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China’s Black Market for Nvidia AI Chips: A Growing Threat to Global Security

Despite strict U.S. export controls, China is exploiting underground trade networks to obtain Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips. Traders are circumventing restrictions by routing shipments through third-party resellers in Southeast Asia, allowing Beijing to access cutting-edge technology that powers artificial intelligence development, military applications, and mass surveillance. This black-market operation poses a direct challenge to U.S. national security and global stability. China’s Shadow Network: How AI Chips Are Smuggled In Since the U.S. imposed export bans in 2022 to limit China’s access to high-performance AI processors, an underground network of brokers has emerged. These middlemen purchase Nvidia’s latest Blackwell and restricted Hopper chips from authorized suppliers in Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan before reselling them to Chinese buyers at inflated prices. One striking case involves a vendor in Shenzhen who received an order for more than a dozen Blackwell servers—each containing eight AI processors—for a Shanghai-based customer. The buyer deposited $3 million into an escrow account, with the shipment planned for mid-March. This transaction highlights the efficiency and scale of China’s illicit semiconductor trade. Chinese resellers also use deceptive tactics to evade scrutiny, including: Some traders have become so confident in their ability to bypass restrictions that they openly advertise available AI servers on social media. A recently circulated video showed unopened Nvidia H200 servers stacked in a Chinese warehouse, ready for distribution. Why China is Desperate for Nvidia’s AI Chips China’s aggressive push to acquire AI processors is not just about technological advancement—it’s about securing dominance in artificial intelligence, which has critical implications for national security, military strategy, and surveillance. The demand for Nvidia’s Blackwell and Hopper-series chips stems from their unmatched capabilities in training advanced AI models, which play a vital role in: With each passing month, China’s reliance on smuggled AI chips grows, fueling its technological ambitions despite U.S. attempts to slow them down. U.S. Efforts to Crack Down—And China’s Evasive Tactics In response to these illegal trade networks, Nvidia and other U.S. tech firms have strengthened their “Know Your Customer” policies, conducting stricter background checks on buyers. Meanwhile, authorities in Taiwan and Singapore have ramped up scrutiny of high-tech exports, making it harder for smugglers to move large shipments. However, China’s black market is evolving. Resellers now go to extreme lengths to evade detection: Despite increased enforcement, the sheer demand for AI chips means the illegal trade continues at a rapid pace. The Global Risk: What Happens Next? The unchecked flow of AI chips into China is more than just a trade violation—it’s a direct security threat to the U.S. and its allies. If Beijing gains unrestricted access to cutting-edge AI technology, it will accelerate its development of military AI, strengthen its authoritarian surveillance state, and challenge the global balance of power. The Biden administration, along with allies in Asia and Europe, must act swiftly to close loopholes in semiconductor exports. Without a coordinated international response, China will continue to exploit the underground tech trade—fueling an AI arms race that threatens global stability.

INTERVIEW: ‘North Korea could have 300 nuclear warheads within 10 years’

