• contact@ij-reportika.com
Ij reportika Logo

Category: World

The status of BRI projects in Nepal

Editor034 mins

Download the report: Link Nepal officially joined the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2017, marking a significant milestone in its collaboration with China. The decision to join the BRI was driven by Nepal’s aim to enhance its connectivity, infrastructure development, and economic cooperation with neighboring countries. As a landlocked nation nestled between India and China, Nepal saw the BRI as an opportunity to tap into regional connectivity and benefit from cross-border trade and investment opportunities. Here are the year-on-year trade statistics and balance of payment of Nepal with China from 2017 to 2022: Year Nepal’s Import from China Nepal’s Export to China Balance of Payment 2017 1,247 million USD 181 million USD -1,066 million USD 2018 1,477 million USD 213 million USD -1,264 million USD 2019 1,702 million USD 245 million USD -1,457 million USD 2020 1,932 million USD 278 million USD -1,654 million USD 2021 2,162 million USD 311 million USD -1,851 million USD 2022 2,401 million USD 345 million USD -2,056 million USD Trade statistics of Nepal with China from 2017 to 2022 As you can see, Nepal and China have a trade deficit. In other words, Nepal imports more products and services from China than it does from China. In recent years, the trade gap has been widening. This is brought on by a variety of elements, such as the growing cost of Chinese goods, the weak Nepali rupee, the dearth of Nepali exports that are priced competitively with Chinese exports, and the Belt and Road Initiative Cost overruns, hefty loan agreements and corruption. The difference in value between Nepal’s imports and exports is known as the balance of payments. In recent years, the payment balance has been negative. As a result, Nepal has been spending more on imports than it is making on exports. The BRI is the root cause of the negative balance of payments. Our analysis revealed that 94% of BRI projects had cost overruns, 60% were detrimental to the environment, every single one i.e. 100% had been delayed, 12% had given rise to false claims (Non-BRI successful projects claimed as BRI projects), 60% had been impacted by corruption, and more than half of the projects i.e 53% which are under construction or are completed had poor quality. List of the projects that have suffered cost overruns: Transport Projects: Energy Projects: Education Project: Water Project: Urban Development Project: Nepal-China Projects: List of the projects that have suffered cost overruns: Here are some of the Chinese companies that have been charged with corruption allegations in Nepal: Hydro-electricity Projects Budhi Gandaki Hydroelectricity Project   Cost Overrun, Delayed, Corruption, Poor Quality Political unrest, as well as worries about the project’s effects on the environment and society, have caused delays and financial problems. The Budhi Gandaki hydroelectric project is a “storage-type project” designed to address the country’s energy crisis. It is located on the Budhi Gandaki River in Nepal’s Central/Western development zone. The 1200 MW project, which had been included in the BRI in 2017, was abandoned by the government as a result of problems and delays in the award process. The project is being constructed by the China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) and is expected to cost $2.5 billion. However, the project has been plagued by cost overruns and delays. In 2018, the project’s estimated cost was increased to $3.5 billion. In 2020, the project’s completion date was pushed back from 2022 to 2024. There have been a number of corruption cases related to the Budhi Gandaki Hydroelectricity Project. In 2019, the Nepali government filed a corruption case against the China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC). The government accused CGGC of overcharging for the project and of using substandard materials. The case is still pending in court. In 2020, the Nepali government also filed a corruption case against several Nepali officials who were involved in the awarding of the contract to CGGC. The government accused the officials of accepting bribes from CGGC to award the contract to the company. The case is also still pending in court. The corruption cases related to the Budhi Gandaki Hydroelectricity Project have raised concerns about the transparency and accountability of the project. The cases have also cast a shadow over the future of the project. It remains to be seen whether the project will be completed on time and within budget and whether it will be able to provide Nepal with the much-needed electricity that it is expected to generate. https://web.archive.org/web/20230427155915/https://bghep.gov.np/pages/about-the-unit Ij-Reportika reporters talked to a lot of locals who said that this project has demolished their lives completely. Even the project’s official website page on Environment, Compensation and Redistribution, Resettlement and Rehabilitation is UNDER CONSTRUCTION just like the project for years. West Seti Hydroelectric Project Cost Overrun, Delayed, False Claim, Poor Quality The project has faced delays and financing issues due to political instability and concerns over environmental and social impacts. The West-Seti Hydropower Project and Seti River Project (SR6), joint storage projects totaling 1200MW that China had twice abandoned, were officially granted by Nepal to India’s National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC). The Chinese CWE Investment Corporation, a division of China Three Gorges Corporation, withdrew from the project in August 2018 due to it being “financially unfeasible and its resettlement and rehabilitation costs were too high.” Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation’s license had not been extended by Nepal before that time due to the Chinese company’s inability to start the work “convincingly” for a whole decade in the middle of the 1990s. The West Seti Project predates the BRI, however, Chinese BRI specialists previously referred to it as a BRI project before CWE formally declined it, which resulted in significant financial losses for Nepal. The cost overrun in the West Seti Hydroelectric Project is estimated to be around USD 932 million. The project was initially estimated to cost USD 2.5 billion, but the cost has increased due to several factors. Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project Environment Damage, Cost Overrun, Delayed, Corruption, Completed, Poor Quality The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project is a 456-megawatt…

