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Category: East Asia
Arrests of Vietnam environmentalists clash with carbon cutting goals
The arrest and sentencing of prominent environmentalist Nguy Thi Khanh and other rights defenders in Vietnam are in conflict with the country’s commitment to reducing its considerable carbon emissions to combat climate change, human rights and environmental groups said. Nguy Thi Khanh, an ardent opponent of Vietnam’s reliance on coal power and winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018, was arrested in January for failing to pay a 10% tax on her U.S. $200,000 prize money, equivalent to about 4.65 billion Vietnamese dong. The executive director of the environmental NGO Green Innovation and Development Centre was sentenced on June 17 in Hanoi. The Oil Change International (OIC), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders criticized the arrest and demanded Khanh’s release. “Earlier this month, Nguy Thi Khanh was sentenced to prison on trumped up tax evasion charges, which have widely been condemned as an attempt to silence Vietnam’s most influential environmental activist,” OIC said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Her arrest is the latest in a string of efforts to repress activists in Vietnam.” Khanh had been active in pointing out the negative effects of coal-fired plants and calling for clean energy use. Vietnam is the ninth-largest coal user in the world, but Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh vowed that the country would stop building new coal-fired power plants and work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050. In October 2021, Khanh and representatives from other NGOs told Pham that Vietnam needed to revise a national power development plan for 2021-2030 to meet its goals, according to the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. Two years earlier, she joined a dozen NGOs in signing the “Hanoi Statement,” demanding that the government stop funding coal-fired power plants. Khanh is the fourth environmental rights defender to be arrested this year on a tax evasion charges, the Observatory said in a statement issued on June 24. On Jan. 11, 2022, Mai Phan Loi, founder and director of the Center for Media in Educating Community (MEC), was sentenced to four years in jail, while Bach Hung Duong, MEC’s former director, received a two-year, six-month sentence. Nearly two weeks later, Dang Dinh Bach, director of the Law and Policy of Sustainability Development Research Center (LPSD), was sentenced to five years in prison. Though nonprofit organizations are exempt from paying corporate taxes in Vietnam, the tax law pertaining to NGOs receiving funds from international donors are particularly vague and restrictive, according to the Observatory. The organizations of the activists and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights believe that the arrests were triggered by their promotion of civil society’s role in monitoring the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement that came into force in 2021, the Observatory said. Both Loi and Bach were executive board members of VNGO-EVFTA Network, a group of seven development and environmental CSOs set up in November 2020 to raise awareness about the FTA and its civil society element, known as the Vietnam Domestic Advisory Group. After the organizations, including MEC and LPSD, submitted applications for membership in the advisory group, Loi and Bach were arrested in early July 2021. The Observatory, a partnership of the FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture, called on Vietnamese authorities to guarantee the well-being of Khanh and the other activists, and to immediately and unconditionally release them. “The Observatory strongly condemns the judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of Nguy Thi Khanh, Dang Dinh Bach, Bach Hung Duong, and Mai Phan Loi, as it seems to be only aimed at punishing them for their legitimate environmental and human rights activities,” the organization’s statement said. The organization also demanded that authorities stop harassing activists and human rights defenders in Vietnam, including through the court system, and ensure they can exercise their rights as citizens without any fear of reprisal. A man works in a coal yard in Hanoi, Vietnam, Nov. 9, 2021. Credit: AFP ‘Silencing those who dare to speak’ The charges against the four environmental rights defenders have raised questions about the Vietnamese government’s commitment to protect the environment at the United Nations Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021. U.S. Special Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry and his European Union counterpart, Frans Timmermans, have also called for the release of Nguy Thi Khanh and the other climate activists. A Politico report on June 26 said those calls risk derailing a deal to shift Vietnam off coal, but doing nothing would risk criticism from civil society groups that oppose helping finance climate action in countries that jail activists. In April, the Group of Seven, a political forum that includes, the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, agreed on a plan to help Vietnam, the world’s ninth largest coal-consuming nation, reach its carbon emission goals. The Politico article quoted Saskia Bricmont, a Belgian member of the European Parliament, as saying that the tax evasion allegations against the activists were “not credible” and were “clearly a deception.” Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam said at a regular press briefing on June 23 that Khanh had been investigated and prosecuted for economic crimes, specifically violating the provisions of the law on tax administration, and that she admitted to tax evasion. “Some speculations that Nguy Thi Khanh is being criminally handled for her activities and opinions related to climate change are baseless and not true to the nature of the case,” a spokesman said. Responding to the ministry’s statements, a person who used to work with the Alliance for the Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases of Vietnam — a group to which the NGOs affiliated with the sentenced activists belonged — said the environmentalists had been wrongly imprisoned. “The arrest of environmental activists aims at silencing those who dare to speak out and stands in the way of the authorities,” said the source who declined to be named for safety…
Will Southeast Asia support Russia’s war with semiconductor exports?
