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Outside of China, concern exceeds optimism as Xi Jinping begins third term as ruler

Editor021 mins

The Chinese Communist Party wrapped up its 20th National Congress at the weekend, granting an unprecedented third five-year term to CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping. Xi, 69, is set to have his term as state president renewed by the rubber-stamp National People’s Congress in March. RFA asked experts on key aspects of China for their impressions of the congress and expectations of Chinese policies as Xi enters his third term after already a decade at the helm of the world’s most populous nation. China-U.S. relations and foreign policy Oriana Skylar Mastro, Center fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University and author of The Costs of Conversation: Obstacles to Peace Talks in Wartime: The bottom line is, the next five years is undoubtedly going to be more rocky for U.S.-China relations and for other countries with security concerns in the region. The issue is not that Xi Jinping really has nailed down the third term. It wasn’t the case that his position was so precarious that he couldn’t be aggressive before. However, it was unlikely that he was going to take moves to start some sort of conflagration that would extend into the party Congress. So the party Congress did serve as a restraint in so far as it was useful to wait until afterwards to take any more aggressive actions against Taiwan, for example. But the reason it didn’t happen previously is largely based on China’s military capabilities. Xi Jinping has been relatively clear since he took power in 2013, where his goals were in terms of promoting territorial integrity, is trying to define that and resolving a lot of these territorial issues, enhancing their position in Asia to regain their standing as a great power. The rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and a dominant position in Asia of which it had previously been decided not only by Xi, but by strategists, analysts and pundits ever since. [Former President Barack] Obama mentioned in his State of the Union that he wouldn’t accept the United States as number two. It had already been decided that there was going to be conflict with the United States if China wanted to be number one in Asia. And so Xi Jinping has been on a trajectory, China has been on a trajectory that’s been relatively consistent, that includes an improvement in military capabilities and thus a heavier reliance on those capabilities to achieve their goals over time. So with the frequency and intensity of competition and conflict, the general trend is that it increases over time. Denny Roy, Senior Fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii and author of Return of the Dragon: Rising China and Regional Security: At least two messages from the CCP’s 20th Party Congress bode ill for China-U.S. relations.  The first is that a shift in the international balance of power creates an opportunity for China to push for increased global influence and standing.  This is a continuation of a reassessment reached late in the Hu Jintao era, and which Xi Jinping has both embraced and acted upon.  There is no hint of regret about Chinese policies that caused alarm and increased security cooperation among several countries both inside and outside the region, no recognition that Chinese hubris has damaged China’s international reputation within the economically developed world, and no sense that damage control is necessary due to adverse international reaction to what has happened in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.  Instead, Beijing seems primed to continue to oppose important aspects of international law, to resist the U.S.-sponsored liberal order, and to extoll PRC-style fascism as superior to democracy.  This orientation portends continued if not increasing friction with the United States on multiple fronts, both strategic and ideological.  Secondly, while the Congress expressed optimism about China’s present course, it evinced increased pessimism about China’s external environment, especially what Chinese leaders call growing hostility from the United States.  Not long ago, PRC leaders perceived a “period of strategic opportunity” within which China could grow with minimal foreign opposition.  Increasingly, however, PRC elites seem to believe that alleged U.S. “containment” of China will intensify now that the power gap between the two countries has narrowed and China has become a serious threat to U.S. “hegemony.” PRC efforts to undercut U.S. strategic influence, especially in China’s near abroad, will continue.  Beijing will try to draw South Korea out of the U.S. orbit, and may wish to do the same with Japan and Australia, although in those cases it may be too late.  Beijing will continue to try to establish a Chinese sphere of influence in the East and South China Seas, while laying the groundwork for possible new spheres of influence in the Pacific Islands, Africa and Central Asia. Human rights William Nee, Research and Advocacy Coordinator at China Human Rights Defenders: To some extent, the 20th Party Congress will not see any dramatic break from what is happening thus far–and that’s exactly the problem. China is experiencing a human rights crisis: human rights defenders are systematically surveilled, persecuted, and tortured in prison. There are crimes against humanity underway in the Uyghur region, with millions of people being subjected to arbitrary detention, forced labor, or intrusive surveillance. The cultural rights of Tibetans are not respected. And now, Xi Jinping’s ‘Zero-COVID’ policy is wreaking havoc on China’s economy, and particularly the wellbeing of disadvantaged groups, like migrant workers and the elderly. But there have been no signs whatsoever that the Communist Party is ready to course correct. Instead, after the 20th Party Congress, we will see a new batch of promotions, with these Communist Party cadres more indebted to Xi Jinping’s patronage for their positions of power. In other words, Xi Jinping will have created an incentive structure in which these sycophantic ‘yes men’ will only repeat the ‘thoughts’ of the idiosyncratic leader to prove their loyalty. This makes it even more unlikely that Xi or the Communist Party will even see the necessity…

