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Category: Russia

Taiwan issues ‘survival handbook’ to prep for possible Chinese invasion

Editor05 mins

Taiwan has issued for the first time a “survival handbook” to guide its citizens in the preparation for a possible Chinese invasion in the future. The 28-page National Defense Handbook is where the general public can find “an emergency response guideline in a military crisis or natural disaster,” said the defense ministry, which is responsible for compiling and releasing the material. The raging war in Ukraine has heightened concerns that China would seize the opportunity when the world’s focus is on Europe to wage an attack against the island. Survival guidelines “I was surprised to hear about the survival handbook,” said 35-year-old Cathy Hsieh, a bank clerk. “I’ve never thought we’d need something like that but it’s good that they [the government] have made such precaution,” she said. The handbook is drawn from similar publications issued in Japan and Sweden, and contains illustrated guidelines on how to find shelters in the case of bombing and what to do in emergencies such as fires, air raids or natural disasters. It even teaches people how to differentiate warning sirens. One guideline tells citizens to not open the fridge door too often during a power outage to keep the contents cold. The handbook provides a set of QR codes for citizens to scan using their mobile phones to access needed information as well as a list of emergency numbers. Yet some Taiwanese say the handbook, albeit a nice initiative, is impractical. “When all the hell breaks loose, I don’t think people would want to rely on QR codes and mobile networks which for sure won’t be working,” said George Cai, a 28-year-old resident of Taipei. He said there should be rehearsals on how to use the handbook. Lien Hsiang joint exercise On Tuesday, the Taiwanese military also held a large-scale exercise “to rehearse the rapid response to a simulated attack by Chinese warplanes.” F-16 fighters, Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDFs), Apache helicopters, and other aircraft were dispatched as part of an effort to “strengthen the protection of important assets and counter airstrikes.” “The exercise is an important part of training to counter an attack by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF),” said Col. Sun Li-fang, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense spokesman, at a press conference. A Chinese military expert was quoted by Chinese media as saying that both the drills and the handbook are “futile in resisting reunification.” Taiwanese people consider themselves citizens of an independent, democratic country but China claims the island is a breakaway province of China and vows to reunite it with the mainland, by force if necessary.  The Lien Hsiang joint exercise has been held annually since 2016 and involves the air force, army and the navy. The air force however took the center stage as Taiwan is seeing almost daily incursions by Chinese aircraft into its air identification zone (ADIZ). Since the beginning of April, 25 Chinese military aircraft including 16 fighter jets, six spotter planes, and three helicopters have been tracked in Taiwan’s ADIZ, according to the Ministry of Defense. An ADIZ is not a country’s sovereign airspace, but the extended area around it, and is closely monitored in case of illegal encroachment.

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Manila eyes broader ties with Indo-Pacific nations looking to counter Beijing

