- contact@ij-reportika.com
Category: Russia
Russia’s Lavrov walks out of G20 meeting over condemnation of Ukraine war
The G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali concluded Friday with several nations’ top diplomats condemning Moscow’s war in Ukraine in the presence of their Russian counterpart, who walked out at least once during what he called the “frenzied castigation.” Retno Marsudi, the chief diplomat of host country Indonesia, did not say whether the meeting reached any consensus about food security, but mentioned that participants were deeply concerned about the conflict’s “global impact on food, energy and finance.” Some of the Group of Twenty members “expressed condemnation” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she said, adding, “It is our responsibility to end the war as quickly as possible. And to build bridges and not walls.” “Developing countries will be the most affected, particularly low-income countries and small, developing countries. There is an urgent need to address global food supply chain disruptions, integrating food and fertilizer from Ukraine and Russia into the global market,” Rento said in a statement after the meeting. Since Russia invaded the neighboring country on Feb. 24, its military forces have blocked all of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and cut off access to almost all of that country’s exports – especially of grain – sparking fears of a global food crisis. Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest grain exporter. Before the meeting started, Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, had to deal with tough questions from at least one reporter. “When will you stop the war?” a German journalist asked as Moscow’s top diplomat shook hands with Retno. Lavrov did not respond and walked away. At the ministers’ meeting, Lavrov, sat between representatives from Saudi Arabia and Mexico. He later told reporters that during the meeting, he accused the West of preventing a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine by refusing to talk to Russia. “If the West doesn’t want talks to take place but wishes for Ukraine to defeat Russia on the battlefield – because both views have been expressed – then perhaps, there is nothing to talk about with the West,” TASS, the Russian state news agency, quoted him as saying. Asked if there was any chance that he and Blinken could talk, he said: “It was not us that abandoned all contact. It was the United States.” “If they don’t want to talk, it’s their choice,” Lavrov added. Before the U.S. diplomat left for Bali, U.S. State Department officials said that he would not meet Lavrov formally until the Russians were “serious about diplomacy.” But the Reuters news agency quoted Indonesia’s Retno as saying that Lavrov and Blinken were seen in a conversation in the meeting room. Additionally, Blinken is said to have responded to Lavrov’s accusations against the West, Reuters said, citing an unnamed diplomat, who added, though, that Lavrov wasn’t in the room at that time. “He addressed Russia directly, saying: To our Russian colleagues: Ukraine is not your country. Its grain is not your grain. Why are you blocking the ports? You should let the grain out,’” the official said, according to Reuters. The meeting on Friday occurred under the shadow of the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during an election campaign speech in Nara, Japan. In a message of condolence to the Japanese people, Retno said Abe would “be remembered as the best role model for all.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks to reporters during the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the Mulia Hotel in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, July 8, 2022. Credit: Joan Tanamal/BenarNews ‘Everyone has to feel comfortable’ After the meeting, Lavrov and his German counterpart traded barbs. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticized Lavrov for being absent from the meeting room, according to German news agency DPA. “The fact that the Russian foreign minister spent a large part of the negotiations here not in the room but outside the room underlines that there is not even a millimeter of willingness to talk on the part of the Russian government at the moment,” DPA quoted Baerbock as saying. She noted that Lavrov was not present at discussions on how to improve global food supply and distribution problems. For his part, Lavrov questioned Western manners when informing reporters that G7 diplomats had skipped a welcome dinner organized by Indonesia on Thursday, TASS reported. “A welcome reception organized by Indonesia was held yesterday, a reception and a concert, and they [G7 countries] were absent from it,” Lavrov said. “This is how they understand protocol, politeness and code of conduct,” he added. Indonesia’s Retno spoke about the boycotted dinner. “We are trying to create a comfortable situation for all. When the G7 countries said they could not attend the optional informal reception, they all talked and I said I could understand the situation because once again, everyone has to feel comfortable,” Retno said. Indonesia has been trying to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo visiting the two countries last month on a trip he described as a peace mission. While his mission to persuade Moscow to declare a ceasefire did not immediately materialize, Jokowi said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had promised he would secure safe sea passage of grain and fertilizers from the world’s breadbaskets Russia and Ukraine, to avert a global food crisis. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Junta bid for Russian deal to address Myanmar’s energy shortages faces hurdles
Myanmar’s junta is in talks with Russia to address the country’s fuel and electricity shortages, although inking a deal may be difficult amid Western sanctions and other obstacles, according to observers. A junta delegation attended the June 15-18 International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, that included Myanmar’s ministers of electricity and energy, international cooperation, planning and finance, investment and foreign trade, economy and trade, and the deputy governor of the central bank. According to a June 20 report by the pro-military Myanmar Alin Daily, the delegation met with Russian Minister of Energy Shulginov Nikolay on the sidelines of the forum to discuss energy cooperation. During the meeting, the two sides held talks on Russian oil drilling in Myanmar and the export of oil and petroleum products, as well as the construction of a nuclear power plant, it said. They also discussed the possibility of direct exchanges of currencies between the two countries’ central banks and the purchase of fuel from Russia. In May, the junta announced that Russia would soon begin participating in Myanmar’s energy industry in place of international companies that quit, in response to the exit of three big Asian firms from a gas field in the nation a month earlier, citing commercial