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Japan, Australia deepen security cooperation as they keep wary eye on China

Editor06 mins

U.S. allies Japan and Australia said they would deepen their security relationship, allowing Japanese self-defense forces to train in Australia and greater sharing of intelligence, as both countries respond to a more assertive China. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed an updated security cooperation pact and other agreements on Saturday, following bilateral meetings in the western Australian city of Perth, according to a report by RFA-affiliated online news service BenarNews. Kishida, during a joint press conference with Albanese, also vowed to increase Japan’s defense spending significantly over the next five years and to consider all options for national defense including “counter strike capabilities.” Albanese said he strongly supported that commitment. “We recognise that our partnership must continue to evolve to meet growing risks to our shared values and mutual strategic interests,” said a joint declaration on security cooperation issued after their talks. The declaration did not name China but alluded to it in affirming their “unwavering commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”  “A favorable strategic balance that deters aggression and behavior that undermines international rules and norms” would be among things underpinning this commitment, Australia and Japan declared.  China’s expansive claims to the entirety of the South China Sea, a busy global shipping route, and its forays into Taiwan’s airspace have contributed to heightened tensions in East Asia for several years. More recently, Beijing’s burgeoning influence with small island nations in the Pacific has also concerned the United States and allies such as Australia. “Japan and Australia, sharing fundamental values and strategic interest, have come under the increasingly harsh strategic environment,” Kishida said after the signing of the security agreement.  The updated Australia-Japan Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation “will [change] the direction of our security and defense cooperation in the next 10 years,” he said. The pact said the two countries would strengthen exchanges of strategic assessments through annual leaders’ meetings, foreign and defense ministers’ meetings, dialogues between senior officials and intelligence cooperation.  “We will consult each other on contingencies that may affect our sovereignty and regional security interests, and consider measures in response,” it said.  Japanese and Australian forces will conduct joint exercises in the north of Australia, enhancing the ability of the two countries’ militaries to work together, the document said. In late 2021, Australia tightened its security ties with the United States and the United Kingdom under a plan for Australia’s military to eventually be equipped with nuclear-powered submarines. The agreement infuriated France as the so-called AUKUS pact meant that Australia ditched a deal to buy French-made submarines. Japan and Australia also signed an agreement that would help secure supplies of critical minerals from Australia for Japan’s manufacturing industries. China’s official annual spending on its military meanwhile has swelled in the past decade, giving the Asian superpower new offensive and defensive capabilities. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s third aircraft carrier was launched in June and is undergoing trials, Radio Free Asia (RFA), an online news service affiliated with BenarNews, has reported. China’s annual military spending will reach U.S. $230 billion this year compared with $60 billion in 2008, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which cites official Chinese government figures.  Some defense analysts say China’s actual spending on its military is likely closer to $290 million. U.S. military spending was nearly $770 billion in 2021 while Japan’s was about U.S. $56 billion, according to CSIS.

