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Myanmar insurgents strike in junta-dominated central area: NUG

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Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. Pro-democracy fighters and allied ethnic minority insurgents have captured a string of military positions in central Myanmar, the latest setbacks for the junta that has lost control of about half the country, a parallel government in exile said on Thursday. The allied insurgent forces captured seven military camps in the Bago region, on the old main road between the former capital, Yangon, and Myanmar’s second-biggest city, Mandalay, the National Unity Government, or NUG, said in a statement. The NUG, set up by supporters of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, said eight junta soldiers were killed in the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday by fighters from a pro-democracy People’s Defence Force, or PDF, and ethnic Karen fighters. One PDF member was also killed, the NUG said and it warned civilians that more attacks were coming. “The People’s Defense Forces will be stepping up military operations, so the public is advised not to visit military council units or checkpoints,” it said. The loss of territory in such a central area will be a set-back for the military which is also under major pressure in Rakhine state, in the west where ethnic Rakhine insurgents are closing in on a major hub for Chinese port and energy investments on the coast. The military, which seized power in a 2021 coup, has been pushed back in most parts of the country since late 2023 and is struggling to recruit soldiers to fill the ranks of the army. The junta has not released any information on the fighting in Bago. RFA tried to telephone junta spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment but he did not answer. In the Sagaing region, to the north of Bago, pro-democracy fighters captured a broadcasting station for the military-owned MRTV on Wednesday, the NUG said, adding that 11 junta soldiers were killed in that attack. It did not release information on its casualties in that attack. The Ministry of Defense said it responded to the Sagaing attacks with airstrikes and artillery support. Political analyst Than Soe Naing said while the attacks in junta-dominated heartland areas this dry season were significant, it would take bigger battles and more time “to dismantle the junta.” Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. . We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Myanmar military bombs insurgents attacking key Chinese investment area

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Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese Myanmar’s military bombed insurgents attacking the cornerstone of China’s investment in the country on Wednesday, killing some civilians, residents said, as the rebels pressed on with an offensive on the west coast township of Kyaukpyu. The Arakan Army, or AA, is one of Myanmar’s most powerful insurgent groups and has nearly achieved its objective of defeating the forces of the junta that seized power in 2021 across the whole of Rakhine state. “This morning, the Arakan Army launched heavy weapons at the Dhanyawadi navy base, and there was also shooting,” resident Nay Soe Khaing told Radio Free Asia, referring to the main navy base in Kyaukpyu. “The military returned fire with a fighter jet and there were civilians killed when the plane dropped a bomb,” he said. More than 1,000 civilians had fled the area, Nay Soe Khaing and other residents said, adding that civilian casualties were hard to pin down because communications were mostly severed. RFA tried to telephone the AA spokesperson, Khaing Thu Kha, and junta spokesperson Hla Thein for information on the situation but neither responded by the time of publication. The AA, which draws its support from the state’s ethnic Rakhine Buddhist majority, has captured 14 of Rakhine state’s 17 townships, defeating the military in battle after battle since late 2023 in a stunning advance. Kyaukpyu, one of the insurgents’ last big targets in the state, is on a natural harbor in the northwestern corner of Ramree Island, about 250 miles northwest of the commercial capital Yangon. Besides its natural deep-sea harbor, the area has access to abundant oil, natural gas, and marine resources. China plans a deep-sea port in the Kyaukpyu special economic zone, or SEZ, as a hub for its Belt and Road development strategy. Oil and natural gas are already flowing from Kyaukpyu terminals to southern China’s Yunnan province, giving China an alternative route for its oil imports in case of conflict in the South China Sea. The AA launched their push on Kyaukpyu on Feb. 20 and the military has responded with attacks from the air and from naval vessels at sea. RELATED STORIES Arakan Army closing in on capital of Myanmar’s Rakhine state Myanmar adopts law for foreign firms to provide armed security EXPLAINED: What is Myanmar’s Arakan Army? Heavy battles expected Another resident said major fighting was expected. “The Arakan Army is surrounding all the military camps,” said Tun Kyi. “After they surround them, we know the battles are going to really intensify. So we can say the battle to capture Kyaukpyu has started.” China has not commented on the latest fighting but it has tried to mediate in Myanmar’s conflict. On Friday, the junta and Chinese-owned CITIC Group discussed development in the Kyaukpyu economic zone and the company’s deep sea port, according to the Ministry of Information. But Kyaukpyu resident Htein Kyi, who closely monitors development plans, said it was unrealistic to even think about the various business contracts given the security situation. “With all the trouble and instability, it’s simply impossible to implement such large-scale projects,” he said. The AA already controls nine of the 11 Chinese development projects in Rakhine state, the Institute for Strategy and Policy Myanmar said in a report in January. While Chinese projects have faced disruption and delays in various parts of Myanmar, anti-junta forces have generally not set out to destroy facilities. On the contrary, some groups have promised to protect Chinese investments and personnel. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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UN abruptly cancels Uyghur scholar’s speech at Paris language forum

