- contact@ij-reportika.com
Category: East Asia
Russia proposes joint naval drill with China, North Korea
Russia has formally proposed to China and North Korea for a joint naval drill in July, South Korea’s spies said on Monday – a move that could further escalate tensions in East Asia. “Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has made an official proposal for a trilateral naval drill to Kim Jong Un when he last visited North Korea,” Yoo Sang-beom, a lawmaker who was briefed by the nation’s spy agency, in the National Assembly, told reporters. The assessment by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service followed Shoigu’s visit to Pyongyang two months ago, which has raised suspicions that the two nations were looking to enhance their military cooperation including arms trading that would support Russia’s war with Ukraine. Washington issued a stern warning against North Korea last month regarding weapons transactions with Russia. The White House’s national security spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. was concerned about potential arms deals between Russia and North Korea. While Pyongyang’s recent provocations have strengthened trilateral security cooperation among the U.S., South Korea and Japan, both China and Russia are defending North Korea on the international stage, with the North reciprocating this backing. The South Korean spies also saw North Korea’s missile launch Saturday as a response to the U.S.-South Korea joint drill, according to Yoo, hinting that authoritarian regimes in the world are seeking their own ways to counter military ties among democracies. North Korea launched two cruise missiles carrying mock nuclear warheads towards the West Sea of the Korean peninsula. The missiles traveled about 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) for more than two hours, before detonating at an altitude of 150 meters, the official Korean Central News Agency said. While firing cruise missiles isn’t prohibited by the U.N., they present a significant threat to U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. North Korea’s latest cruise missile launch marked only a partial success. The Intelligence Service confirmed that one of the two missiles launched on Saturday was unsuccessful. The partial success, however, hints at Pyongyang’s revamped strategy to integrate its conventional arsenal and tactical nuclear weapons to threaten allies. “It seems clear that they are thinking of a short-term war, if there is any, merging their conventional arsenal with tactical nuclear weapons,” Yoo said, citing the assessment of South Korea’s spy agency. He said the intelligence agents have emphasized North Korea’s inability to wage a long-term war, as the hermit state is strapped by an ongoing economic crisis. North Korea had imposed strict COVID restrictions in early 2020, shutting down its borders, including that with its biggest trading partner, China. The North Korean economy contracted for the third straight year in 2022, according to the Bank of Korea. COVID restrictions, compounded by international sanctions, are widely seen to have further depressed the North’s struggling economy. The South’s spies also reiterated the position that the agency has yet to draw any conclusion that Kim Ju Ae, Kim Jong Un’s daughter, will succeed her father as North Korea’s next leader. Kim Ju Ae was seen accompanying her father during the North’s Navy Day last week. It was her first public appearance since May 16, when she showed up for an on-site inspection of a preparatory committee related to the North’s attempt to launch a military spy satellite. The appearance was widely seen as a rare window of the regime’s motivations to familiarize the North Korean public with potential future leaders, a strategy that Pyongyang has employed for decades. Edited by Elaine Chan and Mike Firn.
China bans book about the early history of the Mongolian people
Chinese authorities have banned a book on the history of the Mongols, citing “historical nihilism” – a term indicating a version of history not in keeping with the official party line – in what appeared to be a concerted attack by Beijing on ethnic Mongolians’ identity. Orders have been sent out to remove “A General History of the Mongols” by scholars in the Mongolian Studies department of the Inner Mongolia Institute of Education should be removed from shelves, the pro-Beijing Sing Tao Daily newspaper reported. It cited an Aug. 25 directive from the Inner Mongolian branch of the government-backed Books and Periodicals Distribution Association. The move comes after President Xi Jinping called for renewed efforts to boost a sense of Chinese national identity in a visit to the northwestern region of Xinjiang. Xi vowed to double down on China’s hardline policies toward the 11 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs who live in the region, warning that “hard-won social stability” would remain the top priority, along with making everyone speak Mandarin rather than their own languages. And his warnings seemed to apply to other regions, too. “Forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation is a focus of .. all work in areas with large ethnic minority populations,” Xi said in comments paraphrased by state media reports. China’s President Xi Jinping delivers a speech during his visit to Urumqi in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Aug. 26, 2023. Credit: Yan Yan/Xinhua via Getty Images “Education on standard spoken and written Chinese must be resolutely carried out to enhance people’s consciousness and ability to use it,” he said. Ethnic Mongolians, who make up almost 20 percent of Inner Mongolia’s population of 23 million, increasingly complain of widespread environmental destruction and unfair development policies in the region, as well as ongoing attempts to target their traditional culture. Clashes between Chinese state-backed mining or forestry companies and herding communities are common in the region, which borders the independent country of Mongolia, with those who complain about the loss of their grazing lands frequently targeted for harassment, beatings, and detention by the authorities. Historical narrative The banned book, published in 2004, was previously lauded for its work in “connecting the history