The devastating hyperinflation in the post COVID world
Countries are in shambles in the post COVID world due to hyperinflation. China, India and Japan bounced back but not all!!
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Category: Middle East
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Video shows Vietnamese workers making dramatic escape from casino in Cambodia
A video reportedly showing dozens of Vietnamese workers making a dramatic escape from a Chinese-managed casino in Cambodia has prompted new questions about worker abuse as a U.N. human rights official tours the country. More than 42 Vietnamese workers escaped from the Koh Thom casino complex in Kandal province in Cambodia as seen in the video posted by media outlet VnExpress on Aug. 18. The video shows the workers jumping into a river, chased by guards swinging metal rods. Cambodian authorities have detained the Chinese manager as it investigates allegations of forced labor and worker abuse. One person had been recaptured and another was missing in the river, VOD reported on Monday. A 16-year-old worker from Vietnam’s Gia Lai province was found dead in the Binh Di River, which the workers had jumped into as they fled the casino, the Vietnamese news outlet VnExpress reported on Aug. 20. Authorities also have arrested two Vietnamese in neighboring An Giang province, across the border from Kandal, for their alleged role in helping Vietnamese illegally enter Cambodia to work. Kandal provincial prosecutor Ek Sun Reaksmey told VOD that authorities were preparing to send back to Vietnam the one person who was recaptured by the Pacific Real Estate Company, registered under the name Tai Ping Yang Fang Di Chan Wu Ye Guan Li. The workers ran from the company’s building. The incident comes as more attention is focused on Chinese-run casinos in Southeast Asia and allegations of business scams, prostitution and worker abuse, including holding employees against their will. Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng ordered immigration officials and police officers to develop a plan to fight human trafficking, which plagues the region. Sar Kheng addressed the casino workers escape with the press on Aug. 18 after an inter-ministerial agency meeting at the Interior Ministry on fighting human trafficking. “We went down there to see the situation. It was not entirely true, but partly true,” he said. “Our mission is to rescue the victims and bring the ringleader to justice.” Sar Kheng said that authorities had arrested a “ringleader or manager” and have some of the workers involved in a case in Kandal’s Chrey Thom village. “Preliminary information regarding the swimmers to Vietnam [is that] they may have come to work illegally,” he said “When it came to arguing over salary or other issue, they ran away and swam across the canal to Vietnam.” Kandal Gov. Kong Sophoan wrote on Facebook that he led a delegation to review the dispute between the foreign workers and the company at the Pacific Real Estate Company in Chry Thom village in Koh Thom district. “I had a meeting with the company and encouraged them to abide by Cambodian laws and the Constitution, respect their business licenses, and absolutely not engage in human and drug trafficking,” he wrote. “Regarding the Vietnamese people who escaped the workplace and swam to Vietnam, the authorities must continue to investigate according to the law,” he wrote. Tricked into working there Two workers told VnExpress that they were tricked into working at the casino and then exploited. One woman said employees had to create fake social media profiles and find people to buy into a phony dating platform or risk beatings. Kouch Chamroeun, governor of Preah Sihanouk province also known for its Chinese-run casinos and related crime, told Vitit Muntarbhorn, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, on Aug. 19 that there is no human trafficking in Sihanoukville, a popular coastal destination for tourists. Muntarbhorn, who was appointed to his position in March 2021, is touring the country from Aug. 15 to Aug. 26, his first official visit. The U.N. envoy is meeting with government representatives, human rights defenders and other stakeholders to assess Phnom Penh’s efforts to safeguard human rights. During the meeting, Kouch Chamroeun claimed that authorities have investigated allegations workers were being illegally detained by businesses in Sihanoukville but found instead employees working normally, with some relaxing and playing on their cell phones, according to a Facebook post by the Preah Sihanouk provincial administration. The workers said the workers who had complained to the authorities that they were being detained against their will really just wanted to change workplaces, the governor added. Chhay Kim Khoeun, spokesman for Cambodia’s General Commissariat of National Police, did not respond to a request via the Telegram instant messaging service for an update on the investigation into the case. Chum Sounry, Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, could not be reached for comment regarding a request by Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Phnom Penh’s help in investigation into the case. On Monday, two people in An Giang province were arrested for their roles in the incident and charged with making arrangements for others to leave Vietnam illegally, according to state media. Nguyen Thi Le, 42, and Le Van Danh, 34, who both live in Long Binh town organized for six of the workers to be employed in the casino with “light workloads and high wages.” Le told authorities that in May an unidentified person in Cambodia had asked her to join him in bringing Vietnamese workers to Cambodia. She contacted Danh to help by picking up the workers and taking them to the riverbank where she would accompany them to Cambodia. Le said she received payment of 300,000 dong (U.S. $13) from the Cambodian man, of which she paid Danh 100,000 dong (U.S. $4.30). Translated by Sok Ry Sum for RFA Khmer and Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Interview: ‘It was the truest and most precious thing about that time’
