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Australia, India, Japan and US end ‘Quad’ summit with eyes on China
Leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) met on Tuesday in Tokyo, with China’s increasing influence and assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region looming large over the four-nation summit. They announced the roll out of a major new maritime initiative that is expected to monitor Chinese maritime activities in the region. Leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States said in a joint statement that they convened “to renew our steadfast commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient.” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and U.S. President Joe Biden reaffirmed “our resolve to uphold the international rules-based order where countries are free from all forms of military, economic and political coercion.” The statement did not mention China but said the Quad leaders opposed “the militarization of disputed features, the dangerous use of coast guard vessels and maritime militia, and efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploitation activities” – actions that China has been accused of in the East and South China Sea. “The Quad members would probably not say so out loud in public, but in private they would all acknowledge that the Quad only exists because all four members are nervous about the authoritarian tilt of an expansionist and assertive People’s Republic of China (PRC) under President Xi Jinping,” said John Blaxland, professor at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University. “By not being explicit about the raison d’être, the Quad countries hope to provide some space for other regional states to continue to engage constructively on security issues with Quad nations,” Blaxland told RFA. The four leaders announced a so-called Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) initiative that would support Indo-Pacific countries to monitor their waters, not only to respond to humanitarian and natural disasters but also to combat illegal fishing, another reference to China’s assertive actions in the regional seas and oceans. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida feed carp before their dinner at Akasaka State Guest House in Tokyo on May 24, 2022, following the end of the Quad leaders’ summit between the US, Japan, India and Australia. Credit: AFP ‘Strategic ambiguity’ on Taiwan A White House fact sheet said the IPMDA will allow tracking of “dark shipping” and other tactical-level activities. “This initiative will transform the ability of partners in the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean region to fully monitor the waters on their shores and, in turn, to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific.” Asked about the Quad statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Beijing “actively upholds the UN-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law,” and took a swipe at critics. “We hope certain countries would not see China through tinted glasses and make unwarranted accusations. Building small cliques and stoking bloc confrontation is the real threat to a peaceful, stable and cooperative maritime order,” he told a news briefing in Beijing Tuesday. The Quad summit came a day after U.S. President Joe Biden attracted much attention and drew criticism from Beijing when he stated that he would be willing to use force to defend Taiwan in the case of any Chinese invasion. China considers the democratic island a breakaway province and vows to “reunify” it with the mainland, by force if necessary. Biden told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday that there was no change to the U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan, meaning the U.S. acknowledges the One-China policy but informally supports the island and provides it with defensive weapons. In Beijing, Wang said Washington had “publicly or stealthily incited and endorsed ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities” and warned it to stop. “If the U.S. continues to go down the wrong path, there will be irretrievable consequences for the China-U.S. relations and the U.S. will have to pay [an] unbearable price,” he said.. In his opening speech, Biden said the summit was about “democracies versus autocracies, and we have to make sure that we deliver.” The Quad leaders also discussed the war in Ukraine, which Biden said had become “a global issue” and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida said a similar invasion should not happen in Asia. Debut of Australia PM Albanese Without mentioning Russia, as Quad member India has so far refused to condemn Moscow, the four leaders said they “reiterated our strong resolve to maintain the peace and stability in the region” at a time of profound global challenges. This is the fourth meeting of the leaders of the Quad, but the second in person because of the Covid pandemic. This is also the first summit for Australia’s new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who was sworn in just a day ago. Australia has been spooked by China’s growing presence in the Pacific islands, especially after Beijing signed a controversial security pact with the Solomon Islands that may allow China to deploy troops in Australia’s back yard. “The new Prime Minister has made clear that in terms of broad security policy choices, he is aligned with the previous government,” said Professor Blaxland from the Australian National University. “The difference lies in the rhetoric, Albanese probably will have a softer line.” “It also lies in some of the substance on the issue of the environment. Addressing the felt need of nervous small Pacific Island nations is now seen as being of fundamental importance,” Blaxland said.