of Mongolia from ancient times to the medieval period, making the history of Mongolia more complete,” according to a Baidupedia entry still available on Friday. “Systematizing, organizing, and using a scientific approach can help the world better understand China’s five thousand years of glorious history, strengthen the unity of the Chinese nation, and make Chinese culture and history more prosperous,” said the entry, which must have once been approved by government censors. Analysts said the book is already fairly nationalistic in tone, and describes the Mongols as part of the Chinese nation. But the ban comes as the authorities are increasingly concerned about a growing sense of Mongolian identity among ethnic Mongolians living in China. “A lot of Mongolian scholars and Mongolians in general don’t like this book because it describes the Mongols as a people of China,” Yang Haiying, a professor at Shizuoka University in Japan, told Radio Free Asia. “The Mongols have never considered themselves to be a Chinese people.” Nonetheless, the book is now considered to contribute to a pan-Mongolian identity because it didn’t go far enough in making the Mongols appear to be historically part of the Chinese nation, Yang said. “A lot of Mongolian scholars and Mongolians in general don’t like [“A General History of the Mongols”], because it describes the Mongols as a people of China,” Yang Haiying, a professor at Shizuoka University in Japan, told Radio Free Asia. Provided by Yang Haiying A pro-government comment on the social media platform Weibo hit out at the book for “historical nihilism.” “Criticizing the pan-Mongolian nationalist trend is conducive to #cultivating the consciousness of the Chinese national community, conducive to #ethnic exchanges, exchanges, and integration#, and conducive to #forging a strong sense of the Chinese nation’s community !,” user @XiMay1 wrote on Aug. 29. Ending Mongolian instruction At the start of the academic year in 2020, China announced it would end Mongolian-medium instruction in schools, prompting angry protests and a wide-ranging crackdown across the region. Taiwan-based strategic analyst Shih Chien-yu said the banning of the book sends a more general message to China’s ethnic Mongolians. “There are still a lot of Mongolian cadres in the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party of China, a lot of Mongolian intellectuals and officials, while most of the ethnic minority intellectuals in the various central nationalities colleges and university-level schools are Mongolian,” he said. Protestors hold banners and wave the Mongolian flag during a protest in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, against Chinese policies in the neighboring Chinese province of Inner Mongolia on Oct. 1, 2020. Credit: Byambasuren Byamba-Ochir/AFP “The main reason for banning the book is to warn them that they should believe they still have any clout within the regime,” Shih said. “Don’t put up any resistance behind our backs, because we can take away your power at any time.” In 2018, Chinese authorities detained Lhamjab A. Borjigin, a prominent ethnic Mongolian historian who gathered testimony of a historical genocide campaign by the ruling Chinese Communist Party, prosecuting him on charges of separatism. He was handed a one-year suspended jail term for “separatism” and “sabotaging national unity,” then released under ongoing surveillance. Translated by Luisetta Mudie.
Myanmar’s post-coup economy comes crumbling down
Amid the news of escalating violence, it’s easy to lose sight of two events in August 2023 that exposed the Myanmar military regime’s vulnerability. First, in a video message to the Moscow International Security Conference, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing complained about the weaponization of the dollar. Second, the August appointment of Lt Gen Nyo Saw to two special commissions on trade and foreign exchange that report directly to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing. Saw is a close confidant, but as the chairman of military-owned conglomerate Myanma Economic Corporation (MEC) and a director of military’s other holding company, Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd (MEHL), he’s also the military’s most experienced economic and business expert. It’s hard to overstate just how bad Myanmar’s economy is. Although the World Bank predicts GDP to grow at 2 to 3% this year, the economy has contracted by 12% since January 2021. A decade’s worth of economic growth was eviscerated. Myanmar junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing during a military exercise in Ayeyarwady delta region, Myanmar, Feb. 2018. Credit: Lynn Bo Bo/Reuters pool Nearly 60% of the population is now living beneath the poverty line, and the World Bank is warning about food insecurity across the country. Between war, climate change, and currency controls that limited the amount of the imports of fertilizer and pesticides, agricultural production is down. Although 2022-23 saw $1.6 billion in pledged foreign investment – almost all of which was from China or boomerang Myanmar investment via Singapore and Hong Kong – far less was actually realized. Other foreign investors are pulling out, citing poor market conditions, pressure from activists, and reputational costs. This has diminished the corporate tax base. With the exception of gas and oil sales to Thailand and China, exports have been hard hit. According to the military government’s Ministry of Commerce, in the first eight months of 2022, total exports reached $6.57 billion, giving the country a $172 million trade surplus. In the same period in 2023, total exports dropped by 9.8% to $5.93 billion, with a $500 million trade deficit. But if one disaggregates border trade, it’s even worse. Currency control confusion Exports to overseas markets fell by 21%. And it will worsen as key manufacturers, such as clothing makers H&M, Primark, and Inditex,- have left. Some retailers are now shunning Myanmar gemstones. Trade has been hard hit by a series of hastily implemented currency controls that change regularly, upsetting businesses. Some of the more recent currency controls have forced any individual or business with more than $10,000, without a permit, to purchase the kyat currency at the official