canes and wooden poles at Yuen Long station on July 21, 2019. Lam, one of the defendants in the subversion trial of 47 activists for holding a democratic primary, is also currently serving a 6-years-and-9-month prison sentence for “conspiracy to subvert state power.” Wearing a cycle helmet, Galileo, a pseudonym, left, tries to protect Stand journalist Gwyneth Ho, right, during attacks by thugs at Yuen Long MTR, July 21, 2019 in Hong Kong. “I was panicky and scared, and my instinct was to protect myself and others,” he said. According to Galileo, Lam’s actions likely protected others from also being attacked. “I felt that his presence made everyone feel calmer, because he was a member of the Legislative Council at the time,” he said of Lam’s role in the incident. “He kept saying the police were coming, and everyone believed him, so they waited, but the police never came.” Police were inundated with emergency calls from the start of the attacks, according to multiple contemporary reports, but didn’t move in until 39 minutes after the attacks began. In a recent book about the protests, former Washington Post Hong Kong correspondent Shibani Mahtani and The Atlantic writer Timothy McLaughlin wrote that the Hong Kong authorities knew about the attacks in advance. Members of Hong Kong’s criminal underworld “triad” organizations had been discussing the planned attack for days on a WhatsApp group that was being monitored by a detective sergeant from the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau, the book said. Chased and beaten According to multiple accounts from the time, Lam first went to Mei Foo MTR station to warn people not to travel north to Yuen Long, after dozens of white-clad thugs were spotted assembling at a nearby chicken market. When live footage of beatings started to emerge, Lam called the local community police sergeant and asked him to dispatch officers to the scene as soon as possible, before setting off himself for Yuen Long to monitor the situation in person. On arrival, he warned some of the attackers not to “do anything,” and told people he had called the police. Eventually, the attackers charged, and Lam and others were chased and beaten all the way onto a train. One of the people shown in that early social media footage was chef Calvin So, who displayed red welts across his back following beatings by the white-clad attackers. So told RFA Cantonese on Friday: “The guys in white were really beating people, and injured some people … I don’t understand because Lam Cheuk-ting’s side were spraying water at them and telling people to leave.” He described the verdict as “ridiculous,” adding: “But ridiculous things happen every day in Hong Kong nowadays.” Erosion of judicial independence In a recent report on the erosion of Hong Kong judicial independence amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent that followed the 2019 protests, law experts at Georgetown University said the city’s courts now have to “tread carefully” now that the ruling Chinese Communist Party has explicitly rejected the liberal values the legal system was built on. RELATED STORIES EXPLAINED: What is the Article 23 security law in Hong Kong? Hong Kong police ‘knew about’ Yuen Long mob attacks beforehand EXPLAINED: Who are the Hong Kong 47? Nowadays, Hong Kong’s once-independent courts tend to find along pro-Beijing lines, particularly in politically sensitive cases, according to the December 2024 report, which focused on the impact of a High Court injunction against the banned protest anthem “Glory to Hong Kong.” “In our view, at least some judges are issuing pro-regime verdicts in order to advance their careers,” said the report, authored by Eric Lai, Lokman Tsui and Thomas Kellogg. “The government’s aggressive implementation of the National Security Law has sent a clear signal to individual judges that their professional advancement depends on toeing the government’s ideological line, and delivering a steady stream of guilty verdicts.” Translated with additional reporting by Luisetta Mudie. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
Myanmar border with China in northern rebel zone to reopen – group says
Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. The border between Myanmar and China in an area controlled on the Myanmar side by ethnic minority guerrillas is to reopen, the rebel group said on Friday, allowing for a resumption of trade including the export to China or rare earth minerals. Myanmar’s Kachin Independence Army, or KIA, and authorities in China have both closed the border in Myanmar’s northern-most state in recent weeks, as the insurgents have seized crossing points from the Myanmar military and Chinese authorities have banned cross-border movements in the hope of stopping the fighting. Representatives of the ethnic Kachin insurgent force, one of the most powerful groups fighting the Myanmar junta that seized power in 2021, met officials in the Chinese city of Kunming on Thursday to discuss the border, said a KIA spokesman. “It’s true