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Category: South Asia

‘Hong Kong must not become chaotic again,’ China’s Xi warns on handover anniversary

Editor010 mins

Chinese leader Xi Jinping swore in a new, security-focused government in Hong Kong on Friday, 25 years after Britain handed the city back to China, saying the current arrangements — which have seen a citywide crackdown on peaceful dissent and political opposition — are here to stay. “For this kind of good system, there is no reason at all to change it. It must be maintained over the long term,” Xi said in a speech at the inauguration ceremony. “After experiencing wind and rain, everyone can painfully feel that Hong Kong cannot be chaotic, and must not become chaotic again … Hong Kong’s development cannot be delayed again, and any interference must be eliminated,” Xi said. “Power must be in the hands of patriots,” Xi said. “No country or region in the world will allow unpatriotic or even traitorous or treasonous forces and figures to hold power.” “In the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, power is firmly in the hands of patriots, which is an inevitable requirement to ensure long-term stability in Hong Kong, and it will be unshakable,” he said. Xi also swore in former security chief and ex-cop John Lee, who has been sanctioned by the United States for his role in implementing the national security law, as chief executive. Police outside ran a massive security operation that included no-sail and no-fly zones, as well as roadblocks around the Convention and Exhibition Centre where Xi gave his speech. Xi’s defense of Chinese rule in Hong Kong came after British prime minister Boris Johnson and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Beijing of failing to meet its handover commitments. China’s line is that the national security law ended months of mass protests for full democracy and official accountability in 2019, which saw some protesters fight back with makeshift weapons against riot police wielding batons, tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannon and even live ammunition. China’s President Xi Jinping (R) standing with Hong Kong’s new Chief Executive John Lee (L) after Lee was sworn in as the city’s new leader, during a ceremony to inaugurate the city’s new government in Hong Kong on July 1, 2022. Credit: Hong Kong’s Information Services Department. ‘New era’ Uniform decorations declaring a “new era” of stability were seen across many districts, including red lanterns and the Chinese national flag, and the Hong Kong regional flag. “Hong Kong has of course also encountered various challenges, including the global financial crisis, the unlawful occupy movement in 2014, the Mong Kok riots in 2016, the riots and violence in 2019 together with the interference in Hong Kong’s affairs by external forces which threatened our national security, and the COVID-19 pandemic,” Lee told the inauguration ceremony, thanking the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for its support. Lee also lauded the national security law for “bringing order out of chaos,” and new election rules under which he was selected as the only candidate for the city’s top job in May 2022. “It is therefore imperative that we should cherish and uphold the system for a long time to come, and we should make good use of it to effect sound governance,” Lee said, sounding the death knell for any hope of democratic development under the new regime. Chinese political scientist Chen Daoyin said Xi’s tone in the speech was condescending and parental, and that late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping’s promise that Hong Kong would remain unchanged for 50 years was already dead in the water. “What [Xi] talked about what different from what Deng Xiaoping proposed,” Chen said. “Deng said Hong Kong would be like mainland China after 50 years, and maybe not at all.” “Xi has a new view on Hong Kong, which he calls a new starting point, making the point that Hong Kong has been brought to order out of chaos,” Chen said. Current affairs commentator Sang Pu said Xi has deliberately distorted the meaning of “one country, two systems.” “If he admits that one country, two systems is over, that would be tantamount to inviting opposition from Europe and the U.S.,” Sang told RFA. “It would also make it look as if he has failed.” “Instead, he is repackaging it as a new beginning.” Sang said Xi’s mention of cooperation between Hong Kong’s judiciary and that of mainland China was worrying, suggesting that the authorities may start requiring “patriotism” from judges as well as from lawmakers and civil servants. Dutiful congratulations Across the internal border in mainland China, the CCP-controlled state media focused on a highly choreographed “welcome” for Xi in Hong Kong, and on praising Beijing’s governance of the city. “Some media didn’t report it at all, so we can see that Hong Kong isn’t a priority for the government, and that nobody cares if Xi or anyone else goes there,” a Chinese scholar surnamed Shen told RFA. “Hong Kong can never be given too much prominence in the Chinese media.” Official media reports on the anniversary garnered a few dozen comments, most of them dutifully congratulatory, on social media. Only one comment on an article by the China Youth Daily, the official newspaper of CCP’s Youth League, opined: “I wish Hong Kong a better tomorrow.” Current affairs commentator Johnny Lau said Xi’s promise of science and technology cooperation between Hong Kong and neighboring Guangdong province had likely been behind his visit to the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park on Thursday. “Hong Kong’s high-tech R&D is good, but there is a shortage of production capacity and talent,” Lau said. “Through cooperation with the mainland, we can ‘reap the east wind’.” Xi was likely taking the opportunity to try to reboot Hong Kong’s international reputation as a trading and financial center in the wake of the national security crackdown and the COVID-19 pandemic, Lau said. Xi was declaring to the rest of the world that he has confidence in Hong Kong’s future and its economic policies, to exiting foreign investors to return, he said. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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FET completes trials of advanced submarine rescue vehicle

