Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defense has dismissed suggestions of nepotism in the appointment of new navy commander, Tea Sokha, insisting it is in compliance with the kingdom’s law.
A Chinese defense company and its Cambodian partner have begun developing an industrial park on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, strengthening China’s foothold in the kingdom’s defense sector. Cambodia’s defense minister Tea Seiha, who is also a deputy prime minister, presided over a groundbreaking ceremony for the C-01 industrial park, on Monday in Kandal province outside the capital, according to for their involvement in the development and production of drones for Russian military use in the Ukraine war. China is the largest foreign investor in Cambodia and has provided loans to many major infrastructure projects via the Belt and Road Initiative. As of October 2024, Cambodia had more than 2,300 industrial factories, half of which received investment from China of US$9 billion in total, according to the Kingdom’s industry ministry. Edited by Mike Firn We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
Many Southeast Asian countries have adopted a policy of “free education” for students through middle school and, in some cases, through high school. But in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, it isn’t really free. Many additional or hidden costs — for uniforms, textbooks, supplies, transportation, extracurricular activities and sometimes even teachers’ salaries or school maintenance or improvements — make education too expensive for some families to afford. In Vietnam, the Communist Party Politburo recently eliminated tuition fees for public school students from preschool to grade 12, a move parents initially welcomed — before learning about the high costs of other monthly educational expenses. According to a Feb. 28 report by state media, the Politburo decided to waive the tuition fees beginning in the 2025-26 school year, following a recommendation from the Ministry of Education and Training. The move marks the first time Vietnam has ordered an end to the fees, which applied to some 23 million students, on a national scale, said the report. Around 30 trillion Vietnamese dong (US$1.17 billion) will be applied from the country’s budget to make up for the shortfall, it said. The government will provide students at private schools with subsidies equivalent to the public school tuition rate, but private school families will be required to cover the remaining difference of their child’s yearly tuition, the report said. The state media report cited the Department of Education for Ho Chi Minh City as saying that monthly tuition for public high school students ranges from 100,000-200,000 Vietnamese dong (US$4-8), while tuition for preschool students is around 300,000 Vietnamese dong (US$12). A mother of two children in middle and high school in Hanoi applauded the end to tuition fees, but said other costs were higher than tuition. “While this may be a significant cost for the government, a tuition exemption of 200,000–300,000 dong is quite small compared to the other expenses parents have to cover for their children’s education in the city,” the mother told RFA Vietnamese, who like others in this report spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal. The mother said she spends between 1 million and 2 million dong (US$39-78) per month on tuition fees, meals and drinking water. Additionally, families are expected to contribute to a yearly “parents’ fund,” which schools use for events like Teachers’ Day, Vietnam Women’s Day and other extracurricular activities. Another parent, whose child is in high school in Hanoi, told RFA that she remains concerned about monthly education expenses — particularly a 325,000 dong (US$13) fee for the student’s’ afterschool classes. Concerns over high and opaque fees at public schools in Vietnam — which are seen as a burden for low-income families — have been widely reported in both state and social media for years. In 2024, the average monthly income of workers in Vietnam was approximately 7.7 million dong (US$300), according to the country’s General Statistics Office. Schools ‘don’t have enough money’ In Laos, public schooling is free but students are required to pay several other unofficial fees for their education, according to parents. This includes tutoring fees and the cost of textbooks, as well as contributions towards maintenance fees and utility bills. A parent who previously lived in the capital Vientiane told RFA Lao he had to pay up to 650,000 Lao kip (US$30) for “learning and teaching activities” each year his child was in first through fifth grade. “On top of that I had to pay 150,000 kip (US$7) per month for a ‘special tuition fee’ for a subject my child wasn’t good at,” said the parent, who also declined to be named. The same parent recently relocated his family to Khammouane province and noted that schools in the countryside collect less than those in the cities. “They collect money to pay for textbooks for school and everyone has to pay 60,000 kip (US$3) per year for school maintenance,” he said. “But poorer families may not be able to afford it, preventing their kids from getting into schools.” In Bokeo province, on Laos’ northern border with Thailand, another parent told RFA that he had to pay 300-400 Thai baht (US$9-12) for electricity each year since his child first began attending middle school. “When I first learned from the government that school is free, I felt so happy,” he said. “However, the school claims that they don’t have enough money, so they have to collect it from parents.” Speaking to RFA, an educator said that his and other schools have to spend money on things such as “repairing restrooms, painting, fixing sports facilities, building fences and buying materials” each year, requiring them to ask parents to contribute. ‘I am stressed out and exhausted’ Cambodian parents told RFA that while tuition is free, they also find fees at primary and secondary school to be exorbitant and complain that they take up a large part of their daily income. Those who live in extreme poverty often stop their children’s education altogether by 6th grade because of the cost, they said. Some have likened the teaching profession to a “business,” despite free tuition, citing the payments they must regularly make to their children’s schools. A student reads at Banlech Prasat Primary School, Prey Veng province, Cambodia, in an undated photo.