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China’s diplomatic reach dominated global index

Editor03 mins

China has the world’s farthest-reaching diplomatic network, according to a new study, closely followed by the United States. It has a bigger diplomatic footprint than its larger economic rival in Africa, East Asia and the Pacific islands, according to the Lowy Institute’s 2024 Global Diplomacy Index released Sunday. It also has a bigger presence in East Asia, following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Washington’s reach is more extensive in Europe, North and Central America and South Asia, with the same number of diplomatic posts as Beijing in the Middle East and South America, the survey found. China’s expansion has come at the expense of Taiwan, as China courts lower income nations with offers of infrastructure, economic and administrative assistance.  In January, Nauru switched diplomatic allegiance from Taipei to Beijing. The move by the tiny Pacific country reduced Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to 12 nations, including the Vatican, Paraguay and Eswatini. The index showed a rapid growth in diplomatic missions in the Pacific islands, seen as key geopolitical allies by the world’s two leading superpowers. “The Global Diplomacy Index shows that governments continue to invest in diplomacy to project power and achieve their interests,” said Ryan Neelam, the director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute. “The ongoing rivalry between the United States and China is reflected in the superpowers’ dominance in the 2024 rankings, while geopolitical competition has propelled Asia and the Pacific into focus.” The index was launched in 2016. This year, it covers the diplomatic networks of 66 countries and territories in Asia, the Group of 20 nations and members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Data was collected between July and November last year. Edited by Taejun Kang.

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China arrests more than 1,000 Tibetans protesting Chinese dam project

Editor07 mins

Police on Friday arrested more than 1,000 Tibetans including monks from at least two local monasteries, in southwestern China’s Sichuan province after they protested the construction of a dam expected to destroy six monasteries and force the relocation of two villages. The arrested individuals – both monks and local residents – are being held in various places throughout Dege County in Kardze Tibetan Prefecture because the police do not have a single place to detain them, said the sources who requested anonymity for safety reasons. The sources said that those arrested have been forced to bring their own bedding and tsampa – a staple food for Tibetans that can be used to sustain themselves for long periods. One source said that the fact that police are asking Tibetans to bring their own tsampa and bedding indicates that they will not be released anytime soon. On Thursday, Feb. 22, Chinese authorities deployed specially trained armed police in Kardze’s Upper Wonto village region to arrest more than 100 Tibetan monks from Wonto and Yena monasteries along with residents, many of whom were beaten and injured, and later admitted to Dege County Hospital for medical treatment, sources said. Citizen videos from Thursday, show Chinese officials in black uniforms forcibly restraining monks, who can be heard crying out to stop the dam construction.  After the mass arrests, several Tibetans from Upper Wonto village who were employed in other parts of the country returned to their hometown to visit the detention centers. They were demanding the release of the arrested Tibetans. However, they too got arrested by the authorities. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn’t commented on the arrests other than in a statement issued Thursday that said the country respects the rule of law. “China protects the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals by the law,” the statement said. Massive dam project The arrests followed days of protests and appeals by local Tibetans since Feb. 14 for China to stop the construction of the Gangtuo hydropower station. On 14th February at least 300 Tibetans gathered outside Dege County Town Hall to protest the building of the Gangtuo dam, which is part of a massive 13-tier hydropower complex on the Drichu River with a total planned capacity of 13,920 megawatts.  The dam project is on the Drichu River, called Jinsha in Chinese, which is located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze, one of China’s most important waterways.  Local Tibetans have been particularly distraught that the construction of the hydropower station will result in the forced resettlement of two villages – Upper Wonto and Shipa villages – and six key monasteries in the area  – Yena, Wonto, and Khardho in Wangbuding township in Dege county, and Rabten, Gonsar and Tashi in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, sources told RFA. Sources on Friday also confirmed that some of the arrested monks with poor health conditions were allowed to return to their monasteries.  However, the monasteries – which include Wonto Monastery, known for its ancient murals dating back to the 13th century – remained desolate on the eve of Chotrul Duchen, or the Day of Miracles, which is commemorated on the 15th day of the first month of the Tibetan New Year, or Losar, and marks the celebration of a series of miracles performed by the Buddha. “In the past, monks of Wonto Monastery would traditionally preside over large prayer gatherings and carry out all the religious activities,” said one of the sources. “This time, the monasteries are quiet and empty. … It’s very sad to see such monasteries of historical importance being prepared for destruction. The situation is the same at Yena Monastery.”  Protests elsewhere Fueled by outrage over the destruction of cultural sites and alleged human rights abuses in Derge, Tibet, Tibetan communities across the globe have erupted in protest. From Dharamsala, home to the Dalai Lama, to rallies outside Chinese embassies in New York and Switzerland, demonstrators are raising their voices. Kai Müller, head of the International Campaign for Tibet, condemned China’s “ruthless destruction” of Tibetan heritage, while Human Rights Watch highlighted the difficulty of obtaining information due to China’s tight control. These protests underscore the simmering tensions between the Tibetan people and the Chinese government, with concerns ranging from cultural erasure to potential threats to regional water security. Read about the entire struggle for Tibet and of His Highness Dalai Lama: https://ij-reportika.com/his-holiness-dalai-lama-and-the-tibetan-cause/

