Category: South Asia

Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Vietnam Communist Party, has said that two senior officials caught in a recent bribery scandal apologized to him for their actions but still needed to be punished as a warning to others, state media reported. Trong, who is also a member of the National Assembly for Hanoi, made the comment in a meeting in the capital Hanoi on Thursday, the reports said. But online critics of the government expressed continued frustration with Vietnam’s leadership for not doing more to root out graft in the government and mismanaging the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trong, 78, has been general secretary of the Vietnam Communist Party (VCP) — the highest position in Vietnam — since 2011, and served as the country’s president from 2018 to 2021. As head of the Politburo, Vietnam’s highest decision-making body, he is the most powerful leader in the country. On June 6, the VCP announced it had expelled Hanoi Mayor Chu Ngoc Anh and Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long from the party following accusations that they were involved in a U.S. $172 million scandal. They were paid by Viet A Technologies Company to provide overpriced coronavirus test kits to hospitals. It is not unusual for senior government officials to apologize to the head of the VCP when they face high-profile corruption charges. Oil executive Trinh Xuan Thanh, who was convicted of embezzling assets from units of Vietnam’s state-owned oil company, and Nguyen Bac Son, a former minister of information and communications imprisoned for accepting a U.S. $3 million bribe, both expressed remorse for their actions. Musician Tuan Khanh from Ho Chi Minh City told RFA that the Trong’s response to the Viet A Technologies scandal has been insufficient. “He merely performed a simple act of expressing anguish and regret when the party members and those in top positions were penalized and dismissed from the party,” he said. “That shows Trong is a figure of the party circle with no vision to lead the nation forward but to nowhere.” Hanoi resident Nguyen Son noted that party leaders never apologize to Vietnamese citizens after they are convicted of wrongdoing. “The fact that so far the governing party has disrespected the common people is not new,” he told RFA. “They are afraid that if they apologize or take responsibility for the wrongdoing, it would mean that their power has been diminished. “They never publicly apologize to the people in the media,” he said. “Such a government cannot be said to be of the people, by the people and for the people. It is a government that grasps all power in its hands, so whether they apology or not, nothing can be done about it.” Lawyer and democracy activist Nguyen Van Dai was even more critical of Trong, who he said should accept more responsibility for the actions of officials in his government. “I cannot imagine why as a human he can lose all sense of decency,” he said. “The fact that he thinks all wrongdoing by the officials under him does not at all relate to him is unacceptable.” Dai said their remains a disconnect between the government and the people because under the one-party communist system leaders do not need to face the voters in open elections. Vietnam ranked in 87th place out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perception Index, with a higher ranking corresponding to a widespread perception of corruption in the public sector. Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Residents in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state are increasingly on edge, worried that fighting between the military and the Arakan Army (AA) will soon erupt once again as arrests of personnel from both sides escalate. The national military fought an increasingly bitter war with the AA, which says it is fighting for autonomy for ethnic minority Rakhine people, from December 2018 until a truce was reached in November 2020, months before the army seized power in a February 2021 coup. The coastal state was awash with refugees from that fighting, but stayed relatively quiet for many months while anti-coup protests and fighting by local militias raged across much of Myanmar but tensions started rising in recent months. The military this week detained people who it suspected of having links with the AA in the state capital Sittwe, and Mrauk-U, Ponnagyun and Kyauktaw townships, in response to the AA’s recent arrests of junta soldiers. Since Thursday, the military has been blocking the city gates of Sittwe, after the AA arrested a naval lieutenant and a sailor there. It also shut down waterways from Sittwe to various towns in the state, which borders the Bay of Bengal and Bangladesh.  Police and soldiers are checking hotels, guest houses and residences all over Sittwe looking for suspected AA members. Residents told RFA that at least seven civilians were arrested on Thursday evening. Three civilians, including 46-year-old Oo San Maung, were arrested by 30 soldiers in the Mingan Block 9 area of the city, his son Myo Kyaw Hlaing told RFA’s Burmese Service. “They came to search our house. My father went out to the front of the house and said no one was there,” said Myo Kyaw Hlaing. “They just arrested him without saying a word. Not only my father, two other youths in our ward were arrested.  