Editor08 mins

The United Nations on Monday abruptly cancelled a speech by a prominent exiled Uyghur scholar and linguist barely 24 hours before he was to address a Paris conference on language technologies, he told Radio Free Asia. In an email to Norway-based researcher Abduweli Ayup shown to RFA Uyghur, organizers provided no reason for rescinding the invitation to speak at the Language Technologies for All, or LT4ALL, conference, under the umbrella of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO. But Ayup said the reason was likely because he questioned an earlier presenter about protections for the Uyghur language in China, where some 12 million Uyghurs live in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. He and other Uyghur activists say Beijing is trying to eradicate their mother tongue. They say it is but one aspect of Chinese efforts to “Sinicize” Uyghurs — a Turkic people who are distinct from Han Chinese — through a process of cultural assimilation. On Feb. 12, the LT4ALL organizing committee sent Ayup a letter inviting him to serve as a chair/rapporteur for an afternoon session scheduled for Feb. 25 entitled “Education, Inclusion, Innovation” at U.N. Headquarters in Paris, France. He accepted and was added to the program. But on Monday, Feb. 24, organizers sent him an email saying they had been “unable to secure approval” to include his presentation in the program, and that they were “informed at the last minute, and this decision is beyond our control.” “We had hoped to find a better solution, but unfortunately, we have no other option at this time,” the letter said. “As a result, we will not be able to include your presentation in the published file or program.” ‘Threatened and disgusted’ Afterwards, in posts to the social media platform X, Ayup called the decision “disgusting.” He suggested it was made in response to his questioning a day earlier of a presenter, who he described as “a Chinese language activist … [that] is a gov official [who] works for [state media outlet] Hunan TV.” RELATED STORIES Uyghur intellectual died while in custody of Chinese authorities Two Siblings of Norway-based Uyghur Activist Sentenced to Jail in China’s Xinjiang Rights Groups Blast Uyghur Activist’s Expulsion From UN Forum in New York Ayup said the presenter had discussed a language museum in China during his session, after which Ayup asked him whether it contained information about the Uyghur language and whether Uyghur language activists are safe in China. “After those two questions, I was questioned by the Chinese delegation,” he said. “I felt threatened, I felt disgusted and disappointed. I believe my presentation was cancelled because of the questions I had asked from the Chinese speaker.” Ayup did not provide evidence in support of his claims. But he noted that the panel he was listening to included a representative of iFLYTEK — a partially state-owned Chinese information technology company that the U.S. sanctioned in October 2019 for its alleged role in mass surveillance and human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Ayup elaborated further in a post to X, accusing UNESCO of having “welcomed the criminal [and] kicked human rights defenders out” of the conference. “iFLYTEK is the company [that] helped [the] Chinese regime to arrest over [1] million Uyghurs,” he wrote in the post. Family suffering Ayup is the founder of Uyghur Hjelp, a Norway-based Uyghur advocacy and aid organization which maintains a list of detained Uyghur intellectuals. In May 2021, RFA learned that Chinese authorities had sentenced Ayup’s brother and sister to several years in jail in Xinjiang, allegedly for failing to demonstrate loyalty to authorities as expected. Sources with knowledge of the situation, however, said that they were arrested because of his activities in exile. UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, Jan. 17, 2025.(Bertrand Guay/AFP) The confirmation of the sentence came on the heels of an RFA report confirming that Ayup’s niece, Mihray Erkin, had died at the Yanbulaq internment camp while being investigated by state security police in Kashgar prefecture. Ayup’s case is not the first time the U.N. has blocked a Uyghur activist from speaking at an event it organized. In April 2017, Dolkun Isa, a founder of the exile World Uyghur Congress and member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, was forced from a forum at U.N. premises in New York by security guards without explanation. Isa’s removal prompted a coalition of human rights groups and organizations representing minority peoples around the world to condemn the act, calling it an expression of “domination” by an unnamed U.N. member state — an apparent reference to China. Attempts by RFA to contact UNESCO for comment on its decision to rescind Ayup’s invitation to the LT4ALL conference went unanswered by the time of publication. Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Taiwan bans academic exchanges with 3 Chinese universities amid security concerns