Editor1 year ago016 mins

Ankit Panda, an expert on North Korea’s nuclear program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, was interviewed by Radio Free Asia regarding Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions and how its capabilities might be improved through North Korea’s support of Russia in its war with Ukraine. Panda, a Stanton senior fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at Carnegie, also said that North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, very likely can be used to attack an American city, and that Pyongyang might have as many as 300 warheads within the next 10 years. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. RFA: If North Korea were to launch an ICBM at the U.S. right now, do you think the U.S. would be vulnerable? Ankit Panda: That’s a good question. First of all, would North Korea launch an ICBM? Probably not — it would be essentially suicidal. There’s no reason for North Korea to attack the United States unprovoked. But the technical question that you asked, “Can North Korea essentially detonate a nuclear warhead over an American city?” — the answer to that question in my view is very probably yes, and that’s a carefully chosen phrase, “very probably yes.” The North Koreans, the reliability that they have is probably a lot lower than what the United States has, but it’s probably sufficient for the purposes that Kim Jong Un seeks which is to deter the United States. The only question that Kim has to ask himself is, “In a serious crisis or a war between the United States and North Korea, would an American president be worried that if the war got out of control, American cities could be vulnerable to nuclear attack?” And I think the answer there is absolutely. RFA: But can’t the United States intercept North Korean ICBMs with its missile defense system? Panda: The U.S. has a very limited homeland missile defense capability. We have a total of 44 interceptors that are capable of destroying incoming ICBMs. These interceptors are actually deployed in Alaska. There’s 40 of them in Alaska and four of them in California at Vandenberg Air Force Base. These are designed to deal with North Korean ICBM threats. But it gets a little complicated here because it’s not that there’s 44 interceptors, which means the U.S. can defend against 44 North Korean ICBMs. Probably the U.S. would look to use 3 to 4 interceptors against one incoming ICBM reentry vehicle. And so then if you’re in North Korea, you have a solution to this problem, right? You build more ICBMs. And so that is where the North Koreans have gone. I would argue that that is a chance that would be very difficult for an American president to take — this idea that the North Koreans could launch ICBMs and our interceptors might not actually work. Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Workers’ Party General Secretary Kim Jong-un after signing the ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement’ at the Kumsusan State Guest House in Pyongyang in June 2024.(Yonhap News) So we know from Ukrainian intelligence that there has been change in the KN-23s. … They used to be very inaccurate when they were first used. And it turns out there was a report in December 2024 that the precision has improved significantly, and that is a very, very important milestone for the North Koreans because — especially if they do want to deploy tactical nuclear weapons — precision of the missile system matters quite a bit because the yield of the weapon is a lot lower, the yield being the explosive power. And so if you’re trying to leverage those types of tactical nuclear weapons for maximal military utility–let’s say you want to hit an airfield in South Korea that has F-35s that you can’t deal with once they take off, so you have to destroy them before they take off. You really need to make sure that the the yield of the weapon and the precision of the missile match essentially in terms of the mission that you’re trying to accomplish. And so I really think that we shouldn’t underrate the ways in which North Korea’s missile transfers to Russia are very directly augmenting Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions and strategy. RFA: When we talk about North Korean involvement in Ukraine, experts and officials say that North Korea is getting from Russia food or other kinds of support, but regarding missile technology, what does Pyongyang need that Moscow can give? Panda: The area where I think the Russians can really help them is with guidance computers, cruise missile maneuvering, cruise missile control and potentially even countermeasures, other types of ways in which to just improve the reliability of North Korea’s manufacturing standards for missile systems. So all of that, I think will will happen is probably happening in some form space launch technologies, too. I think the Russians will be very, very eager to to help the North Koreans out. That has been the most public facing component of technical cooperation. RFA: As North Korea and Russia grow closer, is there a possibility that Russia will recognize North Korea as an official nuclear state? Panda: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has pretty explicitly said that Russia no longer views North Korea as a nonproliferation concern. Essentially, you know, since the early 1990s, the major powers China, Russia, the United States and Japan, South Korea, the European Union, the whole world has seen North Korea as a nonproliferation problem. They’re the only country to have signed the Nonproliferation Treaty, left that treaty and built nuclear weapons. So it matters how you deal with North Korea for that reason. But it also matters in a big way that the North Koreans are really presenting unacceptable nuclear risks, in my opinion, to the United States and its allies, and so that demands a focus on risk reduction. President Donald Trump and North Korean General Secretary Kim Jong Un meet in Singapore on June 12, 2018.(Yonhap News)…