We have no contact with those arrested yet.” Residents told RFA that three minors and Soe Thiha, a visitor from Taunggup, were arrested in Sittwe on Friday Morning. There have been reports of more civilian arrests but RFA has not been able to confirm this independently. At about 9 p.m. Thursday night, soldiers fired shots at a group of people as they returned to a guest house in the same part of Sittwe, a person in the group told RFA on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “One of my friends and I were going back to our guesthouse on a motorbike. Three other guys were on another. The soldiers blocked our path and shouted at us to stop. When we didn’t stop, they fired four or five shots at us,” he said. “The guys on the other motorbike left it and ran away. I was lucky I didn’t lose mine,” said the man, who said he was not hurt in the gunfire. The military arrested more than 20 civilians in Mrauk-U township on Wednesday after the AA arrested three military personnel on Tuesday. “Aa far as we know, some of the civilians they arrested were released that day,” a resident of Mrauk-U told RFA. “We heard that six people were released, and I think there are still more than 10 people detained,” the resident said on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. The AA arrested a soldier and three policemen in Ponnagyun and Kyauktaw townships between June 16 and 22. In response the army arrested 30 civilians, according to local reports. Among the civilians, sources told RFA that four women were said to have been released, but the rest were still in detention. Other reports said that the AA has arrested more than a dozen members of the police and military in Mrauk-U and Kyauktaw townships, and the military has detained at least 50 civilians over the past few days in retaliation. RFA tried to contact the junta’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, by telephone for comment, but he did not respond. Zaw Min Tun, however, warned the AA at a press conference on May 19 that it would be responsible for the consequences of detaining soldiers. “What we are doing at the moment, the reason we are detaining the Rakhine people, is for their own good. We do not want them to get into trouble,” he told reporters. “I would like to repeat that we are detaining the Rakhine people so that they will not get into trouble. We are patiently working for peace within the union. If anything happens regarding this, don’t blame the military for the consequences,” Zaw Min Tun said. The AA’s spokesman, Khine Thukha, told a news conference on June 14 that AA members were only retaliating against the military for its abuses. “The reason for the arrests is that the Myanmar army raided houses of our ULA/AA members at night time,” he said. The ULA refers to the United League of Arakan, which is the political wing of the Arakan Army. “Some of our troops were detained by the military during last month and this month. That’s why we have arrested their troops. If they keep on doing that, we will retaliate,” he said. He said if the military releases the AA members, the AA would release the soldiers they arrested, but he would not disclose how many each side had arrested. Pe Than, a former member of the state parliament, said the situation in Rakhine was volatile. “It depends a lot on how many more people are going to be arrested in future and how much trouble there will be,” said Pe Than. “If both sides keep on doing this, the number of detainees, which is just a few at present, will become a lot. The arrests might be in groups instead of one or two. And then, as the situation worsens, there could be some clashes that could blow up into renewed fighting,” he said. Pe Than said the military and the AA should negotiate a peaceful resolution before the violence escalates. But tensions between the junta and the AA have been high since early May, with locals and Rakhine politicians concerned…

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is now a year younger after he changed his official birthdate to Aug. 5, 1952, instead of April 4, 1951, a switch critics attributed to his overly superstitious nature. Hun Sen’s lawyer filed a petition with the Phnom Penh court earlier this month which stated that Hun Sen had been using the wrong date of birth, a mistake owing to the fact that Cambodia was mired in a war when he officially registered it with authorities. According to the Cambodia New Vision (CNV) website, which calls itself the official newsletter of the country’s Cabinet, Hun Sen had used the April 4, 1951, date from April 4, 1977, until June 20, 2022.  