Editor07 mins

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan barred the island’s universities from collaborating with three mainland Chinese institutions, citing their ties with Beijing’s overseas propaganda arm, in what Taiwan opposition lawmakers said was a blow to cross-strait exchanges that have historically served as a bridge for dialogue despite geopolitical rifts. China and Taiwan have maintained educational exchanges, despite political and military tensions, allowing students and scholars from both sides to participate in academic collaborations, research projects and university partnerships. But on Thursday, Taiwan banned its universities from working with China’s Jinan University in the city of Guangzhou, Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, and Beijing Chinese Language and Culture College, citing their ties with the United Front Work Department. “Chinese universities affiliated with the United Front Work Department serve a political purpose rather than a purely academic one,” said Taiwan’s Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao. The United Front Work Departmen is a key arm of the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, that conducts influence operations, propaganda and political engagement globally. It works to shape narratives, co-opt elites, and extend Beijing’s reach into academia, media, and diaspora communities. Critics, including Taipei, accuse it of covert interference, disinformation, and suppressing dissent, with several governments warning of its role in election meddling, intellectual property theft, and undermining democratic institutions. “To prevent political influence operations we must halt cooperation and exchanges,” Cheng added. The ban drew criticism from Taiwan’s main opposition Kuomintang, or KMT, which criticized it as “politically motivated” and “detrimental” to cross-strait exchanges. “Students from over 80 countries attend these universities. It is shortsighted for the DPP to isolate Taiwan academically,” KMT legislative Fu Kun-chi said, referring to the island’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party. KMT chairman Eric Chu Li-luan also said the policy would do more damage to Taiwan’s higher education sector. “Academic cooperation should be based on international accreditation, not political considerations,” Chu said. “The DPP is using this as part of its broader political strategy for 2025, creating division instead of fostering engagement.” A DPP legislator, Wu Szu-yao, however, defended the ban, comparing it to the global shutdown of Confucius Institutes due to similar concerns over Chinese influence. Confucius Institutes are Chinese-funded language and cultural centers, which have drawn suspicion around the world of Chinese propaganda and influence. The U.S., Europe and Australia have closed many of the institutes, citing threats to academic freedom and security. “Taiwan has never restricted normal academic and cultural exchanges, as long as they are free from official influence. But these schools, being under the United Front Work Department control, inherently serve political purposes and follow political directives,” Wu said. RELATED STORIES Taiwanese army officer’s failed defection to China ends in 13-year sentence Taiwan to scale up annual military drill as China tensions mount Did Taiwan ‘severely punish’ students for supporting unification with China? Taiwanese students have long pursued degrees in Chinese universities, drawn by lower tuition fees, scholarship opportunities, and career prospects in the mainland. Chinese students also study in Taiwan, though in smaller numbers due to political restrictions. Universities from both sides have established joint research programs and academic agreements, facilitating faculty collaboration and student mobility. But exchanges have not been immune to political influence. China has at times limited the number of its students permitted to study in Taiwan, citing political concerns, while Taipei has imposed tighter regulations on Chinese scholars and researchers due to security considerations. Cross-strait relations under Taiwan’s pro-independence leadership have further strained the programs, leading to a decline in Chinese enrollment in Taiwan. The COVID-19 pandemic also disrupted exchanges, though some academic collaboration has resumed. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that must eventually reunite, even by force if necessary. Beijing views the island’s leader, Lai Ching-te, a pro-independence advocate, as a separatist and has increased military drills, economic pressure and diplomatic isolation to counter his leadership. Edited by Taejun Kang. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Myanmar adopts law for foreign firms to provide armed security