reasons. At least one of the three – Japan’s ENEOS – also mentioned Myanmar’s “current situation, including the social issues” as one of the reasons for quitting, referring to human rights excesses by the military that have led to the deaths of at least 2,069 civilians since a Feb. 1, 2021 coup. Speaking to RFA Burmese on condition of anonymity, a businessman with knowledge of Myanmar’s energy sector said that cheaper fuel imports from Russia could reduce the cost of high-priced commodities in the country that are the result of Western sanctions over the takeover and the junta’s subsequent crackdown on its opposition. “If we can buy cheap oil from a country that produces a lot of oil and gas, it’d benefit our energy sector and it’ll be good for energy security,” the businessman said. “I think we might also get a break from the high costs of food and consumer goods.” More than 17 months after the coup, Myanmar is mired in political and economic turmoil, while life is increasingly difficult for average people due to the rising cost of food, as well as regular power and water shortages. Even in Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon, which is home to an estimated 7 million people, sources say power is cut off twice in every 24-hour period, with homes sometimes left dark for six hours each day. Only the capital Naypyidaw, where the country’s military junta is based, has enjoyed uninterrupted electricity since the overthrow of civilian rule. A difficult deal Myanmar-based political analyst Than Soe Naing said the junta is only in the beginning phase of negotiations with Russia to deal with its ongoing energy crisis and will need to overcome several obstacles before moving towards an agreement that will solve its problems. “Cooperation with Russia over a nuclear program is unlikely without China’s support. In addition, the junta, which is facing a foreign exchange crisis, cannot afford to spend money on nuclear energy,” he said. “The main purpose of [the junta attending] this business forum was to seek help as a way to resolve the current oil crisis in Myanmar. I think they are looking for a way to get engine oil and fuel. But it is unlikely that anything more than that would happen.” Than Soe Naing said it will be difficult for Myanmar to secure the help of Russia, which is itself facing sanctions as well as an economic downturn related to its invasion of Ukraine. Amid the sanctions, the Kremlin has been forced to improve relations with countries in the Middle East, as well as China and India, in a bid to find new markets for its oil and natural gas. Myanmar, which has seen its fuel prices skyrocket as a result of Western sanctions, is one prospective buyer of said Russian exports. However, a source in Yangon, who also declined to be named for security reasons, said he doubts that the junta’s claims of cooperation with Russia will end Myanmar’s energy shortages. “The junta has said a lot about many things. For instance, they said they will produce electric cars and electric trains as soon as possible,” said the source, who also has ties to Myanmar’s energy sector. “Nothing has happened since they seized power. In fact, our people see these promises as daydreams.” A car is refueled at a gas station in Yangon, in a file photo. Credit: RFA Seeking fuel imports Sources from Myanmar’s fuel industry have told RFA that companies close to the son and daughter of junta chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing are in the midst of negotiating import deals with Russia, although the claims could not be independently confirmed. RFA contacted Win Myint, secretary of the Myanmar Petroleum Importers and Distributors Association, seeking comment on the junta’s alleged attempts to purchase fuel from Russia, but he declined to discuss the issue. Oil traders say that even if Myanmar, which normally imports through Singapore, could buy fuel at a cheaper price from Russia, the cost of transporting it would essentially negate any discount. Another member of Myanmar’s business community told RFA that, despite ongoing political instability, the junta must find a way to end the country’s energy shortages if it hopes to cling to power. “It is true that there is instability. Global politics are unstable … but people have to go on with their lives. They are struggling to survive. All nations must have food and energy security,” he said. “The Ukraine conflict has been going on for four or five months, while the crisis in our country has continued for more than a year. We cannot stop our lives because of these problems. So we must find a way out.” Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Vietnam criticizes Facebook for not removing “malicious news”
Vietnam’s government has hit out at Facebook, accusing owners Meta Platforms of ignoring calls for it to block posts containing content considered “malicious” in the country. The government considers any comments that criticize the ruling communist party or the government as “malicious” along with content that incites violence. There are around 70 million Facebook users in Vietnam. The platform was singled out by Luu Dinh Phuc, Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information at the Ministry of Information and Communications. Speaking at a workshop last week on activities in the field of electronic information in the first six months of the year Phuc said “Some foreign enterprises providing cross-border services to Vietnam still find ways to avoid preventing malicious information in Vietnam, typically its Facebook.” Social media companies bow to government calls to remove posts VietNamNet’s ictnews website said on March 29 that foreign social networking platforms including Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok removed thousands of posts with allegedly malicious content that slandered the Vietnamese Party and State in the first three months of this year. The figures, supplied by Vietnamese authorities, showed that the social media companies took down all but 10% of the posts objected to by the government. The figures also showed that Alphabet’s Google removed 2,679 videos identified as breaking the law on its YouTube platform with a removal/blocking rate of 93%. ByteDance’s short form video site TikTok removed or blocked 71 videos, or 87% of the total. Facebook removed 5% fewer posts than in the same period last year and Google’s removal rate dropped by 3%. Nguyen Ngoc Truong, the former president of the Center for Strategic Studies and International Relations Development (CSSD), told RFA he didn’t believe government censors were being too heavy handed. “I find social media in Vietnam very good, compared with China and Russia. Here there is freedom and comfortable access. There are no restrictions with the exception of a few sensitive areas,” he said. When RFA asked Nguyen for his views on the blocking of some foreign news sites in Vietnam he said it made sense to censor sensitive material but in general “there are things that are not worth interfering with,” adding that sometimes authorities can be