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Trappings of North Korean leader’s lavish lifestyle visible by satellite

Editor012 mins

Bruce Songhak Chung is the deputy director of the Geo Satellite Information Research Institute at Kyungpook National University in South Korea. Using Google Earth, he identified as many as 30 luxury villas and several private islands used by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his family on vacation. He also spotted a fleet of five supersize yachts, one of which has a four-lane, Olympic-sized swimming pool. The extravagance of the Kim family lifestyle is a stark contrast to the living conditions of the majority of North Koreans, who struggle to make ends meet in an economy devastated by international sanctions and a lengthy trade pause with China due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sanctions, imposed in response to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, are supposed to prevent imports of luxury goods into the country, but, as Chung’s research shows, they have not prevented the first family from continuing to live the high life.  Chung recently presented his findings to RFA’s Korean Service. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. RFA: How many of Kim Jong Un’s luxury villas have you identified through satellite images? Chung: There are 20 to 30 exclusive luxury villas in North Korea used by the family of General Secretary Kim Jong Un. Among them, General Secretary Kim is particularly fond of his villa in Wonsan, Kangwon province, his hometown. The Wonsan facility, as seen from the satellite images, is equipped with luxurious cruise ships, a marina, a horse-riding range, a shooting range, a water play area and many other splendid entertainment facilities. In 2013, Dennis Rodman, a former basketball player from the United States, was invited there twice, in February and September, as Kim showed off his luxurious pleasure facilities. North Korean leader’s villa in Wonsan, as well as one of his yachts, can be seen in this January 2022 image. Credit: Maxar Technologies RFA: What does the Wonsan facility look like in the latest satellite imagery? What facilities can you see? Chung: There is a long, soft, white sand beach in front of the Wonsan villa. The sandy beach is famous for its outstanding scenery. His father, [former leader] Kim Jong Il, also enjoyed fishing and swimming here. The length of the white sand beach is 530 meters (0.3 miles), and there about 10 large and small villas located on the beach, and they have good views. If you look at the satellite image taken in January 2022, you can see the 50-meter (164 ft) long cruise ship with a blue roof in front of the villa. In front of the beach, you can also see a building where Secretary Kim had lunch with Rodman. The walking trails and gardens are well maintained. At a glance, you can tell that it is a large-scale villa complex. RFA: You also were able to identify Kim Jong Un’s cruise ships. Is it true that one of them has an international standard-sized swimming pool and a waterslide? Chung: Yes, General Secretary Kim owns luxurious cruise ships. We identified four cruise ships so far at the Wonsan villa. The lengths of cruise ships are 50, 55, 60 and 80 meters (262.4 feet). Besides these, he owns many smaller luxury boats. On the deck of the 80-meter cruise ship, we can see a 2.5-meter wide pool that has four 50-meter lanes. That makes international standard size and four people can compete at the same time. We can also see four circular slides. Recently, the 55-meter long cruise ship has been refurbished. Its roof deck has been expanded from 20 meters to 40 meters and freshly painted. Three of Kim Jong Un’s yachts can be seen at the port of Wonsan in this Dec. 2019 image. Credit: CNES/Airbus RFA: Was it confirmed that one of Kim’s luxury cruise ships disappeared? Chung: Yes. So far, a total of five luxury cruise ships have been identified in the satellite images. One of them has now been retired, and only four remain. That one was 60 meters long and nine meters wide, and it disappeared in November 2017. According to foreign media reports, the cruise ship had reached the end of its lifespan and it was dismantled and decommissioned. General Secretary Kim’s cruise ships were all generally introduced in the 1990s. Each ship’s life expectancy is estimated to be about 30 years. RFA: Has anything in these luxury ships violated U.N. sanctions against North Korea? Do we have any satellite evidence of sanctions violations? Chung: I believe that these cruise ships were introduced in the 1990s under Kim Jong Il. The U.N. sanctions against North Korea were implemented from the mid-2000s because of North Korea’s continuous missile and nuclear tests. Therefore, these cruise ships must have been introduced before that. Luxury goods are prohibited items from trade with North Korea by U.N. sanctions, but North Korea secretly purchases luxury items such as cars, boats and expensive whiskey, so they seem to be able to find a way to purchase these items. RFA: After Rodman visited the area, he had a lot to say about some of the surrounding islands. Are they visible on the satellite photos as well? Chung: There are three beautiful islands. Their names are Sa-do, Tongdok-do and Chon-do. Each island has ship berthing facilities and their own villas too. Rodman, who visited North Korea twice in 2013, said in an interview with The Sun, a British daily, that the luxury villa on one of those islands was like a seven-star luxury hotel. If you look down on the island, the villa is situated in a forested area. Rodman said it was more fantastic than a luxury vacation in Hawaii or Spain. Even the richest people in the U.S. would not have been able to enjoy such luxury. I can’t imagine how big the interior [of the villa] is. However, if you look at the satellite image, you can see that each island has well-established recreational facilities and is well organized. RFA: Kim Jong Un’s villas, luxury cruise ships…