Long lines for gasoline in Laos as shortage worsens
A gasoline shortage in Laos has motorists queuing in long lines for hours, only to drive away with a small amount of fuel, or none at all, sources in the country told RFA. The price of gas has risen worldwide since the Russian invasion of Ukraine has rattled oil markets and put a strain on the global supply. Landlocked Laos has no oil reserves and imports most of its gasoline from neighboring countries. Though a newly built refinery began operations in 2020, the country’s gas prices are the most expensive in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) outside of Singapore. According to the GlobalPetrolPrices.com website, as of May 16, gasoline in Laos cost U.S. $6.35 per gallon. Laos usually imports 120 million liters (31.7 million US liquid gallons) of gasoline each month but recently has been able to import only 20 million liters, an employee of a fuel importing company told local media. The shortfall leaves Laotians in a daily scramble to get what they can. “There simply is no gas at the pump,” a motorcyclist from the capital Vientiane told RFA’s Lao Service. “The government warns people not to hoard gas, and motorcyclists like me are only allowed to get 1.5 liters of gas at a time. That’s not enough to fill up the tank. If we don’t have gas, we can’t go to work, and the boss will complain.” A government worker from the southern province of Champassak told RFA that most pumps in his area are only open for one hour each day. “If you miss it, there will be no more gas that day,” the government worker said. “This is a serious crisis.” No fuel for plowing The lack of gasoline across Laos is affecting all segments of its economy and nearly every aspect of people’s lives. A farmer in the northern province of Oudomxay told RFA that he cannot plow as frequently as he would like because of the lack of fuel. “We have to get up early then walk between two to five kilometers to the farms, and then we don’t have gas to plow the rice fields either,” he said. “We’ll just have to wait for gasoline to come in.” In northern Laos, transportation companies have been forced to leave their vehicles parked, one bus owner said. “It’s not worth continuing,” he said. “We have fewer passengers now.” Residents of rural villages in Savannakhet province say the shortages leave them even more isolated, a villager told RFA. “No gas, no going out. Only staying at home,” said one villager. Another Savannakhet resident said a pregnant neighbor was almost forced to give birth at home because her husband didn’t have enough gasoline to drive her to her doctor. “My car had some gas left, and I decided to take her to the hospital,” she said. Meanwhile in Borikhamxay, the shortage is also complicating the ability of students to take their final exams, as many rely on motorbikes to commute to school, a principal of a high school told RFA. “Many students live five kilometers or up to eight kilometers from the school … and now, they don’t have gas and can’t go to school,” the principal said. “Likewise, many teachers who live far away from schools some days don’t go to school or come late because they don’t have gas, or they were in line at the pump for gas.” Kip fall behind shortage Laos’ foreign currency problems are a chief cause of the gasoline shortage, Phosisoi Kouthilath, the director of the Industry and Trade Department of Savannakhet province, told RFA. “In our country, the exchange rates are going up every day especially the U.S. dollars. The fuel importers don’t have the dollars to import more gas. That’s why pumps are running out of gas.” According to Asia News Network, the kip depreciated by 6% against the U.S. dollar between Jan. 4 and April 8. A report from the Bank of Laos (BOL) said that from February this year, the kip entered a period in which it set records for decreases in valuation relative to the U.S. dollar and the Thai baht. An official of the Industry and Trade Department of Savannakhet Province said the currency devaluation is making it harder to import gas. “We have to pay in foreign currency for gas,” the official said. “The government doesn’t have the money to give to the gas importing companies.” Laos is entirely dependent on foreign fuel, Sisangkhom Khotyotha, chairman of the Lao Fuel and Gas Association, told RFA. “All fuel in Laos comes from abroad. The importers must pay in U.S. dollars that keeps appreciating, but the kip keeps depreciating,” he said, adding that with the demand for gas is also rising. Turning to Russia? The Lao Prime Minister’s Office issued a notice on May 6 ordering the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Lao Fuel State Enterprise to begin negotiations to buy cheaper oil from Russia. But the situation in Ukraine and international opinion might complicate things. “We’re setting up a national committee that will include the government agencies and gas importing companies. This committee will meet and discuss about the possibility of buying Russian gas,” an official of the Ministry of Industry and Trade told RFA. “However, it won’t be easy. It might be difficult to buy Russian gas because of the conflict with Ukraine,” the official said. Getting the gas from Russia has logistical challenges as well, a government official told RFA on condition of anonymity. “Usually, we import most of our gasoline from Thailand. To change the route won’t be that easy,” the government official said. The Standing Committee of the Lao National Assembly, meanwhile, has agreed with a government proposal to halve all fuel taxes, an official at a fuel warehouse in Vientiane told RFA. The Lao government is also attempting to switch its fleet of vehicles away from gas-powered cars to electric. But that effort is a long way from having any effect on…
President Biden warns China over invasion threat, drawing parallel with Ukraine