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Myanmar’s military government has adopted a law allowing foreign companies to provide armed security services, which analysts suspect will lead to former military personnel from China protecting its extensive economic interests in its southern neighbor. The law raises the prospect of Chinese private military corporations guarding oil and gas pipelines from Myanmar’s Indian Ocean coast to Yunnan province, and ensuring uninterrupted supplies in the event of war in the South China Sea blocking regular shipping routes. The Private Security Service Law, published in state-run media on Tuesday, states that foreign companies seeking a license to set up a security company must be registered under the Myanmar Companies Law. The National Defence and Security Council must approve a company “holding arms and ammunition due to work demand in providing private security services,” states the law, signed by the leader of the junta that seized power in 2021, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. The legislation stipulates that companies must ensure that staff are “not a member of any armed forces of a foreign country.” Myanmar’s military-drafted 2008 constitution rules out foreign forces operating in the country. The law also requires that “at least 75% of the hired private security servants must be Myanmar citizens,” and companies providing private security services have to abide by existing laws on weapons. China has extensive economic interests in Myanmar, many of them linked to a long-planned China-Myanmar Economic Corridor between China’s Yunnan and Myanmar’s coast. The corridor is part of Beijing’s multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative of energy and trade-facilitating infrastructure projects. They include a special economic zone and proposed deep-water port, with oil and gas facilities, in Kyaukpyu in Rakhine state, 800-kilometer (500-mile) oil and gas pipelines that extend to Kunming in southwest China, copper jade and rare earth mines and hydro-electric plants. While the embattled military still holds Kyaukpyu, many of the other projects are in areas that have come under the control of anti-junta forces battling to end military rule since the generals overthrew a government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. While the civil war has delayed Chinese projects, insurgent forces, some of which maintain contacts with China, have not launched major attacks on pipelines and other facilities, and have even promised to protect them. RELATED STORIES Arakan Army closing in on capital of Myanmar’s Rakhine state Myanmar junta chief seeks China’s help on border stability Trump extends ‘national emergency’ declaration for Myanmar ‘Selling out’ Analysts said the new law sets out the legal framework for a Chinese proposal to set up a China-Myanmar Joint Venture Security Company, as reported in the military’s Myanmar Gazette on Nov. 8. Lawyer Gyi Myint said the law reflected the junta’s determination to get China’s economic projects implemented by relying on Chinese security help. “We have reached a situation where the military has allowed things that are not allowed internationally. This is not in line with the 2008 constitution,” Gyi Myint told Radio Free Asia from an undisclosed location. Political analyst Than Soe Naing said the law would allow former members of China’s People’s Liberation Army to operate legally in Myanmar. “The junta council is selling out to China for nothing even though it is constantly talking about sovereignty,” he told RFA. RFA tried to contact the junta council’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, to inquire about the criticism of the law but he did not answer the telephone. The military council has not said when the proposed China-Myanmar Joint Venture Security Company would be set up. The Burmese-language Khit Thit Media reported late last year that a deal to establish a Chinese private military corporation in Kyaukpyu was signed in November between a Special Economic Zone management sub-committee and officials from the Chinese CITIC Group Company. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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India boosts security protection for Dalai Lama