Tibetan netizens mourn death of ‘patriotic singer’ Lobsang

Editor1 year ago05 mins

Read RFA coverage of this story in Tibetan. Popular Tibetan singer Lobsang, who was frequently detained and interrogated by Chinese authorities for music that was patriotic and critical of Chinese policies, has died following a prolonged illness, according to two sources, one in Tibet and one in exile. He was 39. Lobsang, who became famous at a young age and produced eight albums, died on Feb. 18 of a liver disease at a hospital in the city of Chengdu in southwest China’s Sichuan province, the source in Tibet said, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. “Due to political content in some of his lyrics, he was repeatedly summoned for questioning and detained by Chinese authorities,” the source said. Hailing from Kyungchu county in Sichuan province, Lobsang dedicated his life to music, releasing numerous albums, and was suspected of activism by the Chinese government because of the political content in his works, a source in exile told RFA. Authorities restricted the singer from traveling to Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and other regions, he said. “Though he wasn’t imprisoned for extended periods, he was frequently questioned and detained,” the source said. Social media tributes Following Lobsang’s passing, Tibetans inside Tibet, in exile and across China expressed their grief on social media. “I grew up listening to his songs since childhood,” one Tibetan wrote. “I am deeply saddened by the passing of this singer who cared so deeply for the Tibetan people.” On his eight albums and in numerous other recordings, Lobsang sang songs that resonated deeply with Tibetans, such as “Three Camps of Sun and Moon,” which referenced the Dalai Lama with the lyrics, “The King of Snow Land, Tenzin Gyatso, coming to Tibet, may his lotus feet remain stable.” His music often touched on Tibet’s struggle, such as “Suffering and Happiness of the Snow Land,” “World Peace,” “Future of Tibet’s Children,” “Protector,” and “Fate of Tibetans.” Due to his powerful lyrics, Tibetans inside Tibet referred to him as “patriotic singer Lobsang.” Another netizen wrote: “His singing was as warm and familiar as a teacher, accompanying us through countless unforgettable times.” A Tibetan inside Tibet, speaking in a WeChat voice chat group, said Lobsang’s health fluctuated, sometimes appearing stable, while at other times deteriorating, until he died. Kunchok Tsering, a Tibetan living in India who collects and archives songs and writings by Tibetan artists in Tibet, said he considers Lobsang to be one of the region’s best singers. “His songs often praise His Holiness the Dalai Lama and reflect love for his country, Tibet, so his courage and lack of fear in creating such music were commendable,” Tsering said. Tsering cited Lobsang’s song “Nyi-Dha-Kar Sum,” meaning “Sun-Star-Moon,” paying homage to Tibet’s three spiritual leaders — the sun representing His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the Moon symbolizing the Panchen Lama, and the star representing the Karmapa, head of the 900-year-old Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and one of Tibet’s highest-ranking religious figures. “His lyrics are deeply powerful,” he said. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Myanmar adopts law for foreign firms to provide armed security

Editor1 year ago06 mins

Myanmar’s military government has adopted a law allowing foreign companies to provide armed security services, which analysts suspect will lead to former military personnel from China protecting its extensive economic interests in its southern neighbor. The law raises the prospect of Chinese private military corporations guarding oil and gas pipelines from Myanmar’s Indian Ocean coast to Yunnan province, and ensuring uninterrupted supplies in the event of war in the South China Sea blocking regular shipping routes. The Private Security Service Law, published in state-run media on Tuesday, states that foreign companies seeking a license to set up a security company must be registered under the Myanmar Companies Law. The National Defence and Security Council must approve a company “holding arms and ammunition due to work demand in providing private security services,” states the law, signed by the leader of the junta that seized power in 2021, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. The legislation stipulates that companies must ensure that staff are “not a member of any armed forces of a foreign country.” Myanmar’s military-drafted 2008 constitution rules out foreign forces operating in the country. The law also requires that “at least 75% of the hired private security servants must be Myanmar citizens,” and companies providing private security services have to abide by existing laws on weapons. China has extensive economic interests in Myanmar, many of them linked to a long-planned China-Myanmar Economic Corridor between China’s Yunnan and Myanmar’s coast. The corridor is part of Beijing’s multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative of energy and trade-facilitating infrastructure projects. They include a special economic zone and proposed deep-water port, with oil and gas facilities, in Kyaukpyu in Rakhine state, 800-kilometer (500-mile) oil and gas pipelines that extend to Kunming in southwest China, copper jade and rare earth mines and hydro-electric plants. While the embattled military still holds Kyaukpyu, many of the other projects are in areas that have come under the control of anti-junta forces battling to end military rule since the generals overthrew a government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. While the civil war has delayed Chinese projects, insurgent forces, some of which maintain contacts with China, have not launched major attacks on pipelines and other facilities, and have even promised to protect them. RELATED STORIES Arakan Army closing in on capital of Myanmar’s Rakhine state Myanmar junta chief seeks China’s help on border stability Trump extends ‘national emergency’ declaration for Myanmar ‘Selling out’ Analysts said the new law sets out the legal framework for a Chinese proposal to set up a China-Myanmar Joint Venture Security Company, as reported in the military’s Myanmar Gazette on Nov. 8. Lawyer Gyi Myint said the law reflected the junta’s determination to get China’s economic projects implemented by relying on Chinese security help. “We have reached a situation where the military has allowed things that are not allowed internationally. This is not in line with the 2008 constitution,” Gyi Myint told Radio Free Asia from an undisclosed location. Political analyst Than Soe Naing said the law would allow former members of China’s People’s Liberation Army to operate legally in Myanmar. “The junta council is selling out to China for nothing even though it is constantly talking about sovereignty,” he told RFA. RFA tried to contact the junta council’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, to inquire about the criticism of the law but he did not answer the telephone. The military council has not said when the proposed China-Myanmar Joint Venture Security Company would be set up. The Burmese-language Khit Thit Media reported late last year that a deal to establish a Chinese private military corporation in Kyaukpyu was signed in November between a Special Economic Zone management sub-committee and officials from the Chinese CITIC Group Company. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