Read More

The status of BRI projects in AFRICA

Editor031 mins

Download the report: Link Africa’s participation in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) began in 2013 when China first unveiled its ambitious global infrastructure project. Recognizing the potential for enhanced connectivity, economic growth, and development, several African countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Egypt, joined the BRI. Africa saw the initiative as a means to address its infrastructure deficit, promote trade and investment, and strengthen its ties with China. Here are the year-on-year trade statistics and balance of payment of Africa with China from 2017 to 2022: Year Africa’s Imports from China Africa’s Export to China Balance of Payment 2017 199.3 billion USD 95.7 billion USD -103.6 billion USD 2018 232.2 billion USD 106.7 billion USD -125.5 billion USD 2019 265.3 billion USD 117.7 billion USD -147.6 billion USD 2020 298.4 billion USD 128.7 billion USD -169.7 billion USD 2021 331.5 billion USD 140 billion USD -191.5 billion USD 2022 364.6 billion USD 151.3 billion USD -213.3 billion USD Trade statistics of Africa with China from 2017 to 2022 List of some of the projects that have suffered cost overruns: Country Project Benin Cotonou Port Expansion Project Botswana Kazungula Bridge Project Cambodia Phnom Penh Railway Project Cameroon Kribi Deep Seaport Project Cameroon N’Djamena-Doba Railway Project Chad N’Djamena-Doba Railway Project Djibouti Djibouti International Airport Expansion Project Djibouti Doraleh Multipurpose Port Project Ghana Tema-Aflao Railway Project Kenya Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway Kenya Lamu Port and Lamu-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor Liberia Buchanan Port Rehabilitation Project Malawi Nacala Logistics Corridor Project Mauritius Port Louis Waterfront Project Morocco Tanger-Med II Port Expansion Project Mozambique Nacala Logistics Corridor Project Nigeria Lagos-Kano Railway Rwanda Bugesera International Airport Project Senegal Diamniadio International Airport Project Sierra Leone Lungi International Airport Expansion Project Tanzania Dodoma City Water Supply Project Tanzania Tanzania-Zambia Railway Project Tunisia Enfidha International Airport Expansion Project Uganda Karuma Hydropower Project Zambia Lusaka Water Supply Project Zambia Victoria Falls Airport Expansion Project Zimbabwe Victoria Falls Airport Expansion Project Here are some of the problems that have plagued the BRI Projects in Africa over the years. The first bar shows the finished projects out of the 31 projects in Africa that make up the sample size. Only 19.35% of the initiatives from Africa in previous years were finished. As the last bar in the bar graph indicates, 9.68% of the projects were abandoned because of budget constraints and local opposition. In the report below, the precise causes are being looked into. The most common issues encountered by BRI projects in Africa were environmental damage (74.19%), which includes the destruction of local ecosystems triggering climate change and the displacement of local communities as a result of skewed and shoddy environmental impact assessments (EIA), and cost overruns (77.42%), which have multiplied the projects’ costs. Delays in project execution (58.06%) brought on by Chinese companies’ reluctance to move the project forward, corruption cases (64.52%) encompassing the stakeholders involved, and low-quality building materials (35.48%) were also major factors in the BRI’s dismal performance in Africa. Examples of projects in Africa that have been linked to corruption allegations involving Chinese companies: Country Project Name Chinese Company Angola Soyo Refinery China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) Botswana Gaborone International Airport