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Read RFA coverage of this story in Tibetan. India has boosted security for the Dalai Lama, adding about 30 police commandos to protect the Tibetan spiritual leader amid reports of potential security threats, according to a person familiar with the matter and Indian media reports. The move raises the security coverage for the 89-year-old Dalai Lama to the third-highest level, called Z-category, under the Central Reserve Police Force, or CRPF, the source told Radio Free Asia on the condition of anonymity because he wan’t authorized to speak to the media. Video footage of the Dalai Lama in southern India showed armed CRPF commandos around a vehicle carrying the Tibetan spiritual leader. Citing official sources, the Press Trust of India said the central government enhanced the Dalai Lama’s security because of “potential security threats.” The Indo-Asian News Service said the move was prompted by a recent Intelligence Bureau threat analysis report. RFA could not independently confirm these reports, and the security department of the Central Tibetan Administration — the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, northern India — did not respond to requests for comment. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, the CRPF and the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also didn’t offer any comments. The Dalai Lama normally lives in Dharamsala, but has been visiting a Tibetan community in southern India since Jan. 5. Chinese opposition The move comes amid growing concerns over the Dalai Lama’s safety due to China’s long-term opposition to his activities. Beijing is seeking to appoint the successor to the Dalai Lama, who is expected to either name his successor or provide some indication regarding his succession when he turns 90 in July. “This has led to growing desperation from the Chinese side,” senior Indian journalist and national security affairs specialist, Aditya Raj Kaul, told RFA. The highest level of security in India, given to the Indian prime minister and his immediate family, is called the Special Protection Group. Below that are the Z+ category, provided to top ministers in the central and state governments, and Z category, provided to prominent leaders and individuals based on their threat perception. Since the Dalai Lama’s flight from Tibet into exile in India in 1959, the Indian government has assumed responsibility for his security protection, maintaining a 24-hour security patrol around his residence in Dharamsala to ensure his safety. Whenever the Dalai Lama travels to different parts of India, his security arrangements are overseen by the central government, with state governments coordinating protection during his visits. The Dalai Lama (center) is guarded by the members of the Central Reserve Police Force in Hunsur, Karmataka state, India, Feb. 18, 2025.(Pema Ngodup/RFA) The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs directed the CRPF’s VIP security wing to take charge of the security for the Dalai Lama and ensure Z-category protection with around 30 CRPF commandos across the country, the Press Trust of India and other Indian media reported. The CRPF’s VIP security wing is provides security to individuals as assigned by the ministry, including politicians, state government ministers, governors, spiritual leaders, business tycoons and other prominent individuals. “Now there will be a massive security cover with commandos traveling with him in a multiple convoy and the possibility of additional state security cover,” senior Indian journalist and national security affairs specialist, Kaul, citing sources, told RFA. In December 2022, security at Bodh Gaya in northeast India’s Bihar state had been beefed up after an alleged threat to the Dalai Lama from a Chinese woman. However, the state police later clarified the incident was no threat to the Dalai Lama and that the Chinese woman had been detained and deported because she overstayed her visa. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi and Tashi Wangchuk for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Kalden Lodoe, Tenzin Pema, Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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OPINION: Banning Khmer Rouge denialism is a bad move for Cambodia and the world