U.S. President Joe Biden warned on Monday that China is ‘flirting with danger’ with its ongoing threat to annex democratic Taiwan, saying the U.S. is “committed” to defending the island in the event of a Chinese invasion. Speaking during a visit to Tokyo, Biden was asked if Washington was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan, replying: “Yes. That’s the commitment we made.” Biden said such an invasion would mirror Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “We agreed with the One China policy, we signed on to it… but the idea that it can be taken by force is just not appropriate, it would dislocate the entire region and would be another action similar to Ukraine,” Biden said. Biden warned that Beijing was “flirting with danger right now by flying so close and all the maneuvers undertaken,” in a reference to repeated sorties flown by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) jets in the island’s Air Defense Exclusion Zone (ADIZ), as well as naval exercises and other displays of strength in the Taiwan Strait. In a joint statement, Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that their basic positions on Taiwan remained unchanged. While Washington lacks formal diplomatic ties with Taipei, it is bound under the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) to ensure the island has the means to defend itself, and to be prepared to “resist any resort to force … that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan,” the law says. Slavic people living in Taiwan display posters and a Ukraine flag during a rally at the Free Square in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, May 8, 2022. Credit: AFP. ‘No room for compromise’ The law says that the U.S. should also resist “any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including by boycotts or embargoes.” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin hit back, warning that “no one should underestimate the firm resolve, staunch will and strong ability of the Chinese people in defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” “China has no room for compromise or concession,” Wang told a regular news briefing in Beijing. Taiwan foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou welcomed Biden’s comments. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes and expresses its sincerest thanks for the reiteration by President Biden and the U.S. government of its rock-solid commitment to Taiwan,” Ou said. She said Taiwan will continue to boost its own capability to defend itself against a potential invasion, and deepen cooperation with like-minded countries like the U.S. and Japan to strengthen regional stability. Ding Shu-Fan, honorary professor at Taiwan’s National Chengchi University, said Biden’s statement was of a piece with an earlier promise from former president George W. Bush in 2001, who said Washington would do “whatever it takes” to defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack. ‘Strategic ambiguity’ Alexander Huang, international affairs director at Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang, also welcomed Biden’s comments, but said it was unlikely they represented a departure from the “strategic ambiguity” practiced by Washington for decades in a bid to prevent either a Chinese invasion or a formal declaration of independence from Taiwan. “President Biden’s comments came as he took questions from reporters,” Huang said. “When the U.S. wants to revise its current policy of strategic ambiguity and take a publicly known stance, or change its policies on China or Taiwan, it is unlikely to do it at this kind of function.” Su Tse-yun, an associate researcher at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told this station that countries in the Asia-Pacific region have started to need more clarity, and with a greater sense of urgency, on Washington’s likely strategy in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “In this context, Biden’s announcement is constructive, clear, and unwavering,” Su told RFA. Taiwan is a democratic country governed under the aegis of the Republic of China founded by Sun Yat-sen in 1911. Its government has controlled the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu since Chiang Kai-shek’s KMT regime lost the civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists in 1949. Taiwan issues Republic of China passports to its 23 million citizens, who have never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and who have no wish to give up their democratic way of life for “unification” under Beijing’s plan, according to opinion polls in recent years. Beijing, for its part, insists that its diplomatic partners sever ties with Taipei, and has blocked the country’s membership in international organizations like the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO). Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
UN rights chief’s office announces dates of China visit, including Xinjiang
The U.N.’s human rights chief on Monday will begin a six-day official visit to China, including to the far-western Xinjiang region where widespread abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities at the hands of Chinese authorities are said to have occurred. The trip is the culmination of years of effort by exiled Uyghurs to draw international attention to what they and independent researchers have said is a network of detention camps in Xinjiang. While groups representing the community welcomed the announcement of the trip, they also expressed concern the team led by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet will be kept from seeing the true picture of what is taking place in the region, including allegations of Uyghurs being used as forced labor at Chinese factories. Bachelet’s May 23-28 visit will mark the first to China by a U.N. high commissioner for human rights since 2005. She plans to meet with high-level government levels, academics, and representatives from civil society groups and businesses during stops in Guangzhou — the capital of southern China’s Guangdong province where she plans to deliver a lecture to students at Guangzhou University — and in the Xinjiang cities of Urumqi (in Chinese, Wulumuqi) and Kashgar (Kashi), the press release said. Bachelet, a former Chilean president, first announced that her office was seeking unfettered access to Xinjiang in September 2018, shortly after she took over her current role. But the trip was delayed over questions