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Hun Sen threatens to dissolve political parties that associate with Sam Rainsy

Editor05 mins

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday said he would dissolve any political party that dares to associate with Sam Rainsy, a threat that opposition party officials believe indicates he is still afraid of the exiled opposition leader’s political clout ahead of the 2023 general elections. Sam Rainsy was a co-founder of the now banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, or CNRP. He fled to France in 2015 to avoid various political charges his supporters say are politically motivated. In 2017, Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP, a move that allowed Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party, or CPP,  to capture every seat in the National Assembly in 2018 general elections. Hun Sen said he was not afraid of bloodshed and would beat down anyone who dared to stand up against him. “I succeeded in destroying the Khmer Rouge,” he said at a press conference in Kandal province, vowing to do the same to Sam Rainsy. “Now I appeal to the Khmer people who believe in this traitor – and any parties that want to associate with Sam Rainsy – we will file complaints against them to dissolve those parties,” he said. “The law states that we need to dissolve parties that commit crimes.”  A former Khmer Rouge member himself, Hun Sen defected to Vietnam with a battalion under his command in 1977 and returned during that country’s 1979 invasion of Cambodia. Following the defeat of the Khmer Rouge government, Hanoi installed him as deputy prime minister. He then rose to become prime minister in 1985 and has ruled the country ever since. Leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Sam Rainsy [center] arrives at a Paris courthouse for proceedings in a defamation lawsuit filed by Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, Sept. 1, 2022. Photo: AFP Hun Sen said he supported Wednesday’s decision by the Phnom Penh court to sentence Sam Rainsy to a life sentence and strip him of all political rights, on charges of conspiring to hand over Cambodian territory to a foreign state. “Cambodia doesn’t have a law to execute prisoners, otherwise the court would have ordered the execution of Sam Rainsy,” he said. “People must understand this traitor’s behavior. People who are involved with these traitors will be punished, so please stay away.”  Hun Sen’s threats reveal that he himself still feels threatened by Sam Rainsy’s popularity, Um Sam An, a senior CNRP official, told RFA’s Khmer Service. “People, including the armed forces, continue to support Sam Rainsy, so Hun Sen is afraid of Sam Rainsy’s influence after he urged voters for a change in the 2023 election,” said Um Sam An. The court’s ability to dissolve a political party is an incorrect interpretation of the law, Kang Savang, an election monitor with the independent Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel), told RFA. “Political parties are facing difficulties because of the law,” he said.  “Their interpretation of the law is not clear, specifically over issues of national security and foreign collusion.”   Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. 

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Cambodia sentences Sam Rainsy to life in prison, concludes trial of Kem Sokha