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Myanmar’s military recruiting Rohingya at displaced camps

Editor012 mins

Myanmar’s junta is offering freedom of movement to Rohingya Muslims restricted to camps for the displaced in Rakhine state as part of a bid to entice them into military service amid the nationwide rollout of a conscription law, according to sources in the region. The enactment of the People’s Military Service Law on Feb. 10 has sent draft-eligible civilians fleeing from Myanmar’s cities, saying they would rather leave the country or join anti-junta forces in remote border areas than fight for the military, which seized power in a 2021 coup d’etat. Myanmar’s military is desperate for new recruits after suffering devastating losses on the battlefield to the ethnic Arakan Army, or AA, in Rakhine state. Since November, when the AA ended a ceasefire that had been in place since the coup, the military has surrendered Pauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Myay Pon and Taung Pyo townships in the state, as well as Paletwa township in neighboring Chin state. But rights campaigners say the junta is drafting Rohingya into military service to stoke ethnic tensions in Rakhine state, while legal experts say the drive is unlawful, given that Myanmar has refused to recognize the Rohingya as one of the country’s ethnic groups and denied them citizenship for decades. Some 1 million ethnic Rohingya refugees have been living in Bangladesh since 2017, when they were driven out of Myanmar by a military clearance operation. Another 630,000 living within the country are designated stateless by the United Nations, including those who languish in camps for internally displaced persons, or IDPs, and are restricted from moving freely in Rakhine state. Residents of the Kyauk Ta Lone IDP camp in Rakhine’s Kyaukphyu township told RFA Burmese that junta forces, including the township administration officer and the operations commander of the military’s Light Infantry Battalion 542, took a census of the camp’s Muslims for the purpose of military service on Monday. Junta personnel compiled a list of more than 160 people deemed eligible for conscription and informed them they would have to take part in a two-week military training program, according to one camp resident who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. “The township administration officer came … and told us that Muslims must also serve in the military, but we refused to follow his order,” the resident said. “Then, the military operations commander arrived here along with his soldiers, and forced us to do so under the military service law. They collected the names of more than 160 people.” Freedom of movement Some 1,500 Rohingyas from around 300 families have been living at Kyauk Ta Lone since ethnic violence forced them to flee their homes in Kyaukphyu 12 years ago.  Since taking the census on Monday, junta officers have repeatedly visited the camp, trying to persuade Rohingya residents to serve in the military with an offer of free movement within Kyaukphyu township, said another camp resident.  “They won’t guarantee us citizenship,” he said. “But if we serve in the military, we will be allowed to go freely in Kyaukphyu.” Other camp residents told RFA they “would rather die” than serve in the military, and suggested the recruitment drive was part of a bid by the military to create a rift between them and ethnic Rakhines – the predominant minority in Rakhine state and the ethnicity of the AA. No date was given for when the training program would begin, they said. After receiving training, the recruits would be assigned to a security detail along with junta troops guarding routes in and out of Kyaukphyu, and dispatched to the battlefield “if necessary.” Rohingya IDPs are afraid to serve in the military, but are unable to flee the camp because it is surrounded by junta troops, residents added. Other recruitment efforts The military service census at the Kyauk Ta Lone IDP camp came as Rohingyas in the Rakhine capital Sittwe, the Rakhine townships of Buthidaung and Maungdaw, and other parts of Kyaukphyu reported that junta troops have been arresting and collecting data from members of their ethnic group as part of a bid to force them into military training. On Monday and Tuesday evening, military personnel arrested around 100 Rohingyas of eligible service age from the Buthidaung villages of Nga/Kyin Tauk, Tat Chaung, Pu Zun Chaung and Kyauk Hpyu Taung, said a resident who also declined to be named. “People doing business in the village were arrested. Village elders were also arrested,” said the resident, who is also a Rohingya. “At least one young person from every house was arrested and taken to the army. The parents of those who were arrested are quite worried now.” Junta troops said that the AA had established camps near the Rohingya villages and residents would have to undergo military training to defend the area, he added. They said the residents would be equipped with weapons and returned to their villages after the training was complete. Rohingyas in Sittwe and Maungdaw, where an AA offensive is now underway, also reported junta census efforts and pressure to join military training. They said that larger villages are expected to provide 100 people for training, while smaller ones should send 50 residents. Law does not apply A lawyer who is representing Rohingyas in several legal cases told RFA that the People’s Military Service Law “does not apply” to members of the ethnic group because they do not have citizenship status in Myanmar. He added that the junta’s attempt to recruit Rohingyas is part of a bid to drive a wedge between them and the people of Myanmar, many of whom oppose the military regime. Nay San Lwin, an activist on the Rohingya issue, said that the junta hopes to divert attention from its losses to the AA in Rakhine state by igniting tensions between ethnic Rakhines and Rohingyas. “If the Rohingyas are forced into their army, there could be a lot of problems between the Rakhines and the Rohingyas,” he said. “That’s what they want….