Three years after millions took to the streets of Hong Kong in protest at the city’s diminishing freedoms and to call for fully democratic elections, a new documentary is showing audiences around the world just what motivated them to risk arrest, injury or worse at the hands of riot police. Beijing has long claimed that the movement was instigated by “hostile foreign forces” who wanted to challenge and undermine the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by fomenting dissent in Hong Kong. But for documentary film-maker Ngan Chi Sing, the complex political and psychological forces that drove people to face down an increasingly repressive regime can be expressed as a single thing: love. And he’s not just talking about romance, although that did play a part. “There is also the love of one’s own land, love for this city, and the love of the older generations for our young people, for those Hongkongers who sacrificed [their well-being and freedom] for people they had never met and didn’t know,” Ngan told RFA in a recent interview. “I often say that this was the truest and most precious thing about that time, for me, anyway,” said Ngan, who goes by the English name Twinkle. Ngan started out with the intention of recording the protests, turning up at the front line, day in, day out, shooting intense footage of pitched street battles and chanting crowds, and interviewing young Hongkongers insistent that the government listen to their five demands: revoke plans to allow extradition to mainland China; allow fully democratic elections; release all protesters and political prisoners; chase down those responsible for police violence and stop calling protesters “rioters.” Then leader Carrie Lam eventually withdrew plans to amend the law to allow the extradition of alleged criminal suspects to face trial in mainland China, but not before the city had erupted in a summer of protest that saw crowds of one and two million people march through the streets, the occupation of the Legislative Council, and the defacement of the Chinese flag and emblems outside Beijing’s Central Liaison Office. But the city’s government — under intense political pressure from Beijing — has since gone full tilt in the opposition direction when it comes to the other four demands. Instead of an amnesty or an end to the government’s use of “rioters,” to describe the protesters, there is now an ongoing crackdown on peaceful political opposition and public dissent. Documentary film-maker Ngan Chi Sing. Credit: Ngan Chi Sing Why take the risk? More than 10,000 people have been arrested on protest-related charges, while the authorities are prosecuting 2,800 more under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from July 1, 2020. Given the risks, why did so many turn out to defend themselves from behind makeshift barricades of traffic barriers, umbrellas and trash cans? It’s one of the first questions Ngan puts to a masked protester on the front line in 2019. “I am a Hong Konger born and bred, and Hong Kong is now under occupation,” comes the hoarse reply. Ngan started shooting the film during the last June 4 candlelight vigil for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, initially without any aim other than recording these events for posterity. He said he still recalls vividly that many participants that night in Victoria Park held their candle in one hand, and a leaflet calling for a public rally against plans to allow extradition to mainland China in the other. But he didn’t always feel a sense of journalistic separation from what he was filming. Filming in Sheung Wan on July 28, 2019, Ngan got a heavy dose of tear gas. “The front-line protesters pulled me into the umbrella barricade formation … sheltering me and washing my eyes so I could carry on filming that day,” Ngan he said. “This had a dramatic impact on me.” “I had previously been looking at these young people through my lens, like a journalist, to film the dangers they faced, and to see whether they were afraid,” he said. “But in that moment they rescued me, I became one of them.” A scene from “Love in the Time of Revolution.” Credit: Ngan Chi Sing Political asylum Ngan said he had very little experience of film-making or journalism before the protest movement, but after the incident in Sheung Wan, he decided to make a film from his footage. He shot footage and interviewed people for more than a year, until February 2020. In November 2021, fearing his materials would be confiscated by police, he brought everything to the U.K., where he is currently applying for political asylum. One of the things that struck him was the relative lack of experience of nearly everybody involved in the protests. As the movement’s “hands and feet” were increasingly being arrested and taken off to detention centers to await trial, new protesters took their place at the front line who were often younger and less experienced than their predecessors in the movement. Nonetheless, the movement embraced everyone, and it was this aspect that drove Ngan’s storytelling when cutting the film. “I am an amateur myself, and no one has heard of me,” Ngan said. “The people behind the scenes and the people I interviewed were amateurs too.” “So many people paid a price and are now silently living with consequences they should never have had to bear,” he said. “The political prosecutions are still happening.” Now in London, Ngan feels that he can give them the recognition that is their due. “These amateurs will never be in the spotlight, so I want to bring out their voices and their stories,” he said. “Love in the Time of Revolution” has screened at a documentary festival in Switzerland, a Hong Kong Film Festival in Sydney, and will premiere in the U.K. on Aug. 20. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Critics say Cambodia tries to trick UN official into believing it respects rights