Editor08 mins

UPDATED at 7:31 p.m. EDT on 10-19-2022 A court in Cambodia sentenced exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy to life in prison on the same day that it concluded two years of proceedings in the trial of his apparently estranged former ally Kem Sokha. The two opposition politicians in 2012 co-founded the Cambodia National Rescue Party, or CNRP,  which had been the country’s main opposition to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party, or CPP, before it was legally dissolved in 2017. Sam Rainsy has lived in self-exile in France since 2015. Kem Sokha, who was arrested in 2017, has been on a trial that started in January 2020 in what critics say is the government’s attempt to keep him out of politics. Their time apart has apparently taken their toll on their relationship. Kem Sokha in June declared during a session of his trial that his alliance with Sam Rainsy was over, although Sam Rainsy was quick to dismiss the comments as the result of legal pressure. Wednesday’s life sentence against Sam Rainsy, handed down in absentia, was a result of his conviction in August, also in absentia, for trying to cede four Cambodian provinces to a foreign state. In addition to adding life to the 47 years he has already racked up in prior convictions, the court also removed all his political rights.  Sam Rainsy’s defense lawyer, Yong Phanith, said the latest verdict was based on insufficient evidence. The conviction and sentence are in connection with Sam Rainsy’s meeting in the United States in 2013 with the Montagnard Foundation, an organization that works to protect the rights of indigineous minorities in Vietnam, the Bangkok Post reported. Sam Rainsy promised to defend the rights of Cambodian indiginous people during the meeting. Speaking from France on Wednesday, Sam Rainsy told RFA that the sentence is an example of Hun Sen’s regime attempting to exact revenge on him for his acquittal earlier this month from defamation trials that Hun Sen and another Cambodian official filed in France. Both sides claimed victory in the defamation trials, with Hun Sen saying that they absolved him of crimes that Sam Rainsy alleged he committed. Sam Rainsy dismissed the charges and sentence as bogus. “I have not ceded territory to any country. I only recognized the rights of the indigenous people we call Khmer Leu in the Northeast of Cambodia,” he said of his 2013 meeting. “I just took the 2007 U.N. statement on the rights of indigenous people, and I said that in the future, when the country is a true democracy, we will respect the rights of indigenous people,” Sam Rainsy said. RFA was unable to contact the presiding judge of the case, Sin Sovannaroth, for comment. The sentence is politically motivated, social development monitor Seng Sary told RFA. “Hun Sen has been doing all this because he wants to kick Sam Rainsy out of politics,” He said. “That court case in France was like pouring gasoline on a fire.” The conviction and sentence were to be expected from the Cambodian legal system, veteran political analyst Lao Mong Hay told RFA. Authorities use the courts as tools for their political purposes. End in sight Kem Sokha on Wednesday asked the court during the 63rd session of his treason trial to issue a verdict and put an end to his suffering. He was previously under house arrest, but was released from that prior to this trial starting. He was arrested in 2017 after the CNRP performed well in local commune elections, and charged with treason. Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved and outlawed the party, which paved the way for the CPP to snag every seat in the country’s National Assembly in the 2018 general election.  The ban on the CNRP kicked off a five-year crackdown on political opposition, with many of those affiliated with the party arrested and detained on charges like conspiracy, incitement, and treason. While the court finally decided to end questioning, it asked that any final submissions be made by Dec. 21. Defense lawyer Chan Chen welcomed the end of the proceedings but expressed regret that the 2-year-long would drag on another two months – and five years since his client’s arrest.  Now that the trial has a definite ending date, national reconciliation is necessary, Yi Soksan, a senior official of the local Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc) told RFA. “Both sides should find a common ground to negotiate an end to this political matter,” he said. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report listed Sin Sovannaroth as the president of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. He is is the presiding judge in the case.

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Wife of Cambodian opposition supporter mulls compensation to drop murder case

