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Category: East Asia
Taiwan’s appeal appalls China
Defying China’s threats and rejecting its campaign to isolate Taiwan, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed on the self-ruled island for a visit. An angry Beijing, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan, conducted air-and-sea military drills to the east of the island and announced live-fire war games to run for four days after her trip. Polls show scant support in Taiwan for any merger between the democratic island and Communist China.
Pelosi visit renews debate of self determination of Taiwan
Lawmakers in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan expressed cross-party support for U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit, rejecting threats from Beijing amid an ongoing debate on the democratic island about the strength of its ties with the United States. Opposition Kuomintang lawmaker Chiang Wan-an said Beijing, which announced live-fire military exercises on the eve of Pelosi’s arrival, has no right to prevent sovereign countries from having international visitors. “The Republic of China is a sovereign and independent country,” Chiang said, using the formal name of Taiwan’s government that dates back to the 1911 revolution under Sun Yat-sen. “Congress in particular represents the people, so there are mutual visits,” he said. “Such an overreaction by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is unnecessary.” “We also hope that the relevant parties can guard against the escalation of military tensions around Taiwan,” Chiang said. Ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Lo Chih-cheng said Pelosi’s visit would significantly boost Taiwan’s faith in the U.S.’ commitment to its security, however, Taiwan’s official Central News Agency (CNA) reported. Chiu Hsien-chih of the New Power Party, said the visit would likely pave the way for the U.S.’ unequivocal support for Taiwan in the future, the agency said. But Chieh Chung, an associate researcher at Taiwan’s National Policy Research Foundation, warned of possible incursions by Chinese military aircraft during Pelosi’s visit. “Sending planes into Taiwan’s airspace will cause even more conflict,” Chieh told. “I think the CCP’s purpose is to make a strong impression on Taiwan and the area around it, not to actually create conflict [but] to make the situation very tense with a high-intensity show of force.” “But the purpose will probably be a show of force or the threat of it,” he added. A U.S. military aircraft with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on board prepares to land at Songshan Airport in Taipei on August 2, 2022. Credit: AFP Missile launches possible Chieh said regular incursions were likely across the median line of the Taiwan Strait, particularly at its narrower sections. “July, August and September usually see intensive periods of advanced tactical training for the CCP army, so they may just adjust the timing of some exercises,” Chieh said. “At the same time, we could see a large-scale missile test launch, even of DF-17, YJ-21 or DF-21D anti-ship missiles, which could be tested on sea targets,” he added. He said the main concern was the threat of military accidents or miscalculations sparking full military conflict. “Accidents are a concern when you have such a high density of military activities in the same area,” Chieh said. “Any unexpected incident could cause a sudden and rapid escalation in the situation, which could even trigger an unexpected military conflict.” “That’s what we should be most worried about right now.” Kuan-ting Chen of the Taiwan Next-Gen Foundation think tank, said there is an ongoing debate within Taiwan about how best to win greater international recognition and participation in the face of the threat of Chinese invasion. Chen said that China’s military expenditure has jumped from about 80 billion yuan in the late 1980s to 1,476 billion yuan in 2022, an 18-fold increase. “There will be a debate within Taiwan about how to ensure peace in the Taiwan Strait and the stability of the government regardless of the circumstances,” Chen told. “[It’s about] ensuring that there are no changes to the living standards, economy or political life because of [tensions with China],” he said. Widespread public support Associate professor Huang Kui-po of Taiwan’s National Chengchi University said Pelosi’s visit seems to have garnered fairly widespread public support in Taiwan, despite the military threats from Beijing. “The reason for the support is that Congress is an elected body, and the representatives of the people from both Taiwan and the United States should visit each other,” Huang said. “Another faction believes that Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan may raise tensions in the Taiwan Strait,” he said. “But tensions are going to rise sooner or later; there could be a ripple effect.” Much of the public debate appears to be around a lack of certainty that the U.S. would commit to a full-scale military involvement in Taiwan’s defense, should China invade. The Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation found in an April 2022 poll that a majority of 53.8 percent of Taiwanese adult do not believe there will be a U.S. military intervention in the event of a Chinese invasion, while only 36.3 percent said they believe there would be. Paul Huang, research fellow at the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation, wrote in a recent op-ed article that public confidence in U.S. military support had “decisively turned skeptical” following the lack of intervention in Ukraine following the Russian invasion. “The lack of a direct US military intervention to help Ukraine (despite all kinds of military and non-military aid, intelligence sharing, and other assistance) had a major impact on the Taiwanese public’s confidence in U.S. military intervention and drove a significant number, as much as a quarter of the Taiwanese, toward non-confidence,” Huang wrote for Inkstick Media. Meanwhile, the majority of the Taiwanese public has been very sympathetic toward Ukraine and is highly supportive of Western-led sanctions against Russia, Huang wrote. A majority of supporters of President Tsai Ing-wen’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) do believe in U.S. intervention, while 70 percent of “government workers” who include those on active military service don’t, Huang said, citing recent polls. Punishing Taiwan, not the US Yujen Kuo of Taiwan’s Institute for National Policy Research said any meeting between Pelosi and Tsai will be of “great historic significance” for many in Taiwan, however. “So far, the White House and the State Department have been quite cautious, but Pelosi visiting Taiwan will set a new paradigm,” Kuo said. But he warned that any response from China will likely seek to punish Taiwan rather than the U.S. “I worried about [Chinese] military exercise around the median line of the Taiwan Strait, because this has never happened before, and if a large…