Editor09 mins

The Philippines is broadening its relationship with countries that are trying to counter Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the region, while it maintains friendly ties with China despite the Asian superpower’s incursions into Manila’s waters in the South China Sea. Nurtured by President Rodrigo Duterte to much criticism at home, Manila is keeping its relationship with Beijing on an even keel, ostensibly demonstrating, according to political analyst Rommel Banlaoi, a “pragmatic independent foreign policy” in a polarized world. For instance, the Filipino foreign secretary is in Tokyo this weekend to take part in the first ever bilateral two-plus-two talks involving the foreign and defense ministers of the Philippines and Japan. This visit follows a meeting between China’s Xi Jinping and Duterte on Friday, where they “committed to broaden the space for positive engagements” on the South China Sea issue. And on the same day, the Philippines concluded one of its largest military exercises with the United States, its longtime defense ally. Banlaoi, president of the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies (PACS), said Manila is demonstrating its independence by maintaining its longstanding security alliance with the U.S, strengthening is strategic partnerships with Japan, Australia, South Korea, and the European Union, and maintaining friendly relations with China despite tensions over the waterway. Still, disputes to do with the South China Sea, part of which is called the West Philippine Sea by the Filipinos, are the main reason behind for broadened security cooperation between the Philippines and other countries in the region, analysts said. Celia Lamkin, Founder of the National Youth Movement for the West Philippine Sea “The foreign and defense talks between Japan and the Philippines in Tokyo [on Saturday] are significant because of the non-stop aggression and militarization by China in our West Philippine Sea,” Celia Lamkin, Founder of the National Youth Movement for the West Philippine Sea, told BenarNews, using the Philippine term for the South China Sea. On Thursday, the Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana met with his Japanese counterpart, Nobuo Kishi, in Tokyo to discuss “ways to further enhance bilateral and multilateral cooperation,” according to the official Philippine News Agency. The two defense ministers agreed to bolster security cooperation and expand bilateral and multilateral exercises, according to a statement from the Japanese Ministry of National Defense. “They shared their intent that they will not tolerate any unilateral change of the status quo by force in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in East Asia and Southeast Asia,” the statement said. China is involved in maritime disputes with Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. The inaugural two-plus-two meeting on Saturday will continue to “promote bilateral defense cooperation and exchanges to uphold and strengthen the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP),” Japan Defense Ministry said. “We need allies like Japan and the U.S. to show China to respect international law in our West Philippine Sea and the rest of the South China Sea,” said Lamkin from the National Youth Movement for the West Philippine Sea. China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, including waters within the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan. While Indonesia does not regard itself as party to the South China Sea dispute, Beijing claims historic rights to parts of that sea overlapping Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone as well. ‘Open, warm, and positive’ A day before this two-plus-two meeting, Duterte, who is due to leave office after the Philippine general election in May and who has consistently called China’s Xi a friend, had a telephone meeting with the Chinese leader. During the call, the two said they work towards maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea by exercising restraint, a statement from Duterte’s office said. A Chinese statement, meanwhile, said Xi had expressed his approval for how the two nations have dealt with the issue of the disputed South China Sea. Beijing, however, has consistently ignored a 2016 decision by an international arbitration court in The Hague that rejected China’s expansive claims in the contested waterway. Meanwhile, news emerged on Thursday that, for days, a Chinese coastguard ship had followed a research vessel deployed by Philippine and Taiwanese scientists in waters in off the northern Philippines, sparking concerns. Still, the statement from Duterte’s office described the hour-long telephone conversation as “open, warm and positive.” Then again, Manila surprised many a day earlier by voting against Beijing’s ally Moscow, and in favor of a resolution to suspend Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council. It was the only ASEAN Nation to vote in favor of the resolution, apart from the Myanmar government in exile. Also, last September, when Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S. announced the establishment of a trilateral security pact, AUKUS, the Philippines was the first country in Southeast Asia to endorse it despite concerns from regional players including Malaysia and Indonesia. With the Philippine presidential election looming in May, all eyes are on who will win the race, said Lamkin from the National Youth Movement for the West Philippine Sea. She added: “Our struggle for sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea depend very much on who will be the next president.” Jason Gutierrez of BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated on-line news outlet, contributed to this report from Manila.

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Vietnam’s vote for Russia on UN council could damage campaign to lead it