Cambodian labor activists said a visiting United Nations human rights official was given the false impression that the country supports worker rights by authorities who paused a violent crackdown on a months-long protest by a group of former casino employees while the official toured the site. Vitit Muntarbhorn, the U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Cambodia, is on an 11-day official visit to the country, his first since assuming office in March 2021. His tour included a meeting with the group of former NagaWorld Casino workers who have been protesting since they were among 1,300 laid off by the casino in December 2021. The workers say they were unfairly fired and offered inadequate compensation. “I was pleased to be able to visit striking workers and see them exercise their freedom of expression and right to peaceful assembly today,” Vitit Muntarbhorn wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday. During the visit, the former workers were uncharacteristically allowed to protest directly in front of the casino on Wednesday and Thursday. United Nations Human Rights in Cambodia also monitored the protest on Wednesday, releasing video footage on Facebook with a statement acknowledging that the protest was peaceful. “The UN Human Rights Cambodia office welcomes today’s developments and looks forward to authorities continuing to protect strikers’ rights, including the right to #peaceful #assembly and #FreedomofExpression,” the statement said. But the scene has not alway been so peaceful. The striking workers have more typically been met by police officers, who often used violence to force the protestors onto buses, which would then shuttle them to quarantine centers on the outskirts of town on the premise that their protests violated COVID-19 prevention measures. Some strikers have been injured in the crackdown, now in its ninth month. One woman said she suffered a miscarriage as a result of her injuries inflicted by police. Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, told RFA’s Khmer Service that the new hands-off approach to the worker over the past few days is a ruse intended to convince Vitit Muntarbhorn and the U.N. that Cambodia respects human rights, but things will return to normal once he leaves. “The government wants to save face and trick the rapporteur,” Rong Chhun said. “Please, Mr. Rapporteur, don’t believe this trick. … [Later] there will be more freedom restrictions.” The rapporteur’s presence alone was enough to get authorities to ease restrictions, Chhim Sithar, leader of the NagaWorld union that represents the strikers, told RFA. “Before the arrival of the rapporteur, there were serious violent attacks [on the strikers] which injured at least two women recently. It is completely different now,” she said. “We have observed that [Prime Minister] Hun Sen requested that [the rapporteur] report positive things about Cambodia, so violence has been reduced. This is just a show to make sure that the rapporteur can’t see factual events,” she said. Government supporters say that the special rapporteur is being shown the true Cambodia. “Those who accuse the government of faking respect for human rights are trying to create a toxic environment to destroy the government’s reputation,” Kata Orn, spokesman for the government-backed Cambodian Human Rights Committee, told RFA. He said that there is an understanding between the workers and the authorities that allows the workers to strike without any crackdown. Political analyst Kem Sok told RFA that the rapporteur should gather information from all the stakeholders before making any statement. “Hun Sen has no desire to respect human rights and democracy otherwise it is a threat to his power,” he said. U.S. delegation A group of U.S. lawmakers led by Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) also visited Cambodia this week as part of their tour of Asia. During a meeting with more than a dozen government officials, Markey urged Cambodia to protect human rights, political freedoms and free speech. “Cambodians overcame decades of war and chaos that cost the country millions of lives, and deserve to enjoy the democratic freedoms they were promised. The government must release political prisoners, end the crackdown against opposition parties, and allow for freedom of expression and a free press,” Markey said in a statement. Markey also called for the release of Cambodian American activist Theary Seng, who is serving a six-year prison sentence for her outspoken opposition to Hun Sen. The delegation also met with opposition leader Kem Sohka, who is on trial for what critics say are politically motivated charges of treason. “I thank Mr. Kem Sokha for his bravery and willingness to continue to stand up for the rights of all Cambodians despite ongoing harassment by the government,” said Markey. “All charges against him should be dropped immediately, and he and the Cambodia National Rescue Party should be free to participate in elections.” Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
China enforces lockdowns as COVID cases spiral in Xinjiang and Tibet