India boosts security protection for Dalai Lama

Editor1 year ago06 mins

Read RFA coverage of this story in Tibetan. India has boosted security for the Dalai Lama, adding about 30 police commandos to protect the Tibetan spiritual leader amid reports of potential security threats, according to a person familiar with the matter and Indian media reports. The move raises the security coverage for the 89-year-old Dalai Lama to the third-highest level, called Z-category, under the Central Reserve Police Force, or CRPF, the source told Radio Free Asia on the condition of anonymity because he wan’t authorized to speak to the media. Video footage of the Dalai Lama in southern India showed armed CRPF commandos around a vehicle carrying the Tibetan spiritual leader. Citing official sources, the Press Trust of India said the central government enhanced the Dalai Lama’s security because of “potential security threats.” The Indo-Asian News Service said the move was prompted by a recent Intelligence Bureau threat analysis report. RFA could not independently confirm these reports, and the security department of the Central Tibetan Administration — the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, northern India — did not respond to requests for comment. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, the CRPF and the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also didn’t offer any comments. The Dalai Lama normally lives in Dharamsala, but has been visiting a Tibetan community in southern India since Jan. 5. Chinese opposition The move comes amid growing concerns over the Dalai Lama’s safety due to China’s long-term opposition to his activities. Beijing is seeking to appoint the successor to the Dalai Lama, who is expected to either name his successor or provide some indication regarding his succession when he turns 90 in July. “This has led to growing desperation from the Chinese side,” senior Indian journalist and national security affairs specialist, Aditya Raj Kaul, told RFA. The highest level of security in India, given to the Indian prime minister and his immediate family, is called the Special Protection Group. Below that are the Z+ category, provided to top ministers in the central and state governments, and Z category, provided to prominent leaders and individuals based on their threat perception. Since the Dalai Lama’s flight from Tibet into exile in India in 1959, the Indian government has assumed responsibility for his security protection, maintaining a 24-hour security patrol around his residence in Dharamsala to ensure his safety. Whenever the Dalai Lama travels to different parts of India, his security arrangements are overseen by the central government, with state governments coordinating protection during his visits. The Dalai Lama (center) is guarded by the members of the Central Reserve Police Force in Hunsur, Karmataka state, India, Feb. 18, 2025.(Pema Ngodup/RFA) The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs directed the CRPF’s VIP security wing to take charge of the security for the Dalai Lama and ensure Z-category protection with around 30 CRPF commandos across the country, the Press Trust of India and other Indian media reported. The CRPF’s VIP security wing is provides security to individuals as assigned by the ministry, including politicians, state government ministers, governors, spiritual leaders, business tycoons and other prominent individuals. “Now there will be a massive security cover with commandos traveling with him in a multiple convoy and the possibility of additional state security cover,” senior Indian journalist and national security affairs specialist, Kaul, citing sources, told RFA. In December 2022, security at Bodh Gaya in northeast India’s Bihar state had been beefed up after an alleged threat to the Dalai Lama from a Chinese woman. However, the state police later clarified the incident was no threat to the Dalai Lama and that the Chinese woman had been detained and deported because she overstayed her visa. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi and Tashi Wangchuk for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Kalden Lodoe, Tenzin Pema, Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Myanmar junta frees nearly 1,000 Rohingya from prison, group says