Editor012 mins

Quite soon, possibly to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge takeover in April, Cambodia will pass a new law making it a jailable offense of up to five years to “deny, trivialize, reject or dispute the authenticity of crimes” committed during that regime’s 1975-79 rule. The bill, requested – and presumably drafted – by Hun Sen, the former prime minister who handed power to his son in 2023, will replace a 2013 law that narrowly focused on denial. The bill’s seven articles haven’t been publicly released, so it remains unclear how some of the terms are to be defined. “Trivialize” and “dispute” are broad, and there are works by academics that might be seen as “disputing” standard accounts of the Khmer Rouge era. Is the “authentic history” of the bill’s title going to be based on the judgments of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia? If so, there will be major gaps in the narrative. Cambodia’s courts are now so supine that one presumes the “authentic history” will be whatever the state prosecutor says it is, should a case come to trial. People leave Phnom Penh after Khmer Rouge forces seized the Cambodian capital April 17, 1975.(Agence Khmere de Presse/AFP) For today’s beleaguered and exiled political opposition in Cambodia, the invasion by Hanoi was yet another curse, meaning the country is still waiting for true liberation, by which most people mean the downfall of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of Hun Sen and his family. The CPP is quite explicit: any opposition equates to supporting the Khmer Rouge. “You hate Pol Pot but you oppose the ones who toppled him. What does this mean? It means you are an ally of the Pol Pot regime,” Hun Sen said a few years ago, with a logic that will inform the incoming law. Crackdown era The ruling CPP has finished its destructive march through the institutions that began in 2017 and is now marching through the people’s minds. A decade ago, Cambodia was a different sort of place. There was one-party rule, repression, and assassinations, yet the regime didn’t really care what most people thought as long as their outward actions were correct. Today, it’s possible to imagine the Hun family lying awake at night, quivering with rage that someone might be thinking about deviations from the party line. Now, the CPP really does care about banishing skepticism and enforcing obedience. What one thinks of the past is naturally an important part of this. Another troublesome factor is that, with Jan. 27 having been the 80th anniversary of Holocaust Remembrance Day, there is a flurry of interest globally in trying to comprehend how ordinary people could commit such horrors as the Holocaust or the Khmer Rouge’s genocide. The publication of Laurence Rees’ excellent new book, The Nazi Mind: Twelve Warnings from History, this month reminds us that if “never again” means anything, it means understanding the mentality of those who supported or joined in mass executions. Yet we don’t learn this from the victims or ordinary people unassociated with the regime, even though these more accessible voices occupy the bulk of the literature. RELATED STORIES Home of notorious Khmer Rouge commander attracts few tourists Final Khmer Rouge Tribunal session rejects appeal of former leader Khieu Samphan Nuon Chea Dies at 93, Ending Hopes of Closure For Cambodia’s Victims of Khmer Rouge Listen only to the outsider, and one comes away with the impression that almost everyone living under a despotic regime is either a passive resister or an outright rebel. There are a few devotees who find redemption after realizing their own sins – as in the main character in Schindler’s List. Yet no dictatorship can possibly survive without some input from a majority of the population. Thus, it’s more important to learn not “why they killed,” but “why we killed” – or “why we didn’t do anything.” Remembrance is vital The world could do with hearing much more about other atrocities, like Cambodia’s. For many in the West, there is a tendency to think of the Holocaust as a singular evil, which can lead one down the path of culture, not human nature, as an explanation. One lesson of the 1930s was that the people most able to stop the spread of Fascism were the same people least capable of understanding its impulses. The left-wing intelligentsia was content to keep to the position until quite late that Fascism was just a more reactionary form of capitalist exploitation, while conservative elites had a self-interest in thinking it was a tamable version of Marxism. Their materialism, their belief that life could be reduced to the money in your pocket and what you can buy with it, didn’t allow them to see the emotional draw of Fascism. These intense feelings brought the torch parade, the speeches, the marching paramilitaries, the uniforms and symbols, the book burnings, and the transgressiveness of petty revenge and bullying. Perhaps the best definition of Fascism came from Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, who said: “there lives alongside the twentieth century the tenth or the thirteenth. A hundred million people use electricity and still believe in the magic power of signs and exorcisms.” Likewise, the same people now who were supposed to stop the rise of new despotisms have been as equally ignorant about the power of signs and exorcisms. Europe kidded itself that Russian strongman Vladimir Putin was as much a rationalist as Germany’s Angela Merkel. The notion that all the Chinese Communist Party cared about was economic growth blinded world leaders to its changing aspirations: Han supremacy, jingoism, revenging past humiliations, national rebirth and territorial conquests. In Cambodia, it is possible to find books by or about Khmer Rouge perpetrators, yet the curious reader must exert a good deal of effort. Those who do that find that a temperament for the transgressive and the cynical motivated the Khmer Rouge’s cadres. It won’t be long before the world marks a Holocaust Memorial Day without…

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Telecom outages impact livelihoods in Myanmar’s Rakhine