Editor09 mins

Vietnam’s vote against a U.S.-led resolution to remove Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday likely ends any hope Hanoi had to lead the body, one analyst told RFA. Cambodia’s abstention from voting, meanwhile, drew criticism from local rights groups who accused Phnom Penh of flip-flopping its position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In all, 24 countries voted against booting Russia from the council, including Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and Syria. But after 93 countries voted yes, Moscow resigned its seat. Vietnam’s ambassador to the U.N., Dang Hoang Giang, said in remarks prior to the vote that Hanoi was concerned about the impact of the war on civilians. He said that the country was “against all attacks on civilians that were in violation of international laws on humanitarianism and human rights.” He also said that it was important “to examine and crosscheck recent information publicly, with transparency and objectivity and with the cooperation of relevant parties.” Vietnamplus was the only Vietnamese outlet that reported Giang’s comments. Vietnamese state media made no mention of Vietnam’s vote in coverage of the resolution. Alienating vote Vietnam has publicly voiced its intention to run for chairmanship of the council for the 2023-2025 term, but experts told RFA’s Vietnamese Service that Hanoi will now find it difficult to gain support from Western countries. “I should say that Vietnam has shot itself in the foot,” Carl Thayer of New South Wales University in Australia told RFA. “Vietnam has always been proud of its prestige in the international circles as a commodity that made it important. Any country in the world that is now opposing Russian action are not going to support Vietnam,” he said. Thayer noted that Vietnam’s profile among the international community had been on the rise, as it had twice been elected as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. “Now that smooth sailing is going to hit headwinds and if it continues to support boats like [Russia], Vietnam is going to find increasingly there will be a drop-off in support,” Thayer said. He said that Hanoi may have been trying to demonstrate that dialogue and negotiation are more effective than measures to isolate Russia. But it would have been better to abstain from the vote, because now Vietnam has alienated the West and has little to gain by casting its lot with Russia. “That country is never going to play a major role with Vietnam in coming years. In my opinion, it is going to be weakened and economically isolated as long as Putin remains in power.” Isolation ineffective Cambodia did abstain from Thursday’s vote with Ambassador Ke Sovann saying in a statement that Russia’s isolation will not help resolve the conflict in Ukraine, but will only make a bad situation worse. “At a fragile time for world peace, security and stability, the engagement among the member states in all relevant United Nations bodies including the Human Rights Council is very important,” he said.  Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the Cambodian government, told RFA’s Khmer Service that kicking Moscow out of the council will “only allow the country to avoid its responsibility.” But Ny Sokha, president of The Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, said the vote to remove Russia from the council is a stand against the death and destruction the country’s invasion of Ukraine has caused. “We should not allow the country that abuses human rights in the U.N. Human Rights Council. As a member it needs to respect human rights,” he said. Cambodia’s abstention from Thursday’s vote is an example of flip-flopping in its response to the situation in Ukraine, said Ny Sokha, an apparent reference to Cambodia’s vote last month at the U.N. condemning the invasion. Political analyst Kim Sok said Cambodia voted for a resolution last month to condemn Russia as part of its efforts to convince the U.S. to attend a special summit with ASEAN while Phnom Penh chairs the regional bloc. Thursday’s vote, in contrast, was an effort to appease China, he said. “When China opposes, Hun Sen dares not to vote in favor,” he said.   Russian Threats Prior to Thursday’s vote, Russia warned that votes in favor or abstentions would be seen as an “unfriendly gesture” and would have consequences in bilateral relations. Despite voting to remove Russia, the U.N. Human Rights Council remains an organization with a shaky reputation likened to an old boys club for dictators. Of its 47 member nations, only 15 are classified as “free” societies by rights watchdog Freedom House. The rest are either only “partly free” or “not free,” and include countries with poor human rights records like China, Eritrea, Somalia and Cuba. The U.S. left the council temporarily in 2018, calling the organization a mockery of human rights for not punishing rights abusers and for what then-ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley called bias against Israel. After Tuesday’s vote, the Russian representative announced Russia’s decision to withdraw its membership from the council before the 2021-2023 term ends, and called the resolution “an illegal and politically motivated move to punish a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council who was pursuing an independent domestic and foreign policy.” Translated by Anna Vu and Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Philippines: Xi, Duterte agree to ‘positive engagements’ over South China Sea

Editor06 mins

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed during a bilateral meeting on Friday to remain “committed to broaden the space for positive engagements” in dealing with disputes over the South China Sea.  The telephone summit between the two leaders took place the same day the Philippines and the United States wrapped up two weeks of war games, which were among the biggest between both allies. The scenarios included the defense of an isolated island from foreign invaders.  In their phone call, Duterte and Xi “stressed the need to exert all efforts to maintain peace, security and stability in the South China Sea by exercising restraint, dissipating tensions and working on a mutually agreeable framework for functional cooperation,” Duterte’s office said in a statement. “Both leaders acknowledged that even while disputes existed, both sides remained committed to broaden the space for positive engagements which reflected the dynamic and multidimensional relations of the Philippines and China,” it said. The statement described the hour-long telephone conversation as “open, warm and positive.” China has been continuing to expand territories and islands it occupies in the South China Sea. Still, Xi and Duterte affirmed the “importance of continuing” talks in solving the sea dispute, and for all claimants to work towards finally concluding a “code of conduct” for the sea. China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, including waters within the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan. While Indonesia does not regard itself as party to the South China Sea dispute, Beijing claims historic rights to parts of that sea overlapping Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone as well. Duterte, who has consistently called Xi a “friend,” has said several times since his term began in 2016 that Beijing has the capability of sending missiles to the Philippines, and that he won’t deploy Filipino troops to be slaughtered. Instead, he has sought to rebuild ties with China – ties that were soured by a 2016 decision by an international arbitration court in The Hague that rejected China’s expansive claims in the contested waterway. The 77-year-old Duterte will be leaving office after the Philippine general election next month. Duterte and Xi also discussed the elevation of bilateral relations “into a comprehensive strategic cooperation” as a way to build on the gains made since the Filipino leader took power. For his part, Xi said that both sides have “properly” handled the South China Sea issue, according to a statement about the phone call, issued by the Chinese Embassy in Manila. “During the phone conversation, Xi said that he still has fresh memories about Duterte’s first visit to China in October 2016, which he called an ice-breaking trip and a milestone in the history of bilateral relations,” the statement said. “The two sides’ properly handling of the South China Sea issue has provided an important foundation for the China-Philippines friendly cooperation, benefited the two people and also effectively safeguarded regional peace and stability, Xi said,” according to the statement. Meanwhile, both presidents on Friday expressed “deep concern” over developments in Ukraine, the statement by Duterte’s office said. “The two Presidents renewed the call for a peaceful resolution of the situation through dialogue in accordance with international law,” the statement said. A day before the Xi-Duterte telephone meeting, Manila voted in support of a resolution on suspending Russia from the United Nations Humans Rights Council, together with the U.S. and other Western countries. China, which is Russia’s ally, voted against the resolution. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service.