Editor1 year ago08 mins

Myanmar’s military government has released from prison nearly 1,000 members of the mostly Muslim Rohingya minority, a human rights group said on Monday, a rare gesture of goodwill towards the persecuted community. The junta has not announced the release and there has been no explanation as to why they were set free but it comes days after a court in Argentina issued arrest warrants for the junta chief and 22 other military officials for crimes committed against the Rohingya in a 2017 crackdown. “It is clear that the junta wants to cover up the crimes that they’ve committed against Rohingya,” said a senior member of group Political Prisoners Network Myanmar, Thike Htun Oo. “They immediately released the Rohingya from detention as soon as a court in Argentina issued international arrest warrants for them. We must be aware of this,” he told Radio Free Asia on Monday. Most of the 936 people being released on Sunday from prison in the main city of Yangon, including 267 women and 67 children, were arrested after the military overthrew an elected government in 2021, Thike Htun Oo said. They were due to be sent by boat from Yangon, to the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe in western Myanmar, he said. On Saturday, officials from the military’s Immigration Department entered Insein Prison in Yangon to issue the Rohingya with identity documents, Thike Htun Oo said, though adding he could not confirm exactly what type of documents they were given. Details of what those being released had done to be locked up in the first place were not available but most were believed to have been imprisoned for violating restrictions on their movements. RFA tried to telephone the Prison Department spokesperson and the office of the department’s deputy director general for information about the release but they did not answer. Most Rohingya are from Rakhine state and most are stateless, regarded as migrants from South Asia and not one of the ethnic groups classified as indigenous in Buddhist-majority Myanmar’s constitution. RELATED STORIES Myanmar junta bombs Rohingya Muslim village killing 41, rescuers say Rohingya at risk of being forgotten, activists say Violence against the Rohingya explained Forced to fight? Myanmar government troops led a bloody crackdown in Rakhine state in 2017 in response to Rohingya militant attacks on the security forces and more than 700,000 members of the persecuted Rohingya community fled to neighboring Bangladesh, where most remain. U.N. experts later said the military carried out mass killings and gang rapes with “genocidal intent.” The United States in 2022 determined that the violence committed against the Rohingya amounted to genocide and crimes against humanity. The Myanmar military said it was engaged in legitimate security operations. A court in Argentina ruled last week that international arrest warrants be issued for the self-appointed president and junta chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and 22 other military officials for crimes committed against the Rohingya. Argentina became the first country to open an investigation into serious crimes against the Rohingya under the principle of universal jurisdiction, a legal principle allowing for the prosecution of serious crimes no matter where they were committed. Political analyst Than Soe Naing also said the junta was trying to improve its image in light of the Argentinian court ruling. “They’re releasing the Rohingya in order to try to restore justice from their side but they’re not going to succeed in trying to cover up their criminal mistakes,” he said. The leader of a Rohingya welfare organization said there was a danger those being released would be pressed to fight for the military in Rakhine state where an ethnic minority insurgent group battling for control of the state, the Arakan Army, or AA, has forced junta forces into a few small pockets of territory, including Sittwe. The co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, Nay San Lwin, said the military was already pressing Rohingya men in camps for displaced people in Sittwe to join junta forces. “They are really worried about being forcibly recruited,” he said of those who had been released. Last year, embattled junta forces recruited Rohingya into militias to help fight the AA, which draws its support from the state’s Buddhist, ethnic Rakhine majority. The recruitment by the military of Rohingya led to attacks by the AA in which international human rights organizations said Rohingya civilians were killed. The AA denied that. Translated by Kianan Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. RELATED STORIES Myanmar junta bombs Rohingya Muslim village killing 41, rescuers say Rohingya at risk of being forgotten, activists say Violence against the Rohingya explained We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Myanmar militia hosting scam centers says it will deport 8,000 foreigners