exchange rate of 2,100 to the U.S. dollar. The black market rate for the greenback is 3,900 kyat , a 300% decline in the value of the currency since the Feb. 1, 2021 coup. Headquarters of the military-owned Myanmar Economic Corporation in Yangon, one of the country’s main military conglomerates. Photo: Ye Aung Thu/AFP Myanmar’s banks are increasingly isolated. U.S. sanctions on Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank, which were responsible for the clearing of most U.S. dollar transactions, have forced costly workarounds, such as establishing new shell companies and bank accounts. Singapore’s United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) announced that they would close the accounts of Myanmar, and had already stopped providing banking services for Myanmar Airways International. Other Singapore banks are expected to follow suit, following signaling from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the additional reporting requirements due to the Financial Action Task Force blacklist. A Bangladesh bank froze the accounts of the two sanctioned banks. Government revenue is flat or declining. While officially a secret, projections built into the annual Union Taxation Law paint a grim picture. The Internal Revenue Department has warned that revenue from lotteries, income tax, corporate taxes, natural resource rents, and customs duties have all stayed flat or contracted since the coup; only rents from oil and gas exports have gone up. Tax authorities are now specifically hitting medical professionals with preemptive taxes. According to data compiled by the opposition National Unity Government (NUG), the Central Bank of Myanmar has compelled banks, state-owned enterprises and insurance companies to buy an estimated 26.5 trillion kyat in bonds, $3.1 billion at the black market rate, since the coup. With an inability to repay, and an NUG pledge that the bonds will not be honored, these are additional liabilities for banks that are already saddled with non-performing loans. The regime is broke and may have turned on the printing presses. The NUG estimates that the military government has printed up to 20 trillion kyat, roughly $5.1 billion at black market rates, since the coup, partially explaining the high inflation. Sanctions take a bite In July 2023, the junta issued a K20,000 note, the highest denomination, creating an inflationary spike and a further decline in the currency’s value. It’s supposed to be a limited issue currency, but with 14% inflation, a higher denominated note may be required. While international sanctions have not resulted in a massive seizure of funds, they’ve not been insignificant either. The U.S.immediately froze $1.1 billion of Central Bank of Myanmar assets following the coup. The European Union froze $503 million when it sanctioned the Ministry of Oil and Gas Enterprise. More importantly, the sanctions have made everything harder for the junta. The NUG has identified 13 other banks around the world that are holding some $5.5 billion in Central Bank of Myanmar assets, 67% of which are in nine banks in Singapore. Should the NUG ever convince the Singapore government to freeze those assets, it would deliver the coup de grâce. A jetty for oil tankers at Madae island, Kyaukpyu, Rakhine state, Myanmar. With the exception of gas and oil exports to Thailand and China, Myanmar’s exports have been hard hit. Credit: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters This degree of economic mismanagement is a crime in itself, right up there with the military’s daily war crimes. The economy is the regime’s Achilles heel and they don’t have…
Once free of charge, North Korean eBooks will cost money to access
For a country closed off from the global internet, North Korea does offer its citizens at least a few high-tech conveniences. In the Miraewon electronic library system, for example, far-flung rural residents can visit their local library to read an electronic copy of any book in the national collection in Pyongyang. The service was free of charge – until now. Authorities are telling patrons that starting in September, they must pay 1 million won, or US$120, a year – a huge sum in North Korea – angering people who use it most frequently, a resident of South Hamgyong province, north of Pyongyang, told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “These measures were recently delivered to each city and county Miraewon through local party organizations, ” she said. The Miraewon, which can be translated into English as the “Future Institute”, has a portal in every city and county in North Korea, and residents can use it to access books housed in Pyongyang’s Grand People’s Study House via the intranet, an online system separate from the global internet. The Grand People’s Study House and the Kim Il-Sung Square in front of it are seen in Pyongyang, North Korea, in 2009. Credit: Reuters For some residents, this is the only way they can access materials on science and technology. The system has been a godsend for agriculture students looking to read up on farming techniques, animal husbandry, or for factory technicians in search of technical manuals or ways to improve efficiency. So the move would deprive readers of knowledge they need to more effectively do their jobs, a resident of the eastern province of South Pyongan said. “Here in Sukchon county, we’re an agricultural district, so there are farm technicians and students studying things like breed cultivation and wetland farming,” she said. “The Miraewon has physical copies of propaganda novels and the country’s masterpieces like the Complete Collection of the Works of [former leader] Kim Jong Il, but for anything related to science or technology, they must be read through the National Data Communication Network.” College students and technicians are complaining that the country prioritizes the propaganda pieces, which aren’t useful to their daily lives. “They complain … that the authorities are monopolizing the most important science and technology books and force them to access them only through the National Data Communication Network, and now they are even charging fees for it,” she said. “How can a county that hides knowledge like this ever develop economically?” Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong.