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Two-month travel ban extended in western Myanmar

Editor05 mins

Myanmar’s regime extended a travel ban in a conflict-ridden coastal area, locals told Radio Free Asia on Thursday. The ban prevents Rakhine state residents from traveling by water, fishing, and gathering on the township’s shores until Apr. 19. Kyaukpyu township, where the ban was originally established on Dec. 19, has been a source of conflict between the ethnic Arakan Army and junta forces. The Arakan Army launched attacks on Kyaukpyu’s junta naval base on Jan. 8 and 21, leading locals to suggest China should discuss its many upcoming development projects in the area with the ethnic armed group to ensure their continued protection. Kyaukpyu’s coast is the site of a Chinese-funded special economic zone, as well as upcoming ports and railroads stalled in December due to fighting. Residents have voiced concerns that Chinese development projects fail to provide local jobs and that they will impact the region’s vital fishing industry.  A fisherman in Kyaukpyu city on June 4, 2019. (RFA) An official from a social assistance group in Kyaukpyu township said the travel ban was announced in a letter on Monday. “Motor boats and rowing boats are not allowed to navigate along the river and it is forbidden to have alcohol or to fight along the shore,” he said, declining to be named for fear of reprisals. “Traveling in the villages and towns has been banned in the past. Everyone gets in trouble.” The junta’s order also stated that if locals choose to violate this order, action will be taken according to existing laws. The ban applies to the township’s capital of Kyaukpyu city, six surrounding village tracts and eight neighborhoods. It also prevents locals from gathering or fishing on the Ohn Chaung stream, Than Zit River, and nearby beaches, according to the statement. The restrictions were implemented after the Arakan Army broke a year-long ceasefire by attacking junta camps in Kyaukpyu township, Rakhine state on Nov. 13, 2023, residents said. A Kyaukpyu resident who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons told RFA that the travel ban has caused residents many problems affecting their health and quality of life.  “Locals are facing difficulties in getting food, and commodity prices have become expensive. Sick people in rural areas suffer because of the delay in getting medical treatment,” he explained. RFA called Rakhine state’s junta spokesperson for comment on the extension, but he did not respond to inquiries. Villagers can only receive permission to travel after submitting an application five days in advance, residents in Kyaukpyu’s surrounding areas said. Within Kyaukpyu township, the junta prohibits the shipment and delivery of most types of medicine, food, electrical equipment, and hygiene products, including women’s sanitary pads. On Monday, 60 passengers flying from Yangon were arrested after landing in Kyaukpyu’s airport. Pregnant women, children and elderly people have since been released, though the location of others remains unknown.  Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Junta arrests 600 civilians after their arrival at 2 Rakhine airports

Editor08 mins

Junta troops arrested around 600 civilians after their flights from Yangon landed at two airports in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, according to family members and sources with knowledge of the situation, who said the military is holding them on suspicion of attempting to join the armed resistance. The arrests come amid the enactment of a conscription law that has sent draft-eligible civilians fleeing from Myanmar’s cities, saying they would rather leave the country or join anti-junta forces in remote border areas than fight for the military, which seized power in a February 2021 coup d’etat. On Monday, junta soldiers detained nearly 500 passengers after they arrived at the airport in Rakhine’s capital Sittwe from Yangon. They were transferred to a military camp at the Lawkananda pagoda, their relatives told RFA Burmese. The same day, more than 60 passengers from Yangon were similarly arrested after landing at the airport in Kyaukphyu city and taken to Rammawati City Hall, family members said. Pregnant women, children, and the elderly among the passengers were released the same day, they said, although the exact number was not immediately clear. The family member of a detainee at the Sittwe airport told RFA that there is no way to contact those being held. “We only knew that all the passengers from the Yangon-Sittwe flight were taken by car to Lawkanada pagoda for inspection as soon as they landed at the airport,” said the family member who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. “It was discovered that many passengers – around 500 – are being held. We don’t know what they are being inspected for.” The military has also cut off phone and internet connections in the area, and troops stationed at the Lawkananda pagoda do not allow civilians to enter the compound, sources told RFA. The passengers who landed at Kyaukphyu airport were arrested and “immediately taken by car to Rammawati City Hall,” where they are being held for “interrogation,” said a resident of the city. “Some of them who have residential documents or were on household lists were released,” the resident said. “The people from other areas have not been released,” he added, noting that one resident of Ramree township “was handcuffed and taken to the military camp.” Rakhine youth returning Armed clashes broke out in Rakhine state after the ethnic Arakan Army, or AA, ended a ceasefire in November that had been in place since the coup. Since then, the military has controlled routes in and out of the region by land and water, forcing people to rely on air travel. After the junta announced the enforcement of the People’s Military Service Law on Feb. 10, Rakhine youth working and studying in Yangon were barred from registering for temporary residency in the city. Fearing arrest, a growing number of them have returned home, according to sources in Yangon.  A resident of Yangon told RFA that troops at the two airports in Rakhine arrested the passengers on suspicion of planning to join anti-junta armed groups in the state. “The Rakhine people in Yangon were forced to return home [after they were barred from registering for residency],” he said. “They were told to go back home for military service, even though they were studying and working … Although the passengers produced their IDs, they were arrested on suspicion of planning to join the Arakan Army.” Kyaukphyu airport in Rakhine state is seen in this undated photo. (Winnet Myanmar) RFA has also received reports of junta troops arresting youths on the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway, Mandalay–Myitkyina Highway, and on their way to Kayin and Chin states. Sources were unable to provide the exact number of detainees and RFA was unable to independently verify their claims. Attempts by RFA to contact Rakhine State Attorney General Hla Thein, the junta’s spokesperson in the region, for comment on the arrests and investigation went unanswered Tuesday. During three months of fighting in Rakhine, the AA has captured Pauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Myay Pon and Taung Pyo townships in the state, as well as Paletwa township in neighboring Chin state. The conflict in Rakhine is escalating amid AA offensives on the junta-controlled townships of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung and Ramree. Maungdaw camp captured On Monday, the AA captured a military outpost in Maungdaw’s Pe Yang Taung area after a nine-hour battle, according to a statement released by the Three Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armies, which includes the AA. AA fighters recovered “more than 10 bodies of junta soldiers,” as well as weapons and ammunition from the camp, the statement said.  The Three Brotherhood Alliance said that over the course of the fighting, which took place from around 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the military launched three airstrikes from fighter jets. The seizure of the outpost in Pe Yang Taung comes days after the AA captured two junta-affiliated Border Guard Force outposts in Bodhigone and Narula, near Maungdaw, on Feb. 16. The military has not released any information about the fighting, and Hla Thein was unavailable for comment. Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Matt Reed.