Editor1 year ago1 year ago07 mins

Read Ij-Reportika coverage of these topics in Burmese A pro-junta Myanmar militia hosting extensive online fraud operations in its zone on the Thai border has said it will deport 8,000 scam center workers, most of them Chinese, from its area as it seeks to close down illegal activities. The vow to clean up human trafficking and online fraud comes after unprecedented pressure on the ethnic Karen force following growing international outrage about the criminal activity in its area including forced labor. “We expect that there will be up to 8,000 people, maybe more,” said Naing Maung Zaw, a spokesman for a militia known as the Karen Border Guard Force, or BGF, which oversees scam operations in eastern Myanmar’s Myawaddy district. “We’ll send back as many as we have – we’ve already made a list – via Thailand or back into Myanmar. According to the figures, many of them came in with Thai visas, so we have to send them back to Thailand,” he told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday. Most of them were from China, he said. The BGF sent 61 foreigners to Thailand on Feb. 6, a day after Thailand cut cross-border power and internet services and blocked fuel exports to Myanmar scam zones. The BGF’s Myanmar junta sponsors also stopped fuel shipments to the area, residents said this week. Another 261 foreigners from 20 countries, including China, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Nepal, Kenya and Philippines, were handed over to Thai authorities on Wednesday. Online fraud gangs proliferated in more lawless corners of Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted casinos. The scamming, known as “pig butchering” in China, usually involves making contact with unsuspecting people online, building a relationship with them and then defrauding them. Researchers say billions of dollars have been stolen this way from victims around the world. Huge fraud operation complexes are often staffed by people lured by false job advertisements and forced to work, sometimes under threat of violence, rescued workers and rights groups say. China, home to many of the victims of the scams, has in recent weeks worked to spur authorities in its southern neighbors to take action against the criminal enterprises. RELATED STORIES EXPLAINED: What are scam parks? South Korea jails scam group leader for 8 years over Laos, Myanmar operation Scam park victim returns to Hong Kong after Thai rescue Thais seek arrests In addition to the utility cuts and fuel blockade, Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation, which is responsible for tackling organized crime, has sought arrest warrants for the leader of the BGF, Col. Saw Chit Thu, and two colleagues on suspicion of human trafficking, Thai media reported this week. As the pressure has built up, BGF and its parent organization, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, or DKBA, have promised to eliminate fraud and forced labor in their area, and they have in recent days begun sending former workers across the border to Thailand A commander of the DKBA said the days of scamming and forced labor were over and his force would focus on legitimate business. “We plan to continue and support as much as we can businesses like housing, hotels and tourism to develop our own region,” DKBA Chief of Staff Gen. Saw San Aung told Ij-Reportika . The DKBA emerged from a split in the 1990s in Myanmar’s oldest ethnic minority guerrilla force, the largely Christian-led Karen National Union, when Buddhist fighters broke away, and sided with the military. The military let the breakaway fighters, who called themselves the DKBA, rule in areas under government control in Kayin state. The DKBA later set up the BGF under the auspices of the army, and they have reaped profits from cross-border trade, online gambling and scam operations. The DKBA is an important ally for the Myanmar military as it faces an onslaught from insurgent groups battling to end military rule. The DKBA intervened in April to help junta forces stop the KNU from capturing Myawaddy, a vital economic lifeline for the embattled regime. Edited by Ij-Reportika Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Myanmar refugees in limbo after US suspends resettlement program

Editor1 year ago09 mins

Read RFA coverage of this story in Burmese. UMPIEM MAI REFUGEE CAMP, Thailand — Saw Ba had been living in a refugee camp on the Thai-Myanmar border for 16 years when he got the news last month that he’d been waiting years for: He and his family would be boarding a plane to resettle in America. It had been a long wait. Saw Ba, in his 40s and whose name has been changed in this story for security reasons, had applied for resettlement soon after getting to the camp in 2008. With much anticipation, staffers from the International Organization for Migration, or IOM, brought his family and 22 other people from Umpiem Mai Refugee Camp to a hotel in the Thai border town of Mae Sot in mid-January. There they were to wait to catch a flight to Bangkok and on to the United States. Freedom and a new life awaited. But three days later, the IOM staffers delivered bad news: All 26 people would have to return to the refugee camp because the incoming Trump administration was about to order a halt to the processing and travel of all refugees into the United States. The Umpiem Mai Refugee Camp on the Thai-Myanmar border, at Phop Phra district, Tak province, a Thai-Myanmar border province, Feb. 7, 2025.(Shakeel/AP) Saw Ba and his family had been so sure they would be resettled that they had given all of their belongings — including their clothes — to neighbors and friends, while their children had dropped out of school and returned their books. “When we arrived back here [at Umpiem], we had many difficulties,” he told RFA Burmese, particularly with their children’s education. “Our children have been out of school for a month, and now they’re back, and their final exams are coming up,” he said. “Our children won’t have books anymore when they return to school. I don’t know whether they’ll pass or fail this year’s exams.” Missionary work Saw Ba fled to the refugee camp because he was targeted for his Christian missionary work. Originally from Pathein township, in western Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady region, he was approached by an official with the country’s military junta in 2009 and told to stop his activities. When he informed the official that he was not involved in politics and refused to comply, police were sent to arrest him. He fled to Thailand, where he ended up in the Umpiem Mai camp. There he met his wife and had a son and daughter, now in seventh and second grade, respectively. RELATED STORIES Vietnamese in Thailand wait anxiously after Trump suspends refugee program Myanmar aid groups struggle with freeze as UN warns of ‘staggering’ hunger Tide of Myanmar war refugees tests Thailand’s welcome mat for migrants Another woman in the camp, Thin Min Soe, said her husband and their two children had undergone a battery of medical tests and had received an acceptance letter for resettlement, allowing them to join a waitlist to travel. She had fled her home in the Bago region in central Myanmar for taking part in the country’s 2007 Saffron Revolution, when the military violently suppressed widespread anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks. Thin Min Soe and other refugees at the camp told RFA they are afraid of returning to Myanmar due to the threat of persecution. The country has been pitched into civil war after the military toppled an elected government in 2021. Many said they no longer have homes or villages to return to, even if they did want to go back. With the U.S. refugee program suspended, “we are now seriously concerned about our livelihood because we have to support our two children’s education and livelihoods,” she said. When RFA contacted the camp manager and the refugee affairs office, they responded by saying they were not allowed to comment on the matter. US has resettled 3 million refugees Since 1980, more than 3 million refugees — people fearing persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, politics or membership in a social group — have been resettled in the United States. During the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the United States resettled 100,034 refugees, the highest number in 30 years. The most came from the Republic of the Congo, followed by Afghanistan, Venezuela and Syria. Myanmar was fifth, accounting for 7.3%, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. Over the past 30 years, the United States accepted the highest number of refugees from Myanmar — about 76,000 — followed by Canada and Australia, according to the U.S. Embassy in Thailand. Hundreds of Myanmar refugees from Thailand were brought to the U.S. in November and December, before the end of former President Joe Biden’s term. The Ohn Pyan refugee camp near Mae Sot, Thailand, undated photo.(RFA) Thai health workers will provide healthcare during the day from Monday to Friday, while refugee camp health professionals will be on duty at night and on weekends. The U.S. freeze on foreign aid has also impacted the work of other humanitarian groups at the Thai-Myanmar border, including the Mae Tao Clinic, which provides free medical care to those in need, as well as health education and social services, officials told RFA. Translated by Aung Naing and Kalyar Lwin. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. 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Myanmar junta blocks fuel to eastern border scam center town