Editor08 mins

U.S. firm Forum Energy Technologies (FET) has completed sea trials of an advanced submarine rescue vehicle (SRV), the main component of a submarine rescue vessel, for the Vietnamese Navy, reports said. A press release by FET said the Scottish branch of the Texas-based company “successfully completed sea trials” of the SRV “ahead of its deployment for an Asia Pacific-based navy.” Media sources said the client was the Vietnamese Navy which bought six Kilo-class submarines from Russia ten years ago.  Vietnamese military officials were not available for comment. Vietnam commissioned a homegrown multi-purpose submarine search and rescue vessel, which it named Yet Kieu after a legendary hero, in July 2021 but this final step “indicates that the vessel should be nearing an operational capability,” said Gordon Arthur, a defense analyst and Asia-Pacific editor of Shephard Media. “Given that Vietnam has been operating Russian-built Kilo-class submarines since 2014, it is perhaps surprising that it’s taken nearly ten years to get such a rescue capability,” Arthur told RFA. Highly advanced vehicle According to FET’s statement, the sea trials tested the SRV’s capabilities to “perform a variety of demanding operations, including deep dives, navigation, and mating with a target.”  In-country commissioning and testing took two months to complete, it said. The trials were done in close cooperation with the navy and Lloyd’s Register (LR), a maritime classification organization which “offered third party verification and supervised every part of the sea trials.” The SRV is divided into two sections including a command module for pilots and a rescue chamber for the chamber operator and people being rescued. It is capable of rescuing up to 17 people at a time and operates at depths of up to 600m, FET said. The vehicle boasts “some of the most advanced sensors and sonars” including a doppler velocity log, fibre optic gyroscope, sonar, and depth sensing to quickly locate a distressed submarine. FET will also be providing training for navy pilots as part of the contract, which includes theoretical training, maintenance, diving and recovery. The mother ship ‘927-Yet Kieu’ meanwhile is nearly 100m-long, 16m-wide and 7.2m-high, with a displacement of up to 3,950 tons, according to Vietnamese defense sources.  The multi-purpose vessel can operate continuously at sea 30 days and nights and it is capable of withstanding high wind and waves. Vietnamese army company Z189 began building the ship in mid-2018 after the commissioning of the last of six Russian-made submarines in 2017. Vietnam has the largest submarine fleet in Southeast Asia with six Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines, dubbed “black holes” for their stealthiness. With the new SRV, the Vietnamese navy has now joined the club of countries with submarine rescue capability in the Asia-Pacific including Australia, China, India, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea. Flag-hoisting ceremony on Kilo-class submarine Ba Ria – Vung Tau CREDIT: Vietnamese Navy ‘Expensive and dangerous’ “There has been a growth in the number of submarines in the region,” noted Gordon Arthur, adding that as submarine incidents have the potential to quickly become catastrophic, “it is vital that navies operating submarines have their own rescue capability, so that they can quickly swing into action.” “A submarine rescue capability is like a tuxedo. They are expensive and are rarely used – but when you do need it, absolutely nothing else can replace it,” he said. In April 2021 an Indonesian navy submarine, the KRI Nanggala, sank off the coast of Bali killing all 53 crew on board. Yet Jakarta is seeking to expand its submarine fleet from four at present to at least ten by 2029. “Some nations think that owning submarines will bring prestige and respect but submarines are not shiny toys. They are very expensive and underwater operations are inherently dangerous,” said Arthur. “Navies need to ensure they have the skills, money and rescue capability to keep their submarines in top condition.” Vietnam, China and some other countries are entangled in territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the new submarine force would enable Hanoi to defend its interests, the Vietnamese military leadership said. But compared to its neighbor, Beijing has a much larger fleet of nearly 60 submarines, a third of which are nuclear-powered. Analysts have questioned if Vietnam’s new SRV could be used for reconnaissance purposes besides submarine rescue missions. But some experts such as Collin Koh, Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, point out that such submersibles are handicapped by range and endurance, “so they may have limited standoff reconnaissance capabilities.” “But such submersibles with suitable modifications can potentially do seabed espionage-related work, such as tapping undersea cables,” Koh said.