Editor06 mins

Read RFA coverage of this story in Burmese. Telecommunications outages in western Myanmar’s embattled Rakhine state have persisted for nearly 100 days, impinging on its more than 3 million residents’ right to information and livelihoods, sources in the region said Wednesday. The blackouts have affected all 14 townships occupied by the rebel Arakan Army, or AA, in Rakhine, sources said, as well as AA-occupied Paletwa township in neighboring Chin state, and the Rakhine townships of Kyaukphyu, Munaung and parts of Sittwe, which have been under the control of the military junta since its February 2021 coup d’etat. The AA cut off both telephone and internet access in its territories beginning Nov. 16, 2024, and a source close to the rebel group told RFA Burmese that the outages are “to prevent airstrikes, because there are junta informants” there. He offered no evidence to support his claim. The junta implemented blackouts in its Rakhine territories shortly after the AA attacked military positions in the state in November 2023, ending a year-long ceasefire. Attempts by RFA to reach Khaing Thukha, the AA spokesperson, for comment went unanswered Wednesday, as did calls to Hla Thein, the junta’s spokesperson and state attorney general in Rakhine state. A Buddhist monk records a video with his mobile phone as he listens to Rohingya Muslim poets during the “Poetry for Humanity” event in Yangon, Myanmar.(Sai Aung Main/AFP) Residents said that, in addition to affecting their livelihoods, the blackouts have made communicating with family members a challenge. “Separated across different areas, we can’t communicate with our families or close relatives,” said one Rakhine resident who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. He noted that transportation is difficult and travel expenses are high, so meeting in person is also off the table. “Our family members [in other parts of Rakhine state] don’t know what is happening to us here,” he said. “We are also deeply worried when we hear that the junta has carried out aerial strikes in areas where our family members live.” RELATED STORIES Northern Myanmar cut off by state-wide communications blackout Daily blackouts in Myanmar disrupt livelihoods of rural, urban dwellers UN calls for Myanmar to end internet blackout in Rakhine state Other residents said that fighters with the AA and other allied rebel groups have access to the internet via the satellite service Starlink. Several said that they need to travel “miles” in order to access a working telephone. Communicating from abroad Many people from Rakhine state, an underdeveloped area of Myanmar, choose to work abroad to earn a living and send money home to help their families. But a resident of Rakhine who is working in Thailand told RFA that the lack of phone and internet connections has made it nearly impossible for her to send money home. “I can’t even communicate with my children, who are still in the village, and as a mother, I constantly worry about them,” she said. “I also have parents and siblings, and I want to know if they are safe and how they manage to make a living. Not being able to reach them fills me with anxiety.” The woman, who also declined to be named, said it had been “more than two months” since she last had contact with her family members in Rakhine. Journalists in Rakhine told RFA that while the AA has allowed them to access the internet using Starlink, they can only do so for five hours a day, limiting their ability to report news from the region. Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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New traffic edict is Vietnamese communists’ ‘mission civilisatrice’

Editor04 mins

A commentary by David Hutt As one theory goes, as a country becomes wealthier, its streets should become more orderly and safe. Or to use the favored word of the Vietnamese Communist Party, the roads need to become more “civilized.” Any visitor to Hanoi or Saigon, however, cannot help but notice that economic development hasn’t been coupled with vehicular orderliness. At least, that was until the authorities introduced a new edict at the beginning of January. Traffic fines have since risen tenfold, with the biggest tickets over US$1,500. Cars that don’t stop at red lights can be fined US$780, up from US$230 last year. Fines have also been increased for drunk drivers, those who park on the pavement, those speeding, etc, etc. According to local media, opening a car door in an unsafe manner will now result in a penalty of US$860, up from US$23. Vehicles wait at a red light at an intersection in Hanoi on January 8, 2025.(Nhac Nguyen/AFP) One question is how to tell whether the latest traffic edict has been a success or not. By the reduction in traffic-related accidents or deaths? By the severity of the fines imposed? A danger is that it becomes a numbers game. On the other hand, there’s a risk that conformity with the law only lasts for as long as the police keep issuing crippling penalties, which may not be for too long. I hear the police in Ho Chi Minh City are again allowing motorists to turn right at red lights at some intersections. When, in 2007, the government introduced a regulation requiring motorbike drivers to wear helmets, most responded with ironic obedience—they wore cheap, light-weight baseball-cap headgear that were in keeping with the letter of the law but not the spirit. No country’s police can enforce traffic regulations alone; it requires a majority of drivers to accept that laws about speeding or stopping at traffic lights or parking only in parking zones are more beneficial for the whole than the informal codes that regarded these as suggestions to be ignored when convenient. As has always been the case in Vietnam, any lasting change will have to come from the bottom up. David Hutt is a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS) and the Southeast Asia Columnist at the Diplomat. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of Ij-Reportika. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Prime Minister Hun Manet, has your father incited violence or not?