INTERVIEW: ‘I don’t know if it’s possible for me to ever return to Hong Kong’
A photography professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Art and Design has been refused entry to Hong Kong for the second time, further evidence that an ongoing crackdown on dissent under a draconian national security law could affect which foreign nationals are allowed to travel to the city. Matthew Connors, who was denied entry in 2020, immediately after the 2019 protest movement, but who is still allowed to visit North Korea, told RFA Cantonese in a recent interview that he was given a brief, bureaucratic explanation that he “didn’t meet the criteria” for entry, while the Immigration Department has declined to comment on the decision: RFA: When did you try to enter Hong Kong? Connors: On Aug. 16, I’d originally planned to come to Hong Kong as a tourist, and I especially hoped to visit art exhibitions, including the newly opened M+ museum. At the same time, it was also primarily to test the waters, because the last time I came to Hong Kong, at the beginning of 2020, I was refused entry by the Hong Kong Immigration Department, which made me always confused [about] whether I could visit Hong Kong again. And I couldn’t see any reason why I would be refused entry, and I couldn’t really understand what possible danger I could present to the Hong Kong government. I happened to be traveling in Asia for several weeks, and I was in Thailand. Since the last time I was refused entry back in early 2020, I’d had a lot of uncertainty about whether or not I’d be allowed to return to Hong Kong. And that had been bothering me. So I was hopeful I’d be able to visit and then when I didn’t really see any reason why I shouldn’t be refused, again, because the protests are no longer going on. And I couldn’t really understand what, you know, one possible danger I could present to the Hong Kong government. So I figured I would give it a try. RFA: What happened when you arrived? Connors: I was taken aside, again, by immigration, and I was told that I did not meet the qualifications for entry into Hong Kong at this time, which was a very bureaucratic answer. And it was the same reason that I was given the last time I was refused entry back in 2020. My trip was supposed to be an overnight trip, [and] I didn’t really tell anyone I knew in Hong Kong that I would be coming. Because I didn’t really know what risks that might have posed for anyone who would be seen associated with me. So when I was interviewed in the airport by immigration officers, I identified myself both as an artist and a professor that was visiting for the purpose of tourism. But despite this, in a very short interview, I was just given the generic reason that I do not meet the qualifications for entry at this time. So I knew from my past experiences that trying to get more nuanced or detailed answers from any of the immigration officers would really be futile. I actually had this feeling that no one that I actually encountered in the immigration office actually had the authority to make the decision about whether I could enter Hong Kong at the time or not. And so I really believe that I’m on a list of people whose access to Hong Kong is restricted, perhaps permanently, I’m not sure. RFA: What makes you think that? Connors: Part of the reason I think this is just the way they proceeded with the interview process, and it more or less mirrored exactly what happened to me last time. And so when I reached the immigration kiosk and presented my passport, they looked me up in the system. And then they called over immigration officer over to the window and he escorted me back to the immigration officers room and I sat in the waiting area and this was a designated area where I think they bring a lot of travelers that are flagged for further questioning, and I waited there with other travelers but ultimately, they never questioned me in this area, and they escorted me to a separate area, like a secondary interview area. I believe this is the place where they process people who they’ve already decided to refuse entry into Hong Kong. [It was] exactly where I went last time before I was refused entry. A screenshot from photographer Matthew Connors’ personal website. Credit: matthewconnors.com RFA: Do you think there’s anything you can do about your situation? Connors: I don’t know. I want to seek advice about that. You know, the last time I was refused entry, I started discussing it with an immigration lawyer, but that whole process really got derailed by the COVID lockdowns. I don’t know, to be honest. And I think that uncertainty is by design, because, you know, both with this refusal, and the sort of sweeping powers that the National Security Law gives the Hong Kong government they’re sort of instrumentalizing uncertainty in order to make people feel like their freedoms are being restricted. RFA: Did you fear this might happen when you went to Hong Kong? Connors: You know, I did. And I think some people that I consulted before left thought there was there was a higher risk, both because of the National Security Law had been passed, and because I had been denied before, but I think I had my instinct that I essentially, would be okay, that I think the worst case scenario was that I would be turned around again. I don’t have a lot of data or information to back that up. But I think I was just traveling under that assumption. This time, they did a much more rigorous search and my belongings, and then, when they escorted me through the airport, they actually took me through a separate security area and put me on a bus…