Russia backs China on Taiwan as sanctions, incursions expected during Pelosi visit
Russia on Tuesday backed Beijing’s disapproval of an expected visit by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the democratic island of Taiwan, calling it a “provocation,” as China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) engaged in live-fire military exercises across the Taiwan Strait. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing that Moscow opposes Taiwanese independence “in any form.” Her comments came as the official media of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) made no mention of escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait after Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned President Joe Biden not to “play with fire” ahead of Pelosi’s planned arrival on Tuesday evening. Neither the People’s Liberation Army Daily nor the CCP’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily, made any mention of the story, with the People’s Daily leading with agricultural developments in Fujian. However, the English-language Global Times ran a top story titled “Tension escalates hours ahead of Pelosi’s potential Taiwan visit as PLA remains fully prepared for any crisis.” It said any visit by Pelosi would be “a serious provocation and violation to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity which would be met with severe countermeasures from the Chinese military.” The article largely repeated comments also made on Tuesday by Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. It also cited a maritime safety warning to shipping reporting live-fire military exercises off Weifang in the Bohai Sea on Aug. 3, while “military training in parts of the South China Sea” was reported by the Guangdong maritime authorities. The paper’s former editor Hu Xijin tweeted on Tuesday: “Based on what I know, in response to Pelosi’s possible visit to Taiwan, Beijing has formulated a series of countermeasures, including military actions.” Hu also tweeted on Monday: “If she dares to stop in Taiwan, it will be the moment to ignite the powder keg of the situation in the Taiwan Straits.” Tacit understanding? Current affairs commentator Johnny Lau said he expects there is more likely to be a tacit understanding between Beijing and Washington enabling Xi to step up the appearance of military threat to boost his support at home. “Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan is highly beneficial to Xi Jinping, who is taking the opportunity ensure that top military and political figures must unite around him ahead of the 20th CCP national congress [later this year],” Lau said. “The mainland could have the PLA’s planes cross over the median line of the Taiwan Strait, and neither the U.S. nor Taiwan will attack them,” he said. “Both sides know where the lines are drawn, and whoever fires the first shot will be responsible [for starting a war],” he said. “Everyone is flexing their muscle in what is both a political show and a military gesture aimed at certain circles,” Lau said. Wu Qiang, an independent researcher at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, said China could also announce sanctions on members of the Congressional delegation, including Pelosi, including banning them from entering China. “If the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs imposes sanctions after Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, it would be no more than the sanctions imposed on other U.S. politicians in recent years,” Wu said. “They could ban them from entering China or Hong Kong, freeze their assets there, and ban companies from doing business with their families,” Wu said. Diplomacy failures He said Beijing has little other recourse short of military action. “Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan marks an unprecedented change in Sino-U.S. relations, which is of course due to the failure of Chinese diplomacy [in recent years],” he said. China has also suspended imports from 35 Taiwanese exporters of biscuits and pastries since Monday. Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported on Tuesday that China has listed 2,066 foodstuffs as being subject to “import suspension.” Wu said such trade sanctions would likely continue as international support for the democratic island, which has never been ruled by the CCP, nor formed part of the People’s Republic of China, grows. He said China could also try to restrict international maritime access to the Taiwan Strait. “They could declare that the Taiwan Strait is China’s territorial waters, and its airspace part of China’s airspace, and say that foreign vessels [or aircraft] must get approval from China to enter them,” Wu said. International relations scholar Zhong Shan agreed. “China will definitely react in some way, maybe by including Taiwan in its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) … with military aircraft flying over or around the island,” Zhong said. “It’s fairly easy for the foreign ministry to whip up populist sentiment, but it’s not so easy to suppress it again,” he said. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
China never misses an opportunity to crack down on Religion
Religious freedom in China is in a state of peril. The primary reason is that Chinese authorities never miss any opportunity to crack down on religion. Over the past year alone, China has detained Muslim for showing their faith, forced Buddhists to pledge allegiance to the ruling Communist Party, and coerced Christian churches to take down their crosses or shut down.