Despite the efforts of Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the war in Ukraine continues. Whether governments in Southeast Asia are willing to admit it or not, the war matters, as it threatens the liberal international order, creates a dangerous precedent for other aggressor states, and harms the fragile post-pandemic economic recovery by causing inflationary pressures in energy and food. Southeast Asian states, apart from Singapore, have eschewed sanctions and continue to trade with Russia. But as the war drags on, that will have consequences in terms of secondary sanctions and other penalties imposed by the west. Russian supply chains run through Southeast Asia, and the United States and other western governments are have made the targeting of Russian sanctions evasion operations a top priority. One area where Southeast Asian actors may be tempted into sanctions evasion – or where, conversely, they could help pressure Russia economically – is in the export of semiconductors. A Protracted War Initially, Ukrainian forces successfully repelled the Russian invasion near the capital Kyiv and other cities in the north. Now, the Russians have advanced in the east and south, where the flat terrain favors the offense and provides little security for the defense. Tens of thousands of soldiers and over 4,500 civilians have been killed in 120 days of fighting. The United States estimates that the Ukrainians are losing 100 to 200 men a day. Cities, such as Mariupol, have been leveled by artillery fire and depopulated. Mass graves are being discovered, and the evidence of Russian war crimes is mounting. While Ukrainians are maintaining the will to fight, the costs are rising. Indonesian President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo visits an apartment complex destroyed by Russian airstrikes in Irpin, Ukraine, June 29, 2022. Credit: Handout/Press Bureau of the Indonesian Presidential Secretariat Trying to Weather the Economic Storm The initial shock of sanctions on the Russian economy has been stemmed. The ruble has not only recovered after its initial drop, but, buoyed by $150 million a day in oil and gas exports, it’s stronger than before the war began. Indeed, according to a recent report in The New York Times, in the first 100 days after the invasion, Russia netted $98 billion. Nonetheless, on June 26, Russia defaulted on $100 million in sovereign debt. While the economy reeled from the immediate or planned departure of about 1,000 western firms, over half of the 300 Asian firms have remained and continue to do business. Where Russia is going to start to feel the economic pinch is in its manufacturing sector, as it is highly dependent on the import of inputs such as European machine tools and Asian semiconductors. Though Russia has five foundries, they produce very low quality products and Moscow is highly dependent on imports. In 2020, Russia imported nearly $1.5 billion in semiconductors. The largest producers of high-end circuitry, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and most importantly Taiwan, remain firmly committed to the sanctions regime. But firms in China and Southeast Asia may try to fill those critical supply chains for Moscow. In 2020, China accounted for one-third of Russian semiconductor imports. Since the Russian invasion, China has complied with international sanctions, for fear of secondary sanctions and the loss of market access. But diplomatically, China remains firmly in Russia’s camp, and continues to espouse the Russian justification for and narrative of the war. President Xi Jinping stated that there are “no limits” on the bilateral relationship and no “forbidden” areas of cooperation, suggesting frustration with western sanctions. On June 29, the U.S. Treasury department added five Chinese electronics manufacturers to an export blacklist, which will deny them the ability to sell in the U.S. market, for their sales to Russian military industries. This should have a chilling effect on other Chinese suppliers. Southeast Asia’s Role in Moscow’s Supply Chain In 2020, Malaysia exported some $280 million worth of semiconductors to Russia, making it the second largest source after China, according to the Financial Times. The Philippines and Thailand exported over $60 million each; Singapore exported roughly $10 million. In all, Southeast Asia accounted for nearly a third of Russian semiconductors. Malaysia has already been called out for announcing their intentions to sell semiconductors to Russia as part of their policy of “strategic neutrality.” On April 23, the South China Morning Post reported that the Malaysian ambassador to Moscow told state-owned media that Malaysia would “consider any request” and continue their exports to Russia. Malaysian manufacturers were warned that they could face secondary sanctions and loss of market access, threatening future investment in a nearly $9 billion export market. Similar warnings were made to manufacturers in the Philippines and Thailand. Although Vietnam remains close to Russia, its semiconductor