(Business Wire/AP) Soeung Sakona, a tailor based in Siem Reap province’s Sala Kamreuk Sangkat, has two daughters studying at a high school in Siem Reap city and said she must spend at least 10,000 riel (US$2.50) in fees on each of them daily. Tutoring — often from the same people who teach at public school by day — textbooks, transportation and other school supplies are among the fees she said she must account for each day, leaving her with little wiggle room for her remaining income. “Every day is very tense for me because I cannot save anything … I spend a lot on them for their daily education to cover gas as well as their private courses,” she said. “I have to work hard to…
Read a version of this story in Korean North Korean troops train at a base designed to emulate the layout of Seoul and other major South Korean cities, a South Korean lawmaker said, citing testimony from North Korean prisoners of war in Ukraine. If the testimony is true, it is an indication that North Korea has not given up on the possibility of invading the South, a South Korean ministry official said. The POW’s testimony was revealed during an interview — broadcast on South Korean radio and simultaneously livestreamed on YouTube — with National Assemblyman Yu Yong-weon about his recent visit to Ukraine, where he met with two North Korean POWs. North Korea has sent an estimated 12,000 soldiers to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine, although neither Moscow or Pyongyang has publicly confirmed this. During the interview, Yu said that one POW identified as Ri told him that the base was located in Koksan county, North Hwanghae province, just over 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the DMZ that divides North from South. Urban warfare training center(Paul Nelson/RFA) Based on the satellite images, The entire base is approximately 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) long and 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) wide, with the model buildings spread over approximately 40 hectares (100 acres) “The base complex is split up into 4 sections of MOUT across the area,” Bogle said, using the abbreviation for “military operations on urbanized terrain.” “Most are simple, there may be around 5 structures that are two floors, but the vast majority are single-story structures, but some are as long as 36 meters (40 yards),” he said. Korean People’s Army special operations force train at a five-story building at a base, Sept. 11, 2014.(KCNA) The Koksan Training Base is also believed to have been visited by the country’s leader Kim Jong Un in Sept. 2024, when state media reported that he gave onsite guidance to soldiers at a training ground. NK news, a U.S. media outlet specializing in North Korea, analyzed a documentary video broadcast on the state-run Korean Central Television in January about the visit, and reported it likely took place in Koksan. On Friday, during a press briefing by the South Korean Ministry of Unification, a reporter asked spokesperson Goo Byung-sam about Ri’s testimony and the satellite imagery in the Korean version of this report, which was published on Thursday. The spokesperson said it was a military matter and that it would be inappropriate for the Ministry of Unification to comment. “That said, if this report is true, it would be yet another piece of evidence that North Korea has not abandoned its ambitions of invading the South,” Goo said. Translated by Claire S. Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
TAIPEI, Taiwan – No country should expect to suppress China and maintain good relations with it, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday, as he warned of a reaction if the United States tried to contain his country. But in response to questions about U.S. relations as President Donald Trump begins his second term, Wang also held out the prospect of a successful partnership between the world’s two biggest economies. “No country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain a good relationship with China at the same time,” Wang told a news conference on the sidelines of China’s annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing. “Such two-faced acts are not good for the stability of bilateral relations or for building mutual trust.” The United States has imposed tariffs of 20% on Chinese goods since Trump took office – 10% last month and a further 10% coming into effect on Tuesday. Trump imposed the tariffs in retaliation for what he says is China’s refusal to stop the outflow of precursors for the synthetic opioid fentanyl. U.S. officials blame fentanyl for tens of thousands of deaths each year. China moved swiftly to retaliate with tariffs of its own on American agricultural and food products while accusing the United States of “bullying.” Wang said the U.S. should reassess its policies, particularly on tariffs. He also dismissed U.S. criticism over fentanyl, describing it as a domestic issue that the U.S. must confront internally. The U.S. “should not repay kindness with grievances, let alone impose tariffs without reason,” he said, adding that China had provided the United States with “various assistance” to tackle the flow of fentanyl precursor drugs into the U.S. “If one side blindly exerts pressure, China will resolutely counter that,” Wang said. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi (podium, 2nd L) speaks at a press conference during the ongoing National People’s Congress in Beijing on March 7, 2025.(Jade Gao/AFP) Wang warned of the “law of the jungle” in international relations if powerful countries bullied smaller ones. “Small and weak countries will get burned first, and the international order and rules will be under severe shock,” he said. “Major countries should undertake their international obligations … and not seek to profit from and bully the weak.” He said China welcomed more countries into a “community of a shared future.” “History proves that the only way to be a real winner is to care for everyone,” he added. ‘Playing with fire’ On broader U.S.-China relations, Wang denounced “unjustified external suppression” of China’s technology sector and reiterated Beijing’s opposition to Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy. Wang called on the U.S. to foster “positive and pragmatic cooperation and dialogue,” while emphasizing that mutual respect remained the foundation of U.S.-China ties, and their economic and trade ties were interdependent. “The two countries can be partners that contribute to each other’s success,” he said. Wang held out the prospect of good ties with the European Union as well, noting that annual China-EU trade has grown to US$780 billion. “We also believe that Europe can be a reliable partner. Both sides have the ability and wisdom to properly handle existing issues through friendly consultations,” he said. RELATED STORIES US charges 12 Chinese hackers and officials, offers $10M in rewards Trump hails retaliatory tariffs in defense of America’s jobs and its soul China announces 7.2% defense budget hike, reaffirms opposition to Taiwan independence Wang reaffirmed Beijing’s position on self-ruled Taiwan and accused outside powers of fueling instability, adding that anyone supporting Taiwan’s independence would get burned. “Taiwan has never been a country; it was not in the past, and it will never be in the future,” he said, warning that “allowing Taiwan independence undermines stability in the Taiwan Strait.” Wang further criticized “external support” for the island’s independence. “Supporting Taiwan independence is playing with fire,” he said. On the war in Ukraine, Wang repeated China’s stance of support for political negotiations to end a conflict that he said “could have been avoided.” “China has been advocating for peace talks since the first day of the crisis,” he said. “All parties should learn something from the crisis,” he said. “Among many other things, security should be mutual and equal, and no country should build its security on the insecurity of another,” he said. Edited by Mike Firn We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
Read RFA coverage of these topics in Burmese. Myanmar has sent workers to Russia for the first time with 24 skilled construction employees setting off on Wednesday, Myanmar’s military government said, after the junta leader met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for talks. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, flew to Moscow on Monday for his first official visit with Putin. Russian media broadcast video of the two hugging as they met. The Myanmar military chief, on his fourth visit to Russia since he ousted a civilian government in a coup in 2021, thanked Putin for delivering six fighter jets to the junta, which has been embroiled in a civil war. Putin thanked the Myanmar leader for giving Russia six elephants last year, media reported. In talks on Tuesday, Myanmar’s military junta predicted Russia’s eventual victory over Ukraine in the three year-long war. The military’s Ministry of Information said in a statement that the first 24 workers had left for Russia under a memorandum of understanding that was still being worked out. “Both countries are looking forward to their friendship and to sending the workers,” the ministry said. The ministry did not say how many workers might follow the first batch of 24 or which industries they might be employed in. A Myanmar employment official said in December the military government was preparing to send workers to Russia at its request, to help make up for a shortage of foreign workers in agriculture and manufacturing amid its war with Ukraine. Charles Myo Thant, chairman of the Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Association, said they would take up jobs in agriculture, livestock, construction and factories, and they will need to learn Russian. Myanmar has for years sent workers abroad to places like Thailand and Singapore under government agreements. Many Myanmar people have also moved abroad to look for work, especially since the 2021 coup, which seriously undermined the economy. But junta authorities have recently placed restrictions on people going abroad for work as it seeks to fill the ranks of its armed forces through conscription. People of military age have been banned from applying for work abroad through employment agencies, and those allowed to leave for work have been told they may be ordered back to serve in the military. A labor activist based in the city of Yangon questioned the Russian agreement. “We can’t go to other countries, so why can we go to Russia?” said the activist, who declined to be identified for safety reasons. He also wondered what type of work they would be doing, saying hard labor or with no opportunities for training would not be popular. RELATED STORIES No limits to the lawlessness of Myanmar’s predatory military regime Trump extends ‘national emergency’ declaration for Myanmar Junta forces, Russian navy train together off western Myanmar coast Myanmar junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, with Russia’s President of Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow March 4, 2025.