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‘I am devastated.’ Burmese parents’ horror at burning death of sons

Editor016 mins

Earlier this month, a video of the burning deaths of two anti-junta fighters was widely viewed by Burmese people on social media. Phoe Tay, 23, and Thar Htaung, 22, were captured Nov. 7, 2023, in fighting between pro-junta forces and resistance fighters at Myauk Khin Yan village in Magway region’s Gangaw township.   The video showed them in shackles as they were interrogated by armed men. They were then dragged to a nearby tree where they were suspended as a fire was set underneath them. The two young men screamed as flames rose up and engulfed them. The video was taken by a villager who fled the area in December, according to a local official from the administration of the shadow National Unity Government. It’s unclear who first posted the video that began circulating in early February. Phoe Tay’s father, Myint Zaw, told Radio Free Asia last week that he was aware of his son’s death but had not seen the video. Edited transcripts of RFA’s interviews with Myint Zaw and the parents of Thar Htaung – Ye San and Soe Linn – are below. Interview with Myint Zaw RFA: We watched the video of the burning alive of two youth People’s Defense Force fighters – Phoe Tay and Thar Htaung. Myint Zaw, what would you like to say first? Myint Zaw: When Phoe Tay died in action, it was immediately posted online. Yes, it is Phoe Tay, my son. He is gone. His life as a human is over.  I learned that he was beaten on the head, beaten on the knees. In one photo, he was on his knees. That image is still springing to my mind. The image is still in my phone.  After that, I didn’t know how he was killed. We could not retrieve the body. Nobody could go there because Myauk Khin Yan is a stronghold village of the pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militias.  Phoe Tay’s father says his son joined the resistance after the 2021 coup. (Provided by family) RFA: You saw photos from just before the burning. Did you watch the video of them being burned alive? What did you hear about this video? Myint Zaw: I haven’t watched it. But there are reports about it, and many people are talking about it. My phone is not available for such things because of poor internet connections.  His friends in the village are horrified by it. “Is it true? They really did that?” People are deeply hurt. They cannot accept such an act. Many people are talking about it.  I heard that they dragged him by tying a rope around his neck and that they burned him alive. So, I’ll never forgive the perpetrators. RFA: Please tell us about Phoe Tay. What was his education?     Myint Zaw: My son, Phoe Tay, is also known as Myo Htet Aung – that was his school registration name. Before the coup, under the National League for Democracy government, he sat for the matriculation exam. Two months after the 2021 coup, when the exam results were announced, he passed with two distinctions. RFA: We learned that he joined the Yaw Defense Force. Why did he join the YDF?     Myint Zaw: When the 2021 coup d’état took place, he was in a jade mine in Hkamti, where he was learning to drive a backhoe. My nephew, his cousin, was driving a backhoe there. He brought my son there.  Then some friends called him and asked him what he was doing. With politics in his mind, he immediately returned home. Then he joined the YDF. RFA: Did he seek permission from you to join the YDF? Myint Zaw: I told my son that if I was your age, I would have already joined the resistance. My son and I had the same opinion. But he did ask for my permission. RFA: Did you talk to him at all after he joined the armed group? Myint Zaw: I still have to take care of his younger brother. After the Thadingyut festival (to celebrate the harvest moon) in October, (Phoe Tay) said we had to initiate the brother as a Buddhist novice.  He said, “Father, I can look after you only when the revolution is over. Please try hard now. We have to initiate my brother as a Buddhist novice monk. I can help you only after the revolution.” I told him not to worry about us. “I’m proud that my son sacrificed for the people and the country. But I feel sad … I am devastated,” says Phoe Tay’s father. (Provided by family) RFA: What do you do to make a living? Myint Zaw: I’m a farmer. There is a land plot given by my mother in Maw Lel village of Gangaw township. I make a living with a rice milling machine. I have a tricycle to transport sand and stones to nearby villages. RFA: On Nov. 7, when Phoe Tay was killed, did the Yaw PDF inform you? How did they inform you? Myint Zaw: They arrived one-and-a-half days later, because they had to come on foot. His comrades looked glum. They came and told us that he was killed and asked us what they should do. RFA: Did the YDF provide your family with cash? Myint Zaw: Yes, they gave us cash. They provided 2 million kyats (about US$950) for Thar Htaung and the same amount for Phoe Tay. RFA: How do you and your family feel about your son being burned alive, killed brutally and inhumanely? Myint Zaw: I’m proud that my son sacrificed for the people and the country. But I feel sad. I don’t want to talk about it. And I don’t know what to say. I am devastated. RFA: Phoe Tay might have been the smartest in the village. He passed his exam with two distinctions. What were his goals? Did he tell you about what he wanted to be? Myint Zaw: He didn’t say exactly. What he used to say was that he…