too sensitive when dealing with foreign news sources. Hanoi-based teacher Tran Thi Thao, who often criticizes the regime and government officials on Facebook, told RFA that in May one of her articles was restricted by the platform due to what it called a “legal requirement.” She said on another occasion her post was moved to a lower position on the news feed for nearly a month. Thao said she believed that Facebook was still complying with requests to block news considered critical of the communist party and the government. The seventh largest Facebook user base in the world Figures from the World Population Review website show that Vietnam had the seventh highest number of Facebook users in the world in 2020 and 2021, which may explain why Facebook responds favorably to government censorship requests. Last October the Washington Post reported that Facebook co-founder and Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally signed a commitment with the Vietnamese Government to limit posts on the social network that are considered “anti-state,” because he didn’t want to be shut out of one of the most important social media markets in Asia. Not all Vietnamese Facebook users are critical of the site’s policies. Hanoi-based civil activist Do The Dang, who writes and share articles related to many issues in Vietnam, said he had been using Facebook for more than 10 years and had never been suspended. RFA emailed Meta’s California headquarters to ask for its response to the Vietnamese government’s criticism but did not receive a reply. The company’s Transparency Center page says “Meta responds to government requests for data in accordance with applicable law and our terms of service. Each and every request we receive is carefully reviewed for legal sufficiency and we may reject or require greater specificity on requests that appear overly broad or vague.” In its section on Vietnam the Transparency Center said it had received six requests from the Vietnamese government to delete Facebook posts in the second half of last year and removed two of them. In the first half of the year it received three requests and removed one post.
‘Diplomatic drama’ possible over Russian attendance at G20 meeting in Bali
Group of Twenty diplomats will gather in Bali this week for a meeting that analysts expect will turn into a “diplomatic drama” over the participation of Sergey Lavrov, foreign minister of Russia, which the West has ostracized for invading Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi are scheduled to attend the G20 meeting, which is set to begin on Thursday, and hold talks on the sidelines the next day, but a bilateral meeting between America’s top diplomat and Lavrov is not on the cards, officials in Washington said. Still, analysts warned, divisions over Lavrov’s presence could sidetrack delegates at the Bali gathering hosted by Indonesia, this year’s G20 chair. “It is likely there will be a diplomatic drama, such as statements that criticize Russia,” Riza Noer Arfani, an international relations lecturer at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, told BenarNews. “If the foreign ministers engaged in a diplomatic drama, more substantial issues such as efforts to mitigate the impact of the [Russia-Ukraine] war could be left unaddressed and that would make the meeting fruitless.” Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, Indonesia’s president, has warned that a global food crisis caused by the war would send people in developing and poor countries into “the abyss of extreme poverty and hunger.” Since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24, its military forces have blocked all of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and cut off access to almost all of that country’s exports – especially of grain – sparking fears of a global food crisis. However during a meeting in Moscow last week, Russian leader Vladimir Putin assured Jokowi that he would provide secure food and fertilizer supplies from his country and Ukraine, to avert a global food crisis. While Western countries led by the U.S. have called on Russia to be disinvited from G20 meetings, other members of the grouping such as Indonesia and India refuse to do so and continue to maintain ties with Russia. During a stopover on Wednesday in Vietnam, a close Russian ally, Lavrov said he was not aware of any attempts to stop Russia from participating in G20 meetings. “We have Indonesia’s invitation to attend both a [G20] Foreign Ministers Meeting to open in Bali tomorrow, and a G20 summit there in November,” Russia’s TASS news agency quoted him as saying. “If there have been any such attempts, the Indonesian authorities might have ignored them,” he said. ‘Give us a reason to meet’ Meanwhile, there promises to be plenty of drama at the foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali. Lavrov’s Canadian counterpart has warned she would not shake his hand. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has promised some kind of response, saying “we will not simply let Russia take the stage of the meeting.” “We all have an interest in ensuring that international law is observed and respected,” she said in a statement before departing for Bali. “That is the common denominator.” Blinken plans to shun Lavrov as well. The U.S. State Department said Blinken would not meet Lavrov formally. “We would like to see the Russians be serious about diplomacy. We have not seen that yet,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters during a briefing on Tuesday. “We would like to have the Russians give us a reason to meet on a bilateral basis with them, with foreign minister Lavrov, but the only thing we have seen emanate from Moscow is more brutality and aggression against the people and country of Ukraine,” he said. Meanwhile, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that all G20 member countries would be represented by their top diplomats. Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah declined to comment on possible tensions over Lavrov’s participation, but said: “We as diplomats must anticipate all possibilities.” He said that the summary of the meeting’s outcome could be in the form of a chair’s statement from Indonesia. Vasyl Harmianin, the Ukrainian ambassador to Indonesia, said he hoped the meeting could spotlight what he called “the continued killing of civilians” in his home country. Preview of G20 summit Jakarta, which has been trying to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, said the meeting would discuss collective efforts to strengthen “multilateralism” and avert a looming food crisis caused by the war. “Rising commodity prices and disruption of global supply chains have had a huge impact on developing countries,” the foreign ministry said in a statement Wednesday. “For this reason, the G20 as an economic forum representing different regions of the world has the power to discuss these issues comprehensively to find sustainable socio-economic solutions.” This week’s meeting could set the tone for the G20 summit in November, according to Agus Haryanto, a professor of international relations at Jenderal Soedirman University in Purwokerta. “It will provide us with an idea of how the G20 summit will go. If the ministerial meeting is successful, it is likely that the summit will be attended by all heads of government,” Agus told BenarNews. The ministers should talk about how to bring peace to Ukraine after Jokowi’s visit to Kyiv and Moscow last week, a senior Indonesian diplomat, Sugeng Rahardjo, told the national news agency Antara. “The positive results from Jokowi’s trip deserve follow-up by G20 members at their meeting in Bali,” Sugeng told the national news agency Antara. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Russia’s Lavrov enjoys warm relations with Vietnam ahead of frosty reception in Bali