(Myanmar Defense Services) Russia has been a steady supplier of weapons to the Myanmar military and its media reported that Min Aung Hlaing had also discussed cooperation in “all areas of the defense sector” in talks with Russian defense officials. The junta chief traveled from Moscow to the city of St. Petersburg and on Friday he was due to travel to Belarus at the invitation of President Aleksandr Lukashenko, the Myanmar military said. Political analyst Than Soe Naing said the focus of Min Aung Hlaing’s trip appeared to be ensuring security “under the umbrella of Russia’s empire.” “Going to Belarus is laying a foundation for security,” he said. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
A Cambodian woman who authorities say was killed by two Chinese nationals last month dropped out of school when she was 15 to help her parents pay off bank debts, her mother told Radio Free Asia. Police found the heavily bruised and naked body of 18-year-old Heng Seavly in a shallow grave near a lake in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district on March 1. On Monday, investigators announced the arrests of her boyfriend, 30-year-old Chen Cong, and 34-year-old Li Haohao. Police said the suspects confessed to the killing, adding that they believed she was about to leak information about a cyberscam operation in Phnom Penh. Relatives held a funeral for Heng Seavly in her hometown in southern Kampot province on Tuesday. “When I saw her brought into the temple, my energy and soul flew out of my body,” said her mother, Tim Sophy. “My daughter was naked when they killed her,” she told RFA. “This is so brutal. As a mother, I am shocked and speechless.” As the eldest daughter, Heng Seavly left home to work as a goods vendor in Sihanoukville to help her parents support her two younger siblings, Tim Sophy said. She was later persuaded by her boyfriend to move to Phnom Penh, the mother said. Tim Sophy, mother of Heng Seavly talks with RFA, in southern Kampot province, Cambodia, March 4, 2025.(RFA) “She was my fabulous daughter,” she said. “She never missed sending US$250 to $300 each month.” Police have said the two suspects acted on the orders of another Chinese national, 26-year-old Yang Kaixin, who remains at large. Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Edited by Matt Reed. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
Read RFA coverage of this story in Burmese. Myanmar’s military has launched air and artillery strikes as it tries to clear pro-democracy fighters from the vicinity of a major north-south road and nearly 20,000 villagers have fled from their homes to escape the violence, an insurgent fighter told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday. The army has been targeting more than 20 villages along the road in the Kanbalu township of the central Sagaing region since late February, they said. The road links Myanmar’s second largest city of Mandalay with Myitkyina city in the north. “The battles are intensifying. The junta is conducting so many offensives,” said a member of a rebel militia, or People’s Defense Force, in the area. The fighter, who declined to be identified for safety reasons, said recent fighting had been particularly heavy near Hnget Pyaw Taing village. “The people from evacuated villages need to run … they are now attacking with drones,” he said. RFA tried to contact Sagaing region’s junta spokesperson, Nyunt Win Aung, for information but he did not respond by the time of publication. The junta that seized power in an early 2021 coup faced major setbacks last year, losing ground in different parts of the country to PDFs and their ethnic minority insurgent allies. The army now controls about half the country, security analysts say, but it has been trying to regain lost ground during the current dry season. RELATED STORIES Fighting near Chinese enclave in Myanmar’s Rakhine state uproots 20,000 Myanmar’s junta leader meets Putin, predicts Russian victory in Ukraine Nearly 30,000 civilians displaced by fighting in Myanmar’s heartland Clashes have been particularly heavy in central areas, like Sagaing, where members of the majority Burman community have for the first time taken up arms in a bid to end military rule. The United Nations says about 3.5 million people have been displaced by both fighting and a natural disaster and the country is facing a humanitarian crisis, with widespread hunger looming. People displaced in the fighting in Kanbalu had to deal with a lack of water, the PDF member said. “Because now it’s the dry season and water is scarce, it’s difficult for people to flee,” he said. Junta forces also torched 250 houses at a major intersection near Hnget Pyaw Taing village late last week and into this week, he said. The anti-junta fighter said 21 members of the military’s Battalion 361 had been killed and 57 wounded while only five members of the PDF were wounded. RFA could not independently verify the casualties. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