Editor07 mins

The wife of a slain supporter of Cambodia’s Candlelight Party said Tuesday she has rejected a compensation offer of U.S. $7,000 from the alleged assailant in exchange for dropping the criminal case, but has said she would consider accepting a larger sum because she doesn’t have money for her husband’s funeral. Wen Kimyi also urged police to arrest the suspect who shot dead her husband, 49-year-old Po Hin Lean, early in the morning of Oct. 16 while he was on his way to go fishing. She told RFA that police in Ou Reang Ov district of Chak commune in Tbong Khmum province, where her family lives, summoned her to the police station and told her that the suspect offered to pay her if she would drop charges.  The widow said she wants the money, but that her family also wants justice. “The police said there were two suspects, one of whom had the gun that killed him,” Wen Kimyi said. “I didn’t get a chance to see the suspect to ask [the reasons]. I will accept the compensation because I don’t have money for the funeral. But I won’t accept $7,000; I will need $15,000.” Police told her that the suspect is a “security guard” or “neighborhood watchman” for the commune, but declined to disclose where he put the weapon or his motive for the shooting. Cambodia’s Ministry of the Interior established a network of such local guards to provide security to villagers in communes and districts, though they are not supposed to carry weapons.  RFA could not reach Vong Sophy, the police chief of Ou Reang Ov district, or On Sam On, police chief of Chak commune for comment on Tuesday. ‘Embarrassing for the authorities’ Leng Seng Han, a provincial coordinator for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, also known as ADHOC, said the murder cannot be resolved through compensation and that the suspect must be brought to justice. “It is wrong for [police] to be involved in meditation outside the court,” he said.   Eng Sroy, a Police Academy lecturer and president of the Candlelight Party​ working group in Tbong Khmum province, said he is dismayed that authorities have not yet apprehended the suspects and urged them to conduct a transparent investigation to show they are providing good security.  “It is embarrassing for the authorities if they can’t arrest the suspects,” he said. “The authorities must differentiate between black and white and remain neutral during the investigation.”  There have been numerous physical attacks this year on activists and supporters of the Candlelight Party, an opposition party that emerged from the ashes of the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was banned and dissolved by Cambodia’s Supreme Court in November 2017. This April, Candlelight Party candidate Khorn Tun was attacked by unidentified men who threw rocks at her home in Tbong Khmum province during the campaign period for local elections held in June. Prak Seyha, a party youth leader for Phnom Penh’s Kamboul district, was attacked and beaten by a mob. Those incidents followed the death of Phnom Penh Candlelight candidate Choeun Sarim, who was attacked from behind and killed in traffic while riding a motorbike, following threats and assaults. The killing of the man in this case, Po Hin Lean, came a day before Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened to arrest Sam Rainsy, head of the banned CNRP, who has lived in exile in France since 2015, if he returns to Cambodia.  Sam Rainsy, 73, was sentenced in absentia in March 2021 to 25 years in jail for what supporters say was a politically motivated charge of attempting to overthrow the government. Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia since 1985, made the comment at a graduation ceremony where he spoke, in response to recent remarks by Sam Rainsy criticizing the strongman’s plans to appoint his son, Hun Manet, as his replacement. Translated by Samean Yun for RFA Khmer. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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Cambodia opposition supporter shot as Hun Sen threatens to jail opponent

Editor07 mins

A supporter of Cambodia’s Candlelight Party was shot dead in Tbong Khmum province over the weekend, the latest in a series of attacks on the opposition in a year of local elections and campaigning for 2023 parliamentary voting, his wife and supporters said Monday. Candlelight Party’s vice-chairman Thach Setha told RFA that he could not yet conclude whether the killing Sunday of Po Hin Lean, a 49-year-old father of three, was a political assassination. He urged authorities in the province’s Orang Ov district to conduct a prompt investigation. “A clear investigation must be conducted to catch the perpetrators and bring them to justice, to stop such killing whether it happens to political activists or [ordinary] people,” said Thach Setha. Police chief On Sam On of Chak commune, where Po Hin Lean lived,  refused to provide any details on the case when contacted by RFA Khmer. Orang Ov authorities were not available and provincial police chief Mon Meakara hung up the phone after receiving a call from RFA. “Who shot my husband?” asked Wen Kimyi, the victim’s wife.  “The police officer said the village security guard was the shooter. I said it was not the village security guard who fired, because the village security guard did not have a gun. The policeman said he had a gun, so he did not talk to me further,” she added. This year has seen a rise in violent attacks targeting activists and supporters of the Candlelight Party, an opposition party that emerged this year from the ashes of the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was banned and dissolved by the country’s supreme court in 2017. In April, during campaigning for June local elections, Candlelight Party candidate Khorn Tun was attacked by unidentified men who threw rocks at her home in Tabaung Khmom province, while Prak Seyha — a party youth leader for Phnom Penh’s Kambol district — was attacked and beaten by a mob. Those incidents followed the death of Phnom Penh Candlelight candidate Choeun Sarim, who was attacked from behind and killed in traffic while traveling by motorbike, following threats and assaults. The latest attack came a day before Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened to arrest opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who has lived in exile in France since 2015, the moment he returns to Cambodia. Sam Rainsy, 73, was sentenced in absentia in March 2021  to 25 years in jail for what supporters say was a politically motivated charge of attempting to overthrow the government. Speaking at a graduation ceremony for students at a university in Phnom Penh on October 17. Hun Sun said he would “eliminate the three generations of the ideology of the contemptible traitor [Sam Rainsy]…but I will not kill you.”  Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia since 1985, was responding to recent remarks by Sam Rainsy  criticizing the strongman’s plans to appoint his son, Hun Manet, as his replacement. “I believe there will be strong opposition to Hun Sen’s transfer of power to his dynasty. We want a succession of young Cambodians who are capable and accomplished, but we do not want a succession of clans in a family that is above everyone else and that has the right to rule Cambodia forever, ” Sam Rainsy said in a video. Sam Rainsy and other exiled members of the CNRP have tried to return to Cambodia on several occasions.  The acting CNRP leader tried to return on Nov. 9, 2019 to lead nonviolent protests against Hun Sen, urging Cambodian migrant workers abroad and members of the military to join him. However, his plan to enter Cambodia from Thailand was thwarted when he was refused permission to board a Thai Airways plane in Paris. Score of CNRP activists were arrested and jailed in the aftermath. “The CNRP is still determined to return to Cambodia as long as there is an opening from Hun Sen, but in fact he does not dare to open up the way for Sam Rainsy and CNRP leaders to return to Cambodia as he did in the past,” said Oum Sam An, a former CNRP lawmaker. Translated by Sok-Ry Som. Written by Nawar Nemeh.