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Ukraine war disrupts cereal markets, threatens food security in SE Asia

Editor011 mins

As war rages across Ukraine, farmers have been busy towing captured Russian tanks, artillery, and downed helicopters. In addition to their new calling, is the planting of the spring crop. It’s another reminder that Russia’s illegal invasion is occurring in one of the world’s major bread baskets, with consequences for food security in Asia and beyond. What’s at stake? In 2021, Ukraine was the third largest producer of wheat, exporting 60 million of its 80 million-ton harvest. That accounted for 17 percent of global exports. In addition, Ukraine was the second largest producer of barley, the fourth largest producer of corn, and the largest producer of sunflower oil. Both Ukraine and Russia are major players in global markets. But they have a greater role in the developing world and in humanitarian disasters: Half of the World Food Program’s grain is purchased in the Ukraine. In 2021, Ukraine exported U.S. $2.9 billion in wheat to Africa. Since the war began the price of wheat, which was already at a historic high, has increased by 30 percent. Ukraine, along with Russia, is an important provider of grain and food staples to Southeast Asia. In 2020, Ukraine exported $708 million to Indonesia, accounting for 25 percent of imports; $92 million to Malaysia, 23 percent of imports; and $131 million to Thailand, around 17 percent of imports. But Indonesia and the Philippines – Southeast Asia’s most food insecure nations – will be hit particularly hard. Almost 75 percent of Indonesia’s imports from Ukraine consists of cereals, including wheat. In 2021, Indonesia imported 3.07 million tons of wheat from Ukraine. In 2020, Ukraine was the single largest source of grain for the most populous Southeast Asian nation, and the largest in 2021. And in both Indonesia and the Philippines, demand for wheat is growing. According to the Philippine statistics agency, in 2021 imports of cereals increased by nearly 48 percent over 2020. In Indonesia, flour consumption increased by almost 5 percent in 2021. At the same time, the populations of the neighboring countries are growing. Indonesia’s population is increasing by 1.1 percent per annum and the Philippines’ at 1.3 percent – making it the fastest growing population in Southeast Asia. In both countries, food production has never kept pace with population growth. And both governments are very sensitive to inflation in food commodities. Fighting spreads to farm fields Meanwhile, in the middle of Ukraine’s sowing season, the war has shifted from north of Kyiv, to the eastern part of the country. The fighting is now taking place in some of Ukraine’s most productive farmland.  In places where it is not too dangerous to farm, the physical infrastructure has been destroyed. Able-bodied men and women are serving in the military or territorial defense forces. The Ukrainian government is expecting a 30 percent decline in agricultural production this year because of the war. Dire warnings by the government suggest that exports in 2022 could plummet to 15 to 20 percent of 2021’s exports. Even if the farmers are able to grow crops, there are questions about their ability to get the grains to global markets. The Russians razed Mariupol and have devastated the physical infrastructure and depopulated most of the other of Ukraine’s ports on the Sea of Asimov. Odessa is the last major port that Russia has not attacked, but Russian forces are blockading it.  For the time being, Ukrainian grain exports are only leaving the country by train or truck, but if the Russians target logistic nodes in western Ukraine even those exports could be dented. Local farmers are also vulnerable to a liquidity crisis, unable to get the loans they need to cover operations in the first half of the season. That’s not suggest that there is a shortage of sources of wheat outside Ukraine. Last year, Indonesia imported 4.69 million tons from Australia. In 2020, it imported 2.63 million tons from Argentina. Having suppliers in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres is essential for the steady importation of food stuffs. And next to Russia, the United States, and Canada, Ukraine is the largest exporter in the Northern Hemisphere. Without a doubt, the war is bad news for global food markets. Prices for cereals have been climbing steadily in the past few years at a time when most countries have experienced economic slowdowns, the loss of income, and climbing poverty rates due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Inflation in energy markets and food staples is hitting consumers hard the world over. Other uncertainty in food markets Beyond the Russian invasion of Ukraine there are other factors unsettling global food markets. China’s winter wheat harvest was described by their agriculture minister as “the worst in history.” A decline in water levels along the Mekong River due to damming has increased salt intrusion into the Mekong Delta, leading to a smaller harvest. According to the Stimson Center, the delta accounts for 50 percent of Vietnam’s rice crop, but 90 percent of rice exports. In 2020, Vietnam’s exports accounted for 7.4 percent of the global supply. Indonesia and the Philippines are amongst Vietnam’s top export markets. The economic fallout from Myanmar’s coup d’état is another factor. The kyat lost 60 percent of its value since the February 2021 military takeover, prompting a shortage of U.S. dollars and making imports of pesticides and fertilizers exorbitant. While Myanmar itself will remain food secure, the expected diminished crop will impact global markets. Myanmar is the seventh largest exporter of rice in the world. In 2020 it accounted for 3.2 percent of global exports. Optimistic estimates suggest that exports will be around 2 million tons in 2022, down from their normal export of 2.5 to 3 million tons. With the exception of Singapore, countries in Southeast Asia have been reluctant to criticize Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and none have been willing to impose sanctions, professing a desire to be neutral. But most countries in Southeast Asia will be feeling the economic pain cause by Russia’s military strike on its neighbor next-door. As this year’s president of the G-20, Indonesia is causing controversy by inviting President Putin to the Bali summit,…