Ankit Panda, an expert on North Korea’s nuclear program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, was interviewed by Radio Free Asia regarding Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions and how its capabilities might be improved through North Korea’s support of Russia in its war with Ukraine. Panda, a Stanton senior fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at Carnegie, also said that North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, very likely can be used to attack an American city, and that Pyongyang might have as many as 300 warheads within the next 10 years. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. RFA: If North Korea were to launch an ICBM at the U.S. right now, do you think the U.S. would be vulnerable? Ankit Panda: That’s a good question. First of all, would North Korea launch an ICBM? Probably not — it would be essentially suicidal. There’s no reason for North Korea to attack the United States unprovoked. But the technical question that you asked, “Can North Korea essentially detonate a nuclear warhead over an American city?” — the answer to that question in my view is very probably yes, and that’s a carefully chosen phrase, “very probably yes.” The North Koreans, the reliability that they have is probably a lot lower than what the United States has, but it’s probably sufficient for the purposes that Kim Jong Un seeks which is to deter the United States. The only question that Kim has to ask himself is, “In a serious crisis or a war between the United States and North Korea, would an American president be worried that if the war got out of control, American cities could be vulnerable to nuclear attack?” And I think the answer there is absolutely. RFA: But can’t the United States intercept North Korean ICBMs with its missile defense system? Panda: The U.S. has a very limited homeland missile defense capability. We have a total of 44 interceptors that are capable of destroying incoming ICBMs. These interceptors are actually deployed in Alaska. There’s 40 of them in Alaska and four of them in California at Vandenberg Air Force Base. These are designed to deal with North Korean ICBM threats. But it gets a little complicated here because it’s not that there’s 44 interceptors, which means the U.S. can defend against 44 North Korean ICBMs. Probably the U.S. would look to use 3 to 4 interceptors against one incoming ICBM reentry vehicle. And so then if you’re in North Korea, you have a solution to this problem, right? You build more ICBMs. And so that is where the North Koreans have gone. I would argue that that is a chance that would be very difficult for an American president to take — this idea that the North Koreans could launch ICBMs and our interceptors might not actually work. Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Workers’ Party General Secretary Kim Jong-un after signing the ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement’ at the Kumsusan State Guest House in Pyongyang in June 2024.(Yonhap News) So we know from Ukrainian intelligence that there has been change in the KN-23s. … They used to be very inaccurate when they were first used. And it turns out there was a report in December 2024 that the precision has improved significantly, and that is a very, very important milestone for the North Koreans because — especially if they do want to deploy tactical nuclear weapons — precision of the missile system matters quite a bit because the yield of the weapon is a lot lower, the yield being the explosive power. And so if you’re trying to leverage those types of tactical nuclear weapons for maximal military utility–let’s say you want to hit an airfield in South Korea that has F-35s that you can’t deal with once they take off, so you have to destroy them before they take off. You really need to make sure that the the yield of the weapon and the precision of the missile match essentially in terms of the mission that you’re trying to accomplish. And so I really think that we shouldn’t underrate the ways in which North Korea’s missile transfers to Russia are very directly augmenting Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions and strategy. RFA: When we talk about North Korean involvement in Ukraine, experts and officials say that North Korea is getting from Russia food or other kinds of support, but regarding missile technology, what does Pyongyang need that Moscow can give? Panda: The area where I think the Russians can really help them is with guidance computers, cruise missile maneuvering, cruise missile control and potentially even countermeasures, other types of ways in which to just improve the reliability of North Korea’s manufacturing standards for missile systems. So all of that, I think will will happen is probably happening in some form space launch technologies, too. I think the Russians will be very, very eager to to help the North Koreans out. That has been the most public facing component of technical cooperation. RFA: As North Korea and Russia grow closer, is there a possibility that Russia will recognize North Korea as an official nuclear state? Panda: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has pretty explicitly said that Russia no longer views North Korea as a nonproliferation concern. Essentially, you know, since the early 1990s, the major powers China, Russia, the United States and Japan, South Korea, the European Union, the whole world has seen North Korea as a nonproliferation problem. They’re the only country to have signed the Nonproliferation Treaty, left that treaty and built nuclear weapons. So it matters how you deal with North Korea for that reason. But it also matters in a big way that the North Koreans are really presenting unacceptable nuclear risks, in my opinion, to the United States and its allies, and so that demands a focus on risk reduction. President Donald Trump and North Korean General Secretary Kim Jong Un meet in Singapore on June 12, 2018.(Yonhap News)…
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