that the border gates are being opened,” KIA Information Officer Naw Bu told Radio Free Asia, adding that he did not have details of the talks in Kunming. Residents on the border said that while gates on both sides had been opened, vehicles had yet to resume crossing and it was not clear when they would. The Chinese embassy in Myanmar did not respond to inquiries from RFA. RELATED STORIES Kachin, Shan residents face hardships as China and Myanmar block trade China undermines its interests by boosting support for Myanmar’s faltering junta Myanmar rebels capture border base near Chinese rare-earth mining hub The KIA seized five major crossing points from junta forces in recent weeks, taking full control of the border with China in its areas of operations after capturing important rare-earth and jade-mining centers, which export their output to China. Residents of Kachin state, on the other hand, import a wide range of consumer goods and essentials from China, including fuel, and border closures have brought hardships. China is pressing insurgent groups in northern and northeastern Myanmar to make peace with the military and it has closed its border in places controlled by insurgents on the Myanmar side to press them into talks. In October, China refused to let civilians fleeing fighting take refuge on its side of the border. The KIA responded with its own border closure, stopping the export of rare earths. Hla Kyaw Zaw, a Myanmar political analyst based in China, later told RFA that businessmen with interests in Kachin state’s mines had appealed to Chinese authorities to get the border open again. Two insurgent forces in Shan state, to the southeast of Kachin state, have agreed to ceasefires and negotiations with the junta in recent days but the KIA is locked in fierce fighting to capture the major Kachin state town of Bhamo from junta forces. A resident of the Kachin state border town of Pang War said the crossing with China was open but vehicle traffic had yet to resume. “The gates on both sides have been opened,” said the resident, who declined to be identified for security reasons. “But so far today they haven’t let cars pass. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.” Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
EXPLAINED: Why are leaflets protesting North Korea dropped in Japan?
Read a version of this story in Korean An organization dedicated to advocating for South Koreans abducted by North Korea plans to air-drop anti-North Korean leaflets in Tokyo on this week. Specifically, the group plans to use drones to drop the leaflets — containing photos and stories of some of the 516 South Koreans kidnapped by North Korea over the years — over the headquarters of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, which many regard as Pyongyang’s de facto embassy there. North Korea doesn’t have an embassy in Japan because the two countries don’t have formal diplomatic ties. What’s the goal of this tactic? The group is doing this because staffers at the headquarters of the pro-North Korean organization — also, abbreviated to Chongryon (in Korean) or Chosen Soren (in Japanese) — refused to accept a hand-delivered list of abductees, according to Choi Sung-ryong, the head of the South Korea-based Association of the Families of Those Abducted by North Korea. Choi said that dropping the leaflets on Chongryon headquarters is like sending them directly to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — and he hopes that his efforts can prompt Pyongyang to acknowledge that it has abducted many South Koreans over the years. Choi said he would continue to distribute leaflets until this happens. “The leaflets include a request to quickly confirm whether the abductees are alive or dead,” said Choi. “We are asking Kim Jong Un to quickly confirm the fate of 516 family members. That’s why we’re protesting.” Zainichi Koreans in Japan pray for the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during a memorial service at a Korean cultural center in Tokyo on Dec. 29, 2011, shortly after his death. Its rival organization is the South Korea-aligned Korean Residents Union in Japan, referred to colloquially in Japanese and Korean using the abbreviation Mindan. Both organizations advocate for Zainichi Koreans living in Japan — which for most of the second half of the 20th century was the largest minority in the country, and is now the third largest. What does Zainichi mean exactly? In Japanese, it literally means “staying in Japan.” Today, there are hundreds of thousands of zainichi Koreans who live in Japan — they have been living there for generations, but for one reason or another they have not acquired Japanese citizenship. The history behind this is that when World War II ended in 1945, there were around 2.4 million Koreans in Japan, and while most of them returned to Korea over the next few months, around 640,000 stayed behind. A group of Japanese and zainichi Koreans stage a protest against Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara’s