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Riverboat ferrying students home from school in Cambodia sinks, killing 10

Editor04 mins

Ten students drowned and another remains missing after a boat ferrying them home from school sank Thursday in the Khouk River in Cambodia’s southern Kandal province, sources in the country told RFA. The Kandal police confirmed Friday that authorities rescued four students from the Khouk, a tributary of the Mekong River, and are still searching for the missing student. They found the bodies of the other 10 students who drowned and estimated that they were all about 10 years old. Kandal Provincial Police Commissioner Chhoeun Socheat told RFA’s Khmer Service that the boat was very small and that it sank at around 7 p.m. on October 13. According to preliminary conclusions, the boat likely sank due to overcrowding, he said. Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed his condolences over the incident on Facebook, but stopped short of calling for an investigation. “The relevant authorities must continue to search for the victims and help with the victims’ funerals and offer services needed,” he said.  “To those who live along the rivers, please be vigilant, especially during flooding.” Cambodia is in the final weeks of its rainy season, which lasts from May to October. Coffin of a child, a victim of a boat accident, is transported in a ferry during a funeral procession in Koh Chamroeun village, east of Phnom Penh, Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. Ten students drowned and another remains missing after a boat ferrying them to school sunk in a river in Cambodia’s southern Kandal province, sources in the country told RFA. Photo:AP Kandal Provincial Governor Kong Sophoan told RFA that as of Friday night, the missing victim has not yet been found. He blamed the boat operators for their carelessness and said the boat was very old. “The boat operators lack experience, he said. “Authorities are investigating the incident.” Though authorities must ensure a boat is in good condition in order for owners to legally operate it, he acknowledged that loopholes exist. The 10 students were kind, smart and diligent, and were working hard to learn both in Khmer and English, Rong Chhun, the former president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association and president of the Cambodian Trade Union Confederation, told RFA.  “Those were active children who really paid attention to their studies. They had to cross the river from their houses to study on the other side,” he said. “They were dedicated hard-working kids. I am deeply saddened.” UNICEF wrote a message of condolence on Facebook that also called on the public to refrain from sharing pictures and video of the incident on social media because it could cause distress for friends and family. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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More than 200,000 children displaced in three states since Myanmar coup