A sharp increase in the number of coronavirus cases in Xinjiang led China’s government to send a delegation throughout the far-western region to implement controversial zero-COVID policies, further isolating residents there. As of Wednesday, Xinjiang recorded 2,779 confirmed COVID-19 cases throughout Xinjiang, with officials in the capital Urumqi (in Chinese, Wulumuqi) designating 73 high risk districts and imposing strict exit-entry controls due to the rising number of infections, China News Service reported. Now officials there are administering a new Chinese medicine called “A Ci Fu” to combat the virus, though the efficacy of the medicine remains unknown, sources said. Beijing sent a special working group to region, with Ma Xingrui, Chinese Communist Party secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), visiting Ghulja (Yining), Chochek (Tacheng), Bortala (Bole), Sanji (Changji), Turpan (Tulufan) and Qumul (Hami) on Aug. 13-16. Erkin Tuniyaz, a Chinese politician of Uyghur origin who is the current XUAR chairman, visited Kashgar (Kashgar) during the same period. The two officials oversaw the implementation of mass testing and lockdowns to contain outbreaks of the respiratory virus. In the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in northern Xinjiang, Ma stressed the need to implement Chinese President Xi Jinping’s instructions on epidemic prevention and control and stressed the need for urgency. He called for delineating risk areas and implementing detailed prevention and control measures, as well as increasing screening and accelerating construction of makeshift hospitals, Chinese media reported. But Uyghurs said the lockdowns implemented to contain COVID are causing problems of their own. For example, a Turpan resident told RFA that farmers are unable to pick their grapes, leaving the fruit to rot in fields and causing huge financial losses. “We are desolate,” he said. “We really hope this pandemic will disappear soon, so we are able to gather our grapes safely and hang them in drying rooms.” A Uyghur on Douyin, the Chinese version of the short-form, video-sharing app TikTok, said many people in the affected areas are unable to afford food because they are not able to work. Food prices have also gone up because of the lockdowns, the source said. A police official in Ghulja county’s Hudiyayuzi township said officials were directed to warn residents to be careful what they say or believe in regards to the COVID outbreak. “We will investigate and detain those who spread rumors,” the officer said. William Nee, research and advocacy coordinator at Chinese Human Rights Defenders, told RFA on Monday that the lockdowns were likely particularly hard on Uyghurs in Xinjiang given the isolation many already lived under. Shanghai residents endured a three-month lockdown. But those who were confined to apartments could at least communicate their plight to the outside world via cell phones or through social media. Chinese repression in Xinjiang doesn’t give Uyghurs a similar outlet. “We have much less knowledge about how the zero-COVID policies are affecting people,” he said, adding that he saw a video recorded by a Han Chinese woman in Kashgar showing that the city was deadly quiet. “I’m sure she could run that risk without any problems, but if a Uyghur were to produce that type of video, I’m sure they would be detained on some pretext,” Nee said. “So one of the difficulties is that any negative ramifications of the zero-COVID policy affecting Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities would be that they [are] reluctant to share [information] because it could be seen as a political offense.” A laboratory technician works at a COVID-19 testing facility in Lhasa, capital of western China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Aug. 9, 2022. Credit: CNS/AFP Stranded tourists in Tibet The number of COVID-19 cases are also on the rise in neighboring Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). As of Wednesday, the region recorded 2,911 confirmed cases, 742 more than were reported on Tuesday, according to an official count. “People are subject to continuous testing,” said a Tibetan living in the capital Lhasa. “The Potala Palace and other religious sites are shut down, schools have postponed their reopening, and people are stocking up on groceries and buying face masks.” Tens of thousands of Chinese tourists stranded in the capital Lhasa and the towns of Shigatse (Xigaze) and Ngari (Ali) are trying to leave Tibet. On Tuesday, the TAR’s Transportation Department announced that those who are leaving the region by air or train must take two COVID tests within 24 hours of their departure and have a certificate indicating negative results. A Tibetan in the region told RFA that resources for the testing and prevention of the virus are being depleted due to the high number of Chinese tourists there. Nee said that video of workers spraying down roads in Tibet with disinfectant had no scientific basis as being an effective means of preventing the coronavirus, and only serve a performative purpose to make people believe that officials are doing everything possible in terms of a zero-COVID policy to please Xi Jinping. Though the number of cases has spiked in Tibetan cities in recent days, airports in the region, including Lhasa Gonggar Airport, have remained open and the influx of tourists has continued without restriction. “During earlier COVID surges, the Chinese government did not restrict tourists from entering Tibet because Tibetans were concerned,” said another Tibetan from Lhasa. “Now as COVID outbreaks are increasing and the situation remains uncertain, we are worried about to how it will turn out in the next few days.” Earlier this week, a Chinese official in Lhasa issued a notice warning residents not to share any COVID-related news or information on social media. Translated by Mamatjan Juma and Alim Seytoff for RFA Uyghur, and Kalden Lodoe and Tenzin Dickyi for RFA Tibetan. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