anti-foreigner remarks, in front of the Tokyo metropolitan government office April 12, 2000. Japan became party to several international human rights covenants in the 1980s and since the post-war period there has been a general change in mainstream Japanese attitudes towards minorities. But for much of the early postwar period, the community struggled economically, and community organizations emerged to counter discrimination against Zainichi. The Chosen Soren and Mindan groups have advocated for their rights in Japanese society and preservation of Korean culture and language among the community, including by securing funds from the South and North Korean governments to run schools for Zainichi children. Today, while there is greater acceptance of zainichi Koreans in Japanese society, they still face discrimination. Translated by Leejin J. Chung. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
Xi Jinping calls for wider use of Mandarin in China’s border areas
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Chinese President Xi Jinping said common Chinese language, or Mandarin, should be “spoken more broadly” in border regions, adding to longstanding concerns about the impact on China’s ethnic minority languages, which some of their speakers say are struggling to survive. China’s borderlands, spanning five provinces and four autonomous regions, including Tibet, Xinjiang Uygur and Inner Mongolia, are culturally and linguistically diverse and have seen opposition to Beijing’s efforts to assimilate ethnic minorities into the majority Han culture. While Mandarin is China’s official language, efforts to promote it have sparked controversy, with critics warning of harm to ethnic languages and cultural identities. “We should continue to deepen efforts on ethnic unity and progress, actively build an integrated social structure and community environment, and promote the unity of all ethnic groups – like pomegranate seeds tightly held together,” said Xi, addressing a Politburo study session on Monday. Xi also said Mandarin, colloquially known as Putonghua, and its writing system should be comprehensively popularized in border regions, and the use of national textbooks compiled under central guidance should be fully implemented, the state-run People’s Daily newspaper reported. He told members of the ruling party’s top policymaking body that it was necessary to guide all ethnic groups in border regions to “continuously enhance their recognition of the Chinese nation, Chinese culture and the Communist Party”. The Chinese leader added that maintaining security and stability was the “baseline requirement” for border governance, noting that efforts should be made to improve social governance, infrastructure and “the overall ability to defend the country and safeguard the border”. China’s Politburo regularly holds sessions, with discussion usually led by an academic – Monday’s session was led by Li Guoqiang, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of History. RELATED STORIES Tibetan language rights advocate under surveillance after release from detention Mandarin speech contests in Tibet are attempts to erase native language, experts say 4 Tibetan teens detained for resisting going to Chinese schools Xi’s latest remarks come amid a broader push in recent years by authorities to promote Mandarin-language education as part of a nationwide effort to assimilate ethnic minorities into the majority Han culture. In Inner Mongolia, the 2020 introduction of Mandarin as the primary language of instruction for core subjects led to widespread protests, school boycotts, and demonstrations by ethnic Mongolians, who fear the erosion of their native language and identity. Similarly, in Tibet, the increasing use of boarding schools where children are taught primarily in Mandarin has been condemned by rights groups as a strategy to weaken Tibetan cultural ties and instill loyalty to Beijing. In Xinjiang, the strict enforcement of Mandarin education has been linked to broader campaigns targeting Uyghur Muslims, including reports of mass detentions and forced assimilation – which Beijing denies – raising alarm over the systematic suppression of Uyghur language and traditions. On Dec. 28, 2021, China’s Ministry of Education, the National Rural Revitalization Bureau and the National Language Commission issued a plan to promote Mandarin. By 2025, it aims for Mandarin to be spoken and understood in 85% of the country as a whole and in 80% of rural areas. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
China demolishes prominent Xinjiang building owned by Uyghur activist in US