Sergey Lavrov is on a two-day visit to Russia’s closest ASEAN ally, Vietnam, before heading to the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting The Russian foreign minister is in Hanoi on a quick visit to Moscow’s main Southeast Asian partner before attending a G20 meeting in Bali, during which Lavrov’s Canadian counterpart has warned she would not shake his hand. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told Canadian media she would instead “confront him with facts and expose Russia’s narrative for what it is: lies and disinformation” about the war in Ukraine. Canada, alongside a number of Western countries, has imposed sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth month. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also expected to snub Lavrov in Bali, with the State Department saying “it cannot be business as usual with the Russian Federation.” Vietnam on the other hand has repeatedly refused to condemn the Russian war and also objected to a U.S.-led effort to suspend Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council. Lavrov is the first Russian cabinet minister to visit Hanoi since President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” against Ukraine in February. His visit is taking place as Hanoi and Moscow celebrate the 10th anniversary of the so-called “comprehensive strategic partnership” that Vietnam has forged with only three nations in the world. Besides Russia, the two other comprehensive strategic partners are China and India. ‘The most important partner’ The Russian foreign minister and his Vietnamese host Bui Thanh Son held a meeting on Wednesday morning, during which Foreign Affairs Minister Son was quoted by Russian state media as saying that he’d like to “reassure you that Russia will always be our most important partner and the main priority in Vietnam’s policy.” Son said he “deeply believed that with the high level of political trust and a long-term interest,” the Vietnam-Russia relationship would continue to develop. Moscow is Hanoi’s traditional ally and its biggest arms supplier. Most Vietnamese weaponry used by the navy and air force was bought from Russia, leading to a future dependence on Russian maintenance and spare parts, despite efforts to diversify arms supplies. Russian anti-submarine ship Marshal Shaposhnikov seen in a file photo. CREDIT: ITAR TASS A Russian presence in the South China Sea, where Beijing claims “historical rights” over almost 80 per cent, could also be seen as a counterweight for competing China-U.S. rivalry as well as keeping China’s aggression at bay, say analysts. On June 25-28, three warships of the Russian Navy’s Pacific Fleet, led by the Udaloy-class anti-submarine destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov, visited Cam Ranh in central Vietnam where Russia operated a major naval base until 2002. Lavrov was quoted as telling his Vietnamese counterpart on Wednesday that “in the context of current world affairs, once again we should unite and strive to maintain international laws, the principle of national sovereignty and non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs.” The full agenda of the Russian minister’s visit has not been disclosed but some analysts, such as Artyom Lukin, Deputy Director for Research at the School of Regional and International Studies at Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University, said boosting economic cooperation at a time when Moscow has been isolated and sanctioned would be one of the main topics. “The Kremlin should already be more or less satisfied with Hanoi’s position on the Ukraine crisis since Vietnam’s stance all along has been strictly neutral,” Lukin said. “Rather than securing Vietnam’s political neutrality, which is already there, Moscow needs to ensure that Vietnam continues, and expands, economic links with Russia.” Between a rock and a hard place “What is important for Russia now is how to restructure economic ties, trade, cooperation in industry and technologies with the non-Western world,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, Chairman of the Presidium of the Russian Council for Foreign and Defense Policy. “It is highly important for Russia to intensify all possible ties to find ways to avoid and bypass the economic warfare applied by the West,” said the Moscow-based analyst. Artyom Lukin from the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok pointed out that “amid Western sanctions, Asia and the Middle East are replacing Europe as Russia’s main geo-economic partners.” “Vietnam is the only ASEAN country to have a Free Trade Agreement with Moscow and Vietnam’s economic significance for Russia will now grow substantially, both as a market in itself and as a gateway for Russia’s business interactions with Asia,” he added. Despite COVID-19, bilateral trade between Vietnam and Russia reached U.S.$5.54 billion in 2021, a 14-percent increase from the previous year, according to official statistics. Yet the Ukrainian crisis that severely disrupted the global supply chain of food, fertilizer and energy has put Hanoi in an uneasy position. Vietnam has established some important strategic links with foreign powers including the U.S. and Japan, both strongly opposed to the Russian war in Ukraine and both are considered supportive of Hanoi’s interests in the South China Sea. Being seen as too close to Moscow would give Hanoi a disadvantage unless it could act as a go-between to mediate Russia’s interactions with the West, said a Vietnamese expert who didn’t want to be named as they are not authorized to speak to foreign media. Vietnam also has to be watchful for Russia-China joint maritime activities that may hurt its interests in the South China Sea. On Monday Chinese and Russian warships were spotted just outside Japanese territorial waters around the disputed, Japan-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Tokyo lodged a protest with Beijing about the incident that happened amid China’s growing maritime assertiveness and increasingly robust China-Russia military ties, Kyodo News reported. Chinese media responded that the Russian Navy’s recent military activities in the West Pacific are a warning to Japan amid Japanese sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis.