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Vietnam faces global calls to release anti-coal activist

Editor07 mins

International groups are increasing pressure on the Vietnamese government to release anti-coal campaigner Nguy Thi Khanh, the director of civil society organization the Green Innovation and Development Centre (GreenID). On Tuesday U.S.-based NGO Oil Change International (OCI) voiced its support for the campaign, demanding her immediate release. “Our message to the government of Vietnam is that you cannot jail leading activists and claim to be a climate leader. You will never silence influential voices who speak out against the dirty fossil fuel business. The more you imprison people, the more you empower others,” the group said in a news release. The OCI also called on the Vietnamese government to release three other environmental activists, Mai Phan Loi, Dang Dinh Bach, and Bach Hung Duong. All four are serving prison sentences on tax evasion charges. Nguy Thi Khanh, 46, was sentenced to 24 months in prison by the Hanoi People’s Court on June 17. The other three were sentenced to between two and a half and five years in prison. OCI’s Asia program director, Susanne Wong urged G7 leaders, who met in Germany this week, to use their influence to “protect the rapidly shrinking civil society space in Vietnam” and “ensure that just transition packages with the Vietnamese government include provisions to protect civil society engagement in climate discussions and to guard against the use of administrative laws to silence activists.” Four days before OCI’s announcement, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Activists, an alliance of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), issued a statement calling on the international community to speak out about the cases along with those of other human rights activists. It also expressed concern over the Vietnamese government’s frequent use of tax evasion charges as a weapon to silence activists. The coalition urged individuals and organizations around the world to write to the Vietnamese government, calling on it to end its crackdown on human rights and environmental activists, release those serving prison sentences and ensure all activists are able to operate without fear of reprisal. Andrea Giorgetta, director of FIDH’s Asia Office, said it was important to give environmentalists the freedom to speak out. “Environmental activists such as Khanh play a vital role in ensuring that environmental rights and principles are part of the Vietnamese government’s policies, which have historically followed a top-down approach without any genuine public consultation and input,” he said. “The jailing of Khanh and the other environmental activists represents a worrying escalation by Hanoi in the repression of civil society. Khanh, Bach, and Loi were not hardcore government critics – their organizations in fact sought to engage the Vietnamese government with regard to the implementation of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. Their imprisonment shows that in Vietnam nobody is safe from government persecution.” Giorgetta said it appeared that the Vietnamese government was adopting subtler tactics to escape international criticism. “Perhaps Hanoi believes that the use of tax laws as opposed to the enforcement of draconian national security legislation will not trigger international condemnation. But the harsh prison sentences imposed on Khanh, Bach, and Loi for tax evasion show that Hanoi considers environmental activists to be as dangerous as dissidents, and that they must all be silenced.” Five months after Vietnam sentenced Mai Phan Loi, Dang Dinh Bach, and Bach Hung Duong to prison and nearly two weeks after the trial of Nguy Thi Khanh, the campaign for their release has snowballed. There are now three governments, the United States, Britain, and Canada, as well as various NGOs including the Climate Action Network (CAN), voicing their opposition to the activists’ conviction and calling for their immediate and unconditional release. The United Nations Human Rights Office and the UN Environmental Programme also issued a statement on April 22 expressing deep concern about the imprisonment of human rights and environmental protection activists for alleged “tax evasion” in Vietnam. The U.S. President’s climate envoy John Kerry and his European Union counterpart Frans Timmermans issued a joint call on June 26 demanding the release of Khanh and other environmental activists imprisoned in Vietnam. On June 23 Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry rejected international criticism of the case against Khanh, insisting that her prison sentence was legal.