China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Congo Inga III Hydropower Project Zhongjian International (Group) Corporation Egypt New Administrative Capital China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) Ethiopia Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Salini Impregilo Ghana Tema Oil Refinery Expansion Sinopec Kenya Standard Gauge Railway China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Liberia Mount Coffee Hydropower Project China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE) Malawi Bingu International Conference Center China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) Mauritius Phoenix International Airport China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Mozambique Nacala Port Expansion China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Namibia Walvis Bay Port Expansion China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Nigeria Ajaokuta Steel Mill China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Rwanda Kigali International Airport China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Senegal Diamniadio International Airport China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Sierra Leone Lungi International Airport China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) South Africa Gautrain Rapid Rail System China Railway Group Limited (CRG) Tanzania Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) Uganda Karuma Hydropower Project China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE) Zambia Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Project China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) Zimbabwe Victoria Falls Airport Expansion China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) BRI projects under the scanner in corruption cases Analysis of the flagship projects Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, Ethiopia and Djibouti Environment Damage, Delayed, Cost Overrun, Corruption, Poor Quality Completed The Addis Ababa-Djibouti (AAD) Railway Modernization Project is Africa’s first cross-border electrified railway. The railway line is a 753 km electrified single-track standard gauge route between Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa and the Port of Djibouti, with 45 stops in total. The new standard gauge route runs parallel to and replaces an abandoned 1 m gauge railway built more than a century ago. The EDR, a joint venture of the two state-owned firms ERC and SDCF, owns the railway line. The project was built by Chinese state-owned corporations China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) under the BRI, which is operating the railway for a period of six years following construction completion. The freight route began in October 2015, while passenger service was formally inaugurated in October 2016. On January 1, 2018, it became officially commercially operating. The project has faced issues with delays and construction quality, which have resulted in the railway being temporarily shut down several times for repairs due to failures. The project has also been detrimental to the environment and the indigenous communities. Bagamoyo Port Project, Tanzania Halted, Poor Quality Tanzania’s Bagamoyo Port Project set a new course in China-Tanzania ties. The deal for the Bagamoyo port project was inked in 2013 after numerous African organizations dubbed it a “killer Chinese loan” and asked that Tanzania’s previous President, Jakaya Kikwete, refuse the offer. Regardless, the offer was accepted. However, in January 2016, President John Magufuli declared the project’s halt. Bagamoyo Special Economic Zone Project, Tanzania Environment Damage, Cost Overrun, Corruption, Halted The Bagamoyo Special Economic Zone Project…

Read More

Childhood friend of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un says he has never heard about Kim’s son