U.S. aircraft carrier to visit Vietnam as Western allies stage war games
The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan is to visit Vietnam in the second half of July, the first U.S. carrier to stop in a port there in more than a year, two local sources said. The last visit was the USS Theodore Roosevelt in March 2020 when all 5,000 crew had to test for COVID-19 upon visiting Danang. The supercarrier was conducting exercise in the Philippine Sea at the weekend after leaving Guam late June. Vietnam has now fully opened to foreign visitors as the government adopts a policy of “living with COVID”. RFA contacted the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command for information but has yet to receive a reply. If confirmed, this will be only the third U.S. navy aircraft carrier to visit the country since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. The first carrier to make a port call in Vietnam was the USS Carl Vinson, in March 2018. There were talks about a planned visit by the USS Abraham Lincoln in May but it didn’t materialize. The Abraham Lincoln is now taking part in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercise near Hawaii. The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), named after the 40th U.S. President, is a Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered supercarrier, homeported in Yokosuka, Japan. It too suffered a COVID outbreak in March 2020 when in the West Pacific, prompting a lockdown at the Yokosuka Naval Base, home of the U.S. 7th Fleet. By the end of March 2020, the U.S. Navy reported a total of 134 personnel had contracted COVID without naming their specific ships. Caption: An F/A-18F Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Philippine Sea (March 2020). CREDIT: U.S. Navy ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ The shipping and maritime sources close to the Vietnamese Navy said the USS Ronald Reagan, carrying 90 aircraft including a number of F/A-18E Super Hornets and sophisticated missile systems, will pay a five-day visit to Danang in central Vietnam “sometime in the next two weeks.” All visits by foreign warships are carefully regulated by the Vietnamese military which doesn’t want to be seen as siding with any world power. In recent years, however, former enemies Hanoi and Washington have made big strides towards a strategic partnership amid China’s assertive moves in the South China Sea, over which Vietnam and five other nations hold competing territorial claims. Since the U.S. lifted an arms embargo on Vietnam in 2016, during the Obama administration, Vietnam has started acquiring U.S. military hardware including vessels for its growing coast guard force. The U.S. accuses China of militarizing the sea and regularly despatches naval ships to perform so-called freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs), to much protest from Beijing. In June 2016, before an international tribunal requested by the Philippines delivered an historic ruling against China’s excessive and illegal claims in the South China Sea, the Ronald Reagan was deployed to the region in a mission largely seen as a show of support for the case. In the latest development, the world’s largest naval exercise, Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022, led by the United States, is underway until Aug. 4 to showcase the maritime might of the U.S. and allies. Five countries bordering the South China Sea – Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore – are amongst the 26 participating nations with 25,000 personnel. China’s English-language official mouthpiece China Daily has published a scathing editorial calling the “display of navy clout” a “show of intimidation.” This political clout “is aimed at ensuring an ‘Indo-Pacific’ that is subject to the dictates of the U.S. rather than one that is truly ‘free and open’,” it said. The paper warned that with “the rise of its national strength, China has developed the capacity to defend its core interests, sovereignty and territorial integrity in a broader scope in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.” China launched its third aircraft carrier, developed and built entirely in the country, on June 17. The Liaoning is an 80,000 tonner vessel equipped with high tech equipment such as electromagnetic catapults for launching aircraft. It is the first aircraft carrier wholly designed and built in China. The first carrier, the Liaoning, was bought from Ukraine and repurposed. The second, the Shandong, was based on the Liaoning’s design. China now has three carriers, compared to U.S.’s eleven. The Chinese Defense Ministry has said the country would develop more aircraft carriers depending on “national security needs.” Credit: U.S. Navy
Will Southeast Asia support Russia’s war with semiconductor exports?