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Cambodian court warns Kem Sokha, on trial for ‘treason,’ not to get political

Editor08 mins

A court in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh warned opposition leader Kem Sokha not to engage in any further political activities after the prosecution played a recorded conversation he held with supporters ahead of recent local elections, the latest wrinkle in his trial that started more than two years ago on unsubstantiated charges of treason. The deputy court prosecutor demanded Kem Sokha’s arrest after alleging that he had met with allies in the northwestern province of Siem Reap prior to the June 5 vote for commune council seats and discussed politics. Kem Sokha was released from pre-trial detention to house arrest in September 2018 and granted bail in November 2019 by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, the terms of which allowed him to travel within Cambodia but restricted him from taking part in any political activities. An undercover investigator recorded one of the conversations, which was used as evidence in Wednesday’s proceedings. Kem Sokha was allowed to return home when the court session ended at 2 p.m. His lawyer, Pheng Heng, told RFA’s Khmer Service that Kem Sokha would be more careful about interactions in order to avoid new charges as the trial unfolds. “He didn’t make any political speech,” said Pheng Heng. He said that Kem Sokha has participated in public gatherings, like weddings, Buddhist ceremonies and a feast, none of which were political. “The deputy prosecutor thought it was political activity, but the defense thinks otherwise,” Phen Heng said. Kem Sokha is not part of any political party recognized by the Ministry of Interior. The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) — which he co-founded with Sam Rainsy, who is living in self-exile in France — was dissolved by Cambodia’s Supreme Court in November 2017, two months after he was arrested over an alleged plot backed by the United States to overthrow the government of Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than 35 years. Kem Sokha therefore could not have been engaging in politics, his lawyer argued. Wednesday’s hearing was the 46th session of the trial that started prior to the coronavirus pandemic. While the trial was delayed by the court’s closure during the height of the pandemic, critics believe that since then the authorities have been stalling in an attempt to keep Kem Sokha out of the public sphere to curb his political influence. During the 46th session, the court did not address the underlying charges against Kem Sokha, but focused instead on his recent activities. The case against Kem Sokha is clearly politically motivated, Yi Sok San, a senior monitor for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc), told RFA. “I urge the government to differentiate between politics and law,” he said, adding that it was not fair to raise the new allegation against Kem Sokha without informing the defense. CPP spokesperson Chhim Phall Vorun told RFA that the government’s case is not politically motivated. Experts condemn mass trial U.N. human rights experts on Wednesday requested a review of a June 14 mass trial where 43 defendants with connections to the CNRP were convicted on charges of plotting and incitement, receiving sentences of up to eight years. U.N. officials Vitit Muntarbhorn, who monitors human rights concerns in Cambodia, Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, who tracks freedom of peaceful assembly issues, and Diego Garcia-Sayan, who promotes the independence of judges and lawyers, signed the statement. “The outcome of this first instance trial reinforces a troubling pattern of political trials peppered with judicial flaws,” the experts said in a statement. “We urge the government to urgently review and remedy the process to ensure the defendants’ access to justice.” Among the convicted activists is Cambodian American lawyer Theary Seng, who was recently moved from a prison in Phnom Penh to a more remote location, which the experts said makes family or consular visits more difficult. “On these grounds, the government is urged to review these convictions — and all pending similar cases — and to ensure future judicial proceedings adhere to international obligations,” the experts said. “This is critical to ensure the trend of shrinking civic and democratic space in Cambodia, aggravated by these trials, is reversed. A hindered access to justice not only infringes the rights of the victims, but has an overall chilling effect on society, discourages participation in assemblies and associations, and contributes to the dangerous trend of closing of civic space,” they said. Cambodia’s mission to the U.N. rejected the assessment of the trial as “misleading news.” The mission asserted that the trial was not politically motivated and said calling it as such was “unfounded and prejudicial.” It said that the experts’ narrative “one-sided and biased.” Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Second trip to Myanmar minus key stakeholders underway for ASEAN Envoy