Taiwan military on alert for China threats on reports Pelosi may visit
The Taiwanese military has stepped up its combat readiness to prepare for threats from China ahead of the U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s potential visit to the island, local media reported. At the same time, the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group is operating near Taiwan, a Chinese think-tank said. Taiwan’s official Central News Agency (CNA) quoted anonymous “reliable sources” as saying that from 08:00 a.m. on Tuesday until 12:00 noon on Thursday the military will “strengthen combat readiness” of troops and make adjustments in accordance to the threats from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Taiwan’s armed forces operate at two levels of combat readiness for peacetime and wartime, each level comprises several stages. It is understood that the current stage of preparedness is still within the peacetime level but could change. The island’s Ministry of National Defense has yet to make any comment on the news that comes as China announced more live-fire exercises in the South China Sea and Bohai Sea. On Tuesday morning several Chinese military aircraft and warships came close to the median line of the Taiwan Strait – the tacit maritime border between Taiwan and the mainland – Reuters said, quoting an anonymous source. This move is “unusual” and can be seen as “very provocative,” the source was quoted as saying. Taiwan’s defense ministry said the island’s military has a “full grasp” of activities near Taiwan and “will appropriately dispatch forces in reaction to enemy threats.” Aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan conducted a replenishment-at-sea in the Philippine Sea on July 31. CREDIT: U.S. Navy 7th Fleet. USS Ronald Reagan in the Philippine Sea Meanwhile on Tuesday the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan has been sailing in the northern Philippine Sea, east of Taiwan, China’s South China Sea Probing Initiative (SCSPI) think-tank said, tracking the latest flight trajectory of the carrier-borne C-2A Greyhound cargo aircraft. On Monday and Tuesday China announced four more live-fire drills on top of four exercises that ended at the weekend. The first one is being held in the South China Sea near Hainan Island on Aug. 1 until Aug. 6, the same period of Pelosi’s Asia tour. The other three live-fire drills are in the Bohai Sea, the first from Aug. 1 to Aug. 4, the second on Aug. 3, and the third from Aug. 4 to Aug. 6. On Sunday, just one day before Pelosi began her Asia trip, the PLA also conducted mock air combat training after midnight “with the aim of improving the pilots’ ability to quickly enter combat status for abnormal situations at any time,” the state-supported Global Times reported. RFA sources, and sources cited by local media and America’s CNN, said Nancy Pelosi would make an unofficial trip on Tuesday evening to the island, which is not on her official four-nation itinerary. China issued fresh warnings that the visit “would lead to serious consequences.” “If Pelosi visits Taiwan, the Chinese side will respond resolutely and take strong countermeasures to defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Zhao Lijian told a press conference in Beijing on Monday. “As for what those measures will be, let’s see what happens if she actually goes,” Zhao added. In Washington, the White House and the top U.S. diplomat said Pelosi’s travel plans were up to her, but urged China not to turn any such visit to Taiwan into a diplomatic crisis. Pelosi’s right to visit Taiwan “The speaker has the right to visit Taiwan, and a speaker of the House has visited Taiwan before, without incident, as have many members of Congress, including this year,” said national security spokesman John Kirby. “There is no reason for Beijing to turn a potential visit consistent with long-standing U.S. policy into some sort of crisis or conflict, or use it as a pretext to increase aggressive military activity in or around the Taiwan Strait,” he told reporters. Kirby said Washington would not be moved by any Chinese effort to raise tensions over Pelosi. “We will not take the bait or engage in saber rattling. At the same time, we will not be intimidated,” he said. Taiwan’s presidential office and foreign ministry have both declined to comment on any visit by Pelosi, although premier Su Chen-chang has said the island’s government, which still uses the name of the 1911 Republic of China, will welcome any foreign VIP guests. The United States does not recognize Taiwan diplomatically, but retains close unofficial ties with Taipei and is obligated by law to provide it with defense capabilities. Beijing considers the self-ruling, democratic island a breakaway province, to be united with the mainland by force if necessary, and objects strongly to high-level U.S. visits.