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China’s Xi appeared ‘humble’ but now rules supreme, ambassador says

Editor012 mins

China’s Xi Jinping was once a “humble” leader who has “totally changed” since taking control of the country in the style of Mao Zedong, according to the memoir of Hideo Tarumi, a former Japanese ambassador to Beijing who left his post in December amid deteriorating bilateral ties. In the memoir published by the literary magazine Bungeishunjū just two months after he left his post, Tarumi describes meeting Xi during a visit to Japan when he was vice president under Hu Jintao in 2009. Tarumi’s job on the night was to greet each guest personally, and he noticed that Xi showed no sign of impatience while waiting to be greeted, despite the fact that Tarumi was running late, and took a while to get to him. The encounter was to leave Tarumi with the impression of a “humble” official, he wrote, adding that Xi has “totally changed” since taking power in 2012. “Xi Jinping’s aura has totally changed,” Tarumi wrote, adding that he is now surrounded by far more security guards than his predecessor Hu Jintao, making it hard to approach him. He said Xi has now steered China away from the decades of economic reform launched by late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979, and along a path that is closer to that chosen by Mao Zedong. Former Japanese ambassador Hideo Tarumi’s memoir in a recent edition of the Japanese magazine Bungeishunjū. (Chi Chun Lee /RFA) “Xi Jinping’s actions prove that he chose … to use a high degree of centralization to maintain the legitimacy of Chinese Communist Party rule,” Tarumi wrote, adding that the centralization of power in Xi’s hands now means that the formerly powerful Politburo Standing Committee is now subordinate to Xi Jinping. He said Xi had “sacrificed the economy to achieve national security goals,” or regime stability. ‘Contradictory’ But he said the amendment of the Counterespionage Law last year and the loosening of immigration controls are also tied in with economic development. “It’s a contradictory thing, and the ambassadors of Europe and the United States are also confused about it,” Tarumi wrote of the two moves. The reform era ushered in by Mao’s successor Deng Xiaoping saw people freed up to make money as fast as they liked, and the start of a burgeoning private sector and decades of export-led economic growth, while political ideology and authoritarian rule took a back seat.  In August, top Chinese economist Hu Xingdou published a 10-point plan calling for a return to those policies, and a move away from Beijing’s aggressive “Wolf Warrior” diplomacy under Xi. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a daily briefing in Beijing, Aug. 3, 2022. (Andy Wong/AP) Yet Xi, who is serving a third and indefinite term in office after abolishing presidential term limits in 2018, is widely seen to be moving in the opposite direction to Deng. He’s cracking down on private sector wealth and power and boosting the state-owned economy while eroding the freedoms enjoyed by the country’s middle classes. Face-off Tarumi was feted as a “China hand” by the nationalistic Global Times newspaper when he took up his post in 2020 and has since gained a reputation as a fearless challenger of Wolf Warrior diplomacy. In the book, he also describes being hauled in by foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying and lectured after then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took part in a regional strategic forum on Taiwan, which China claims as its territory despite never having ruled the democratic island. Tarumi went reluctantly after instructing his staff to “ignore” Hua’s summons – and after the foreign ministry threatened to cut him off from all future meetings. Hua berated him with Japanese militarism leading to “the slaughter of many Taiwanese.” But Tarumi, who had served in Japan’s economic and trade office in Taiwan, retorted that he knew more about Taiwan than she did, and that Japan’s 50-year rule over Taiwan was due to the ceding of the island under the Treaty of Shimonoseki in the wake of the First Sino-Japanese War. Hua appeared at a loss for words at this, and replied only: “Some people say Japanese militarism started in the 19th century. These new interpretations are unacceptable,” according to Tarumi’s memoir. A few months later, Tarumi faced an even bigger problem. One of his diplomats was detained by police after having lunch with Dong Yuyu, deputy head of editorials at the Communist Party’s Guangming Daily newspaper, who was arrested for spying on Feb. 21, 2022. Hideo Tarumi, Japan’s ambassador to China, gives a speech at his residence in Beijing, March 30, 2022. Tarumi, who left his post in Dec. 2023, has published a memoir. (Embassy of Japan in China) “Foreign personnel engaged in activities inconsistent with their status in China,” Hua told a regular news briefing at the time. “The relevant Chinese authorities conducted investigations and inquiries into this matter.” According to Tarumi, the Japanese diplomat had presented his passport and work permits, informing the police that his detention had violated the Vienna Convention because it breached his diplomatic immunity. Tarumi made an immediate protest to the foreign ministry, meeting with assistant foreign minister Wu Jianghao, who told him that the meeting was “irregular.” Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shakes hands with Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s General Secretary Toshihiro Nikai before a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 24, 2019. (Fred Dufour/pool photo via AFP) Tarumi replied that Wu had misrepresented the meeting and objected strongly, with the support of the ambassadors of 13 other countries, according to his account. Eventually, the Japanese diplomat was released. A Beijing-based journalist who declined to be named said China intensified its surveillance of Japanese diplomatic missions following the incident, barring them from taking part in exchange activities as they normally would, and isolating them in their embassy and consulates. Listening devices Tarumi’s memoir appears to confirm this claim, adding that a number of dinner invitations sent to prominent Chinese intellectuals were declined after the incident, while…