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Lack of engine could sink Thai purchase of Chinese submarine

Editor07 mins

Thailand’s long-planned purchase of three Chinese submarines, which a former top Bangkok diplomat described as “an insult to the Thai-U.S. treaty relationship,” could run into trouble, officials and analysts said. In April 2017, the Thai government approved the Royal Navy’s plan to buy three Yuan-class submarines from China valued at 36 billion baht (U.S. $1.05 billion). Because of budget constraints, the purchase of one submarine – now valued at 13.5 billion baht ($403 million) – got the green light but the other two were shelved. The Chinese state-owned submarine developer – China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co. (CSOC) – could not obtain the diesel engine from Germany to fit into the sub because of the European Union arms embargo imposed on China, according to a German official. The engine is manufactured by Germany’s Motor and Turbine Union (MTU). “The export [of the engine] was refused because of its use for a Chinese Military/Defense industry item,” said Philipp Doert, the German defense attaché to Thailand, told the Bangkok Post. “China did not ask/coordinate with Germany before signing the Thai-China contract, offering German MTU engines as part of their product.” The EU imposed its arms embargo on China in 1989 after the violent suppression of pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Thai-China relations ‘not affected’ Earlier this week, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said that if China could not fulfill the agreement, the submarine deal could be canceled. “What do we do with a submarine with no engines? Why should we purchase it?” Prayuth, who serves as the nation’s defense minister, told local media. Previously, Vice Adm. Pokkrong Monthatphalin, the Royal Thai Navy spokesman, said talks were to be held later this month with CSOC to discuss the engine issue. Local media reported that CSOC had offered an alternative engine – an offer rejected by the government, which paid its first installment of 700 million baht (U.S. $20.9 million) in 2017. The submarine’s delivery is scheduled for 2024. Despite his concerns, Prayuth told Thai reporters that any cancellation would not affect Thai-Chinese relations, according to the Bangkok Post. A Chinese navy submarine leaves Qingdao Port, Shandong province, in a file photo. Credit: Reuters Trust issues An analyst, meanwhile, said Bangkok’s growing military ties with China have led to trust issues with the United States. “Thailand and the U.S. are treaty allies. Thailand was designated by the U.S. as a Non-NATO ally,” Kasit Piromya, a Thai former foreign minister, told BenarNews. “The fact that Thailand commissioned the Chinese submarines is an insult to the Thai-U.S. treaty relationship,” he said, adding that the issue “must be reset and redressed.” Earlier this year, the Thai Royal Air Force expressed interest in purchasing F-35 stealth fighter jets from the U.S. But the U.S. would be reluctant to sell their state-of-the-art aircraft to Bangkok because of the Thai military’s close links with its Chinese counterpart, said Ian Storey, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. In addition, the relationship between Thailand and the U.S. has been up and down in recent years.  “The Thai military establishment does not like criticism of its role in Thai politics by the U.S. and Western allies, while China avoids political judgment and offers military hardware at friendship’s cost,” Kasit said. “The result is Thailand and the U.S. have been failing to hold heart-to-heart talks as allies and strategic partners,” he said. Southeast Asian countries, especially those with competing claims in the South China Sea, are joining the submarine club to deal with new security challenges. Vietnam bought six Kilo-class submarines from Russia, both Indonesia and the Philippines are discussing purchasing submarines from France. Singapore and Malaysia operate four and two subs, respectively. China by far has the largest fleet in Asia, with an estimated 76 submarines. The Yuan-class is a diesel-electric submarine designed to operate in shallow coastal waters, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.