about her freedom of movement through the region. Bachelet plans to issue a statement and hold a press conference at the end of the visit on May 28. An advance team from her office arrived in China on April 25. They were quarantined in Guangzhou according to China’s COVID-19 protocols but met virtually with officials during that time. They later held in-person meetings and visits in Guangzhou and traveled to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S.’s top diplomat to the U.N., has joined with Uyghur advocacy groups and other human rights organizations in calling for China to give Bachelet unfettered access to Xinjiang to gather evidence of what’s taking place there. China is accused of having incarcerated 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in Xinjiang in mass detention camps, subjecting some to torture and other abuses. The United States and the legislatures of several Western countries have found that China’s mistreatment of the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang constitute genocide and crimes against humanity. Beijing has rejected all such claims as politically motivated attacks on its security and development policies in the vast western region. Beijing has called for a “friendly” visit by the U.N. rights official. “We have repeatedly stated and expected that Commissioner Bachelet’s visit should be completely impartial with unfettered access to the concentration camps in the region,” Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) in Germany, told RFA. “Our current position is still the same; however, we’re deeply concerned because her trip seems to be not based on the expectations of the international community and wishes of Uyghur people but rather on China’s arrangements from our observations and the press statements of both U.N. and Chinese government,” he said. “If the trip is made under such circumstances, then China will take full advantage of Bachelet’s visit to whitewash the Uyghur genocide.” Alena Douhan, the UN special rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, gives a press conference in Iran’s capital Tehran, May 18, 2022. Credit: AFP ‘A light to be shone’ Washington-based Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) on Friday repeated the demands outlined by some 200 rights organizations that sent an open letter to Bachelet in March, calling for transparency in the visit, unfettered access to the region, and the publication of an overdue human rights report on Xinjiang. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, WUC, CFU and Uyghur Human Rights Project were among the groups that signed the letter. They all have repeatedly raised alarm to Bachelet’s office about extreme measures taken by Chinese authorities since 2017 to eradicate the religion, culture and languages of Xinjiang’s ethnic groups. A visit without unfettered access would support China’s long-standing narrative that there are no human rights violations occurring in the XUAR, CFU said. “Commissioner Bachelet has delayed the release of her office’s report and her visit, extending the suffering of the Uyghur people and our wait for a light to be shone on China’s genocidal crimes in the largest global forum on Earth,” CFU’s executive director Rushan Abbas said in a statement. News of the dates for Bachelet’s visit came two days after Geneva-based watchdog organization UN Watch demanded that Alena Douhan, a U.N. Human Rights Council official, return a U.S. $200,000 contribution she received from the Chinese government in 2021. Douhan, a Belarussian former professor of international law and U.N. special rapporteur focused on the negative effect of unilateral sanctions, received the money, according to disclosures in a U.N. filing, as she lent U.N. legitimacy to Chinese disinformation, including a regime-sponsored propaganda virtual event with the banner, “Xinjiang is a Wonderful Land,” UN Watch said in a statement on May 18. Douhan appeared on the program in which Chen Xu, China’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, said that people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang live “a life of happiness.” The event also featured XUAR chairman Erkin Tuniyaz, who accused the U.S and other Western countries of concocting a “smear that the Xinjiang government deprives local ethnic workers’ fundamental rights.” “It is clear that China is now willing to pay unprecedented sums of money to influence Alena Douhan’s U.N. human rights office, in wake of last year’s decision by the U.S., EU, U.K. and Canada to announce sanctions on China for its persecution of the Uyghurs,” Hillel Neuer, UN Watch’s executive director, said in the statement. “A U.N. human rights investigator accepting money from China’s abuser regime would be like the Chicago Police Department receiving subsidies from…
The perception war between Russia and NATO
The West or the NATO nations employed several tactics of the perception warfare to tackle Russia when it started the special military ops in Ukraine in February, 2022. The perception war between Russia and NATO is at its peak and following are some of the tactics employed by…
Myanmar junta gets effective diplomatic downgrade as a result of military coup
Myanmar’s 15-month-old military junta is suffering a diplomatic downgrade as Western and some Southeast Asian neighbors are withholding ambassadorial appointments to the country and increasingly meeting with elected officials overthrown by the army early last year, diplomats said. The trend of posting a number two in missions comes as the junta has been shunned by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which held a summit last week with the U.S. in Washington, where Myanmar was represented by an empty chair symbolizing rejection of the February 2021 coup. The Australian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on May 16 that Australia has appointed a senior official to replace its ambassador in Myanmar, Andrea Faulkner, who completed her tenure last month. Britain likewise downgraded its ties with Myanmar from ambassadorial level to chargé d’affaires level in August 2021. The junta found that unacceptable and the British