Despite the efforts of Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the war in Ukraine continues. Whether governments in Southeast Asia are willing to admit it or not, the war matters, as it threatens the liberal international order, creates a dangerous precedent for other aggressor states, and harms the fragile post-pandemic economic recovery by causing inflationary pressures in energy and food. Southeast Asian states, apart from Singapore, have eschewed sanctions and continue to trade with Russia. But as the war drags on, that will have consequences in terms of secondary sanctions and other penalties imposed by the west. Russian supply chains run through Southeast Asia, and the United States and other western governments are have made the targeting of Russian sanctions evasion operations a top priority. One area where Southeast Asian actors may be tempted into sanctions evasion – or where, conversely, they could help pressure Russia economically – is in the export of semiconductors. A Protracted War Initially, Ukrainian forces successfully repelled the Russian invasion near the capital Kyiv and other cities in the north. Now, the Russians have advanced in the east and south, where the flat terrain favors the offense and provides little security for the defense. Tens of thousands of soldiers and over 4,500 civilians have been killed in 120 days of fighting. The United States estimates that the Ukrainians are losing 100 to 200 men a day. Cities, such as Mariupol, have been leveled by artillery fire and depopulated. Mass graves are being discovered, and the evidence of Russian war crimes is mounting. While Ukrainians are maintaining the will to fight, the costs are rising. Indonesian President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo visits an apartment complex destroyed by Russian airstrikes in Irpin, Ukraine, June 29, 2022. Credit: Handout/Press Bureau of the Indonesian Presidential Secretariat Trying to Weather the Economic Storm The initial shock of sanctions on the Russian economy has been stemmed. The ruble has not only recovered after its initial drop, but, buoyed by $150 million a day in oil and gas exports, it’s stronger than before the war began. Indeed, according to a recent report in The New York Times, in the first 100 days after the invasion, Russia netted $98 billion. Nonetheless, on June 26, Russia defaulted on $100 million in sovereign debt. While the economy reeled from the immediate or planned departure of about 1,000 western firms, over half of the 300 Asian firms have remained and continue to do business. Where Russia is going to start to feel the economic pinch is in its manufacturing sector, as it is highly dependent on the import of inputs such as European machine tools and Asian semiconductors. Though Russia has five foundries, they produce very low quality products and Moscow is highly dependent on imports. In 2020, Russia imported nearly $1.5 billion in semiconductors. The largest producers of high-end circuitry, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and most importantly Taiwan, remain firmly committed to the sanctions regime. But firms in China and Southeast Asia may try to fill those critical supply chains for Moscow. In 2020, China accounted for one-third of Russian semiconductor imports. Since the Russian invasion, China has complied with international sanctions, for fear of secondary sanctions and the loss of market access. But diplomatically, China remains firmly in Russia’s camp, and continues to espouse the Russian justification for and narrative of the war. President Xi Jinping stated that there are “no limits” on the bilateral relationship and no “forbidden” areas of cooperation, suggesting frustration with western sanctions. On June 29, the U.S. Treasury department added five Chinese electronics manufacturers to an export blacklist, which will deny them the ability to sell in the U.S. market, for their sales to Russian military industries. This should have a chilling effect on other Chinese suppliers. Southeast Asia’s Role in Moscow’s Supply Chain In 2020, Malaysia exported some $280 million worth of semiconductors to Russia, making it the second largest source after China, according to the Financial Times. The Philippines and Thailand exported over $60 million each; Singapore exported roughly $10 million. In all, Southeast Asia accounted for nearly a third of Russian semiconductors. Malaysia has already been called out for announcing their intentions to sell semiconductors to Russia as part of their policy of “strategic neutrality.” On April 23, the South China Morning Post reported that the Malaysian ambassador to Moscow told state-owned media that Malaysia would “consider any request” and continue their exports to Russia. Malaysian manufacturers were warned that they could face secondary sanctions and loss of market access, threatening future investment in a nearly $9 billion export market. Similar warnings were made to manufacturers in the Philippines and Thailand. Although Vietnam remains close to Russia, its semiconductor manufacturing is directly controlled by foreign investors. Intel, which is amongst the most prestigious foreign investors in the country, made an additional $475 million investment in 2021; bringing their total investment to $1.5 billion. As companies continue to decouple from China, Vietnam is eager to increase high-tech manufacturing and is cognizant of the costs of trying to evade sanctions on Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Indonesian President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo at the Kremlin in Moscow, June 30, 2022. Credit: Sputnik via Reuters Evading Sanctions But Russia is desperate to revive its manufacturing and, as the war drags on, it will try to get countries to evade sanctions and/or use straw purchasers. Countries including Indonesia that are hard-hit from soaring energy prices have already looked to Russia for below market energy supplies. Jokowi’s trip to Moscow and his defiant willingness to include President Putin at the G-20 summit in Indonesia in November, are clearly intended to curry favor with Moscow for narrow economic gain. Indonesia’s leadership seems unable to grasp the fact that soaring food and energy prices that are hitting the public so hard have been caused by Russia’s illegal war of aggression. And sadly they are not alone in Southeast Asia, where the governments continue to view the war in Ukraine as a remote European crisis that doesn’t impact them or have other geo-strategic implications for the region. Southeast Asian countries can profess their neutrality,…
FET completes trials of advanced submarine rescue vehicle