Editor010 mins

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Special Envoy to Myanmar Prak Sokhonn kicked off his second trip to Myanmar Wednesday to mediate the country’s political crisis despite being denied access to key stakeholders, prompting observers to question the value of his visit. On Tuesday, junta deputy minister of information, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told the media that the envoy will be permitted to meet with regime chairman, Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, during his five-day visit, as well as other members of the military regime, ethnic armed groups and individuals from “some political parties.” The junta has said that Prak Sokhonn will hold a meeting on Friday with the 10 ethnic armed groups that recently met for peace talks with Min Aung Hlaing — seven of which have signed a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the government since 2015, and three that have not. The talks were boycotted by Myanmar’s major ethnic armies for a perceived lack of inclusivity. On Wednesday, Karen Peace Council (KNLA-PC) spokesman, Col. Saw Kyaw Nyunt, whose group is among those will meet with Prak Sokhonn later this week, suggested that the envoy must meet with more than just those who have been approved by the junta if he hopes to resolve the country’s political stalemate. “I’d urge him to meet, as a special envoy, with all those involved in the political crisis in Myanmar,” he said. “We’ll also [push to] find out what ASEAN could do to bring about a political dialogue inclusive of all stakeholders. And then, as a next step, what ASEAN could do to bring about nationwide peace talks. We have all these in mind.” Prior to the trip, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen — whose nation holds the rotating chair of ASEAN — and Prak Sokhonn had requested permission for the envoy to meet with the head of the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) Aung San Suu Kyi and the party’s president, Win Myint, but were refused by the junta. The pair are among several NLD officials who were arrested in the immediate aftermath of the military’s Feb. 1, 2021, coup and face multiple charges widely viewed as politically motivated. During an emergency meeting on the situation in Myanmar in April 2021, Min Aung Hlaing had agreed to a so-called Five-Point Consensus to end violence in the country, which included meeting with all stakeholders to resolve the political crisis but has failed to keep that promise. Observers say that peace cannot be achieved without including the NLD leadership and other powerbrokers in the process – concerns that were echoed by Col. Saw Kyaw Nyunt in his interview with RFA. Multiple attempts by RFA to contact Zaw Min Tun for comment on Prak Sokhonn’s visit went unanswered Wednesday. Earlier this week, the junta spokesman said that “those facing trials” will not be allowed to meet with the ASEAN envoy, adding that the military regime is “working with certain groups” to end the conflict in Myanmar, which has claimed the lives of 2,039 civilians since the coup, according to Bangkok-based NGO Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. “The main point of the agreement is that we are discussing with practical organizations to reduce the tensions of the armed conflict,” Zaw Min Tun said at the time, referring to the 10 ethnic armed groups that met with Min Aung Hlaing for peace talks. “Basic agreements have been reached in the negotiations. More discussions will be held later. We have paved the way [for Prak Sokhonn] to meet with the right people, except those who are still being prosecuted and those who are still facing legal action.” The military has said it plans to allow the envoy meet with “some NLD members” during his visit but has not specified who they are. When asked who will hold talks with Prak Sokhonn, NLD central working committee member Kyaw Htwe said he could not comment on the matter. ‘Not optimistic’ Kyaw Zaw, a spokesman for the office of Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) president, Duwa Lashi La, told RFA he is “not optimistic” about the outcome of Prak Sokhonn’s trip if the envoy fails to meet with the country’s key stakeholders. “It’s impossible for the ASEAN special representative’s efforts to be successful if he is only holding discussions with the junta and is refused a chance to meet with important stakeholders during his visit,” he said. “I don’t expect there will be any benefit for the people of Myanmar.” Kyaw Zaw reiterated calls for Prak Sokhonn to meet with “all those involved in the conflict” during his visit, “not just with those who are chosen by the military.” Myanmar-based political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe also dismissed the likelihood of a solution to the country’s political crisis being reached if the opposition is denied a seat at the negotiating table. “The kind of result that people want will not come if things go on like this. It’s a one-sided approach to find a political solution [only] through dialogue with pro-military groups and those who are close to the military,” he said. “The desires and the perspectives of the people on the other side of the issue are being ignored. That’s why I don’t think the solution that people hope for will come out of the visit.” According to a statement issued by Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, Prak Sokhonn will discuss the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus, the provision of humanitarian assistance, and ways to facilitate a political dialogue after holding talks with all stakeholders. The ASEAN special envoy visited Myanmar for the first time in March but was criticized for failing to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint, and for failing to make significant progress in his mission to Myanmar. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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RIMPAC gets underway amid rising U.S.-China tensions