Ambassador, Pete Vowles, who went abroad on business, was barred from re-entering the country in February 2022. “The UK has a longstanding policy and practice of recognizing states, not governments,” Stephen Small, the embassy’s liaison officer, wrote in an emailed reply to RFA’s Myanmar Service. “We are engaging with the junta only where strictly necessary to deliver our political, development and humanitarian objectives and [for] the functioning of our embassy,” he added. “Changing the status of our head of mission ensures we can continue our role supporting the people of Myanmar without giving the military credibility by presenting our credentials to the Commander-in-Chief,” said Small. Vowles arrived in Myanmar in August 2021, seven months after the coup, and refused to hand over his credentials to the junta. In April the military regime told the embassy it would not accept him as ambassador any longer, the spokesman said. London did not recall Vowles, but decided to let him head the mission at a lower level and he is waiting for a new visa and entry permit for Myanmar, said Small. Police stand guard near the US embassy during a demonstration by protesters against the military coup in Yangon, Feb. 22, 2021. Credit: AFP Shunning an ‘unethical group’ Germany has likewise downgraded its representation in Myanmar, said embassy press officer Markus Lubawinski. “I can confirm that the German Embassy in Yangon, where we continue with our embassy work, is headed by a chargé d’affaires,” he wrote in an email to RFA. “The reduction from ambassadorial level to charge d’affaires, is, in layman’s terms, degrading,” said Kyaw Swa Tun, the third secretary at the Myanmar Embassy in Washington who joined the opposition after the coup. “It’s like saying we don’t need to pay attention to an unethical group,” he told RFA. “At present, most countries, including Europeans, have lowered their statuses in dealing with the regime. It also shows that they are not recognizing the junta and thus, the junta’s role is downgraded,” added Kyaw Swa Tun. Min Zaw Oo, executive director of the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security said countries lowered the level of their diplomatic representation to avoid the poor optics of recognizing the junta. The regime is estimated to have killed at least 5,600 civilians in nearly 16 months since the coup. “When an ambassador comes in, he has to be officially recognized by the head of state. So, they do not want a big blaring photograph in the newspapers showing the current junta leader accepting their new ambassadors,” he said. Diplomatic sources in Yangon say Denmark, Italy, Israel and South Korea are considering following Britain, Germany and Australia in downgrading their level of representation. The U.S., European Union and Japan, however, are maintaining ambassadors at their embassies in Yangon. Hiram J. Ríos Hernández, spokesman for the U.S embassy in Yangon told RFA in an email that the US will continue to put pressure on the junta to return to the path of democracy in Myanmar. “Amb. Thomas Vajda presented his credentials to democratically elected President U Win Myint on January 19, 2021,” he told RFA by email. “The U.S. will continue to press the military regime to cease its violence, release all those unjustly detained, provide unhindered humanitarian access, and restore Burma’s path to democracy.” Zin Mar Aung, foreign minister of the National Unity Government, speaking with RFA during her visit to Washington May, 12, 2022. Credit: RFA Outreach to the NUG The European Union (EU) embassy in Yangon has said it will not change its current ambassadorial post, a spokesperson told RFA on behalf of Amb. Ranieri Sabatucci. “The EU does not envisage any change to my accreditation for the time being. The movements in the diplomatic sphere do not have any effect on our dealings with the military council,” he said, using a shorthand for the junta. Germany and Britain, the colonial ruler of what was formerly called Burma, and the EU have held meetings with representative of the country’s National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel administration made up of former lawmakers and officials of the government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi. “The federal government in Germany has spoken to individual members of the NUG. These exchanges have been made public,” said Lubawinski. “The U.K. sees the NUG as an important stakeholder for resolving the crisis,” said Small of the British Embassy. “The EU is having informal exchanges with the NUG. These are entertained by and from a number of interlocutors including our HQ in Brussels, the EU Mission to ASEAN and the EU Mission to the UN in New York,” said the EU mission in Yangon. “The EU retains the right to entertain relationships with any relevant party in Myanmar, including the NUG,” the statement issued on behalf of Sabatucci. Analyst Kyaw Swa Tun said that although the NUG has not yet been officially accepted by the international community, these contacts can been as a sign the group in increasingly being recognized as a legitimate government. Zin Mar Aung, who represents the NUG on the world stage, held key meetings on the sidelines of the U.S.-ASEAN summit in Washington last week with Wendy…
Vietnamese delegation’s loose lips caught on video during US-ASEAN summit