U.S. firm Forum Energy Technologies (FET) has completed sea trials of an advanced submarine rescue vehicle (SRV), the main component of a submarine rescue vessel, for the Vietnamese Navy, reports said. A press release by FET said the Scottish branch of the Texas-based company “successfully completed sea trials” of the SRV “ahead of its deployment for an Asia Pacific-based navy.” Media sources said the client was the Vietnamese Navy which bought six Kilo-class submarines from Russia ten years ago. Vietnamese military officials were not available for comment. Vietnam commissioned a homegrown multi-purpose submarine search and rescue vessel, which it named Yet Kieu after a legendary hero, in July 2021 but this final step “indicates that the vessel should be nearing an operational capability,” said Gordon Arthur, a defense analyst and Asia-Pacific editor of Shephard Media. “Given that Vietnam has been operating Russian-built Kilo-class submarines since 2014, it is perhaps surprising that it’s taken nearly ten years to get such a rescue capability,” Arthur told RFA. Highly advanced vehicle According to FET’s statement, the sea trials tested the SRV’s capabilities to “perform a variety of demanding operations, including deep dives, navigation, and mating with a target.” In-country commissioning and testing took two months to complete, it said. The trials were done in close cooperation with the navy and Lloyd’s Register (LR), a maritime classification organization which “offered third party verification and supervised every part of the sea trials.” The SRV is divided into two sections including a command module for pilots and a rescue chamber for the chamber operator and people being rescued. It is capable of rescuing up to 17 people at a time and operates at depths of up to 600m, FET said. The vehicle boasts “some of the most advanced sensors and sonars” including a doppler velocity log, fibre optic gyroscope, sonar, and depth sensing to quickly locate a distressed submarine. FET will also be providing training for navy pilots as part of the contract, which includes theoretical training, maintenance, diving and recovery. The mother ship ‘927-Yet Kieu’ meanwhile is nearly 100m-long, 16m-wide and 7.2m-high, with a displacement of up to 3,950 tons, according to Vietnamese defense sources. The multi-purpose vessel can operate continuously at sea 30 days and nights and it is capable of withstanding high wind and waves. Vietnamese army company Z189 began building the ship in mid-2018 after the commissioning of the last of six Russian-made submarines in 2017. Vietnam has the largest submarine fleet in Southeast Asia with six Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines, dubbed “black holes” for their stealthiness. With the new SRV, the Vietnamese navy has now joined the club of countries with submarine rescue capability in the Asia-Pacific including Australia, China, India, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea. Flag-hoisting ceremony on Kilo-class submarine Ba Ria – Vung Tau CREDIT: Vietnamese Navy ‘Expensive and dangerous’ “There has been a growth in the number of submarines in the region,” noted Gordon Arthur, adding that as submarine incidents have the potential to quickly become catastrophic, “it is vital that navies operating submarines have their own rescue capability, so that they can quickly swing into action.” “A submarine rescue capability is like a tuxedo. They are expensive and are rarely used – but when you do need it, absolutely nothing else can replace it,” he said. In April 2021 an Indonesian navy submarine, the KRI Nanggala, sank off the coast of Bali killing all 53 crew on board. Yet Jakarta is seeking to expand its submarine fleet from four at present to at least ten by 2029. “Some nations think that owning submarines will bring prestige and respect but submarines are not shiny toys. They are very expensive and underwater operations are inherently dangerous,” said Arthur. “Navies need to ensure they have the skills, money and rescue capability to keep their submarines in top condition.” Vietnam, China and some other countries are entangled in territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the new submarine force would enable Hanoi to defend its interests, the Vietnamese military leadership said. But compared to its neighbor, Beijing has a much larger fleet of nearly 60 submarines, a third of which are nuclear-powered. Analysts have questioned if Vietnam’s new SRV could be used for reconnaissance purposes besides submarine rescue missions. But some experts such as Collin Koh, Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, point out that such submersibles are handicapped by range and endurance, “so they may have limited standoff reconnaissance capabilities.” “But such submersibles with suitable modifications can potentially do seabed espionage-related work, such as tapping undersea cables,” Koh said.
Airstrikes target anti-junta forces in Myanmar’s Kayin state for 5th day
Five days of intense clashes between Myanmar’s military and joint anti-junta forces near the Thai border in Kayin state have left more than a dozen coalition fighters dead and several wounded on both sides of the conflict, sources in the region said Thursday. The fighting began on June 26 when prodemocracy People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitaries and fighters with the ethnic Karen National Defense Army/Karen National Liberation Army (KNDO/KNLA) launched a joint attack on a military outpost near Myawaddy township’s Ukrithta village, according to a report by the pro-military Myawaddy newspaper. The attack prompted a military retaliation that included artillery fire and airstrikes, the report said. More junta troops are being deployed to the area, the report said. Sources on the battlefield confirmed to RFA Burmese on Thursday that a joint force of ethnic Karen and PDF units led by Cmdr. Saw Win Myint of the KNDO Special Commando Battalion are fighting to take control of the Ukrithta camp held by junta troops. Battalion sources told RFA that at least 13 members of the coalition forces have been killed in the five days of heavy fighting, which includes clashes in the nearby villages of Wawlay and Myaing. KNDO officer Boh Salone said that Myanmar’s air force had been pounding opposition positions with strikes since June 26, including as recently as Thursday morning. “There are injuries on both sides but there are many on their side,” he said. “They have been attacking us with jet fighters for the past four days. All throughout the day. When they came, they flew over the area four or five times and fired at us. The jets came nine or 10 times a day. They have already come 10 times today.” The military has not released any information on the number of casualties from the fighting and repeated calls by RFA seeking comment from the junta’s deputy minister of information, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, went unanswered on Thursday. KNDO chief, Gen. Saw Nedar Mya, told RFA that the junta is “desperately fighting to prevent the camp from falling” because of its strategic importance, although he did not elaborate on its