manufacturing is directly controlled by foreign investors. Intel, which is amongst the most prestigious foreign investors in the country, made an additional $475 million investment in 2021; bringing their total investment to $1.5 billion. As companies continue to decouple from China, Vietnam is eager to increase high-tech manufacturing and is cognizant of the costs of trying to evade sanctions on Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Indonesian President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo at the Kremlin in Moscow, June 30, 2022. Credit: Sputnik via Reuters Evading Sanctions But Russia is desperate to revive its manufacturing and, as the war drags on, it will try to get countries to evade sanctions and/or use straw purchasers. Countries including Indonesia that are hard-hit from soaring energy prices have already looked to Russia for below market energy supplies. Jokowi’s trip to Moscow and his defiant willingness to include President Putin at the G-20 summit in Indonesia in November, are clearly intended to curry favor with Moscow for narrow economic gain. Indonesia’s leadership seems unable to grasp the fact that soaring food and energy prices that are hitting the public so hard have been caused by Russia’s illegal war of aggression. And sadly they are not alone in Southeast Asia, where the governments continue to view the war in Ukraine as a remote European crisis that doesn’t impact them or have other geo-strategic implications for the region. Southeast Asian countries can profess their neutrality,…
Chinese fans clash with rights protesters at basketball game in Australia
Chinese fans clashed with human rights protesters at a basketball game between China and Australia on Thursday in Melbourne, at a time when the two countries are trying to ease a number of policy disputes. During the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Cup qualifier, activist Max Mok, a Hongkonger-Australian, was shoved by a Chinese fan as the activist shouted, “free East Turkestan,” a reference to Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and “Hong Kong independence” during the game. The incident was captured by a cell phone video and posted on social media. Mok also was holding a sign demanding the release of Mirzat Taher, an Australian-Uyghur who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in China in April 2021. The sign showed a picture of Mirzat created by Chinese dissident artist and political cartoonist Badiuca, who is based in Australia. Mirzat, a permanent resident of Australian, married Australian-born Mehray Mezensof of Melbourne in Xinjiang in August 2016. A year later, the couple was going to fly to Australia to live, but police detained Mirzat two days before their scheduled departure. Authorities have detained Mirzat two other times since then. Australian political activist Drew Pavlou, who has spoken out against the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party over their policies on Hongkongers, Tibetans and Uyghurs, attended the game and alleged that security guards dragged him down a flight of stairs, as captured on a cell phone image and posted on Twitter. “Security didn’t take any action against this violent attacker but they did drag me backwards down a flight of stairs for holding signs supporting Australian political prisoners in China and calling for an end to Uyghur Genocide,” Pavlou tweeted. The United States and the legislatures of some Western countries have issued determinations that China’s maltreatment of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang constitutes a genocide and crimes against humanity. Beijing has angrily denied accusations of severe rights abuses in the region. Another protester displayed the flag of Tibet, which is banned in China because it considers the western region to be part of the country. Security personnel said they removed seven people involved in the incidents from the arena and that no one was physically hurt, according to local news reports. More than 8,100 spectators were in attendance at John Cain Arena. The Australian team won the game 76-69 and is now 4-0 in its qualifiers. The incident came about a week after Xiao Qian, who was appointed China’s ambassador to Australia in January, was hectored by human rights protesters during a speech about improving relations between Beijing and Canberra under the new Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “The recent years our relationship has been a difficult period, nonetheless, China’s policy of friendship towards Australia remains unchanged,” Qian said during his speech at the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney on June 24. “Looking into the future, China and Australia relations enjoy great potential for cooperation and bright prospects.” The human rights demonstrators interrupted the event several times to criticize Chinese government policies in Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang. They were escorted from the event.
Will the people of Hong Kong ever run their own city again?