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Tibetan exile leader set to visit Washington in April

Editor04 mins

Tibetan exile leader Penpa Tsering will visit Washington D.C. from April 25 to 29 at the invitation of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Tsering confirmed to RFA in an interview on Tuesday. The Washington visit will be followed by visits to Canada and Germany, the Sikyong, or elected head of Tibet’s India-based Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), added. “We have received an official invitation from the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who has been a strong supporter and advocate for Tibet,” Tsering told RFA. “We will also be meeting with the State Department’s special coordinator for Tibetan issues Uzra Zeya and with many other government and non-governmental officials.” “Over the last decades, and especially under the leadership and authoritarian policies of Chinese president Xi Jinping, we have seen Tibetans face more and more religious and cultural repression aimed at wiping out the Tibetan identity,” Tsering said. A CTA report detailing what Tsering called the “urgent issues” surrounding Tibet’s environment and language and human rights situation, and prepared for submission to Xi Jinping, is being temporarily held back for “a number of reasons,” the Sikyong said. “One of these of course is the ongoing concern over Russia and Ukraine,” he said. CTA departments and a Permanent Strategy Committee established by the Sikyong are now working together to push again for a resumption of a Sino-Tibetan dialogue on Tibet’s status under Chinese rule, Tsering said. Nine rounds of talks were previously held between envoys of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and high-level Chinese officials beginning in 2002, but stalled in 2010 and were never resumed. Divisions persist in the Tibetan exile community—about 150,000 people living in 40 countries—over how best to advance the rights of the 6.3 million Tibetans living in China, with some calling for a restoration of the independence lost when Chinese troops marched into Tibet in 1950. Penpa Tsering, a former speaker of Tibet’s exile parliament in Dharamsala, won a closely fought April 11, 2021 election to become Sikyong held in Tibetan communities worldwide. The fifth elected CTA leader, Tsering replaced Lobsang Sangay, a Harvard-trained scholar of law, who had served two consecutive five-year terms as Sikyong, an office filled since 2011 by popular vote. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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North Korea cracks down on private fuel sales during shortage

Editor06 mins

Authorities in North Korea are cracking down on citizens who privately sell gasoline as fuel shortages spread across the country, sources in the country told RFA. Private ownership and sale of fuel reserves is technically illegal in North Korea but is tolerated under normal circumstances. Now that fuel is hard to come by the government is finding the private sellers and seizing their fuel. The crackdown began at the beginning of the month, a resident of the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. “This investigation is a move to confiscate privately owned fuel in the country as it faces a fuel shortage,” he said. “These days in North Korea, the economic sectors including transportation, agriculture and fisheries are experiencing a severe shortage of gasoline and diesel fuel.” Demand is higher this time of year with the start of the farming season, but fuel reserves are lower than normal because of a two-year trade moratorium with China due to coronavirus concerns. Though the ban ended at the start of 2022, trade has not yet reached its former volume, so stocks have not yet been fully replenished. Global prices are also high right now due to sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. “At the beginning of this year, the price of fuel at the gas station operated by a trading company was 9,800 won per liter of gasoline [U.S. $6.17/gallon], 7,500 for diesel ($4.72/gallon),” the source said. “No one expected that gasoline would rise to 17,000 won per liter [$10.71/gallon] or 12,000 won per liter [$7.56/gallon] for diesel by the end of March,” he said. Prices of gas sold by individuals also shot up but is still 1,000 won cheaper per liter ($0.60 cheaper per gallon) than the government price, according to the source. “People began to prefer trading with the individual sellers. Also, everyone knows that the fuel sold at gas stations is of inferior quality to that of private individual sellers,” the source said. Gas stations are known to mix gasoline with cheaper fuels, such as naphtha (lighter fluid), during times of shortage. Though it stretches the gas reserves further, the adulterated gas can damage vehicles or machines intended to run on gasoline. It was this very practice that drove people in the northwestern province of North Pyongan to flock to the individual sellers, a resident there told RFA. “As the individual traders started selling fuels more actively, authorities began to take preliminary measures to take away their business,” the second source said. “Residents of the city of Sinuiju believe that the reason the price of fuel is soaring these days is because of the government’s series of missile test launches. … These continuous missile launches are preventing the smooth phase-in of fuel,” she said. She said the government tried to put price controls on gas in the city on the Chinese border, but it still has risen to unbelievable highs. Despite its proximity to China, gasoline in Sinuiju costs $7.10 per gallon and diesel costs $4.26. “Food and other necessities are skyrocketing right now as well,” she said. “Residents are very unhappy with the police department’s crackdown on … the private sellers.” “In springtime gas is in high demand for farming, fishing and transportation, but the authorities’ crackdown is making it difficult to get fuel because the private sellers are hiding so they don’t get caught. It is causing a major disruption to our daily lives,” the second source said. RFA reported last month that people were trying to cash in on the fuel shortage by buying fuel vouchers in one part of the country and selling them in other parts where gas was more expensive. Fuel vouchers, however, can only be redeemed at gas stations. Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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How Russia’s disinformation on Ukraine is spreading to democratic Taiwan, via China