China steps up threats on eve of expected unofficial Taiwan visit by Nancy Pelosi
Any visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is currently leading a congressional delegation on an Asian tour, to Taiwan would lead to “very serious developments and consequences,” China warned Monday, the eve of an expected visit to the democratic island. While Taiwan wasn’t on Pelosi’s official four-country itinerary, RFA sources and sources cited by local media and CNN said she would make an unofficial trip late on Tuesday to the island, which has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) nor formed part of the People’s Republic of China. But even an unofficial stopover would be regarded by Beijing as “a gross interference in China’s internal affairs,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters. “We would like to tell the United States once again that China is standing by, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army will never sit idly by, and China will take resolute responses and strong countermeasures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Zhao said. “If she dares to go, wait and see what happens,” he told a regular news briefing in Beijing. The Trump administration announced in January 2021 that the U.S. was lifting curbs that had been in place since Washington cut ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing in 1979, saying Washington would no longer “appease” Beijing. President Joe Biden has previously said China is ‘flirting with danger’ with its ongoing threat to annex Taiwan, saying the U.S. is committed to defending the island in the event of a Chinese invasion, a statement U.S. officials later framed as an interpretation of the existing terms of the Taiwan Relations Act requiring Washington to ensure the island has the means to defend itself. But Biden struck a more conciliatory note in a phone call last Friday with CCP leader Xi Jinping, saying U.S. policy hadn’t changed, and that Washington doesn’t support full international recognition for Taiwan’s sovereignty. Xi warned Biden that “those who play with fire get burnt.” Taiwan’s presidential office and foreign ministry have both declined to comment on any visit by Pelosi, although premier Su Chen-chang has said the island’s government, which still uses the name of the 1911 Republic of China, will welcome any foreign VIP guests. “We extend a warm welcome to foreign VIPs who come to visit our country; we will make the best possible arrangements for their visit, and also respect their plans when arranging the schedule,” Su told reporters. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (R) shakes hands with U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at the Istana Presidential Palace in Singapore during a visit to the Asia-Pacific region, Aug. 1, 2022. Credit: Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information / AFP More saber-rattling Drew Thompson, a former U.S. defense official and senior visiting fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, said via his Twitter account that he expects Pelosi to make an unofficial stop in Taiwan after her visit to Malaysia. While Beijing privately considers this an acceptable outcome, Thompson said the PLA could launch high-profile reconnaissance flights around Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), a form of saber-rattling that has become commonplace in recent years. Former Taiwanese civil aviation director Chang Kuo-cheng said Pelosi’s aircraft won’t be allowed to enter Taiwan’s airspace, so much take a roundabout route via airspace controlled by the Philippines, the U.S. and Japan. “She will not pass through our airspace,” Chang said. “If she tries, China may take action; something they have long prepared.” Tao Yi-fen, an associate professor of politics at National Taiwan University, said Pelosi’s visit could still prompt Xi to take action, regardless of the route Pelosi takes if she visits. “The CCP is about to hold the 20th party congress, so if Xi Jinping does nothing after issuing all of those warnings, it could have a negative impact on his bid for a further term in office at the party congress,” Tao said. Taiwan resident Hsiao Wu said the war of words is largely being manufactured by Beijing, created by the CCP’s insistence on annexing Taiwan, by force if necessary. “Every now and then, I will get Chinese friends asking me if [Taiwan] really wants a war,” Wu said. “But no, we don’t. Our side is peaceful.” “If the PLA really scrambles to fly alongside [Pelosi’s] flight or target-locks their missiles, then that would be an overreaction,” he said. “[Nonetheless], if a person of her rank comes to Taiwan, regardless of what they want to talk about, it will show support and a good attitude to Taiwan, and boost its [international] image,” Wu said. External distractions Meanwhile, a Chinese student in Canada said the CCP needs an external distraction from an imploding real estate market and weak economic performance in the wake of Xi’s zero-COVID policy. “Social conflicts are more acute in China now … it needs to engage in some provocations … and strengthen domestic controls so as to shore up social stability,” the student said. “The more conflicts at home intensify, the more they will project them outwards.” Current affairs commentator Fang Wenxiang agreed. “I think that [China’s] ‘wolf-warrior’ diplomacy has affected all areas of government now,” Fang said. “Ministry of defense spokesmen used to be very cautious, but now they’re coming out with unreasonable statements, from which it will be hard to back down.” Wu Qiang, independent researcher at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, said the official response seems to be changing from day to day since the row over Pelosi’s trip blew up. “[The official line] is changing from day to day, and it colored by opportunism and ambiguity,” Wu said. “It seems they have reached their rhetorical limit for the time being, because they don’t want to cause political shocks or turmoil in China ahead of the 20th party congress.” “Nor do they want an expansion of popular nationalism off the back of Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan … the CCP is being cautious about nationalistic sentiment ahead of the 20th party…