significance to the military. The fighting is occurring near the Thai border south of Myawaddy, in an area controlled by the ethnic Karen National Union’s (KNU) Brigade-6. Fighter jets scrambled Thailand’s air force scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to patrol the border area on Thursday after its radar captured Myanmar air force jets allegedly violating Thai airspace briefly during their aerial assault against the Karen rebels, according to a report by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated news outlet. “At 11.16 hours, air force units found unidentified aircrafts violating territory at Pob Phra district, Tak province, to attack the minority along the border and later disappeared from radar screen,” the Thai air force said in a statement, adding that helicopters were also detected in the area, although they did not appear to enter Thai airspace. “Therefore, the air force scrambled two F-16s to promptly perform combat patrol mission along Pob Phra border area and directed the air force envoy to Yangon to warn Myanmar’s related agencies to avoid reoccurrence.” BBC Thai showed photos of a Russian-made MiG-29 jet flying over Thai soil and reported that it fired rockets into Myanmar’s Kayin state. The alleged incursion occurred a day after junta chief, Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, hosted a delegation headed by Lt. Gen. Apichet Suesat of the Royal Thai army in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw for the 34th meeting of the Thailand-Myanmar Regional Border Committee, according to a report by the official Global New Light of Myanmar. The report said that the two sides had discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between defense forces and anti-terrorism measures to improve stability in the border area. Zay Thu Aung, a former Myanmar air force captain who defected to join the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), said videos of Thursday’s airstrike showed that the junta is using Russian-made MiG-29s to raid the area. “The videos show a MiG-29 attack, with the fighter gaining altitude following a bombing dive,” he said. “MiG-29s are very good as all-weather long-range attack fighters. They must have flown from [Yangon’s] Hmawbi Airbase.” A composite photo shows ethnic Karen rebels engaged in fighting in Kayin state’s Myawaddy township. Credit: Citizen journalist Residents fleeing Residents of Kayin’s Myawaddy township told RFA that Thursday’s clashes had been the worst of the five days of fighting. “There were a lot of airstrikes today. Quite a lot. We also heard today that there was fighting in [nearby] Lay Kay Kaw [township] last night. We heard the military fired more than 20 artillery shells,” one resident said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “At present, people from Wawlay, Myaing and Ukrithta are fleeing.” Sources in the area said that the number of people who have been forced to seek refuge is unclear. Several airstrikes have been conducted in the area since anti-junta coalition forces seized a police station in Wawlay on May 18, detaining three policemen including the station’s commander, and freeing several PDF fighters, they added. In December 2021, about 200 fully armed junta troops arrested several CDM staff and PDF members sheltering in a KNU-controlled area in Lay Kay Kaw. Several days of fighting ensued between junta forces and the KNU, causing more than 70,000 residents to flee the area. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
RIMPAC gets underway amid rising U.S.-China tensions
Ships from various nations taking part in this year’s RIMPAC exercises. CREDIT: U.S. Navy The world’s largest naval exercise, the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) started Wednesday, promoting maritime cooperation in a region being clouded by U.S.-China rivalry. The U.S.-led war games, joined by all members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad, sends a clear message to Beijing as tensions rise across the Taiwan Strait and the war in Ukraine drags on. China has been criticizing the Quad cooperation between the United States, India, Japan and Australia, as an attempt to create an “Asia-Pacific version of NATO.” Some 26 nations with 38 surface ships, four submarines, nine national land forces, more than 170 aircraft and approximately 25,000 personnel are taking part in the biennial RIMPAC 2022, scheduled for June 29 to Aug. 4, according to the U.S. Navy. Five countries bordering the South China Sea – Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore – are amongst the participants. Three of them have competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, where China declares “historical rights” over most of the sea. RIMPAC 2022 is the 28th exercise since the war games started in 1971. Earlier this year, there were talks to include Taiwan which China considers a province that needs to be “reunified”, into RIMPAC but the move was not realized. Beijing said that such inclusion would have “a strong political implication.” China was twice invited to participate in the RIMPAC in 2014 and 2016, but as bilateral relations have soured, Washington has kept Beijing out since 2018 in the context of China’s militarization of the South China Sea. ‘Sewage of the Cold War’ RIMPAC 2022’s theme is “Capable, Adaptive, Partners,” and the main aim is to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, according to an announcement by the U.S. Navy. Participating forces will exercise a wide range of capabilities from “disaster relief and maritime security operations to sea control and complex warfighting.” The training program includes “amphibious operations, gunnery, missile, anti-submarine and air defense exercises, as well as counter-piracy operations, mine clearance operations, explosive ordnance disposal, and diving and salvage operations.” The drills will be conducted in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California region. A number of U.S. partners and allies including NATO members Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and France are taking part. China has been sneering at the presence of NATO countries in the region. The Chinese Permanent Representative to the U.N., Zhang Jun, said his country “firmly opposes NATO’s involvement in the Asia-Pacific region or the creation of an Asia-Pacific version of NATO.” An editorial in the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece Global Times went further saying: “The sewage of the Cold War cannot be allowed to flow into the Pacific Ocean.” Analysts noted that the small Pacific island of Tonga is invited to RIMPAC for the second time. This year’s invitation came as China and the U.S. and allies are squaring off for influence in the Pacific. Beijing reached a security deal with the Solomon Islands in March but failed to sign a bigger, more ambitious agreement with ten Pacific island nations.