On June 30, 1997, pro-democracy members held the majority seats on Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo), the result of the city’s first fully democratic general election in 1995, under political reforms brought in at the 11th hour of British rule by then colonial governor Chris Patten. By the following day — the first under Chinese rule — the 1995 LegCo had been swept aside in favor of a China-backed “provisional LegCo,” packed with members viewed more favorably by Beijing. Twenty-five years after the handover, the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has rewritten the rules to ensure that only those it deems “patriots” can stand as candidates. The current LegCo — elected earlier this year under the new rules — now has no openly pro-democracy members at all. And while the city’s Basic Law — endorsed by the CCP — promised direct, popular elections for the city’s chief executive by 2017, incoming chief executive John Lee was selected by a Beijing-backed committee in a “perfected” election in which he was the only candidate. Meanwhile, dozens who once served as pro-democracy lawmakers are now behind bars, accused under a draconian national security law of “subversion” after they took part in a democratic primary in 2020. The lack of democratic participation in post-handover Hong Kong isn’t for want of trying. From a mass march in 2002 against national security laws, to a 2012 campaign against CCP propaganda in schools, to the 2014 Occupy Central, or Umbrella Movement, Hong Kongers have mobilized in their thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions to demand an end to the erosion of their traditional freedoms and that promises of autonomy and more democracy made before the handover be kept. Riot police launch tear gas into the crowd as thousands of protesters surround the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Sept. 28, 2014. Credit: AP Photo Extradition law protests draw brutal response In 2019, mass protests of one and two million erupted in response to then chief executive Carrie Lam’s plan to allow extradition of alleged criminal suspects to face trial in mainland Chinese courts. Mass public anger over a brutal response to these protests spurred the movement further, which broadened to include demands for fully democratic elections, police and government accountability, and an amnesty for Hong Kong’s growing number of political prisoners. As protesters started to fight back against police tear gas, water cannon, live ammunition and rubber bullets with Molotov cocktails and bricks, not everyone was on board with a departure from peaceful resistance and civil disobedience. But the District Council elections of November 2019 resulted in huge turnout and a sweeping majority for pro-democracy candidates across the board, among them many who had been expelled from LegCo for not being patriotic enough in the years before the national security law criminalized public dissent. By March 2021, China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) had voted to change Hong Kong’s electoral system to ensure that only vetted candidates approved by a Beijing-picked committee and cleared by the city’s newly installed national security police could run for or hold any kind of public office. The NPC announced that China would be “taking full political control” of Hong Kong, and that only patriots would be allowed to run for office. Riot police fire tear gas during the anti-extradition bill protest in Hong Kong, Aug. 11, 2019. Credit: AP Photo Meanwhile, the arrests of outspoken journalists and the closure of pro-democracy media outlets and civil society groups continued under the national security law. On July 1, 2019, protesters broke into and vandalized the LegCo chamber to protest plans to allow extradition to mainland China. Now, the building has been refurbished and the Chinese national emblem added to the wall. The 90-seat expanded chamber is no longer the scene of lively political debate, and only 20 seats are returned by public vote. “The whole basis on which we do politics has changed,” Bruce Liu of the pro-democracy Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood (ADPL) told RFA. “Political development has been uneven since the handover, with ups and downs, like the wind and waves.” “It’s like a circle game that always ends up back where it started,” Liu said, adding that his party now no longer seeks seats in LegCo, preferring to focus on social welfare and constituency clinics instead. Police detain protesters after a protest in Causeway Bay before the annual handover march in Hong Kong, July 1, 2020. Credit: AP Photo Exile or prison Tik Chi-yuan, who represents the social welfare sector in LegCo and who holds one of the few seats still elected by individuals rather than block voting by organizations, said the CCP sees Hong Kong as a security risk. “The central government in Beijing perceives some kind of threat to its security calculus,” Tik — who describes himself as a “non-establishment” LegCo member told RFA. “I think we need to look to the future now. The Basic Law promised democratic elections, so we should take that as our goal. It’s a process.” With most of the former political opposition either behind bars or in exile, the younger generation who grew up protesting have also disappeared from public view, many to escape becoming Hong Kong’s next political prisoner. Former student leader Law Cheuk Yiu said he left for the U.K. out of fear for his personal safety. “When the situation started to look truly bleak, I decided to leave,” he said, recalling a relatively liberal political atmosphere in the years immediately following the handover. “Things have changed since those early years: they won’t ever go back to the way they were then,” Law said. “Nowadays, anyone with a dissenting opinion is totally suppressed, basically.” For Law’s generation of Hong Kongers born and raised after the handover the past few years have left them facing a crisis of identity — whether they try to live under the national security law or seek a freer life overseas, as an estimated 140,000 have already done. “Our generation knows only too well that China…
Taiwan hits out at Hong Kong’s vanishing freedoms, vows to protect its sovereignty