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Seven political prisoners found dead in Myanmar’s Rakhine state

Editor04 mins

Junta troops shot and killed seven people arrested in Mrauk-U, a family member of one of the victims told Radio Free Asia on Monday. The victims included a journalist and a well-known social media commentator.  Their exact dates of death are still unknown, but their bodies were discovered after the Arakan Army captured Mrauk-U on Thursday, according to an Arakan Army statement on Sunday night.  Most of the victims were in their 20s to 40s, it added. Kyaw Zan Wai, also known as Phoe La Pyae,  was popular for criticizing the junta through jokes on Facebook. Myat Thu Tun, who often published under the name Phoe Thiha, was a former reporter for media outlet Democratic Voice of Burma. The other civilian victims were Kyaw Thein Hlaing, Kyaw Win Hlaing, Ko Nyunt, Win Naing and Pyae Sone Win. The bodies were buried and the victims’ families were not informed of their deaths, according to the Arakan Army’s statement. Junta troops arrested the men in late 2023 and all were held in custody at the Mrauk-U Police Station.  They were transferred to Mrauk-U-based military Battalion 378 when fighting broke out between the junta and Arakan Army on Dec. 24, 2023, according to family members. When fighting escalated on Jan. 31, two soldiers shot the seven prisoners and buried them in a bomb shelter near Mrauk-U Hospital, the Arakan Army’s statement claimed. Myat Thu Tun was in contact with his family until Dec. 25, but after Christmas, they did not hear from him, his wife Ohn Mar Shwezin Myint told RFA on Monday.   “When Mrauk-U city was captured by the AA, I was so happy that he was about to be released,” she said. “But when I came to know that they had been killed and buried, I was devastated. It hurts.” Myat Thu Tun worked for 7Day News Journal, Democratic Voice of Burma, The Voice, Development Media Group and other domestic and international news agencies. “I was so sad,” she said. “They were brought into the military battalion when the fighting broke out in December. I still got in touch with him around Christmas. He said he was safe. That was the last I heard.” Regime troops also attempted to hide the bodies of two other civilians, according to the Arakan Army. After capturing Mrauk-U and Minbya townships, resistance troops discovered the bodies of Nyi Nyi Aung from Rathedaung township and Kyaw Nyunt from Minbya township. Both were killed on Jan. 19 by Minbya-based junta infantry Battalion 379, the statement said. The junta has not released any information regarding the deaths. RFA phoned Rakhine state’s junta spokesperson Hla Thein, but calls went unanswered on Monday. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Spirit of Uyghurs is celebrated in paintings of ‘Home’