A video that captured crass remarks made by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and other high-ranking officials prior to their meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken went viral over the weekend and was removed from the U.S. State Department’s YouTube account. The Vietnamese officials met with Blinken on Friday as part of the two-day U.S.- summit with the 10-member Association for Southeast Asian Nations. According to a series of tweets about the incident by Southeast Asia analyst Nguyen Phuong Linh, the video shows the Vietnamese delegation laughing that U.S. President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Chinh that he could “not trust Russia.” Chinh also describes the meeting with Biden as “straightforward and fair and that Vietnam isn’t afraid of anyone,” after which the Vietnamese ambassador to the U.S., Nguyen Quoc Dzung, said they “put [Biden] into checkmate.” Minister of Public Security To Lam is also seen praising the former deputy national security adviser during the Trump administration, Matthew Pottinger, for being young and smart and having a wife who was born in Vietnam. The Vietnamese officials also refer to a number of U.S. officials without using honorific terms that in the Vietnamese language their titles alone would command. The State Department typically captures video footage of dignitaries prior to meetings with its senior staff and shares the videos on its YouTube account. In most cases, these videos will show smiles and handshakes and are largely uneventful. The video was published shortly after their meeting on Friday but by Saturday evening, the video became “unavailable” on YouTube. RFA was not able to determine why the video was removed from the State Department’s account. “So embarrassing for the Vietnamese that the State Dept. appears to have taken the video offline,” former BBC journalist Bill Hayton wrote on his Twitter account. The dialogue caught in the video “might indicate a more serious issue of how dysfunctional the incumbent cabinet in [Vietnam] is in general, and how incompetent the [Vietnamese] leaders are in terms of comms, foreign affairs and security,” Linh tweeted. RFA’s Vietnamese Service, which shared the video on its Facebook account, received comments from followers that were critical of the Vietnamese delegation. “Talking about your host while you’re a guest at their house is so uneducated,” Facebook user Kien Nguyen commented. “This kind of language, coming from the Prime Minister’s mouth. It sounds like what you hear in bus stations,” Hoa Nguyen, another Facebook user, said. Translated by An Nguyen. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Economics and hotspots Myanmar and Ukraine on agenda of US-ASEAN Summit final day
Vice President Kamala Harris offered Southeast Asian leaders maritime security assistance to address “threats to international rules and norms” as the top U.S. diplomat sought deeper ties with regional heavyweight Indonesia and budding partner Vietnam on Friday, the final day of a U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit. Hosting the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for a working lunch, Harris stressed the security concerns many of the countries share over aggressive Chinese actions in the South China Sea, where several of the 10 ASEAN states have territorial disputes with Beijing. “Our administration recognizes the vital strategic importance of your region, a role that will only grow with time. And we recognize ASEAN’s centrality in the region’s architecture,” she told the gathering at the State Department in Washington. “As an Indo-Pacific nation, the United States will be present and continue to be engaged in Southeast Asia for generations to come,” Harris said, adding that with a shared vision for the region, “together we will guard against threats to international rules and norms.” “We stand with our allies and partners in defending the maritime rules-based order which includes freedom of navigation and international law,” she said, without mentioning China. To underscore U.S. commitment, Harris said the U.S. will provide $60 million in new regional maritime security assistance led by the U.S. Coast Guard, and will deploy a cutter as a training platform and will send technical experts to help build capacity in the region. That offer followed President Joe Biden commitment at the summit’s opening dinner Thursday to spend U.S. $150 million on COVID-19 prevention, security, and infrastructure in Southeast Asia as part of a package his administration hopes will counter China’s extensive influence in the region. A U.S. Coast Guard ship will also be deployed to the region to patrol waters ASEAN nations say are illegally fished by Chinese vessels. In bilateral meetings Friday with Indonesia and Vietnam, ASEAN’s most populous nations, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed deepening partnership in security and stronger economic ties. The second U.S.-ASEAN summit to be held in the United States, following an inaugural gathering in California in 2016, “puts an emphasis on the great importance that we attach, the United States attaches to ASEAN, our relationship, ASEAN centrality,” Blinken told Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. “We are working together across the board to advance a shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. We’re working to strengthen economic ties among countries in the region,” he said at the State Department. U.S. President Joe Biden (L) and leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) arrive for a group photo on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, May 12, 2022. Credit: AFP. ‘Dreadful humanitarian crisis’ in Ukraine Retno welcomed “intensified communication and cooperation between our two countries,” and said “we should use this strategic partnership also to contribute to the peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.” Departing with a general reticence about discussing the war in Ukraine among of ASEAN states–which include Russia-friendly Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam–the Indonesia minister said: “Our hope is to see the war in Ukraine stop as soon as possible.” Retro’s remarks echoed those made to U.S. lawmakers Thursday by Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, who noted the Ukraine war’s impact on the global economy, including food and energy price surges. “The Ukrainian war has led to a dreadful humanitarian crisis that affects the global economy,” he said, according to remarks released by his cabinet. Blinken told Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh that Washington and Hanoi are “now the strongest of partners, with a shared vision for security in the region we share and for the strongest possible economic ties.” The crisis following the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar, which was a top focus of Thursday’s meetings on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit, was