Editor05 mins

Ships from various nations taking part in this year’s RIMPAC exercises. CREDIT: U.S. Navy The world’s largest naval exercise, the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) started Wednesday, promoting maritime cooperation in a region being clouded by U.S.-China rivalry. The U.S.-led war games, joined by all members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad, sends a clear message to Beijing as tensions rise across the Taiwan Strait and the war in Ukraine drags on. China has been criticizing the Quad cooperation between the United States, India, Japan and Australia, as an attempt to create an “Asia-Pacific version of NATO.” Some 26 nations with 38 surface ships, four submarines, nine national land forces, more than 170 aircraft and approximately 25,000 personnel are taking part in the biennial RIMPAC 2022, scheduled for June 29 to Aug. 4, according to the U.S. Navy.  Five countries bordering the South China Sea – Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore – are amongst the participants. Three of them have competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, where China declares “historical rights” over most of the sea. RIMPAC 2022 is the 28th exercise since the war games started in 1971.  Earlier this year, there were talks to include Taiwan which China considers a province that needs to be “reunified”, into RIMPAC but the move was not realized. Beijing said that such inclusion would have “a strong political implication.” China was twice invited to participate in the RIMPAC in 2014 and 2016, but as bilateral relations have soured, Washington has kept Beijing out since 2018 in the context of China’s militarization of the South China Sea. ‘Sewage of the Cold War’ RIMPAC 2022’s theme is “Capable, Adaptive, Partners,” and the main aim is to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, according to an announcement by the U.S. Navy. Participating forces will exercise a wide range of capabilities from “disaster relief and maritime security operations to sea control and complex warfighting.” The training program includes “amphibious operations, gunnery, missile, anti-submarine and air defense exercises, as well as counter-piracy operations, mine clearance operations, explosive ordnance disposal, and diving and salvage operations.” The drills will be conducted in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California region. A number of U.S. partners and allies including NATO members Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and France are taking part. China has been sneering at the presence of NATO countries in the region. The Chinese Permanent Representative to the U.N., Zhang Jun, said his country “firmly opposes NATO’s involvement in the Asia-Pacific region or the creation of an Asia-Pacific version of NATO.” An editorial in the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece Global Times went further saying: “The sewage of the Cold War cannot be allowed to flow into the Pacific Ocean.” Analysts noted that the small Pacific island of Tonga is invited to RIMPAC for the second time.  This year’s invitation came as China and the U.S. and allies are squaring off for influence in the Pacific. Beijing reached a security deal with the Solomon Islands in March but failed to sign a bigger, more ambitious agreement with ten Pacific island nations.

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ISIS style BEHEADING that shook India

Editor01 mins

 India is shaken after the gruesome murder of a tailor in Udaipur city of the state of Rajasthan. In the horrific incident, two men beheaded a tailor at his shop for supporting Nupur Sharma’s controversial remarks on social media. The experts are calling it an ISIS style beheading. Moreover, the assailants recorded the crime on camera and circulated the video on the social media. One of the assailants, identified as Riyaz, attacked Kanhaiya Lal with a sharp-edged weapon while the other recorded the crime on his mobile phone. In the video they confessed the killing of the tailor for insulting the Prophet (PBUH). The assailants also threatened to kill Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a similar fashion. They can be seen saying “Inshallaah, our machete will reach Narendra Modi and Nupur Sharma too”. The two accused have now been detained by the local police.

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Leaked documents show China’s careful coordination of Uyghur repression