‘Hungry river’ phenomenon to blame for severe erosion of Mekong River banks in Laos
Upstream dams and sand mining have caused significant erosion along the Mekong River in western Laos, according to experts, devastating riparian communities in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation with high waters and powerful currents. But residents of those communities say they believe that other issues are to blame. Brian Eyler, director of the Southeast Asia Program and the Energy, Water, and Sustainability Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C., said upstream activities had created a “hungry river” phenomenon responsible for the severe erosion. “There is a natural phenomenon called a ‘hungry river’ where a river which has been robbed of its sediments looks for new sediment to fill its course,” he said. “Sediment is taken out of a river system by upstream dams and sand mining, so when the river goes ‘hungry’ it pulls new sediment into it from river banks through erosion processes.” “Upstream dams in China have removed more than half of the sediment from the Mekong mainstream and now that Laos has built about 100 dams, the effects are being felt even more severely,” he said. If dams must be built, their designs should include sediment flushing mechanisms to allow sediment to pass through the structure, Eyler said. If they don’t include the flushing systems, the situation will “get worse and worse because the river will get hungrier and hungrier as time passes,” he added. Direct impact The dams are part of Laos’ ambitious plan to become the “battery of Southeast Asia” and boost the landlocked nation’s economy by selling the generated electricity to neighboring countries like Thailand. But the projects are controversial because of their environmental impact, displacement of villagers, and financial and power demand arrangements. Ian Baird, director of the Center for Southeast Asia Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said there are many factors responsible for the Mekong River erosion, including sand dredging and deforestation, though he agreed that the main cause is the “hungry water” phenomenon. “This phenomenon takes place because all the dams on the Mekong River collect all the sediment, [and] the water released from the dams has less sediment,” he said. “When the water gets hungrier, it causes erosion along the Mekong River bank in the region below the dams.” The erosion has a direct impact on riparian communities, causing the collapse of roads, and the washing away of land, forcing Laotians who live near the riverbank to relocate, Baird said. “The villagers who used to grow vegetables like tomatoes and chili peppers in the dry season on the riverbank can’t do that anymore,” he said. “If they still want to grow vegetables, they’ll have to grow them on higher ground, to which they’ll have to pump the water up. They’ll have to pay for electricity [to do that].” Growing vegetables on higher ground also means that the crops will not benefit from river sediment that acts as a natural fertilizer, so farmers will have to buy fertilizer as well, Baird said. Land subsidence from erosion has cracked this road near the bank of the Mekong River in Paksan, Bolikhamxay province, central Laos, July 16, 2022. Credit: RFA Many erosion ‘hotspots’ Lao officials point to other possible explanations for the erosion that wipes out houses and land in riparian communities. In Bokeo province in the northern part of the country, an entire village of 300 households was lost to the river over the past 24 years due to powerful waves caused by ship movement, an official from the province’s Natural Resources and Environment Department told RFA. “The culprit is the large and heavy ships weighing up to 100 tons running through the river,” he said. “The ships are the worst enemies of the riverbank. Their strong waves destroy the riverbank. Some waves are more than one meter (3.3 feet) high.” At least 73 kilometers (45 miles) of the 179 kilometers (111 miles) of Mekong River bank in central Laos’ Borikhamxay province is severely eroded, said Vixay Phoumy, director of the province’s Public Works and Transport Department at the agency’s annual meeting on July 7. Only 21 kilometers (13 miles) of the stretch is protected by retaining walls. “We have many hotspots in Thaphabath and Borikhan districts where the erosion is worse,” an official from the province’s Natural Resources and Environment Department told RFA. “From our inspection, we know that the riverbank slides down the most in the rainy season,” he said. “Of course, some homes and farmland have been washed away too.” Farther downstream, strong currents in the Mekong have eroded about 90 kilometers, or nearly 50%, of riverbank, in Saravan province, an official of the province’s Natural Resources and Environment Department told RFA. A stretch of eroded riverbank along the Mekong River in Pakkading district, Bolikhamxay province, central Laos, July 2022. Credit: RFA ‘Our common problem’ The severe erosion is not confined to the Laos side of the Mekong River and affects banks on the Thai side as well, said Omboon Thipsuna, secretary-general of the Mekong Community Organizations Network Association, 7 Provinces, Northeastern Region (NCPO) in Thailand. “The main cause is the upstream dams releasing and holding water,” she told RFA. “It’s obvious that the sediment has disappeared.” “The water goes up and down,” she said. “They [riparian residents] see it tumbling down every day.” Thipsuna called for bilateral talks between Laos and Thailand to find a solution to the erosion issue. “It’s our common problem,” she said. The Sanakham Dam, a proposed hydropower project on the Mekong mainstream between Xayaburi and Vientiane provinces in Laos will make the erosion worse, she said, adding that water levels currently can go up to four meters (13 meters) high daily. The cash-strapped Lao government can only afford to build erosion-prevention barriers in a few locations, leaving the residents of many other areas to deal with the issue on their own. “The Mekong River bank erosion has been occurring for years, causing a lot of concerns to our riparian residents,” said a villager in the town of Paksan, capital of…