Editor1 year ago07 mins

Read RFA coverage of these topics in Burmese Myanmar’s junta has blocked the supply of fuel to a town bordering Thailand where scam centers are rampant days after Thailand cut cross-border power, fuel and internet services to the lawless enclave where fraud and forced labor have thrived. The Myawaddy district is under the control of a pro-junta militia known as the Border Guard Force, or BGF, that has opened up its zone to criminal networks, many run by Chinese networks, which operate extensive “pig-butchering” online fraud operations. Thailand, facing damage to its tourist industry because of public alarm throughout Asia about forced labor in the centers, cut off electricity and the internet and blocked the supply of fuel to Myawaddy on Feb. 5. The Myanmar junta has also stopped fuel reaching Myawaddy from central Myanmar ports to replace the supplies blocked by Thailand, Myawaddy residents told Radio Free Asia. Myanmar military authorities were not letting fuel trucks through a checkpoint at a bridge on the road between the town of Kawkareik and Myawaddy, they said. “There’s no fuel at all in the town,” said one Myawaddy resident who declined to be identified for security reasons. “More than 40 boxers are stuck at the junta checkpoint,” said the resident referring to fuel trucks. “We do not know what’ll happen tomorrow.‘’ RFA tried to telephone the junta’s spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Htun, to ask about the fuel restriction but he did not answer. The scams, known as “pig butchering” in China, usually involve making contact with unsuspecting people online, building a personal relationship with them and then defrauding them. The centres are often staffed by people lured by false job advertisements and forced to work. The rescue of a Chinese actor from a Myawaddy fraud center last month raised international alarm about the centers, triggered the cancellations of Thai holiday plans by frightened Chinese tourists and encouraged the Thai government to act. Chinese President Xi Jinping thanked Thailand’s visiting prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra last Thursday for the crackdown. RELATED STORIES EXPLAINED: What are scam parks? South Korea jails scam group leader for 8 years over Laos, Myanmar operation Myanmar border militia emerges as nexus in regional scam network Pumps run dry Ordinary residents of Myawaddy say the restrictions on power and fuel are hitting them as well as the scam centers. “Many businesses rely on fuel for pumping water, for everything. So while cutting fuel will affect the scam gangs it also impacts the public,” said the town resident. One Myawaddy gasoline pump said it only had enough fuel for a car or two but that was sold out even though the price had nearly doubled to 10,000 kyat (US$5) a liter. In the area’s main hub for scam operations at Shwe Kokko, 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of Myawaddy, the price of fuel rose to almost 20,000 kyat before it sold out. “In Shwe Kokko, there’s absolutely no fuel. You can’t use a car at all,” said the resident. The ethnic Karen BGF emerged after a split in Myanmar’s oldest minority insurgent force, the Christian-led Karen National Union in the 1990s. Buddhist breakaway fighters formed their own force and allied with the military, which granted them control of Myawaddy. Analysts say the junta has turned a blind eye to the scam centers, and profited from them, while the BGF has helped the military keep KNU forces out of the main crossing point for trade on the Thai-Myanmar border. Facing pressure from all sides, the BGF has promised to clean up its zone and stop fraud and forced labor. On Sunday, it ordered Chinese nationals working in online operations to leave the town of Payathonzu, on the Thai border to the south of Myawaddy, by the end of the month. The junta leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, said last week the military would take action against money laundering. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Gyalo Thondup, Dalai Lama’s older brother, dies aged 97