Editor013 mins

“Home” means different things to young Uyghurs – some of whom may have not even visited their ancestral homeland in China’s far western Xinjiang region. That was the theme of the latest annual art competition for Uyghur artists and others held by the Uyghur Collective, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based youth group that has organized the annual event since 2019. Uyghur artist Gülnaz Tursun from Kazakhstan expressed admiration for the young artists’ sense of pride in being Uyghur, evident in their creations.  “This art contest has a great theme, with each painting expressing sentiments of homeland, home and family,” she said.  “It warms my heart to see that even while living abroad, our youth still harbor a deep longing for their homeland, evident in their works that reflect a profound love for their roots – a sentiment that truly touched me,” Tursun said. Munawwar Abdulla, the Uyghur Collective’s founder who also works as a researcher at Harvard University, said she and others came up with the competition five years ago because there were not enough platforms for Uyghurs abroad, especially those in the fine arts, to display works that “embody Uyghurism.” The competition is a way for Uyghurs living in the diaspora to preserve their culture, language and religion amid measures by the Chinese government to wipe them out in Xinjiang – which the mostly Muslim Uyghurs prefer to call East Turkistan – and replace them with China’s dominant Han culture. It is also a way for young Uyghurs who were born abroad to stay connected to their homeland, where the Chinese government has repressed Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities, and committed severe human rights violations that have amounted to genocide and crimes against humanity, according to the United Nations, the United States and other Western countries. ‘I felt compelled’ Thirty pieces by Uyghur artists around the world were submitted during the latest contest, with submissions due by Dec. 25, 2023.  The entries were showcased on the Uyghur Collective’s social media accounts, and viewers voted online between Jan. 13-15. The Uyghur Collective announced three winners on Jan. 17. In second place, ‘Freedom and Liberty’ by Adina Sabir, 16, from the United States, shows a tea set and a wheel of Uyghur flatbread on a table with New York City in the background. (Adina Sabir) First place went to Kübra Sevinç, 17, from Turkey for her entry titled “Bir Tuwgan,” or “Relative,” depicting a Uyghur mother wearing traditional ikat robe while holding her child against a backdrop of mountains and two yurts on grassland. She won US$300. Competition judge Malik Orda Turdush said the watercolor painting was “elegantly drawn, skillfully portraying flowers, clothing and the bond between mother and child.” Sevinç, who incorporated symbols from the Turkish world in the picture, said she became familiar with Uyghur people and Xinjiang after her father attended a protest in 2019 and brought home the blue flag of East Turkistan, which has been hanging in their house ever since.  “Upon seeing that blue flag, I felt compelled to do something for our brothers and sisters in those distant places,” Sevinç said. “I was following Instagram pages about the Turkish world, and a drawing contest on this page caught my attention. Given its connection to Uyghurs and East Turkistan, it felt profoundly meaningful to me.”  Yearning for the homeland Uyghur artist Merwayit Hapiz from Germany said Uyghur parents in the diaspora play a crucial role in nurturing children to develop with a deep love for their motherland.  “In those paintings, you can discern their profound respect for Uyghur ethnicity, Uyghur life and culture,” she said. “Their yearning for the homeland is palpable. The artworks mirror the Uyghur education and pride instilled by parents in the diaspora. A nation’s existence is revealed through its art and culture.”   In recent years, authorities in Xinjiang have detained an estimated 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in “re-education” camps, destroyed thousands of mosques and banned the Uyghur language in schools and government offices. China has said the camps have been closed and has denied any policies to erase Uyghur culture. “The oppression faced by the Uyghurs felt as if it was targeted to me as well,” said Sevinç. “As a Turk, the ancestors of the Uyghurs were also my ancestors. All my paintings have significance, and I was delighted to create art on a subject that means a lot to me, focusing on the Uyghurs.” “Freedom and Liberty” by Adina Sabir, a 16-year-old living in the United States, claimed second place and a $200 prize. The work shows a teapot, teacups and a wheel of Uyghur flatbread on a table. A doppa skullcap hangs on a nearby wall alongside an open window through which the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyscrapers can be seen. “‘In ‘Freedom and Liberty,’ the juxtaposition of two locations, notably the Statue of Liberty outside the window and the robust Uyghur atmosphere indoors, makes us think,” Turdush said.  Sabir said she wanted to express her love for her country, the United States, and for her Uyghur homeland in her painting. “In this painting, the country outside the window and the culture within the house both are a home to us,” she said. “In this free country, we are able to live with our traditions. The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom.”   Kashgar spring Joy Bostwick, an artist originally from Flagstaff, Arizona, won third place for her watercolor painting “Spring in Kashgar,” a depiction of a lane in the city, a stop along the Silk Road in southern Xinjiang, whose Old City was torn down by Chinese authorities.  In third place, ‘Spring in Kashgar’ by Joy Bostwick, an artist originally from Arizona, depicts a lane in Kashgar. (Joy Bostwick) In the watercolor, a Uyghur woman sells flatbread on a table shaded by a red umbrella at the base of a tradition building with a carved wooden balcony that is typical of architecture in southern Xinjiang, while another person holding the hand of a toddler…

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The case for seating overseas legislators in Southeast Asian parliaments