Editor010 mins

More than 200,000 children have been displaced by fighting in Myanmar’s war-torn states of Kayin, Kayah and Rakhine since the military took control of the country in a February 2021 coup, according to data compiled by rights groups, NGOs, and anti-junta forces. Beyond the psychological trauma they experience, children are vulnerable to military airstrikes and at risk of capture by junta troops, who press them into forced labor, use them as human shields and sell them as sex slaves to human trafficking rings, the Karen Human Rights Group, or KHRG, said in a report released Tuesday. Pregnant women and babies are also caught up in the conflict. “Pregnant women fleeing the war have no choice but to give birth in caves in the forest, unsheltered from the elements out in the open, or along riverbanks,” said Saw Nanda Soo, a spokesperson for the group. “Since they are on the run, they are entirely deprived of health care and supplies such as diapers, baby formula and medicine,” she said. All told, the fighting between junta military forces and various rebel groups has created more than 350,000 people who are internally displaced, more than half of them under the age of 18, the group said. And of those minors, more than half are girls. The vast majority of the displaced children, or about 175,000 of them, have fled their homes in Kayin state, which borders Thailand in southeastern Myanmar, the KHRG report said. Aid groups said that a combined 50,000 children have been displaced in Kayah, just north of Kayin state, and in Rakhine, in the west, near Bangladesh. No concrete numbers have been provided for the number of children displaced since the coup in Sagaing region in the northwest, which has seen some of the worst fighting between the military and anti-junta groups. The United Nations recently announced that at least 500,000 people have fled conflict in Sagaing in the past 20 months. ‘Running and Learning’ A member of the Kayah State Basic Education Teachers Union told RFA that more than 30,000 children have become displaced in the region since the military takeover, and are forced to study in makeshift camps or while sheltering in the jungle. “Artillery shells hit us every day and you never know when another one will come,” the union member said. “Our children were denied [proper] education for an entire year due to COVID-19 [school closures] and then another because of the [insecurity following the] coup. We can’t just stop learning, so we must teach them on the run.” The union member said that they are constantly on the move, and when they reach somewhere deemed temporarily safe, they resume teaching. “We’re stuck in a cycle of running and learning.” In the western state of Rakhine, the rebel group Arakan Army reports similar numbers. In just the past two months, at least 20,000 children have become displaced since fighting resumed with the military after a two-year lull. That’s on top of the 82,000 children who had already been driven from their homes. The rebel group said that the internally displaced people in Rakhine are housed in more than 150 different camps, where some 10,000 children attempt to continue their studies despite the regional violence. Two refugee children are seen in Taungoo, Bago region, Myanmar, on Sept. 25, 2022. Credit: RFA ‘Biggest loss in our children’s education’ Zaw Zaw Tun, a humanitarian volunteer in Rakhine, said the junta soldiers fire artillery into their villages and then sweep into the villages, arresting residents. “Many of us are constantly on the run due to regional insecurity, rather than any specific battle,” the volunteer said. “The biggest loss is our children’s education. Meanwhile, food is scarce and we are dealing with health issues such as the seasonal flu now that it is turning to winter.” Regional support groups say it has become increasingly difficult to gather accurate statistics for the number of people displaced by fighting throughout the country since the coup because the junta is actively blocking international humanitarian groups from assisting them. The junta has yet to respond to reports of the scale of displaced children and the risks they face while on the run. On Oct. 10, Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, told the U.N. General Assembly that since the coup, the junta has killed at least 2,338 civilians, including 91 children under the age of 14 and 209 children between the ages of 15 and 18.  He said that children in Myanmar have been particularly affected by the conflict under military rule and are regularly deprived of their rights. According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, there are 89 million refugees worldwide, 36 million of whom are children. In Myanmar, the refugee agency said, at least 1.3 million children have been displaced since the coup, compared to around 300,000 beforehand. Meanwhile, in the central Bago region, 2,000 people have fled the conflict between the military and Karen National Union (KNU) since this February. The physical and mental health of those who are displaced are rapidly deteriorating, said Saw Maung Maung, a volunteer in Taungoo, adding that aid groups are facing shortages as donations dry up. “The donors are running out of patience,” he said. “There is a scarcity of food and other necessities needed for the refugees. We are in a difficult situation and have had to find ways to connect with other organizations to meet our long-term needs,” he said. Saw Htoo Htoo, a displaced 9-year-old in Taungoo, said he was forced to flee his village in Kyaukkyi and take shelter in the jungle for about a week after “fighter jets roared overhead, shooting at us repeatedly.” “I was barefoot from the start… In the rain, I was nearly eaten alive by the mosquitoes … Soldiers were always hunting us as we ran and we were constantly shaking with fear,” he said. “We had to run for our lives, but at least now…

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