at the fore of Blinken’s meeting with Cambodia Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, who also serves as ASEAN’s special envoy to Myanmar. “We’re working very closely together as partners to try to advance a shared vision for the region, including regional security,” said Blinken. Cambodia is this year’s rotating ASEAN chair. “And of course, we welcome the leadership role that you’re playing at ASEAN on a number of issues, including hopefully working to restore the democratic path of Myanmar,” Blinken added. Absent but high on the agenda Myanmar was one of only two ASEAN countries whose rulers were not at the summit. The Philippines is being represented by its foreign minister as it wraps up a presidential election this week, while Myanmar’s junta chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, was barred from the summit amid a brutal crackdown on opponents of his military regime that rights groups say has claimed the lives of at least 1,835 civilians. While absent in Washington, the country the U.S. still officially calls Burma was much on the agenda of its fellow ASEAN members Thursday. Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah called out junta officials in a series of tweets for failing to honor their commitment to end violence in the country, while U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman held a meeting with Zin Mar Aung, the foreign minister of the shadow National Unity Government in Myanmar. “The deputy secretary highlighted that the United States would continue to work closely with ASEAN and other partners in pressing for a just and peaceful resolution to the crisis in Burma,” according to a statement by State Department spokesperson Ned Price. “They also condemned the escalating regime violence that has led to a humanitarian crisis and called for unhindered humanitarian access to assist all those in need in Burma.” In Naypyidaw, RFA’s Myanmar Service asked military junta spokesman Maj Gen Zaw Min Tun for comments but he did not respond. But the head of a think tank made up of former military officers who often reflects the regime’s hardline views called the U.S. meeting with the parallel administration “unethical.” “To put it bluntly, it’s an unethical act…
Czech venue pushes back against pressure from China to cancel Badiucao’s cartoons
Organizers of an exhibition by dissident cartoonist Badiucao in the Czech Republic have refused to cancel the event despite pressure from the Chinese embassy, who said his work “slanders Chinese leaders and hurts the feelings of the Chinese people.” Badiucao’s exhibit, which is touring the world under the title “MADe IN CHINA,” opened as planned on Thursday at the DOX Contemporary Art Center in Prague It includes works referencing the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, the 2019 protest movement in Hong Kong, Chinese support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s genocidal policies targeting Uyghurs and the ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns under CCP leader Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy. One work merges the faces of Xi and outgoing Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, to express the erosion of Hong Kong’s freedoms under the CCP, while another merges Xi’s face with that of Russian president Vladimir Putin, the first work visitors see entering the exhibit. The works have clearly ruffled feathers in Beijing. On the afternoon of May 11, DOX Contemporary Art Center project director Michaela Šilpochová suddenly received a call from Hao Hong, a cultural affairs department official at the Chinese embassy, to her private cell phone. Hao Hong said they were calling on the order of the Chinese embassy, and accused Badiucao’s work of “smearing the image of China’s leaders” and “hurting the feelings of the Chinese people” and warned that the exhibition would “destroy the relationship between the two countries.” Šilpochová responded that the center wouldn’t cancel the show, with DOX Contemporary Art Center chief Leoš Válka saying that the Chinese embassy had tried to put pressure on him in the past, and his lack of cooperation was likely why they hadn’t called him again. He said DOX Art Center refused to tolerate “intimidation and threats.” Hao Hong confirmed she had made the call when contacted by RFA. “I expressed serious concern about this exhibition on behalf of the embassy, and told Šilpochová that they shouldn’t be putting on an exhibition that hurts the feelings of the Chinese people,” Hao said. “I heard that this exhibition had already been held in Italy, so we knew the content of this exhibition.” “So we just had to express our opposition,” she said, accusing Badiucao of using politics to attract attention to himself. “Do artists have to express their political views and become famous by hurting this country and its leaders? I think it may be in order to attract the attention of people who are less friendly to China, and to use art to achieve a political goal,” Hao told RFA. Badiucao said he was no stranger to Beijing’s ire. “The Chinese government regards all criticisms as smears,” he told RFA. “But all that stuff about hurt feelings and smears is just a pretext for them to avoid criticism and oversight.” “My exhibition criticizes the Chinese government, and also praises the resistance of Chinese people faced with political dilemmas,” he said, citing late whistleblowing doctor Li Wenliang and late Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo. “I am a Chinese person myself, and I have never discriminated against Chinese people or wanted to hurt the Chinese people’s feelings,” he said. “But this government doesn’t represent the people or speak for them, because it’s not democratically elected.” He said politics and art mix well together. “Art should intervene in politics,” he said. “I would rather a society where art interferes in politics than one where politics interferes with art.” He hit out at the attempts by the CCP to silence him overseas. “Stifling expression, censorship, and threats against artists are ridiculous in a democratic country,” Badiucao said. “The Czechs once also lived in an