Editor011 mins

Russian and Chinese disinformation about Ukraine, which is ideologically linked to ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda on Taiwan, is breaking through into online discourse on the democratic island, a fact-checking organization based there has said. According to Taiwan’s Information Operations Research Group (IORG), which seeks to “counter authoritarian expansion with scientific research and grassroots organization,” tens of millions of social media posts, articles, videos and comments have deluged the Chinese-language internet since Russian troops began massing on the Ukrainian border in November 2021. Among the CCP narratives, which are often straight echoes of the Kremlin’s own, are the idea that the relationship between Russia and Ukraine is similar to that of an ex-husband and wife, that the war was made inevitable by NATO’s eastward expansions, and that the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion is responsible both for mass murder in Ukraine, and for violently supporting Hong Kong independence. Far-right Ukrainians were spotted at the Hong Kong protest movement of 2019, which also won vocal support from ultra-conservative politicians in the U.S., and were outed on social media by protesters at the time, the majority of whom didn’t welcome their presence in Hong Kong. Other Chinese-language, pro-Russian takes on the Russian invasion include the idea that Ukraine is to Russia what Texas is to the United States, that Ukraine has engaged in a “de-Russification” program that disregards the rights of Russians in the country, and the slogan “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow.” These narratives have been recurring in both simplified Chinese from China and traditional Chinese from Taiwan and Hong Kong across Facebook, LINE and Weibo, and represent a large-scale information offensive, IORG codirector Yu Chih-hao told The Reporter. One of the sources for the neo-Nazi claim was traced by IORG and RFA’s partner, The Reporter, to a Nov. 13 post in simplified Chinese posted to the Chinese International Facebook page. The post cited state media Russia Today (RT). A similar article appeared on the Russian news agency Sputnik, which has 11.62 million followers on China’s Weibo platform. By Nov. 15, 2021, the nationalist Global Times was accusing the Ukrainian government of “flirting” with nationalist militants and fascist groups, with the narrative spreading like wildfire through content farms and Facebook pages in the month that followed. A man collects pictures from a school hit by Russian rockets in the southern Ukraine village of Zelenyi Hai between Kherson and Mykolaiv, less than 5 km (3 miles) from the front line, April 1, 2022. Credit: AFP Hong Kong, too In Hong Kong, the CCP-backed Wen Wei Po took up the theme, reporting: “Ukrainian neo-Nazis have extended their black hand to other countries and regions, including participating in the [2019 protest movement] in Hong Kong two years ago,” claiming that they were working with “Hong Kong separatists.” Calls for independence for Hong Kong surfaced relatively late during the protest movement, which began as a mass movement opposing extradition to mainland China, and broadened to include calls for fully democratic elections and official accountability. They were later outlawed under a draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the CCP from July 1, 2020. There were also parallels between Russia’s claim on Ukraine, using neo-fascism as an excuse, and the CCP’s threat of military invasion of Taiwan, given the Taiwan authorities’ vocal support for the Hong Kong protests movement. According to You, this oversimplification and and exaggeration of the power and influence of the Azov battalion is deliberate, because it is preparing the ground for a future invasion of Taiwan, which has never been ruled by the CCP, nor formed part of the People’s Republic of China. The saying “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow,” is also all over the Taiwanese internet, and is designed to give an air of inevitability both to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and to a putative Chinese invasion of Taiwan, IORG said. Summer Chen, editor-in-chief of the Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC), said the war has once more highlighted Taiwan’s vulnerability to information warfare. She cited a Sputnik News Agency report on Feb. 26 claiming that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy had fled Kyiv, which appeared on a number of mainstream Taiwanese media sites. While the article was based on “unconfirmed reports,” the headlines about Zelenskyy’s “escape” from Kyiv gave the impression of legitimacy. Chen said Taiwanese media are particularly vulnerable to manipulation on Ukraine, as they lack their own sources of information on the ground, and rely too easily on Russian media for news of the war. Lu Sibin, a researcher at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the same content is also widely circulating in Chinese state media. “This is a phenomenon that hasn’t happened before,” Lu told RFA. “Not many people are aware of the extent to which Russian media content is being reused and disseminated in Chinese.” “Everyone thinks it’s only there to improve the performance targets of Russian officials.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during his first visit to China since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February, at their meeting in Huangshan in China’s Anhui province, March 30, 2022. Credit: China Central Television (CCTV) via AFPTV. Language facilitates fake news flow A survey of Chinese reports on Ukraine published during the past four month, carried out by IORG and The Reporter, found at least 400 articles that directly cited Russian state media as the main source of information. The majority covered Zelenskyy’s now-debunked “flight from Kyiv,” the erroneous claim that Russia now controls Ukrainian airspace, and disinformation that the U.S. secretly helped Ukraine develop biochemical weapons at a network of laboratories. The ready availability of such content in Chinese makes it that much easier for these items of fake news to penetrate websites in democratic Taiwan, You said. Senior journalists in Taiwan who spoke anonymously to The Reporter and RFA said they are typically expected to write up international news reports under extreme time pressure, and rely on quoting agency reports while attributing them to their source, with no time or resources to perform an independent…