The year he officially registered was a tumultuous one for Cambodia and for Hun Sen, who had been a member of the ruling Khmer Rouge. The future prime minister fled with supporters to Vietnam in 1977 to escape a brutal political purge. He returned as one of the leaders of the Vietnamese-sponsored rebel army in 1979, becoming the country’s leader in 1985. Those who are skeptical of this version of events point to the fact that the change moves his birth from the Year of the Rabbit to the Year of the Dragon, considered auspicious by those who adhere to the Chinese zodiac. Exiled political analyst Kim Sok told RFA that Hun Sen should concern himself with bigger issues. “He is supposed to serve the interests of the people and protect the country’s territorial integrity and national honor, but he prioritizes the interests of himself and his family. It hinders the national interest,” Kim Sok said. Man Nath, the chairman of the Norway-based Cambodian Monitoring Council, said in a Facebook post that the change shows Hun Sen’s excessively superstitious nature. “His belief in superstition dominates his leadership. If he is a good leader, even in death he will become a ghost and still be worshiped for decades,” Man Nath said. Phnom Penh Municipal Court President Taing Sunlay issued a decree on June 20 adjusting the date of birth as sought by Hun Sen. Judge Taing Sunlay ordered the registrar and the authorities to change the civil status data in accordance with the prime minister’s request. Sok Eysan, spokesperson for Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party, told RFA it was right for Hun Sen to correct his birthdate, but he declined to comment on whether it related to superstition. “It is the responsibility of the prime minister himself to make [that decision], and there is no loss of anything to the people. The people of the country do not say anything [about it],” he said. Local media reported in early May that Hun Sen had announced the change days after the death of his older brother Hun Neng. India-based Wion News reported on May 19 that Hun Sen suspected the birthdate he had been using may have led to his brother’s death because it conflicted with the Chinese zodiac. The report also said that it is common for Cambodians older than 50 to have multiple birthdays. Official records were often lost or destroyed during the rule of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979, creating confusion about family histories. Others may have altered their birthdates to avoid military service in the 1980s when fighting continued between the government and Khmer Rouge remnants. Hun Sen’s Aug. 5, 1952, birthdate has been known publicly for at least the past 15 years. A reference to that date appeared in 2007 on Wikipedia, which cited a report by the Cambodia Daily news outlet. Subsequent edits over the next few years acknowledged one date or the other, and sometimes both. Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Other United Nations member-states should follow Malaysia’s lead and engage with Myanmar’s parallel civilian National Unity Government in efforts to help resolve the post-coup crisis in that country, a U.N. expert said Thursday. Additionally, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations needs a new approach in dealing with the Burmese junta to ensure it puts Myanmar back on the democratic path like it agreed to more than a year ago, said U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Tom Andrews, at a press conference at the end of an eight-day visit to Malaysia. “The five-point consensus is meaningless if it sits on a piece of paper,” he said, referring to an agreement struck between ASEAN member states, including Myanmar, on how the junta should move towards restoring democracy.  “Its only chance to make a difference is to put it into a meaningful action with a strategy, with an action plan, with a time frame, precisely as the [Malaysian] foreign minister has called for,” Andrews said, referring to Saifuddin Abdullah. Malaysia, which has strongly criticized the Feb. 1, 2021 coup, has also been consistently calling for stronger action from the regional bloc to make the Burmese junta accountable to the consensus it had agreed to in April 2021, but then ignored. “ASEAN must go back to the drawing board and implement a more detailed roadmap to achieving the five-point consensus within an appropriate timeframe,” Saifuddin said at a Shangri-La Dialogue panel in Singapore earlier this month. The five-point agreement reached between ASEAN leaders and Burmese military chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on April 24 last year included an end to violence, the provision of humanitarian assistance, an ASEAN envoy’s appointment, all-party dialogue, and mediation by the envoy. ASEAN has not succeeded in implementing any of these points, and most analysts have said the regional bloc, which famously operates by consensus, is to blame for this. Not every country in the 10-member ASEAN is in favor of piling the pressure on its fellow member, which means the bloc cannot be very effective. ‘What Malaysia did is significant’ Last October, Malaysia’s outspoken foreign minister had said Kuala Lumpur would open talks with the NUG if the Burmese junta kept stonewalling in cooperating with ASEAN’s conflict resolution efforts. In February, he met his NUG counterpart Zin Mar Aung via video conference, following that up with an in-person meeting in Washington on May 16 after the United States-ASEAN Special Summit. During an interview in May with BenarNews, Saifuddin had said that many in ASEAN were frustrated that the Myanmar military was ignoring the five-point consensus. “I think we need to be more creative and that is why, for example, we [need to] start naming the stakeholders …the NUG, … all of them,” Saifuddin told BenarNews. The U.N.’s Andrews said he believed talking with the NUG was a correct move by an ASEAN member-state such as Malaysia – one that other nations should follow. “Let’s be clear who is legitimate here and who is not legitimate,” he said. “The National Unity Government is made up of people