Editor016 mins

Classified speeches given by high-ranking Chinese Communist Party officials describe Uyghurs and other Muslims as an “enemy class” whose traditions must be wiped away for China to survive, startling new evidence of the coordinated brutality authorities have deployed to force restive minority groups to assimilate. The speeches are part of a trove of documents known as the Xinjiang Police Files, leaked records allegedly from internment camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) that were released in May by German researcher Adrian Zenz, an expert on the region. The files contain information about more than 20,000 detained Uyghurs. The internal-party speeches, labeled “classified documents,” show that Chinese government officials carefully planned what the United States and the parliaments of some western countries have said is genocide and crimes against humanity. Among the documents is a May 2017 speech by Chen Quanguo, Chinese Communist Party secretary of the XUAR from August 2016 to December 2021, who said the Chinese government’s crackdown in Xinjiang was not an act of stamping out criminals but rather an “extinction war” aimed at the Uyghur population. He called the Uyghurs an “enemy class.” Chen described a “strike hard” campaign strategy of governing Xinjiang that was directed by the Chinese President Xi Jinping and included the imprisonment of Uyghurs. According to the files, Chen’s instructions in his speech were based on directives received from China’s central government. Rights groups have issued reams of credible, well-documented reports about the detention of an estimated 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in the XUAR, along with widespread surveillance, discrimination, restrictions on culture and freedom of religion that the groups face, and severe rights abuses, including torture, sexual assaults, and forced labor. Chen also said that those sentenced to fewer than five years in prison should be mobilized for “learning law” and “bilingual learning,” and be released only after they reached a satisfactory study level no matter how many years it took. The former official said Uyghurs deemed untrustworthy or harmful by the Chinese government had to be educated to the extent that they were committed to “completely freeing themselves from such ideas once they return to society.” But those whose outlooks could not likely be changed — “unauthorized imams” and “two-faced people” — should be detained or imprisoned indefinitely because they have the ability to guide the Uyghur community. The Chinese Communist Party uses the term “two-faced” to describe people — usually officials or party members — who are either corrupt or ideologically disloyal to the party. Authorities in Xinjiang interrogate a Uyghur in a ‘re-education’ camp in an undated photo from the leaked ‘Xinjiang Police Files,’ published by German researcher Adrian Zenz on May 24, 2022. Credit: Adrian Zenz/Xinjiang Police Files ‘Poisoned by terrorism, violence and extremism’ The “harmful” people Chen Quanguo mentioned in his speech refers to Uyghurs the Chinese government considers to be “poisoned by terrorism, violence and extremism” or during contacts with foreigners. Chen said such people needed to be “treated” in what he called a “people’s war.” Information in the Xinjiang Police Files and other research reports and leaked documents suggest that what Chen referred to as poison included Uyghur traditions and Islamic activities. Speeches by Chen and Zhao Kezhi, the former Chinese minister of public security, indicated that there were millions of “poisoned” Uyghurs. Adrian Zenz, who received the Xinjiang Police Files from an unnamed source, said Chinese authorities have detained Uyghurs not for crimes, but for their social connections. “[M]any of more than 2,800 people we have seen in the Xinjiang Police Files were detained because of their social networks, not because of any crime they committed,” he said. Ilshat Hassan Kokbore, a political analyst based in the U.S. and vice chairman of the executive committee of the World Uyghur Congress, said the large-scale arbitrary detention of Uyghurs by the Chinese government and what Chen describes as a “people’s war” are tantamount to publicly declaring the entire Uyghur people is the “enemy of the Chinese state.” Another focal point of Chen’s speech was the extension of government control over Uyghur families. In his view, police could visit and monitor only a limited number of households under what authorities called the “10 Families, One Ring” policy, creating a loophole in the surveillance of those who did not live in the vicinity of a police station. In late 2017, Xinjiang authorities assigned cadres to visit and stay in the homes of Uyghurs, where they ate with the residents and in some cases slept in their beds, in what was a test-run of the “Pair Up and Becoming Family” program. Under the program, public servants were assigned to families and had to live with them in their houses for a few days every couple of months to monitor them. Chen summed up the situation at the time: “In the past, in some villages, our officials were afraid of being killed when entering their families to become relatives. Now the officials who enter the families are greeted by everyone at the dinner table.” Children play near a screen showing images of Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kashgar, in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region, June 1, 2019. Credit: AFP. ‘Eliminating budding risk’ As far as Uyghur children were concerned, Chen said 1 million minors being educated in “bilingual” kindergartens had learned the “national language” very well. In just a few months it was possible for the children to sing the national anthem in Chinese and to love the “great motherland,” Beijing and Tiananmen Square, Chen said. “Only in this way can we make the next generation hopeful for long-term stability, follow the party and be grateful to the party,” Chen said, without mentioning where the parents of the Uyghur children were or what they thought. The Chinese state educating such a large number of Uyghur children would be devastating to Uyghur society, Kokbore said. The Chinese government’s education methods are driven by the notion of “eliminating budding risk,” so that the scale of the training continues until…

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Chinese authorities sentence Tibetan student to 3 years for contacting exiles

Editor03 mins

Chinese authorities this month sentenced a university student to three years in prison for contacting Tibetan exiles, the latest in a series of arbitrary arrests of Tibetan intellectuals, artists and other community leaders, activists told RFA. Nyima, from Shelian Township in Kardze (Ganzi in Chinese) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province, was arrested unexpectedly in January this year on charges of spying. He was a student at Sichuan’s Gehoe National University, concentrating his studies on Tibetan culture. Fluent in Tibetan, Chinese and English, Nyima had always been around tourists and visitors, sharing Tibet’s unique language and culture prior to his arrest in January. “[He] was sentenced on June 5 to three years in prison for allegedly disseminating state secrets, but the Chinese authorities have shared no details of what kind of state secrets Nyima has exposed,” a Tibetan source living inside Tibet told RFA. “He could be seen sharing Tibet’s history and authentic Tibetan culture with the tourists, so I think that may be the reason for his arrest. His family has no idea where he is imprisoned at the moment,” said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons. Nyima’s arrest is very similar to the arrests of other influential Tibetans, Pema Gyal, a researcher at the London–based Tibet Watch advocacy group told RFA’s Tibetan Service. “There have been a growing number of cases of arrests of Tibetan intellectuals inside Tibet by the Chinese government, and we have learned that in case of Nyima, he was arrested for communicating with the outside exile community, and also for his commitment to preserve Tibetan language and culture,” Pema Gyal said. Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with informally organized language courses typically deemed “illegal associations” and teachers subject to detention and arrest, sources say. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Vietnam orders media to promote its ocean strategy