Jokowi ends NE Asia tour aimed at bolstering support for G20 summit’s success
Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the leader of G20 President Indonesia, undertook a carefully curated tour of Northeast Asia this week to ensure multilateral support for the group’s summit in November amid divisions over Russia’s war in Ukraine, analysts said. The Indonesian president visited China, Japan and South Korea – all countries with important trade and investment ties to Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Jokowi’s trip sent “a message of concrete cooperation and friendship amid a global situation steeped in rivalry and containment efforts,” Indonesian Foreign Minister told reporters in Seoul, the last leg of Jokowi’s five-day tour. “The leaders appreciated President Jokowi’s leadership in contributing to global peace,” she said. Indonesia has often strived to balance its relations between China and its rival superpower, the United States. But in his role as this year’s holder of the revolving G20 presidency, Jokowi has had to step up his diplomatic game by playing a mediatory role to blunt the wedge that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine created in the group, observers said. On one side, western countries in the Group of Twenty have condemned Russia for invading Ukraine. On the other, member-states including China, Indonesia and India, have refused to follow suit and still maintain ties with Moscow. Still, there is no doubt Jokowi wants the G20 summit, scheduled for November in Bali, to be a success, analysts said. “The trip was relevant to Indonesia’s chairmanship of the G20,” David Sumual, chief economist at Bank Central Asia, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated news service. “Indonesia wants to make sure the G20 summit is successful and attended by all members,” he said. According to Agus Haryanto, an analyst at Jenderal Soedirman University in Purwokerto, Indonesia is concerned about the prospect of no agreement at the Bali summit. “At the G20, Indonesia faces a major challenge on what the outcome of the G20 summit in November will be,” he said. “With good relations with the three countries [China, Japan and South Korea], Indonesia is looking for support to smoothen things out and reduce tensions.” Jokowi, whose term ends in 2024, wants to leave a legacy of being a peacemaker and reaffirm the country’s “independent and active” foreign policy, Agus said. “During his first term, the president paid less attention to foreign affairs. Now in his second term, Jokowi has shown that domestic politics and foreign policy are equally important.” Tense meetings Under Indonesia’s presidency, G20 meetings have been fraught, as most have occurred after the invasion of Ukraine in late February. At the group’s foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali earlier in July, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov walked out – at least once – during what he called the “frenzied castigation” of Moscow over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Before that, top U.S. British, Canadian and Ukrainian financial diplomats walked out as a Russian official addressed a G20 meeting in Washington on April 20. “The trip will also undoubtedly strengthen support for Indonesia’s G20 presidency, especially in preparation for the summit” in Bali, Foreign Minister Retno said on Thursday about her boss’s visits to Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul. Indonesian President Joko Widodo (left) shakes hands with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at the Presidential Office in Seoul, July 28, 2022. Credit: Yonhap via Reuters ‘Respect international law’ Jokowi’s trip to Northeast Asia also showcased Indonesia’s non-aligned foreign policy, which helped him secure U.S. $13 billion in investment pledges in total from China, Japan and South Korea. At a meeting between Jokowi and Japan’s top executives on Wednesday, 10 Japanese companies pledged a total of U.S. $5.2 billion in investments in the next few years, Indonesian officials said. These include a pledge by carmaker Toyota Motor Corp to invest $1.8 billion to build its electric vehicles in Indonesia over the next five years. In Seoul, South Korean companies expressed intentions to invest $6.72 billion, including in the electric vehicle battery, steel and gas sectors. In addition, China said it wanted to increase crude palm-oil imports from Indonesia by 1 million tons, worth $1.5 billion. While investment pledges are welcome, Ninasapti Triaswati, an economist at the University of Indonesia, cautioned about economic and defense deals with China in light of Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. “China’s aggressive actions in the area are causing regional tensions. Likewise, regional tensions between China and Taiwan and Japan will have a negative impact on the ASEAN region and East Asia.” In a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Jokowi stressed the importance of peace in the South China Sea, said Retno, Indonesia’s top diplomat. The only way to maintain stability and peace is to respect international law, especially UNCLOS 1982,” she said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service.