Editor1 year ago1 year ago08 mins

Gyalo Thondup, an elder brother of the Dalai Lama who played a crucial role in the history of modern Tibetan, has died at his home in Kalimpong in northeast India aged 97. One of six siblings to the Tibetan spiritual leader, he leaves behind a legacy built on a lifetime of advocating against Chinese rule in Tibet. At different points in his life, Thondup made numerous – at times desperate – attempts to save Tibet’s traditional culture and self-governance, including seeking U.S. support for an armed resistance against the Chinese Communist regime, as well as through dialogue with Beijing, engagement with global leaders, and raising Tibet’s plight with the United Nations. Groomed from a young age to serve as an advisor to his younger brother, Thondup’s singular role in advancing the Tibetan cause – often as the unofficial envoy of the Dalai Lama – as well as his early efforts to reform Tibet’s social and political systems have been met with a mix of reverence and controversy. China’s Deng Xiaoping, 1978.(AP) The meeting gave rise to a series of formal negotiations between the Dalai Lama’s official envoys and the Chinese leadership that continued until they ground to a halt in 2010. Beyond his position as a brother to the Dalai Lama, he held high offices within the Tibetan government-in-exile, serving as Prime Minister in 1991 and Minister for Security from 1993 to 1996. Yet an account of his life – The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong, co-written with Anne Thurston and published in 2015 – reflects deepest on his most controversial role, as the linchpin of a secret U.S.-backed campaign to arm and train Tibetan resistance fighters from 1956 to 1974. ‘Chief architect’ of the Tibetan resistance When the People’s Liberation Army invaded Tibet in 1949, Thondup was in Taiwan. Unable to return home, he went to the U.S., where an older brother, Thubten Jigme Norbu, had gone ahead to earlier, and was there introduced to contacts at the CIA, the American intelligence agency. But according to Thondup, it was not until 1956, when he had been living back in India and serving as a back channel source for what was going on in Tibet that the CIA approached him again with concrete plans to help train Tibetans to take up arms against the Chinese. “The CIA was prepared to train some of the freedom fighters as radio operators and guerrilla warriors,” he writes in Noodle Maker. “[U.S. Admiral] John Hoskins wanted me to introduce him to some of the Tibetan fighters. I was happy to oblige.” The resistance was not supported by the Dalai Lama, who as a figure of peace cannot back the taking up of arms on his behalf, but Thondup could. Beginning in 1957, he helped recruit fighters who would be sent to U.S. training camps in subsequent years. Some 200 fighters were eventually trained at Camp Hale, a secret location in Colorado. Many of these fighters were later airdropped into Tibet to set up radio communications with Langley, which has later been credited for enabling the timely asylum granted to the Dalai Lama after his flight into exile from Tibet. A 1963 brochure created by Ken Knaus and Tibetan trainees portrays Chinese leader Mao Zedong leading the destruction to Tibetan way of life.(STCIRCUS Archive of Tibetan Resistance via Hoover Institution Library & Archives) Though Thondup was one of several intermediaries between the Tibetan and U.S. governments, his status as the Dalai Lama’s brother meant that “in the eyes of the U.S. government, Gyalo was not just an intermediary; he was the chief architect of the Tibetan resistance,” according to Carole McGranahan, anthropologist and author several studies on Tibet’s resistance. But in his later years, he seemed to express some regret for trusting the Americans, who ended the training program by 1974 amid warming relations between Beijing and Washington during the Nixon era. His criticisms of the approach taken by the U.S. and other governments in turn created significant controversy around Thondup within the Tibetan community. Nevertheless, Thondup, in what may have been his last media interview, told RFA in November 2024: “My hope is that Tibetans work together in unity and harmony and make Tibet’s culture, Tibet’s situation known to the whole world, and without losing heart continue to find ways to overcome difficulties, so everyone please work hard.” Additional reporting by Passang Dhonden, Lobsang Gelek, and Passang Tsering; edited by Kalden Lodoe and Boer Deng We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Category: South Asia