Editor08 mins

The Vietnamese government has launched a national campaign to promote its maritime policies as the ruling party pledges to explore “all available legal tools” to defend its interests amid China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. A government order stipulates that by 2025, all domestic media outlets are required to have a dedicated section on Vietnam’s sea and ocean strategy, and their entire editorial staff must have the necessary  knowledge and understanding of both the international and domestic laws on the sea. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese authorities have banned all tourist activities on two islets adjacent to the strategic Cam Ranh Bay that is undergoing intensive development into an advanced naval base, home to its submarines. Vietnam has the largest submersible fleet in Southeast Asia with six Kilo-class subs, bought from Russia at a cost of U.S.$1.8 billion. Tour guides and witnesses told RFA that since April, the two islands of Binh Ba and Binh Hung in Cam Ranh Bay, Khanh Hoa province, have become off-limits to foreign visitors. Vietnamese nationals still have limited access to the scenic islets, just a stone’s throw from the docked frigates. “Eventually, even Vietnamese tourists will not be allowed on Ba Binh,” said Binh, a tour operator who wanted to be known only by his first name. “So, my advice is to visit it while you can,” he said. Russian Udaloy-class destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov at Cam Ranh port on June 25, 2022. CREDIT: Sputnik Modern naval base Cam Ranh Bay is a well known deep-water port in central Vietnam, only 300 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City. It was used by the French, and subsequently, the U.S. Navy until the end of the Vietnam war. In 1979 the Soviet Union signed a 25-year lease of Cam Ranh with the Vietnamese and spent a large sum of money to develop it into a major base for the Soviet Pacific Fleet. But Russia withdrew from the base in 2002, citing increased rent and changing priorities. Hanoi has since announced a so-called “three nos” policy – no alliances, no foreign bases on its territory and no alignment with a second country against a third – that means foreign navies will not be allowed to set up bases in Cam Ranh. However, a logistics faciliy has been established to offer repair and maintenance services to foreign vessels, including Russian and U.S. warships. Moscow is still maintaining a listening station in Cam Ranh Bay and has also indicated that it is considering a comeback, according to Russian media. Three warships of the Russian Navy’s Pacific Fleet led by the Udaloy-class anti-submarine destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov visited Cam Ranh between June 25 and 28. With 50 ships and 23 submarines, the Pacific Fleet is Russia’s second largest naval fleet after the Black Sea Fleet which is currently involved in the war in Ukraine. U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea A Russian presence may be seen as a counterweight for competing China-U.S. rivalry in the South China Sea, where Beijing claims “historical rights” over almost 80 per cent, analysts said. With China apparently gaining a foothold in the region, at the Ream naval base in Cambodia, Cam Ranh may become even more important strategically to other regional players. On June 19 Vietnam protested against China’s drills near the Paracel islands, claimed by both countries but occupied entirely by China. Hanoi and five other claimants in the South China Sea are still struggling to agree on a Code of Conduct in the contested sea, where the U.S. and allies have been challenging China’s excessive territorial claims with their freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs). Vietnamese experts are calling for a more active application of legal documents to assert the country’s sovereignty in the South China Sea, especially as 2022 is the 40th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 10th anniversary of Vietnam’s own Law of the Sea. Tran Cong Truc, former head of Vietnam’s Border Committee, said that UNCLOS “paved a clear legal corridor for countries to defend their lawful rights,” and needed to be “properly utilized.” A series of special events are being held to commemorate the anniversaries, as well as to highlight the importance of this “legal corridor.”  “UNCLOS and Vietnam’s Law of the Sea are the two main legal tools for the fight for our rights,” Sr. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh, former vice minister of defense, was quoted by the People’s Army newspaper as saying. “Vietnam should only consider military actions as the last resort after exhausting all other options,” he said.

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