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Philippine President Duterte plans to meet with Chinese ‘friend’ Xi on April 8

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Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said he would meet next week virtually with his “friend,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as Filipino and U.S. forces conduct one of their largest joint exercises in years in the Southeast Asian nation bordering the disputed South China Sea. The presidential office in Manila announced the upcoming meeting while troops, during the Balikatan (“shoulder-to-shoulder”) exercise, participated Thursday in a drill simulating an attack response on a remote beach on the northern tip of Luzon Island that fronts China and Taiwan. “China is good,” Duterte said, according to transcripts released to the media on Friday. “April 8. Xi Jinping wants to talk to me. We are friends.” Additional details of the planned meeting were being firmed up on Friday and Duterte’s office had not yet released topics to be discussed by the two leaders. “[T]his meeting is still in the preparatory stage,” Communications Undersecretary Kristian Ablan said. “So what specific issues will be discussed by the world leaders will be known in the coming days.” Although the Xi-Duterte meeting will be virtual, it is customary for a Philippine president to visit allies before leaving office. Duterte’s single six-year term ends on June 30. The 2022 version of Balikatan is the biggest joint exercise involving Philippine and U.S. troops in seven years. About 9,000 troops are involved in the war games, which are schedule to end on April 8, the same day Duterte is to meet with Xi. The exercise began shortly after the Philippine Coast Guard reported a March 2 “close distance maneuvering” incident involving one of its ships and the China Coast Guard near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. Philippine officials said the Chinese ship sailed within 21 meters (69 feet) of the Philippine ship and accused Beijing of violating 1972 international regulations on preventing collisions at sea. Balikatan comes two months after the Biden administration in the United States introduced a new strategy to increase security engagements in the Indo-Pacific region amid growing concerns about China. Duterte’s relationships At the beginning of his term in 2016, Duterte drifted away from traditional ally Washington in favor of China and Russia. Instead of enforcing an international court ruling that invalidated China’s expansive claims to the nearly all of the South China Sea, the president pursued friendlier ties with Xi, leading to increased Chinese investments in the Philippines. While admitting in 2021 that the court ruling was binding, Duterte continued to emphasize his friendship with the Chinese leader, noting that Manila was indebted to Beijing for providing COVID-19 vaccines in the early days of the pandemic.  In March 2021, Duterte said he planned to visit China, a country he traveled to six times, to personally thank Xi for the vaccines. Those visits are the most by any Philippine president while in office to a foreign country but Duterte has never visited Washington, according to officials.  Duterte last traveled to China in August 2019 on a five-day official visit when he raised the landmark arbitral ruling for the Philippines on the South China Sea.  China has rejected the ruling and insisted on its historical claims over virtually the entire sea region, which the court ruled as having no basis under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Aside from China and the Philippines, five other Asian governments – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam – have territorial claims. While Indonesia does not regard itself as a party to the South China Sea dispute, Beijing claims historic rights to parts of the sea overlapping Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone. Manila has grown critical of Beijing’s actions during the past year, including Chinese fishing boats swarming near the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal. In early March, the Philippines protested a Chinese navy reconnaissance ship’s “illegal incursion” in the Sulu Sea – a move that Beijing said did not break international law. In a rare move in November 2021, Duterte expressed “grave concern” after a China Coast Guard ship fired water cannon on Filipino supply boats in the disputed waters.  “We abhor the recent event in the Ayungin Shoal and view with grave concern other similar developments,” Duterte said at the time.  BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.

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