Visiting Xinjiang, Xi Jinping doubles down on hard-line policies against Uyghurs
Visiting Xinjiang for the second time in just over a year, President Xi Jinping vowed to double down on China’s hardline policies toward the 11 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs who live in the restive, far-western region. Maintaining “hard-won social stability” would remain the top priority, and that stability must be used to “guarantee development,” Xi said during a speech on Saturday in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Uyghur Region, state media reported. Xi said it was necessary to “combine the development of the anti-terrorism and anti-separatism struggle with the push for normalizing social stability work and the rule of law.” He also told officials to further “promote the Sinicization of Islam” and “effectively control various illegal religious activities.” Under Xi, China has clamped down hard on the Uyghurs since 2017, detaining 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in concentration camps, in reaction to sporadic terrorist attacks that Uyghurs say are fueled by years of government oppression. Beijing has also sought to destroy religious and cultural sites and eradicate the Uyghur language and its culture. The United States and legislatures of several Western countries have declared that abuses committed by China — including arbitrary detentions, torture, forced sterilizations of Uyghur women and the use of Uyghur forced labor — amount to genocide and crimes against humanity. China denies the accusations, saying its Xinjiang policies are necessary to combat religious extremism and “terrorism.” Uyghur advocates denounced Xi’s remarks, saying they pointed to more repression. “It’s crystal clear from Xi Jinping’s speech in Urumqi that the Chinese government and he intend to continue the ongoing Uyghur genocide and crimes against humanity in East Turkestan,” said Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, using Uyghurs’ preferred name for Xinjiang. Noting that Xi called for more positive propaganda on Xinjiang, Isa cautioned the international community “not to be fooled” by those false images and messages. Xi last visited Xinjiang in July 2022, before the U.N.’s human rights office issued a report concluding that China may have committed genocide and crimes against humanity. China’s President Xi Jinping speaks during his visit to Urumqi in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Aug. 26, 2023. Credit: Yan Yan/Xinhua via Getty Images ‘War on Islam’ On Monday, Rusha Abbas, executive director of the campaign for Uyghurs, said Xi’s use of the phrase “Sinicization of Islam” meant “war on Islam,” while “counter-terrorism measures” meant “mass imprisonment.” Xi also emphasizes security as the priority in Xinjiang followed by the region’s economic development, said Adrian Zenz, a researcher at the Washington, D.C.-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and an expert on the Xinjiang region. “In that context he strongly emphasizes cultural assimilation, Uyghurs learning Chinese, and a Sinicization of Islam,” he said. Zenz also noted that Xi’s point on the need for Uyghurs to work in other provinces of China and along the East Coast is significant because the government has long suppressed statistics on labor transfers to other areas. “That’s actually a very important data point — an important point of evidence — and really an argument why the United States really urgently needs to add many more Chinese companies to the blacklist” related to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. Signed into law in December 2021, the act requires American companies that import goods from Xinjiang to prove that they have not been manufactured with Uyghur forced labor at any production stage. David Tobin, a lecturer on East Asian studies at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, said the speech signaled that the Communist Party “will not listen to criticism on its ethnic policy in general and its policies towards the Uyghur people in particular.” “Domestically, Xi Jinping is signaling to party state officials and regional leaders that he is in command and his policies must be implemented,” he said. “So, the visit is a display and an assertion of strength, but also belies a weakness to these concerns.”