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Around 1.7 million Indonesians living overseas are registered to vote in this month’s presidential and legislative elections, a mammoth task for the General Elections Commission, which has had to prepare 828 voting booths at Indonesian representative offices worldwide, as well as 1,579 mobile voting boxes and 652 drop boxes for absentee voting.  How many overseas Indonesians will actually turn out to vote is another matter, and will there be any further controversy after reports that ballots were given to overseas nationals too early? According to a review by the Philippines’ Commission on Elections published this month, of the estimated 10 million overseas Filipinos, only 1.6 million are registered to vote and only 600,000 (around 40 per cent) did so at the 2022 elections.  Expat Filipinos react as presidential candidate and former president Joseph Estrada speaks during a campaign event in Hong Kong, April 4, 2010. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters) Most Southeast Asian governments, at least the more democratic ones, are looking at ways of reforming how overseas nationals vote. The Philippines’ electoral commission says it intends to have an online voting system in place by 2025 for overseas nationals, although there is still talk that this might be cost-prohibitive and could require digital voting to be rolled out at home too, which is simply too difficult for the election commissions of most Southeast Asian countries for now.  In Malaysia, where overseas balloting has been in something of a mess for the past decade, parliamentarians last month hit on fixed-term parliaments as one way to fix the problem.  However, it might be worth pondering why overseas voters are still asked to vote for representatives in parliament who live hundreds of miles away from them, whose priority is to represent constituents back at home, and who may know nothing about the concerns of overseas nationals.  Constituencies mismatched In Indonesia, for instance, votes from overseas Indonesians go to deciding the seven seats in the House of Representatives sent by Jakarta II district. (Jakarta II, which is Central and South Jakarta, was chosen because that’s where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is located.)  This may actually be superior to how other Southeast Asian states count overseas ballots – indeed, at least the seven congresspeople from Jakarta II district know they’re supposed to represent overseas constituents. Compare that to Thailand, where overseas voters select the candidates in the constituency where they are from or were registered, so a Thai living in London but who hails from, say, Chiang Mai province votes for the MPs from Chiang Mai province. But how can the MP from Chiang Mai province be expected to adequately represent overseas electors when perhaps only 0.1% of the ballots cast for them came from overseas? An Indonesian voter receives a ballot-slip at the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore to vote in presidential election, July 8, 2009 (Wong Maye-E/AP) Why not, instead, make overseas voters a separate district and allocate six or seven seats solely for them? They could have one seat for an MP representing Indonesians in North America, another for Indonesians in Europe, another for those in Northeast Asia, another for Southeast Asia, and so forth.  And these seats would be occupied by candidates who live overseas. Imagine the Indonesian congressperson who resides in Berlin, New York, Seoul, or Melbourne. They obviously would be able to understand better the concerns and problems facing other Indonesians living abroad.  Aloof from local politics There’s a democratic element to this, too. An overseas MP wouldn’t have to mix daily with their peers in Manila, Kuala Lumpur or Jakarta. They would, on the one hand, remain aloof from the politicking and palm-greasing back home and, on the other hand, be able to bring new ideas learned from abroad back to their capitals.  They could attend parliamentary sessions every month or two, funded by the state, and spend most of their time abroad, where they could also work more closely with their country’s embassies in the regions they represent.  Officials check documentation of Indonesians living in Malaysia as they stand to cast overseas ballots ahead of the Indonesia’s general election, in Kuala Lumpur, April 14, 2019. (Mohd Rasfan/AFP) Currently, almost 10 million overseas Filipinos are represented by several government bodies, such as the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, an agency under the Office of the President. However, having overseas MPs in parliament would provide another layer of representation for nationals living abroad, allowing their voices to be heard by the government bodies and by overseas-based elected representatives.  Indeed, protecting the large population of overseas Filipinos is one of the three pillars of Manila’s foreign policy initially laid out in the 1990s, yet those emigrants have little legislative representation.  It isn’t a revolutionary idea to have overseas-based MPs represent overseas voters. France’s National Assembly has eleven lawmakers representing overseas constituencies. Italy’s parliament has had eight.  Global examples Nor is it specifically a European idea. The Algerian parliament has eight MPs who represent overseas nationals. Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Peru and Tunisia, to name but a few, also have some parliamentary seats set aside for overseas constituencies.  To quickly rebut one argument against it, it would not require a massive change to the composition of parliaments, nor would it require too many administrative changes. At the most, we’re talking about less than ten seats, so a fraction of parliament in a country like Thailand, whose National Assembly has 500 seats! Philippine Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile looks at a tally board during the counting of overseas votes for presidential and vice-presidential candidates at the House of Representatives in Manila, May 28, 2010. (Romeo Ranoco/Reuters) But if electoral commissions are now pondering ideas to better include their overseas nationals in the democratic process, it might be worth considering the more affordable and, perhaps, more democratic option of giving a handful of seats in parliament to overseas representatives.  Nor, indeed, would it be a terrible idea if campaigners in Southeast Asia’s autocracies suggested this as a rational way of protecting their overseas compatriots –…

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Investigative Journalism Reportika © March 2022 by Ij-Reportika is licensed under CC BY 4.0