‘I thought the police would immediately begin an investigation’: #MeToo plaintiff
A Beijing court has once more ruled against former CCTV intern Zhou Xiaoxuan in a landmark #MeToo sexual harassment case, saying there isn’t enough evidence to support her claims against state broadcaster CCTV anchor Zhu Jun. The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court rejected Zhou’s appeal on Aug. 10, upholding the original judgment of the Haidian District People’s Court in September 2021. Backed by supporters, Zhou filed a second appeal later the same day, after making an impassioned statement to the court asking some tough questions of China’s judicial and law enforcement agencies: On June 9, 2014, I was a third-year university student and 21 years old. My first internship was with CCTV’s program “Art Life.” At the time I was being sexually harassed by Zhu Jun in that dressing room, I had feelings of shame around sex, and there was no way I was going to be able to resist in the moment or call for help. I knew how powerful Zhu Jun was, so I daren’t tell any of the staff who came into the dressing room at that time what I was going through. I think what happened to me is also a common occurrence for women in higher education and in the workplace. The only difference for me was that I had a university lecturer who was willing to help and I made my report to the police with support from that lecturer, a lawyer and my roommate on the day after the incident. Both our lived experience and hard statistics tell us that very few women choose to go to the police when they have suffered sexual harassment or sexual assault. At the time I made my report to the police in 2014, they told my parents that I should withdraw it, citing Zhu Jun’s status in society. At the time the case came to court for the first time in 2020, court officials told me that it was impossible to lay hands on surveillance camera footage or written evidence supporting my case. In the 2021 judgment document, the court said the burden of proof in such cases falls on the plaintiff, and that the evidence I had supplied was insufficient. Today, this case is back on appeal, in what will probably be my last appearance in court. I have already given an account of the facts of the case to this court, so now I would like to ask the court this: how is a woman who is sexually harassed in a closed space, who hasn’t expected it, and who has no recording device on her, nor any way to fight back supposed to prove that the harassment took place? Is she just supposed to put up with it, and act like it never happened? Back when I reported this to the police four years ago, in the hope that they would help me, their first response wasn’t to interrogate the person accused of being the perpetrator. Instead, it was to travel to Wuhan two days later to talk to my parents into having me drop the case. They didn’t actually go to CCTV to talk to Zhu Jun until a week after I had filed the report, and even then they only took the simplest of statements. Four years later, as I filed my case with the court, officials refused to accept a complaint of sexual harassment, refused to call Zhu Jun in for questioning even when it was confirmed that the person who had taken me into that dressing room and the one who had been in the dressing room that day had lied to back him up. Instead, they told my parents that none of the witness statements, the surveillance footage from the corridor, my dress nor photos or me and Zhu Jun together were admissible as evidence, so I didn’t have enough evidence to support my case. I would like to ask the court what kind of evidence it would deem admissible? I didn’t know I was going to be sexually harassed, so I didn’t bring a secret recording pen on a pinhole camera. I didn’t feel able to face down Zhu Jun in the middle of CCTV headquarters, neither did I immediately cry for help. I didn’t feel able to go back to CCTV after filing my report with the police, nor to interview him myself, and I didn’t have access to the surveillance camera footage. I wasn’t able to analyze my DNA or Zhu Jun’s. I was 21, and this was the first time I had ever reported anything to the police. I didn’t even know to ask for proof of a police report or a receipt for the evidence I gave them. I want to ask those people who backed up Zhu Jun’s story why they did it. Why they even refused to describe what Zhu Jun was wearing in that dressing room that day. I want to ask the police why they went to Wuhan to talk to my parents, and why they didn’t go to find Zhu Jun until a week afterwards. I haven’t seen them once in all the times I have appeared in this courtroom. I haven’t been able to ask them anything. I don’t have the wherewithal to find my own evidence: to offer up proof of my own suffering. The university lecturer’s statement spoke of my sobs, while my roommate’s statement said I was crying that same evening. Yet they seem to have evaporated. At the age of 21, I chose to go to the police. At the age of 25, I decided to take it to court. I thought the judicial system would help me, and I believed that I had a citizen’s right to justice. I thought the police would investigate in a timely manner, take steps to preserve all the evidence, and respond to me as required by law. I believed that the court would at least understand the complexities of workplace sexual harassment, and understand the…