IMF: China leads as global fossil fuel subsidies hit record $7 trillion
Global fossil fuel subsidies hit a record U.S.$7 trillion, equivalent to more than 7% of global gross domestic product in 2022, the International Monetary Fund said. The subsidies are financial support from governments that make fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal cheaper to produce or buy. Subsidies for coal, oil and natural gas in 2022 represented more than world governments spent on education and two-thirds of what was spent on healthcare. According to the IMF report released Thursday, governments provided support to consumers and businesses during the surge in global energy prices, a consequence of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine and the economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. The IMF’s report comes as the world witnesses its highest average monthly temperatures on record. When burned, fossil fuels emit harmful pollutants that contribute to global warming and intensify extreme weather events. They also contaminate the air with toxins, harming our respiratory systems and other vital organs and killing millions yearly. By fuel product, undercharging for oil products accounted for nearly half the subsidies, coal another 30%, and natural gas almost 20% (underpricing for electricity accounts for the remainder), the report said. By region, East Asia and the Pacific accounted for nearly half the global subsidy, according to the IMF. Meanwhile, by country, in absolute terms, China contributed by far the most to total subsidies ($2.2 trillion) in 2022, followed by the United States ($760 billion), Russia ($420 billion), India ($350 billion), and the European Union ($310 billion). Graphic showing yearly global fossil fuel subsidies. Credit: IMF The bulk of global subsidies accounted for in the study fall into what the IMF termed implicit subsidies, which arise when governments do not adequately charge for the environmental damage caused by the combustion of fossil fuels. Such damage encompasses air pollution and climate change, with the impact forecast to grow due to the rising consumption of fossil fuels by developing countries. The IMF said explicit subsidies, in which consumers pay less than the supply costs of fossil fuels, have tripled since 2020, from $0.5 trillion to $1.5 trillion in 2022. The figure is similar to the estimates from the Canada-based think tank, International Institute for Sustainable Development, released Wednesday, that said the world’s biggest economies, the G20, provided a record $1.4 trillion in public money for fossil fuels in 2022 despite the promise to reduce spending. That includes investments by state-owned enterprises and loans from public finance institutions. The G20 nations, which cause 80% of global carbon emissions, pledged to phase out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies in 2009. Comprehensively reforming fossil fuel prices by removing explicit fuel subsidies and imposing corrective taxes such as a carbon tax would reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by 43% below “business as usual” levels in 2030 (34% below 2019 levels) the IMF said. It added that this would be in line with keeping global warming to ‘well below’ 2 degrees Celsius and towards 1.5 degrees Celsius. “Underpricing fossil fuels implies that governments forgo a valuable source of much-needed revenue and undermines distributional and poverty reduction objectives since most of the benefits from undercharging accrue to wealthier households,” the IMF report said. “The gap between efficient and current fuel prices is often substantial given, not least, the damages from climate change and the large number of people dying prematurely from fossil fuel air pollution exposure (4.5 million a year).” The IMF said fuel price reform would avert about 1.6 million premature deaths yearly from local air pollution by 2030. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
Trafficked Lao teen says new rules include beatings if caught texting
Dozens of Lao teens trapped in a Myanmar scam compound since last year are seeing even their scant lines of communication narrowing following grave new threats from their captors. The mother of one of the trafficked teens told RFA that her daughter’s last message said anyone caught using a cellphone would be beaten 50 times with an iron bar and tied to a tree during working hours for five days. Parents of the teenagers, who were trafficked to a Chinese-owned casino in Myanmar and forced to participate in cyber scams, have long called on Lao authorities for aid in releasing their children. Authorities have previously told RFA that access is impossible due to ongoing conflict between Myanmar junta forces and the Karen National Liberation Army fighting an insurgency against the military regime. “What could we do to help our children be released from that place as we’ve waited for one year already?” the mother asked RFA. Dozens of teenagers and youth from Luang Namtha province in Laos were trafficked to “Casino Kosai” in Myawaddy on Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand last year. There, the Laotians and scores of other young workers from the Philippines, China and elsewhere have been forced to work upwards of 16 hours a day. If they fail to dupe an unsuspecting “lonely heart” into parting with sufficient funds, they face harassment, beatings and electric shocks. The texts from the girl, who last month was beaten until she collapsed, also suggest that Chinese police have made moves to curtail some criminal activity at the casino — but only among their own citizens. While the information could not be corroborated, the mother told RFA her daughter reported that Chinese authorities arrived this week to arrest Chinese workers, though the scam compound is still in operation. Kearrin Sims, a senior lecturer at James Cook University who has researched crime in Laos, said the government could be doing far more to prevent “large-scale domestic trafficking.” “It is horrific that these vulnerable young people are being subjected to such violence and that Lao authorities are unable or unwilling to rescue them and to prevent the trafficking from occurring,” he wrote in an email. “Some form of diplomatic intervention by the Lao government is needed. We are unlikely to know what form that takes, and the government is unlikely to even acknowledge that such efforts have been made, but certainly it could request assistance from China in rescuing the victims. Perhaps that has already (unsuccessfully) happened with regard to the recent intervention by Chinese police.” Translated by Sidney Khotpanya for RFA Lao. Additional reporting by Abby Seiff.