Democratic Taiwan on Friday said freedom had “vanished” in Hong Kong, as concerns were raised internationally over a political crackdown in the city after just 25 years of Chinese rule. “It’s only been 25 years, and in the past the promise was 50 years of no change,” Taiwan’s premier Su Tseng-chang told journalists as Hong Kong marked the 25th anniversary of the 1997 handover to Chinese rule. “Freedom and democracy have vanished,” he said, adding that Taiwan, which made a peaceful democratic transition in the 1990s after decades of authoritarian rule under the Kuomintang (KMT), must protect its own way of life in the face of Chinese territorial claims. “We also know that we must hold fast to Taiwan’s sovereignty, freedom and democracy,” Su said, in a reference to Beijing’s insistence that the island “unify” with China, despite never having been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and despite widespread public opposition to the idea. “China’s so-called ‘one country, two systems’ has simply not stood up to the test,” Su said of the arrangement touted by Beijing as a success in Hong Kong, and as a possible pathway to a takeover of Taiwan. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said CCP rule had led to the end of freedom and democracy in Hong Kong. In a statement, the council hit out at China’s imposition of a draconian national security law “to govern Hong Kong in a coercive manner, restrict the basic human rights of Hong Kong’s people, and to imprison democracy advocates, silencing the news media and prompting the collapse of civil society.” It also said recent changes to the city’s electoral system to ensure only “patriots” can hold public office “is even more contrary to goal of universal suffrage and the expectations of Hong Kong citizens.” “Democracy, human rights, freedom, and rule of law have seriously regressed in Hong Kong, compared with 25 years ago,” the MAC said, dismissing Beijing’s claims that the pro-democracy movement had been instigated by foreign governments. “Taiwan adheres to a free, democratic and constitutional government, that the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, that sovereignty cannot be invaded and annexed, and that the future of the Republic of China and Taiwan must be decided by the people of Taiwan,” the statement said. “Taiwan will continue to safeguard universal values, democratic systems and ways of life, stand side by side with the international community, and firmly defend democracy,” it said. The statements from Taipei came after CCP leader Xi Jinping used the phrase “one country, two systems” more than 20 times during his speech on Friday marking the 25th anniversary of Chinese rule over Hong Kong, saying China’s tougher political grip on the city in the wake of the 2019 protest movement had enabled it to “rise again from the ashes.” MAC spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng called on China not to keep deceiving itself about the success of its policies in Hong Kong. “We solemnly urge [Beijing] to give the people back the democracy, freedoms and human rights that are their due,” Chiu said. Taiwanese political scientist Wu Rwei-ren said Xi wants to package the 25th anniversary as a kind of second handover. “The legal basis for one country, two systems was the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration [setting out the terms of the handover],” Wu told RFA. “By 2014, Xi Jinping’s regime had declared that it wouldn’t recognize [the treaty], saying it was a historical document with no meaning,” he said. “In this way, they redefined one country, two systems as a purely internal concept.” “The basis for [Hong Kong’s economic and social] achievements was the original political system, which has been destroyed by Xi Jinping,” Wu said. “He’s now saying that all sources of chaos have been eradicated, Hong Kong has returned to stability, and that everyone can start working hard to improve the economy,” he said. “But the institutional basis for that has been destroyed.” Wu said even the Taiwanese business community, which has typically been happy to overlook the CCP’s worst failings in the pursuit of greater profits, is now getting out of China and Hong Kong. “This isn’t about ideology; it’s about the very practical aspects of money,” Wu said. “These people were once more enthusiastic about making money than they were about their own country.” “They invested huge amounts in China because it was profitable, but now, faced with various deteriorating factors, they are getting out of China fast,” he said. Meanwhile, invitations were circulating overseas for people to attend a “Funeral for Hong Kong’s Lost Freedoms” in cities across the U.S., including New York, Washington and San Francisco. Hong Kong protest rallies were also planned in the U.K., Canada and Japan. A participant at the New York rally who gave only the nickname A Wai said the protest was over the CCP’s failure to deliver on its promises. “We’re only halfway through the 50 years during which Hong Kong was supposedly not going to change, and everyone can now see through the lie that is one country, two systems,” A Wai told RFA. “That’s why we chose July 1 to stand up … Hong Kong people are still angry about the crackdowns on protesters on June 12, 2019, July 21, 2019 and Aug. 31, 2019, and we can express all of that on July 1,” he said. Former 2014 Occupy Central leader Alex Chow said everyone will be wearing black — the color of the 2019 protest movements, but also the color of mourning in some cultures — and that protesters would lay funeral wreaths to signal the death of Hong Kong’s freedoms. “The situation in Hong Kong and the mainland is full of turmoil and tears,” Chow told RFA. “Behind the facade of prosperity, there is a lot of political in-fighting, and Hong Kong is one of the places where sacrifices are being made.” “That’s why Hong Kongers overseas who have enough freedom to do so … feel the…
Hong Kong’s last hand-painted porcelain factory carries on the tradition
Step into Yuet Tung China Works, Hong Kong’s last remaining hand-painted porcelain factory, and you find yourself surrounded by stacks of dinnerware, each piece painstakingly decorated by hand with vibrant motifs of flowers, fruits and animals. Joseph Tso, the third-generation owner of the factory, and his small team are among the few people in Hong Kong who have mastered the traditional technique of painting “guangcai,” or Canton porcelain. It is a fading art in this modern metropolis, as fewer young people are willing to put in the time and effort required to master the craft or to work at the factory full-time. “The business environment in Hong Kong is not suitable for labor-intensive industries,” Tso said. “Hong Kong’s traditional handicraft industry is gradually declining. It will eventually disappear.” Guangcai, which comes from the nearby Chinese city of Guangzhou, is characterized by an overglaze technique in which the painter sketches a design on white porcelain and then fills it in with color using thin brushes before firing the piece in a kiln. Tso’s grandfather established the factory in Hong Kong’s Kowloon City in 1928. It rose to prominence over the years, becoming famous for its delicate craftsmanship and custom dinnerware.