who were elected by the people, and also people who represent ethnic communities that are critically important to the fabric and the future of Myanmar. I highly recommend – and I am glad the [Malaysian] foreign minister here has engaged with the NUG and I [am] recommending – that all countries in the United Nations…do the same.” ASEAN’s engagement with the NUG will be a good initiative, said analyst Md. Mahbubul Haque of University Sultan Zainal Abidin. “If anyone really supports the struggle for democracy and the overall human rights situation in Myanmar, it is very necessary to engage with the NUG. Currently the NUG is representing major political forces including various ethnic minorities,” he told BenarNews. “What Malaysia did is significant because it came from an ASEAN member-state. But right now, we cannot expect that all members will follow the Malaysian stand, because of [their own] geopolitical interests.” Another analyst, Aizat Khairi of Kuala Lumpur University, said that ASEAN’s engagement with the NUG would give the Burmese junta the required push it needs. “The junta will not be happy but it will provide the pressure needed to make them be more open and ready to go to the next level of negotiation with other parties in Myanmar,” he told BenarNews. The U.N. expert said in a statement issued Thursday that Saifuddin had urged ASEAN to move from a policy of “noninterference” to one of “non-indifference.”  BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.

A representative of Myanmar’s military regime attended the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh on Wednesday, despite an appeal from hundreds of pro-democracy organizations in the war-ravaged country that the Southeast Asian regional bloc not engage with the junta. Myanmar Gen. Mya Tun Oo became the most senior official to represent the self-styled State Administration Council (SAC) at a ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations since the military ousted the country’s democratically elected government in February 2021. The 10 ASEAN member states have appeared divided on how to deal with the junta, with some fearing that engagement might signal acceptance or endorsement of the regime and its bloody crackdown on its opponents. Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia have all expressed to the 2020 ASEAN chair Cambodia that the junta should be excluded until there is an indication that hostilities in Myanmar will end. “Even though there is participation from Myanmar involving a representative from the State Administrative Council in the meeting today, this does not mean that Malaysia has recognized the SAC as the legitimate Myanmar government,” a statement from Malaysia’s Defense Ministry said. “Malaysia has always stressed that SAC should expedite the enforcement of the matters which were agreed on based on the 5 Point Consensus to find a solution to the political crisis in Myanmar,” it said, referring to the agreement reached between ASEAN’s leaders and Burmese military chief Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on April 24, 2021. The agreement sought an end to violence in Myanmar, the provision of humanitarian assistance, the appointment of an ASEAN envoy, and talks among the various groups in Myanmar to be mediated by the envoy. Cambodia’s Defense Minister Tea Banh, meanwhile, said that Mya Tun Oo’s participation in the meeting showed that the regional trade bloc is unified on security issues. “This is a participation to find solutions and this accusation, that accusation, we can’t respond to all of them,” he said during a news conference, responding to criticism over including Myanmar in the meeting. Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto told his counterparts to put aside their differences to safeguard their mutual interests. “We must not allow outside powers to divide ASEAN and drag us into their competition. The future of ASEAN and our people rests on our shoulders, and I believe we all share the same view that we want peace and not conflict, cooperation rather than competition,” he said. A coalition of 677 pro-democracy organizations in Myanmar last week co-authored an open letter to the ASEAN defense ministers, urging them not to invite a representative from the junta. The organizations said Mya Tun Oo’s representation would be inconsistent with other ASEAN decisions to exclude representation from the junta, such as at the 2021 ASEAN Summit and the 2022 Foreign Minister’s Retreat. “ADMM’s engagement with the junta, which has included military exercises, may likely amount to the aiding and abetting of the junta’s war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the letter said. “In allowing the junta to participate in ADMM, ASEAN is further risking complicity in the junta’s atrocity crimes by providing support and legitimacy to the military and emboldening a military that is waging a nationwide campaign of terror.” Cambodian state media reported that the ministers agreed in a joint declaration issued after the meeting to enhance cooperation between ASEAN defense forces for COVID-19 containment, boost support for ASEAN Women Peacekeepers, further collaborate between defense-oriented educational institutions, and share information to enhance maritime security. Additional reporting by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.