Wagner head plane crash provokes discussion in China
Russia’s civil aviation agency said Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin was on an airplane that crashed near Moscow Wednesday. It has fueled a wave of online discussion in China, where some drew comparisons to the Chinese Communist Party’s not so distant past. No cause for the crash was provided, but Wagner-flagged Telegram accounts blamed Russian air defenses for shooting down the Embraer jet. Prigozhin’s death comes exactly two months – to the day – after the Wagner Group undertook an armed rebellion against the Russian Armed Forces, seizing control of a Russian military office in the city of Rostov-on-Don and briefly marching on Moscow. According to the Wagner Group, Prigozhin was among 10 people who lost their lives in the crash involving a private plane flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg that came down less than half an hour after taking off. The group posted what is believed to be a video of the crash on social media platforms, showing an airplane crashing and burning. They confirmed that Prigozhin had died, describing him as a hero and a patriot. They further claimed that he died at the hands of “Russian traitors.” Eyewitness footage of the crash site of a plane linked to Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, near Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, August 23, 2023, in this screen grab taken from a video. Credit: Ostorozhno Novosti/Handout via Reuters Although the news broke in the middle of the night in China, keywords related to “Prigozhin” quickly trended on the social media app Weibo, which had 255 million daily users as of March of this year. Numerous bloggers also uploaded late-night videos discussing the implications of the Prigozhin incident. China’s earlier official response to Wagner Group’s brief mutiny was muted, with a Foreign Ministry statement on June 25 calling it “Russia’s internal affair,” adding that China “supports Russia in maintaining national stability.” But some experts interviewed by the state media outlet China Daily expressed concerns about the stability of China’s friend and neighbor. “The conflict between mercenaries and the Russian army is only the tip of the iceberg about the inherent contradictions in Russian society,” said Yu Sui, a professor at the China Center for Contemporary World Studies. Challenging the leadership Many online commentators remarked on the inherent risk of standing up to autocrats in what some of them dared to call “totalitarian” states. “Prigozhin, the head of the mercenaries, clearly didn’t understand politics. Didn’t he watch House of Cards? He made the mistake of rebelling against Putin,” blogger Yojia Fleet wrote. “Breaking news! Prigozhin’s private plane crashed north of Moscow. After offending Putin, he didn’t live long. As for the cause of his death, we can only speculate,” wrote another blogger who goes by the name of Wang Xiaodong Some Chinese netizens created polls such as “Who’s behind Prigozhin’s plane crash?” to attract attention and web traffic. Online comparisons were also made to the “Russian version of the Lin Biao incident,” a reference to a top leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman Mao Zedong’s chosen successor. In 1971, he is believed to have died when his plane nosedived into the grasslands of Outer Mongolia. China’s official line is that Lin planned to assassinate Mao and when his plot failed he tried to flee Beijing for Moscow, but with insufficient fuel to complete the flight. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping toast during their dinner in the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, March 21, 2023. CREDIT: Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File Professor Yang Haiying of Japan’s Shizuoka University said the reason that online commentators were calling the incident the “Russian version of the Lin Biao incident” was because both China and Russia are dictatorships. “Chinese citizens are paying attention to this because of the close relationship between Xi and Putin. If anyone opposes Putin, their fate is sealed, just as if anyone opposes Xi, they might follow Lin Biao’s path,” said Yang. However, Hu Ping, honorary editor of the New York-based Beijing Spring magazine, said that the relationship between Prigozhin and Putin cannot be directly compared to that of Lin Biao and Mao Zedong. He added that Lin Biao’s accident was shocking all the same, and Prigozhin’s death was dramatic, sparking discussions online. “For the CCP, this isn’t politically sensitive because it’s an external event, but a dramatic one,” said Hu. “With the Chinese government supporting Russia in the war against Ukraine and Xi Jinping often comparing himself to Putin, these factors naturally lead to speculation.” Political commentator Wang Jian said that Chinese netizens were fascinated with the latest news because of China’s good relationship with Russia, but warned that government voices might use the news to make Chinese citizens even more afraid to challenge the government. “With issues like unemployment and dropping house prices, people are anxious,” said Wang. “The government is unpredictable. The focus of Chinese netizens on external events has decreased because of the economic downturn. But government online commentators might create an atmosphere that suggests disloyalty will lead to bad consequences.” Wang also alluded to the CCP’s complete grip on the military, saying it was unlikely that China could experience a mutiny similar to Russia’s. He added that Beijing won’t need to leverage the incident to strengthen control over the military. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