Editor011 mins

A commentary by David Hutt When a footman finds a pest in the pantry, does he ask the King whether he should stamp on it? What about if the King has been speaking for years about the need to “crush” and “destroy” and “eliminate” pests that infect his palace? Early last month, a former Cambodian opposition politician, Lim Kimya, was shot dead in the streets of Bangkok. The Thai police are still investigating the crime, but we know that several suspects are tied to elite Cambodian politics, including one who was an advisor to Hun Sen, the ruling party chief and former prime minister. Sam Rainsy, the exiled opposition leader, is convinced that Prime Minister Hun Manet, who took over from his father in 2023, and Hun Sen were personally behind the assassination. Cambodia’s Senate President Hun Sen, left, and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet appear at a ceremony marking Cambodia’s 71st Independence Day celebrations in Phnom Penh on Nov. 9, 2024.(Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP) So I ask: can anyone who has listened to Hun Sen over the past few years think that he doesn’t want political opponents to be killed? Put differently, suppose you’re an enterprising upstart who wants to please his political masters or a recent convert to the CPP cause. If you had even only given a cursory glance over Hun Sen’s comments, would you think that the most powerful man in the land, who has ruled for more than four decades, wants you to treat political opponents with utmost respect and toleration or would you think he wants you to treat them with utmost violence? He was talking about something different, but Sok Eysan, the CPP’s greying spokesperson, noted in November that “statements from the party’s leader [Hun Sen] often translate into action.” Indeed, Cambodian politics often resembles working towards the Samdech. So let’s take a few examples of Hun Sen’s statements over the past few years. Last June, an audio recording was leaked of him imploring supporters to “smash” and “destroy” opposition activists. “You must smash this force to a point that they no longer disturb us,” he told his underlings. According to another account, he reportedly said that “we must crush and suppress the color revolutionaries one by one to maintain peace for the people.” RELATED STORIES Cambodian gov’t official denies role in Bangkok shooting of opposition critic Widow says shooting of former Cambodian lawmaker was ‘definitely political’ Thai police seek Hun Sen adviser believed linked to Bangkok killing of critic In 2023, Hun Sen was almost kicked off of Facebook after live-streaming a speech in which he warned opposition supporters that he would rally CPP folk to “beat you up” and “send people to your place and home.” “Either you face legal action in court, or I rally CPP people for a demonstration and beat you guys up,” he stated. Per a different translation, he stated: “There are only two options. One is to use legal means and the other is to use a bat.” The same year, speaking about activists who allege he has close ties to Vietnam, Hun Sen proclaimed: “You cannot escape [prison] because you are a fish in a barrel. I can break your neck to eat any time I want to.” Ahead of the 2017 local elections, he said if there were any protests, “the armed forces will crack down on them immediately … If war happens, let it be.” That same year, in an even more overt statement, he warned his political opponents: “you should prepare your coffins.” In a speech to troops in 2019, he called on the military to “destroy … revolutions that attempt to topple the legitimate government,” adding he is “not afraid to issue an order.” “Better to see the death of four or five people rather than the death of tens of thousands and millions,” he claimed. As for anyone in the military who is disloyal, he added, “they must be destroyed.” He then noted: “I am the one who steers the wheel.” Statements = action Only, he isn’t apparently at the helm when opponents and critics are destroyed (even figuratively). But this hasn’t stopped Hun Sen’s underlings from aping his terminology. For instance, five days before Kem Ley was shot dead in 2016, a general called on the military to “eliminate and dispose of [anyone] fomenting social turmoil.” All this must be coupled with the escalation of legal terminology. The government wants to pass legislation now that would brandish political opponents as “terrorists,” on top of Hun Sen’s claims that his opponents are “traitors.” So, according to his own spokesperson, Hun Sen’s statements “often translate into action.” And Hun Sen isn’t shy about admitting the immense power he wields in the country. Thus, would a reasonable person listening to these aforementioned comments think that Hun Sen hasn’t committed “incitement to commit a felony or disturb social security?” Granted, Hun Sen and his ilk could say that they were just being evocative; that when they say “smash” and “destroy” and “eliminate” and “suppress,” they only mean it figuratively. Okay, one can figuratively “smash” an opposition movement or even metaphorically prepare one’s coffins. But what about the warning to “use a bat” or to “beat you up?” Frequently, Hun Sen has specifically referenced physical violence as a comparison to legal prosecution. There is no way other than the literal to interpret him saying that it would be justified to “eliminate” five people in 2019 or 200 people in 2017 to safeguard the rest of society. Worse, his recommendations of violence are unspecific. He never says who should constitute the five or 200 people who could be “eliminated” for the sake of the greater good. He never says who specifically he thinks needs to be “crushed.” What is an underling supposed to think? That political opponents and activists, who the most powerful person in Cambodia says are “traitors” and “terrorists,” aren’t really a threat to the nation? That they should be tolerated? That one…

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