‘Hong Kong must not become chaotic again,’ China’s Xi warns on handover anniversary
Chinese leader Xi Jinping swore in a new, security-focused government in Hong Kong on Friday, 25 years after Britain handed the city back to China, saying the current arrangements — which have seen a citywide crackdown on peaceful dissent and political opposition — are here to stay. “For this kind of good system, there is no reason at all to change it. It must be maintained over the long term,” Xi said in a speech at the inauguration ceremony. “After experiencing wind and rain, everyone can painfully feel that Hong Kong cannot be chaotic, and must not become chaotic again … Hong Kong’s development cannot be delayed again, and any interference must be eliminated,” Xi said. “Power must be in the hands of patriots,” Xi said. “No country or region in the world will allow unpatriotic or even traitorous or treasonous forces and figures to hold power.” “In the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, power is firmly in the hands of patriots, which is an inevitable requirement to ensure long-term stability in Hong Kong, and it will be unshakable,” he said. Xi also swore in former security chief and ex-cop John Lee, who has been sanctioned by the United States for his role in implementing the national security law, as chief executive. Police outside ran a massive security operation that included no-sail and no-fly zones, as well as roadblocks around the Convention and Exhibition Centre where Xi gave his speech. Xi’s defense of Chinese rule in Hong Kong came after British prime minister Boris Johnson and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Beijing of failing to meet its handover commitments. China’s line is that the national security law ended months of mass protests for full democracy and official accountability in 2019, which saw some protesters fight back with makeshift weapons against riot police wielding batons, tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannon and even live ammunition. China’s President Xi Jinping (R) standing with Hong Kong’s new Chief Executive John Lee (L) after Lee was sworn in as the city’s new leader, during a ceremony to inaugurate the city’s new government in Hong Kong on July 1, 2022. Credit: Hong Kong’s Information Services Department. ‘New era’ Uniform decorations declaring a “new era” of stability were seen across many districts, including red lanterns and the Chinese national flag, and the Hong Kong regional flag. “Hong Kong has of course also encountered various challenges, including the global financial crisis, the unlawful occupy movement in 2014, the Mong Kok riots in 2016, the riots and violence in 2019 together with the interference in Hong Kong’s affairs by external forces which threatened our national security, and the COVID-19 pandemic,” Lee told the inauguration ceremony, thanking the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for its support. Lee also lauded the national security law for “bringing order out of chaos,” and new election rules under which he was selected as the only candidate for the city’s top job in May 2022. “It is therefore imperative that we should cherish and uphold the system for a long time to come, and we should make good use of it to effect sound governance,” Lee said, sounding the death knell for any hope of democratic development under the new regime. Chinese political scientist Chen Daoyin said Xi’s tone in the speech was condescending and parental, and that late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping’s promise that Hong Kong would remain unchanged for 50 years was already dead in the water. “What [Xi] talked about what different from what Deng Xiaoping proposed,” Chen said. “Deng said Hong Kong would be like mainland China after 50 years, and maybe not at all.” “Xi has a new view on Hong Kong, which he calls a new starting point, making the point that Hong Kong has been brought to order out of chaos,” Chen said. Current affairs commentator Sang Pu said Xi has deliberately distorted the meaning of “one country, two systems.” “If he admits that one country, two systems is over, that would be tantamount to inviting opposition from Europe and the U.S.,” Sang told RFA. “It would also make it look as if he has failed.” “Instead, he is repackaging it as a new beginning.” Sang said Xi’s mention of cooperation between Hong Kong’s judiciary and that of mainland China was worrying, suggesting that the authorities may start requiring “patriotism” from judges as well as from lawmakers and civil servants. Dutiful congratulations Across the internal border in mainland China, the CCP-controlled state media focused on a highly choreographed “welcome” for Xi in Hong Kong, and on praising Beijing’s governance of the city. “Some media didn’t report it at all, so we can see that Hong Kong isn’t a priority for the government, and that nobody cares if Xi or anyone else goes there,” a Chinese scholar surnamed Shen told RFA. “Hong Kong can never be given too much prominence in the Chinese media.” Official media reports on the anniversary garnered a few dozen comments, most of them dutifully congratulatory, on social media. Only one comment on an article by the China Youth Daily, the official newspaper of CCP’s Youth League, opined: “I wish Hong Kong a better tomorrow.” Current affairs commentator Johnny Lau said Xi’s promise of science and technology cooperation between Hong Kong and neighboring Guangdong province had likely been behind his visit to the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park on Thursday. “Hong Kong’s high-tech R&D is good, but there is a shortage of production capacity and talent,” Lau said. “Through cooperation with the mainland, we can ‘reap the east wind’.” Xi was likely taking the opportunity to try to reboot Hong Kong’s international reputation as a trading and financial center in the wake of the national security crackdown and the COVID-19 pandemic, Lau said. Xi was declaring to the rest of the world that he has confidence in Hong Kong’s future and its economic policies, to exiting foreign investors to return, he said. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