Vietnam sets up specialized police units to suppress protests across the country
More than a dozen provinces and cities in Vietnam have set up Riot Police Regiments or Battalions to be held in reserve to crack down on people accused of “disturbing public order” and carrying out “illegal demonstrations.” RFA research shows at least 15 provinces and cities had launched forces as of Oct. 10, 2021. They include Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Nghe An, Lao Cai, Bac Giang, Thanh Hoa and Gia Lai. The riot squads have been formed to crack down on worker protests at the many industrial parks in southeastern Vietnam, in places such as Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai. They could also be used to stop demonstrations by ethnic and religious minorities such as the Protestant Ede and Duong Van Minh sect in provinces like Cao Bang and Gia Lai. On Wednesday the Ho Chi Minh City Police held a launching ceremony for its Reserve Riot Combat Police Regiment. State media said the force was established under a ruling by the Ministry of Public Security to set up Reserve Riot Police Battalions in province-level localities. News sites did not publish the full text of the ministry’s Decision No.1984, which called for the regiment’s formation. According to the Công an Nhân dân (People’s Police) online newspaper, the regiments and battalions must be ready to fight in any situation when they receive orders from the Ministry of Public Security or directors of province-level police departments. The Ho Chi Minh City Police Department outlined the riot squad’s duties to the media. They include “preventing and suppressing cases of public disorder and illegal demonstrations,” “conducting rescue operations,” “protecting important political events of the Party and State and [maintaining order during] major holidays,” “ensuring political security, social order and safety of the locality,” and “performing other tasks as required.” Police try to stop protesters demanding clean water in Hanoi on May 1, 2016. CREDIT: Reuters Suppression of protests ‘unconstitutional’ A Ho Chi Minh City-based lawyer, who did not wish to be named for security reasons, said “suppression of unlawful protests” goes against Vietnam’s Constitution. “I think Vietnam doesn’t yet have a Law on Protests, so it can’t be said that demonstrations are illegal,” the lawyer said. “The right to protest is a constitutional right, so repression is unconstitutional.” “The Vietnamese state does not mention a Law on Protests, perhaps because it does not want to because it is afraid people will protest [against it].” A woman, who asked only to be named as Phung, participated in protests against China’s placement of the HD981 oil rig in Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone in 2014. She told RFA the government has been suspending the Bill on Protests for too long. “According to the Vietnamese Constitution, people have the right to protest, but the bill on demonstrations has been frozen for many years,” she said. “Basically, in Vietnam, every protest is suppressed, because they have not passed a bill which would allow people to ask for permission to organize demonstrations like in other countries.” “Article 25 of the 2013 Constitution stipulates that ‘Citizens have the right to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, access to information, assembly, association, and demonstration.’ The exercise of these rights is prescribed by law.” Government drags its heels on protest law In 2013, the government directed the Ministry of Public Security to take primary responsibility and coordinate with relevant agencies to develop a draft Law on Protests. The bill has been repeatedly withdrawn from the National Assembly’s agenda for further study and amendment. In 2017, national legislator Truong Trong Nghia, from Ho Chi Minh City, told the National Assembly that the promulgation of a Law on Protests was necessary in order to implement the 2013 Constitution on ensuring human and citizens’ rights. Since 2018, no National Assembly member or domestic newspaper has mentioned the Bill on Protests. Strengthening the suppression of resistance According to Hanoi-based journalist Nguyen Vu Binh, in Vietnam what is written in the Constitution is one thing, how it is implemented is another. Binh said the establishment of a specialized agency and riot police force is intended to quell all resistance by the people and comes after a series of fierce crackdowns on protests. “Following the trend of increasing repression in the past four-to-five years, the professionalization of these forces to suppress protests and people’s resistance is normal in my opinion,” Binh said. Oil rig protester Phung told RFA the repression and suppression of protests has always taken place in Vietnam. She said Vietnam does not need to sign any more international agreements so the government is not interested in respecting human rights. “At this stage Vietnam does not need to join any treaty or agreement, so they want to deal with [whichever protest] they want. Now they are also bolder,” she said. “I believe that even if a force is formed, they will not use uniformed forces to take action to suppress protesters because that will affect the image of the Vietnamese government. They don’t want to show their true face to the world.” Human Rights Watch’s latest report on Vietnam, published in February, said: “fundamental civil and political rights are systematically suppressed in Vietnam. The government, under the one-party rule of the Communist Party of Vietnam, tightened its grip on the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association, peaceful assembly, freedom of movement, and freedom of religion.”