A symbolically important building in Xinjiang’s capital that was instrumental in the emergence of Uyghur entrepreneurs and businesspeople in the 1990s has been demolished, Radio Free Asia has learned. Authorities destroyed the Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center in Urumqi on Nov. 29, said Zumret Dawut, a Uyghur internment camp survivor now in the United States, citing sources from inside China’s far-western region of Xinjiang. The building had been shuttered for 15 years. Other sources in Xinjiang, including police officers and a tourism worker, confirmed the demolition, and satellite photos show debris where the building once stood on a corner of downtown Urumqi, near the Grand Bazaar. Built in 1990, the seven-story Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center, including the adjacent Akida Trade Center, was a 30,000-square-meter (323,000-square-foot) space with over 600 shops, conference rooms, wedding halls, classrooms and hotel rooms. Besides promoting the development of Uyghur entrepreneurs, the center became a meeting place for intellectuals, a training ground for young researchers and a starting point for philanthropists. The red arrow points to the Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center in Urumqi, capital of northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Sept. 9, 2009. Dawut’s sources told her that the building was imploded. She also said she closely monitored Chinese state media and social media platforms, including Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, for more information or videos, but found nothing. Strict security measures were implemented the day the building was torn down, Dawut learned from her sources, and the road where the trade center was located and surrounding streets were placed under surveillance. Before authorities destroyed the trade center, they distributed notices about closing nearby shops and buildings and restricted access to tourist sites. “I was told that the store owners were instructed to keep their shops closed on the day of the demolition, and no one was allowed in the area,” she said. When RFA contacted police and other officials in Urumqi about the building’s fate, most warned that the topic was sensitive and declined to answer questions when Kadeer’s name was mentioned. ‘Sensitive topic’ A police officer at the Urumqi Ghalibiyat Police Station said the situation was normal and that foreign tourists could visit the area around the Grand Bazaar, but he did not deny the building’s demolition. RELATED STORIES Sister of Uyghur Rights Advocate Rebiya Kadeer Confirmed to Have Died After Release From Detention ‘More Than 30’ Relatives of Uyghur Exile Leader Rebiya Kadeer Detained in Xinjiang Uyghur Leader’s Family Evicted World Cannot Turn a Blind Eye: Rebiya Kadeer China Frees Rebiya Kadeer “The Grand Bazaar can still be toured, and the museums are open for visits,” the officer said. “However, there is no longer a Rebiya Trade Center. You can’t refer to it by that name at this moment. It’s a sensitive topic.” When asked why the building was demolished, the officer said she and others at the police station had heard something about it but could not provide details because of the topic’s sensitivity. A duty officer at the city police’s external affairs department said the Kadeer building was demolished on Nov. 29 by municipal construction workers. But she said she did not have further information. A staff member from a tourism agency in Urumqi also confirmed the center’s destruction. “The Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center has already been demolished,” she said. “I haven’t been there since it’s in ruins, and everything is a mess.” A government worker in Urumqi who declined to give his name said authorities tried to carry out the demolition as quietly as possible, but the sound of the building imploding and police presence on surrounding streets created more fear in the already uneasy city. A view of the facade of the Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center in Urumqi, capital of northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Sept. 9, 2009. An officer from the Nanhu Police Station near the Kadeer building who was on duty around the Grand Bazaar on Nov. 29 suggested that others’ accounts were exaggerated and noted that few policemen were needed during the demolition because Urumqi’s streets are filled with surveillance cameras. “The demolition was carried out without causing any panic,” she said. 1999 arrest When Kadeer lived in Xinjiang, she was politically active and held positions in China’s National People’s Congress in Beijing and in other political bodies prior to her arrest in Urumqi in 1999 while en route to a meeting with a U.S. Congressional staff delegation. Chinese authorities accused her of sending confidential internal reports to her husband, who at the time worked as a broadcaster for Radio Free Asia and Voice of America in the U.S. Kadeer was released on medical parole in 2005 and fled to the United States, where she took on leadership positions in overseas Uyghur organizations, including the World Uyghur Congress. After deadly unrest between Muslim Uyghurs and Han Chinese in Urumqi in July 2009, Chinese authorities accused Kadeer, who was not present at the time, of being an instigator of the turmoil, and permanently shuttered her trade center. Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