authoritarian society, and the memory of being censored is very strong for them. In doing this, the Chinese government is reactivating painful memories of their history,” He said the exhibit was more likely to encourage more people to understand contemporary China, and arouse empathy for the Chinese people, than to smear China. Zhou Fengsuo, chairman of Humanitarian China, was present during the phone call between Hao and Šilpochová. “The Chinese embassy in the Czech Republic had a strong response, saying that it would endanger the relationship between China and the Czech Republic,” he said. “I heard the same thing when a statue of Liu Xiaobo was erected here three years ago.” “On the one hand it is ridiculous, on the other hand it is hateful. The CCP is afraid of Badiucao’s work and tries to silence opposition anywhere in the world … but the Czech Republic has a tradition of supporting free expression and opposing authoritarian rule.” Known as “China’s Banksy, Badiucao, 36, emigrated to Australia in 2009, where he has continued to produce political cartoons taking aim at the CCP’s human rights record. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
North Korean labor managers in China demand more money as job market tightens
North Korean job placement officials in China are demanding more money and perks like free cell phones from Chinese companies for the use of North Korean workers, a consequence of the tight labor market that has grown out of the COVID-19 pandemic, sources in China told RFA. Pyongyang dispatches legions of workers to both Russia and China to work in factories and on construction sites to earn foreign cash for the state. The workers give the lion’s share of their salaries to their North Korean handlers, who forward it to the central government. But demand for workers is rising as China’s economy struggles under a new wave of lockdowns, giving officials at the North Korean human resources companies new negotiating leverage with their Chinese business partners. While the North Koreans say the extra cash will improve the lives of the foreign workers they supervise, Chinese business owners suspect the placement officials are using the money for other purposes. A common tactic is to request more money to improve the workers’ squalid living conditions, a Chinese citizen of Korean descent, from Yanji, in the northeastern province of Jilin, told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity to speak freely. “On the outskirts of Yanji, about 300 North Korean workers … are employed by a clothing processing company. According to the original contract, the monthly salary per worker is 2,000 yuan (U.S. $297), but the North Korean handler is asking for more money in addition to that,” the source said. “The North Korean handlers demand things like electronic devices like cell phones and laptops, which they will use. Even if the company president buys them the devices, they will still ask for more money under the pretext of feeding the workers meat and providing them with snacks,” he said. Since the border with North Korea remains closed, the labor managers hold all the cards and the company owners have very little leverage, according to the source. “It is impossible to dispatch more manpower from North Korea because of the coronavirus crisis. It’s like the North Korean manpower managers are strangling the Chinese company owner, who is in a hurry to get the factory operating,” he said. “Even with the Chinese company’s proposal to give an average of an additional 30 yuan ($4.46) per worker per day to account for the additional working hours, the North Korean officials argue that it is not enough,” the source said. In some disputes, the North Korean consulate has had to step in to mediate between the labor managers and business owners, another Chinese citizen of Korean descent in the border city of Dandong, which lies across the Yalu River from North Korea’s Sinuiju, told RFA on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “The consulate sent a warning to a North Korean human resource company in a contract with a poultry processing company, urging them to ‘abide by the law and order of the host county,’ but to no avail,” the second source said. “The Chinese company offered an additional 15 yuan [$2.23] per hour per person for night work, but the North Korean official said that was not enough and they got into a huge argument,” he said. The Chinese business owner argued that he would be unable to offer more than the agreed 2,000 yuan per worker per month as stipulated in the contract unless there was additional night work, the second source said. “However, the North Korean officials are raising the issue, saying that fresh vegetables that were brought in daily before the coronavirus crisis have decreased to once a week during the pandemic, and the workers are suffering,” he said. “The officials say that the reason they are arguing over wages is to feed the workers better, but in reality, it is because they don’t have enough funds after they pay off the state,” the second source said, adding that most of the human resource companies operate a cafeteria exclusively for their workers, and they are usually adequately fed. “It is true however that after paying off the government and the consulate, as well as their food and living expenses, they don’t have enough to pay the workers their cut, as well as their food and living expenses,” he said. The U.N. Security Council reported that 50,000 out of 100,000 North Korean overseas workers were dispatched to China. The Chinese government claims to have repatriated more than half of the workers, but did not disclose specific figures. According to RFA sources, about 30,000 North Korean workers are believed to be in the Dandong area. North Korean labor exports were supposed to have stopped when United Nations nuclear sanctions froze the issuance of work visas and mandated the repatriation of North Korean nationals working abroad by the end of 2019. But Pyongyang sometimes dispatches workers to China and Russia on short-term student or visitor visas to get around sanctions. Translated by Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