25 years of handover and havoc in Hong Kong
25 years of handover and havoc in Hong Kong have been presented in this investigative report. It shows the timeline of Hong Kong and changes post National Security Law in a comprehensive manner.
FET completes trials of advanced submarine rescue vehicle
U.S. firm Forum Energy Technologies (FET) has completed sea trials of an advanced submarine rescue vehicle (SRV), the main component of a submarine rescue vessel, for the Vietnamese Navy, reports said. A press release by FET said the Scottish branch of the Texas-based company “successfully completed sea trials” of the SRV “ahead of its deployment for an Asia Pacific-based navy.” Media sources said the client was the Vietnamese Navy which bought six Kilo-class submarines from Russia ten years ago. Vietnamese military officials were not available for comment. Vietnam commissioned a homegrown multi-purpose submarine search and rescue vessel, which it named Yet Kieu after a legendary hero, in July 2021 but this final step “indicates that the vessel should be nearing an operational capability,” said Gordon Arthur, a defense analyst and Asia-Pacific editor of Shephard Media. “Given that Vietnam has been operating Russian-built Kilo-class submarines since 2014, it is perhaps surprising that it’s taken nearly ten years to get such a rescue capability,” Arthur told RFA. Highly advanced vehicle According to FET’s statement, the sea trials tested the SRV’s capabilities to “perform a variety of demanding operations, including deep dives, navigation, and mating with a target.” In-country commissioning and testing took two months to complete, it said. The trials were done in close cooperation with the navy and Lloyd’s Register (LR), a maritime classification organization which “offered third party verification and supervised every part of the sea trials.” The SRV is divided into two sections including a command module for pilots and a rescue chamber for the chamber operator and people being rescued. It is capable of rescuing up to 17 people at a time and operates at depths of up to 600m, FET said. The vehicle boasts “some of the most advanced sensors and sonars” including a doppler velocity log, fibre optic gyroscope, sonar, and depth sensing to quickly locate a distressed submarine. FET will also be providing training for navy pilots as part of the contract, which includes theoretical training, maintenance, diving and recovery. The mother ship ‘927-Yet Kieu’ meanwhile is nearly 100m-long, 16m-wide and 7.2m-high, with a displacement of up to 3,950 tons, according to Vietnamese defense sources. The multi-purpose vessel can operate continuously at sea 30 days and nights and it is capable of withstanding high wind and waves. Vietnamese army company Z189 began building the ship in mid-2018 after the commissioning of the last of six Russian-made submarines in 2017. Vietnam has the largest submarine fleet in Southeast Asia with six Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines, dubbed “black holes” for their stealthiness. With the new SRV, the Vietnamese navy has now joined the club of countries with submarine rescue capability in the Asia-Pacific including Australia, China, India, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea. Flag-hoisting ceremony on Kilo-class submarine Ba Ria – Vung Tau CREDIT: Vietnamese Navy ‘Expensive and dangerous’ “There has been a growth in the number of submarines in the region,” noted Gordon Arthur, adding that as submarine incidents have the potential to quickly become catastrophic, “it is vital that navies operating submarines have their own rescue capability, so that they can quickly swing into action.” “A submarine rescue capability is like a tuxedo. They are expensive and are rarely used – but when you do need it, absolutely nothing else can replace it,” he said. In April 2021 an Indonesian navy submarine, the KRI Nanggala, sank off the coast of Bali killing all 53 crew on board. Yet Jakarta is seeking to expand its submarine fleet from four at present to at least ten by 2029. “Some nations think that owning submarines will bring prestige and respect but submarines are not shiny toys. They are very expensive and underwater operations are inherently dangerous,” said Arthur. “Navies need to ensure they have the skills, money and rescue capability to keep their submarines in top condition.” Vietnam, China and some other countries are entangled in territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the new submarine force would enable Hanoi to defend its interests, the Vietnamese military leadership said. But compared to its neighbor, Beijing has a much larger fleet of nearly 60 submarines, a third of which are nuclear-powered. Analysts have questioned if Vietnam’s new SRV could be used for reconnaissance purposes besides submarine rescue missions. But some experts such as Collin Koh, Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, point out that such submersibles are handicapped by range and endurance, “so they may have limited standoff reconnaissance capabilities.” “But such submersibles with suitable modifications can potentially do seabed espionage-related work, such as tapping undersea cables,” Koh said.