Philippine officials release footage of sea standoff, as senator pushes for inquiry
A senator called Wednesday for an inquiry into how the Philippines could strengthen control of its South China Sea territory, as the coast guard released footage from a standoff between Filipino and Chinese ships in disputed waters a day earlier. The videos showed a convoy of Philippine boats and ships as they maneuvered past the China Coast Guard while sailing on a resupply mission to a remote military outpost in Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) in the Spratly Islands. Two Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ships, the BRP Cabra and BRP Sindangan, escorted the convoy. They had arranged a rendezvous with civilian boats contracted by the military on Monday before setting off for Ayungin Shoal the following day, Commander Jay Tarriela said. The PCG spokesman challenged Chinese claims that its ships allowed the supply mission to proceed peacefully, and said that when the Philippine ships were within 2.5 nautical miles of reaching the shoal “we experienced dangerous maneuvers by four China Coast Guard vessels backed by four Chinese maritime militia. “They executed different ways for the Philippine Coast Guard to be separated from the supply boats so that they would be able to prevent (them) from entering the shoal,” Tarriela told reporters. Also on Wednesday, Sen. Risa Hontiveros alleged that the People’s Republic of China had continued to militarize portions of the West Philippine Sea, despite international condemnation. Manila uses that name for South China Sea waters that lie within its territory. During a speech in the Senate, Hontiveros called “for an inquiry, in aid of legislation, into further capacitating and empowering the Philippine Coast Guard to enable it to carry out its primary mission of enforcing Philippine law and upholding national sovereignty within the country’s maritime zones, particularly the West Philippine Sea.” China’s actions, she said, had led to an “unprecedented challenge to the Philippine Coast Guard’s primary mission of enforcing Philippine law, maintaining the country’s sovereignty and upholding vital national interests. In Beijing on Wednesday, China’s foreign ministry called on the Philippines “to immediately stop any actions that may complicate the situation on the ground. “Let me stress that in response to what the Philippines did, China Coast Guard took necessary law enforcement action in accordance with the law,” ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said. Tuesday’s incident followed one about two weeks ago where the China Coast Guard fired water cannons at the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era ship deliberately run aground by the Philippines to serve as its military outpost in Ayungin Shoal. The shoal is about 200 km (124 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000 km (621 miles) from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan island. “Now, it has become clear that China has her eye on Ayungin Shoal. The water cannons, the military laser, the removal of a naval gun cover – all these severe provocations were against Philippine vessels making their way to Ayungin,” Hontiveros told the Senate on Wednesday. “China is actively blocking these missions because she does not want any further reinforcement to our most defiant sovereign marker in the West Philippine Sea, the BRP Sierra Madre.” Videos On Wednesday, Tarriela presented a video that showed a China Coast Guard ship blocking a Philippine Coast Guard ship from entering the shoal. A second Chinese ship was positioned to intercept the Filipinos in case they got through the first cordon, the video showed. “There are also other videos that we have showing that our supply boats were being blocked by China Coast Guard vessels and the four Chinese maritime militia,” he said. “Well, this time our game plan really was to outmaneuver the China Coast Guard vessels … and make sure that the supply boats would be successful in entering the shoal,” Tarriela said. A U.S. Navy plane flies over the Ayungin Shoal during a Philippine resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre, Aug. 22, 2023. Credit: Aaron Favila/AP The Chinese ships issued radio challenges and warnings that said Beijing had “indisputable sovereignty” over the sea region, according to officials. The Chinese ships said they were allowing the Philippine Coast Guard and the supply boats to pass through “in the spirit of humanism.” “[W]e don’t need permission from the People’s Republic of China and Ayungin Shoal is within our exclusive economic zone. We have the sovereign right over these waters,” Tarriela said. “Secondly, it is not true that they are humane or extended humanitarian assistance.” Journalists who traveled with the Philippine Coast Guard on Tuesday posted photos of a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon patrol and reconnaissance plane flying overhead during the resupply mission. In Washington on Wednesday, officials at the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a BenarNews request for comment about the flight. On Monday, U.S., Australian and Philippine troops held an air assault drill in Rizal town, in the western island province of Palawan, about 108 nautical miles from Ayungin Shoal. BenarNews is an Ijreportika-affiliated online news organization.