Cambodian authorities clash with NagaWorld protesters, leaving several injured
Authorities in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh violently clashed with some 100, mostly female former casino workers demanding to be reinstated to their jobs on Thursday, breaking the nose of one woman and leaving several others injured, according to sources. The former workers are from a group that has been holding regular protests since they were among 1,300 laid off by the NagaWorld Casino in December 2021. The workers say they were unfairly fired and offered inadequate compensation, although only around 150 continue to protest, as an increasing number have accepted payouts after months of no salary and repeated confrontations with police. At around 2 p.m. on Thursday, dozens of authorities blocked the group from holding a protest outside the casino with metal barricades, and rained blows down on those who tried to remove them, according to Bun Sina, one of the former workers. “I came to demand the right to seek justice, [as the situation] has not yet been resolved, but I was kicked in the thigh by the authorities,” she told RFA Khmer, adding that she was shocked by the brutality of the officers. “How much more of this violence and torture will we have to suffer from the authorities before this dispute is resolved?” Police and striking NagaWorld protesters struggle over a barricade in Phnom Penh in a screengrab from a video, Aug. 11, 2022. Credit: Citizen journalist Another worker named Sun Sreynich told RFA she was punched in the face by a police officer during the scuffle, causing her to bleed from the nose and pass out. “We were kneeling in front of the security forces and begging to be allowed to go to the NagaWorld building, but they assumed we were attacking them and fought us,” she said. “The officer hit me full force with his fist, breaking my nose and making me bleed. The blow knocked me unconscious,” she added, saying she is still in pain from the injury. The two sides clashed for around 15 minutes before resuming a verbal confrontation across the barricade line. The former workers eventually left the area around 5 p.m. Following the incident, the Phnom Penh government issued a statement calling the rally “illegal” for disrupting traffic and accusing protesters of intentionally attacking the reputation of the authorities by orchestrating the clash. “They created an event to put the blame on the government, inciting and provoking anger by cursing and insulting public officials before smashing 20 barricades and using violence against security forces who tried to block their path,” the statement said. “All workers should stop their unlawful demonstrations and try to resolve the dispute with the authorities,” it added. More than eight months since the layoffs, NagaWorld has said it will only discuss severance packages with former workers and Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor has deferred the matter to the courts. But the workers say they can’t afford to bring a lawsuit against the company and have urged the government to intervene in the dispute. Petition submitted Earlier on Thursday, a group of around 50 former NagaWorld workers and trade union representatives gathered to submit a petition to the Ministry of Labor, requesting that authorities drop charges against Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions President Yang Sophorn, who the ministry has accused of organizing the protests. The petition also requested a meeting with Labor Minister Ith Samheng to find a resolution to the dispute. Fellow NagaWorld strikers attempt to revive Sun Sreynich, who says a police officer punched her in the nose and knocked her out. Credit: Citizen journalist NagaWorld Union President Chhim Sithaw met with Labor Ministry officials on Thursday and told RFA she was “disappointed” by their response, although she did not provide details of what was discussed. “We only see that the government – through City Hall, the Ministry of Labor, the judiciary, the Ministry of Health, authorities at all levels – is standing by the NagaWorld company, which is prohibited by law,” she said. “They have a role in mediation, not in protecting one side, and they must remain independent in this dispute.” Attempts by RFA to contact Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour for comment went unanswered Thursday. Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Vietnamese authorities arrest air force officer involved in fatal car accident
Vietnamese authorities on Thursday said they arrested an air force major involved in a fatal accident in late June in southeastern Vietnam’s Ninh Thuan province after determining he had been using his cell phone when his car hit and killed a high school student on a scooter. Maj. Hoang Van Minh of the 937th regiment, 370th division, of Vietnam People’s Air Force, formally called the Air Defense-Air Force, was driving a seven-seat military vehicle when he ran into 18-year-old Ho Hoang Anh on June 28. Minh is being temporarily detained for three months while investigators look into the crash, according to the Criminal Investigation Agency of Division 2 of the Air Defense-Air Force, authorities said. The provincial public security and information and communications departments held a press briefing on Aug. 2 to announce the action against Minh. Sr. Col. Ha Cong Son, deputy chief of the Phan Rang-Thap Cham city police, said that Minh has confessed to using his mobile phone while driving. Son also said the initial investigation indicated that before the accident Minh had changed lanes in an unsafe manner, causing Anh’s death as she drove her scooter along the right lane of the street and within the speed limit. He added that he believed there was sufficient evidence to prosecute Minh. Security camera footage shows that on the day of the crash, Minh turned the military vehicle right into the driveway of a bank office, colliding with Anh’s scooter. The impact knocked Anh off the scooter and into an electricity pole, smashing her head. She died en route to the hospital. The video also shows Minh still holding his mobile phone and talking while getting out of his car following the collision. Medical authorities at Ninh Thuan Provincial General Hospital initially reported that Anh’s blood-alcohol concentration level was 0.79 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood. That led to fears among her family and the public that the release of the test result was a part of an effort to exonerate Minh by placing the blame on Anh. Ahn’s father filed a complaint asking for a review of claims that his daughter’s drinking caused the crash, and spoke with newspapers to make the point that alcohol was not to blame, according to an RFA report earlier this month. After receiving his petition, the People’s Committee of Ninh Thuan province asked provincial police to verify the young woman’s blood-alcohol test result. On July 29, the hospital’s director apologized to the family for issuing an incorrect alcohol test result, blaming a technician for not following test regulations. A week later, hospital administrators visited the student’s family to apologize in person and promised to invalidate the test result. On Tuesday, the hospital’s disciplinary committee said it would discipline those responsible. Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Manila backs Senate bill to officially rename contested waters ‘West Philippine Sea’