North Korea military celebrates ‘Anti-U.S. Joint Struggle Month’
North Korea’s military has designated the end of June and most of July as “Anti-U.S. Joint Struggle Month” as a means to foment greater hostility toward the U.S. in retaliation for the Biden administration’s lack of interest in negotiating with Pyongyang, military sources told RFA. There were two summits between the two countries during Donald Trump’s presidency: 2018 in Singapore and 2019 in Hanoi. But ultimately the U.S. and North Korea were unable to work out a deal on sanctions relief in exchange for denuclearization. The shift in policy of the new administration makes a return to negotiations less likely, so North Korea is bringing back a more hostile style of rhetoric toward the U.S. The month-long education project started on June 25, the anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War, and will last until July 27, the anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended hostilities in the conflict. Over the course of the month, military personnel must learn why the U.S. is North Korea’s main enemy, a military related source in the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “The General Political Bureau of the People’s Army… created new anti-U.S. education materials that say the U.S. is our main enemy and sent it down to all the subordinate units. From the 25th, all units… have been attending anti-U.S. classes during their mental education hours, which are held each day for about an hour,” the source said. “Previous materials made since the time of the 2018 North Korea-U.S. [Singapore] Summit have used the [softer] term ‘imperialism’ to describe the U.S, in order to not provoke them,” said the source. The new materials have been changed to use harsher language. “They now call the U.S. an ‘imperialist aggressor.’ The content is intended to strengthen anti-U.S. sentiment and says things like, ‘The aggressive nature of the United States never changes. They are our enemy who must not live under the same sky with us,’” said the source. “The General Political Bureau has also instructed the political departments of each unit to visit their respective education center during Anti-U.S. Joint Struggle month. The political department should organize officers and soldiers to attend classes there, and they must also punish those who neglect to visit with their units. So the military officials are nervous,” the source said. Every province, city and county in North Korea has set up education centers that collect and display anti-U.S., anti-South Korean and anti-Japanese materials, according to the source. “Since 2018, when we were trying to improve relations with the U.S., anti-U.S. education for military personnel was suspended, but this time, we will bring it back in time for the anniversary of the Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War,” the source said, using the North Korean term for the day the armistice was signed. The source said the soldiers are not happy with the government’s flip-flopping on whether the U.S. is the number one enemy or not. “They say, ‘They removed the hostile phrases to improve relations with the U.S., and now they are bringing them back. We don’t know how to play along.’” The new materials say that peaceful coexistence with the U.S. is not possible, a military source in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely. “It says that coexistence is just an illusion and equivalent to death, and we must be armed with a high sense of antagonism and ideological determination to fight against the U.S.,” the second source said. “But the officers and soldiers come out of their mental education classes expressionless and with indifference,” said the second source. “The General Political Bureau is also telling all units to post up new propaganda signs bearing the slogan, ‘Destroy all U.S. imperialist aggressors, the absolute enemies of the Korean people’ in their barracks. By posting anti-U.S. slogans, which previously we only attached to combat equipment, they will more intently concentrate on hostility toward the United States.” The sources both said that they interpreted the renewed hostility toward the U.S. as the government expressing its dissatisfaction with a shift in Washington’s stance on North Korea to a more hardline position since the beginning of the Biden administration. Though fighting in the Korean War ended with the signing of the armistice on July 27, 1953, North and South Korea are still technically at war. Translated by Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