North Korea builds state-of-the-art wards for privileged COVID patients
North Korea has set up “Special Treatment Divisions” in hospitals in the capital Pyongyang, where the country’s elite can go for treatment if they show symptoms of COVID-19, angering average citizens who lack access to similar care, sources told RFA. For high-ranking officials of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, the divisions are up and running at the Pyongyang Medical University and Kim Man Yu hospitals, a resident of the city told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “A medical practitioner said that the number of the Party’s high-ranking officials who have been hospitalized due to confirmed COVID-19 at Pyongyang Medical University Hospital’s ‘Special Treatment Division’ is unknown, but there have been 10 or more officials who were quarantined with suspected COVID-19 symptoms,” the source said. “The Central Committee organized the Special Treatment Divisions as special medical facilities for high-ranking officials when the pandemic crisis began [in 2020]. There were few hospitalized patients, but after the military parade in April, the hospitalizations of Central Committee officials increased significantly,” he said. Though North Korea maintained that it was completely “virus free” for the first two years of the pandemic, Pyongyang finally acknowledged the presence of the virus within its borders in May 2022, saying that a large military parade at the end of April had spread the disease nationwide, and the government declared a maximum emergency. The country’s archaic medical system is ill-equipped for the global pandemic, but the wealthy and elite live in an almost first-world bubble and their money or status can grant them top-notch care in the event they need it. The facilities at the Special Treatment Divisions are state-of-the-art, the source in Pyongyang said. “They are equipped with imported COVID-19 diagnostics and vaccines,” they said. “If a fever patient is confirmed, he or she receives intensive treatment. The facility is equipped with various medicines and medical facilities such as IVs, oxygen cylinders, as well as oral vaccines. The patient receives three nutritious meals [a day] for a quick recovery.” While fever cases do not appear to be in decline in Pyongyang, the government continues to claim victory over the disease, another resident of the city told RFA. The government declared the capital as one of the areas of the country with no active cases as recently as Wednesday, according to 38 North, a website run by the Washington-based Stimson Center that monitors North Korean issues. “Fever patients who show symptoms of COVID-19 continue to appear from among the residents and officials here in Pyongyang, but the Central Committee keeps repeating propaganda that it has won the battle,” the second source said. “The residents are complaining that the authorities are only interested in special treatment for high-ranking officials … while ignoring treatment for ordinary residents,” he said. The second source confirmed that the Special Treatment Divisions for the high ranking officials of the Central Committee are operated out of the two hospitals mentioned by the first source. Meanwhile, senior officials of the city government go to Special Treatment Divisions in Pyongyang Hospitals #1 and #2, the second source said. But the average citizen receives much more rudimentary treatment. “For ordinary residents [exhibiting symptoms], the doctor assigned to their household will [only] check their body temperature each day. Unless they have a high fever, they will be designated as suspected COVID-19 patients and quarantined at home for two weeks,” the second source said. “If they are suspected of having COVID-19 after a diagnosis, they must be isolated at a quarantine facility located on the outskirts of Pyongyang and the only treatment they get is two anti-fever pills each day,” he said. Meanwhile at the Special Treatment Centers, a team of doctors will check in on patients several times a day and provide medicines for specific side effects, the second source said. Once they are discharged, food is delivered to their homes, he said.. “The residents who see this are accusing the authorities of discrimination. They say, ‘Only the officials are actually people, and we are not even considered human,’” he said. North Korea has so far only confirmed six cases of COVID-19 infection. Nearly 4.8 million people suffering from symptoms of the virus have been recorded as “fever” patients, 99.994% of whom have recovered, according to state media. Translated by Claire Shinyoung O. Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Jailed Chinese dissident sends wife ‘suspect’ letter from Xinjiang prison cell