The Philippine foreign office said Thursday it was backing legislative efforts to formally rename the country’s portions of the South China Sea as the “West Philippine Sea,” in a move to bolster Manila’s territorial claims in the contested waterway. On Wednesday, Sen. Francis Tolentino announced he had filed Senate Bill 405, a proposed piece of legislation that aims to “institutionalize” the use of “ the West Philippine Sea” as the official name of territories claimed by the Philippines in waters that China and other neighbors also contest. The air space, seabed, and subsoil on the western side of the Philippine archipelago would be renamed “to reinforce the Philippines’ claim to the disputed territories found on the western side of the archipelago,” according to an excerpt from SB405. Maria Teresita Daza, spokeswoman for the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, said Tolentino’s bill was consistent with a 2016 international arbitration court’s ruling that sided with Manila. “The West Philippine Sea was already actually defined in 2012 through Administrative Order 29,” Daza told a press briefing on Thursday. “Nevertheless, the department recognizes what the process of legislation can do in terms of clarity and institution building. And we look forward to supporting the process, should we be invited to do so,” she said. Tolentino’s bill covers waters around, within, and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Scarborough Shoal, as well as the Luzon Sea, or waters also known as the Luzon Strait between the northern Philippine island of Luzon and Taiwan. The Philippine senator said that the proposed legislation came about in response to the “archipelagic doctrine” embodied in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Under it, the Philippines is granted a territorial sea of up to 12 nautical miles, a contiguous zone of up to 24 nautical miles, and an exclusive economic zone of up to 200 nautical miles where the West Philippine Sea is located. The bill also directs government offices to use the name in all communications, messages, and public documents, and “to popularize the use of such [a] name with the general public, both domestically and internationally.” Six years ago, the Philippines won an arbitral award against Beijing before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. The landmark ruling nullified China’s expansive claims to the sea region, including in waters that reach neighbors’ shores. Manila had filed the case in 2012, when the Chinese occupied areas near Scarborough Shoal, a triangular chain of rocks and reefs that Filipinos consider a traditional fishing ground. Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all claim parts of the sea. China, for its part, draws a nine-dash line to delineate its claim of “historical rights” to almost 90 percent of the waterway. The line also overlaps with the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of another nation – Indonesia. And while the name “South China Sea” has gained near universal acceptance in usage, countries that have claims to the disputed waters have their own different names for it. Vietnam calls the maritime region “the East Sea,” and, to Beijing, it is plainly known as “the South Sea.” In 2017, Indonesia renamed a resource-rich northern region around its Natuna Islands, which lie off the southern end of the South China Sea, as the North Natuna Sea. The waters near the Natunas have seen some tense standoffs in recent years between Indonesian ships and ships from China and other nations, including Chinese coast guard vessels. Jakarta’s decision to change the name of the sea region north of the islands was spurred by the arbitration court’s ruling in Manila’s favor the year before that nullified China’s historical claim to the entire South China Sea through the nine-dash line, Arif Havas Oegroseno, then the deputy of maritime sovereignty at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, told reporters at the time. Since the arbitration court ruled for Manila in 2016, Beijing has refused to budge from the area around Scarborough Shoal. On Thursday, officials at the Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to BenarNews efforts seeking comment on the Philippine bill. The proposed formal name change is a far cry from the policy on the disputed waters implemented by former President Rodrigo Duterte, who did not seek to enforce the ruling when he took office in 2016, but instead pursued warmer ties with Beijing. During his six-year term, Duterte, who left office on June 30, also pulled the Philippines away from the United States, the Philippines’ longtime ally and China’s main rival, until later in his term when he declared that the arbitration award was “beyond compromise.” The U.S. government, meanwhile, has insisted on the doctrine of freedom of navigation and has sailed its navy ships into the contested waters. Duterte’s successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his first “state of the nation” address to Congress last month, declared he would not preside over any process that would give away “even one square inch of territory” to foreign rivals. Marcos’ newly appointed military chief, Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro, told his generals and other military officials during his first command conference on Wednesday that the armed forces supported President Marcos’ pronouncement. “We only do what is required of us to do and what is important is we are able to perform our mandate to protect (the state and) our people,” Col. Medel Aguilar, a spokesman for the military, told reporters. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.