The wife of a Chinese dissident from the northwestern region of Xinjiang jailed for subversion after standing up for Uyghurs says she has received what could be a forcibly written letter from him, prompting fears of “extreme persecution” in prison. Zhang Haitao, an outspoken critic of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s treatment of the mostly Muslim Uyghur ethnic group, is serving a 19-year jail term at Xinjiang’s Shaya Prison for “incitement to subvert state power” and spying charges. He was handed the sentence by the Intermediate People’s Court in Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang, on Jan. 15, 2016. Even before the pandemic, which has led the authorities lock down prisons and ban face-to-face meetings, Zhang had only been allowed three family visits during the first five years of his sentence. Since then, his wife Li Aijie, who fled China with her son after being harassed and threatened by local authorities, has only received a handful of letters from Zhang. The most recent letter came after a gap of one year and eight months, and didn’t appear to be genuine, Li told RFA. “The obvious difference this time is that he wrote in the letter that he was eating very well, and in very specific terms; he mentioned beef, lamb, chicken, milk and eggs, etc,” Li said. “I don’t think a lot of ordinary people in China eat that well [outside of prison],” she said. “It was a bit hard to believe.” “I think the prison authorities forced him to write those things,” Li said. The letter, dated June 27, 2022, is only the fifth Zhang has sent to his family since his sentence began. In it, Zhang also says he has good clothing, and tells his family not to try to visit. “The letter I received said there was no need to visit him,” she said, adding that Zhang has spent time in solitary confinement. “We have previously confirmed that he wasn’t even allowed outside for exercise,” Li said. “Why wouldn’t he want to see his family? At least his sister, and to find out how we’re doing in the U.S.” The letter signs off with something even more unexpected, Li said. “The weirdest things is that he writes: ‘Thanks to the party, to the government, and to the country’,” Li said. “That’s just not credible.” “The whole reason he went to jail in the first place was for scolding and criticizing the country and its government,” she said. “He is an innocent man, [wrongfully] convicted: how could he be thanking them?” “It was very painful and uncomfortable for me to read that line,” Li said. “The Zhang Haitao I know is a tough guy who doesn’t crack.” “In the absence of extreme persecution, it would be unthinkable for him to write this kind of self-violation,” she said. Chinese dissident Zhang Haitao, now jailed in Xinjiang, is shown in an undated photo. ‘They don’t want him to come out alive’ Zhang’s sister Zhang Qingzhen last visited her brother in April 2018, she told RFA on Thursday. No visits from family members have been allowed since, despite several requests made by Zhang Qingzhen. “I asked for a video call [after the pandemic], and they said there was no equipment for video calls between Xinjiang and Henan,” she said. “So I said, ‘OK, I’ll come to Xinjiang for the video call’, but they said no, and told me not to come,” Zhang Qingzhen said. “Then I called the prison bureau and they told me I couldn’t have a video call.” “It’s much harder now.” Zhang Qingzhen fears that the reason for the denial of family visits is that Zhang has been tortured, and the authorities don’t want the news to get out. She also fears they don’t plan on letting her brother out of prison alive. “He has been held in solitary confinement … Now he’s in a state where he can’t die, but he’s not living either,” she said. “They don’t want him to come out alive.” Repeated calls to Shaya Prison went unconnected on Thursday. At Zhang’s trial, the prosecution cited 69 posts to the Chinese social media platform WeChat and 205 Twitter posts and retweets, as evidence of “incitement to subvert state power.” Li, who gave birth to the couple’s son shortly after he was jailed, and was left with no income, was relying on relatives for financial support, she told RFA at the time. But ChinaAid, which helped to organize her escape from China, said she had faced abuse within her family as well as threats from officials. Zhang, 46, was initially detained on June 26, 2015 on suspicion of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” but the charges against him were later changed to the more serious charges of subversion and spying. The court said it had handed down a longer jail term because Zhang had “colluded” with overseas organizations. Reported by Qiao Long for RFA’s Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