Editor07 mins

A childhood friend that has visited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un several times over the years told Radio Free Asia that he has never met Kim’s son, casting doubt on previous intelligence reports about the leader’s family life. South Korean intelligence has said multiple times that Kim, with his wife Ri Sol Ju, has fathered three children: a son around 2010, a daughter named Ju Ae around 2013, and another daughter in 2017. Since late last year, Kim has repeatedly appeared with Ju Ae in public, leading to speculation that he might be grooming her to one day rule the country. But others said that was not likely, citing North Korea’s patriarchal society and the belief that he had a son. João Micaelo, now a chef, was a classmate of Kim’s when they both attended the Liebefeld-Steinhölzli public school in Switzerland from 1998 to 2000. The son of a Portuguese embassy employee, Micaelo is known to have been close friends with the future North Korean leader while attending the school. Micaelo visited with Kim in 2012 when Ri was pregnant with Ju Ae, and again after she was born. “In 2013 [on my next visit], I didn’t see his wife, but I knew it was a girl. I heard it was like she was pregnant [with] a girl,” said Micaelo. When asked if he had met Kim’s son, Micaelo said that Kim had never told him anything about a son. João Micaelo [circled, left] was a classmate of future North Korean leader Kim Jong Un [circled, right] when they attended the Liebefeld-Steinhölzli public school in Switzerland, from 1998 to 2000. Credit: Contacto Publico Another source from a Western country, who is very close to Kim Jong Un and visited him around the same time as Micaelo, also told RFA on condition of anonymity that he had never heard Kim talk about any sons.  “I never heard a word about his son from Kim Jong Un,” the source said. “[He] was proud of Ju Ae all the time. I believe she might be the first child.” During former NBA star Dennis Rodman’s highly publicized first visit to North Korea in 2013, he was introduced to Ju Ae, and his account of the trip was the first time her name was revealed to the outside world. He is not known to have met a son of Kim. No Son? In March, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service reported at a meeting of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s first child is a son.  The spy agency reported that “although there is no specific evidence that the first child is a son, it is certain through information sharing with external intelligence agencies that it is a son.” But a high-ranking official from the South Korean Ministry of Unification met with reporters on May 22nd and said, “It is uncertain whether there is a first child [before Ju Ae] or not.”  Kim’s son may not in fact exist, said Ken Gause, director of Center for Naval Analyses. “When Rodman was there, he visited Kim Jong Un in Wonsan … there were a lot of Kim relatives, including Kim Sol Song [his half-sister], but there was no son there,” said Gause.  “I’ve also heard that potentially the son, if there is a son, may have some mental disorder or some sort of issue like that, [so] they may have wanted to keep him away … from outsiders being able to see him,” he said. Because Ju Ae is constantly in the spotlight, it seems that she may be Kim’s firstborn, he said. “I have always tended to believe that the son either doesn’t exist … because there was never any talk about, ‘Oh, I also have a son,’ I mean, [they] seem to act as if this were his first child, gushing about Ju Ae and everything,” he said. The family and authorities seems to be “very protective and very mom-like” toward Ju Ae, “which suggests … this wasn’t their second child, this was their first child.” Translated by Leejin J. Chung. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.

Read More

Malaysia’s Mahathir says Russia may take nuclear option

Editor06 mins

The world is facing the grim prospect of a nuclear war as the Ukrainian conflict drags on, a former Asian leader has warned. “I don’t think you can make Russia surrender,” said former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad about the ongoing Ukraine war on Friday – the second day of the Future of Asia conference hosted by the Nikkei news group in Tokyo. “They will fight to the end, and in desperation they may resort to the use of nuclear weapons,” said the former statesman who will be 98 in July, adding that not only Ukraine and Russia, but “the whole world will suffer.” Mahathir served as Malaysia’s prime minister from 1981 to 2003 and again from 2018 to 2020.  “Nuclear war is the worst kind of war because of the extent of destruction it causes,” he said, reflecting on the end of World War II when two atomic bombs were dropped on Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. A summit of Group of Seven (G7) of the world’s most developed nations was held in Hiroshima last week. “It seems that G7 countries went to Hiroshima trying to persuade the Global South that they should support the West’s efforts in the Ukraine war,” Mahathir said.  The Global South is a term generally used for less developed countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania, as opposed to more prosperous nations in the Global North including North America, Europe, and Australia, as well as several rich Asian countries like Japan, South Korea and Singapore.  “We should not get involved in wars,” the former leader said before criticizing what he called “the mindset of some countries.” “Global North thinks that war is a solution to conflicts between nations,” Mahathir said. “Russia and the West were partners in the war against Germany,” he said, “but immediately after the war the West decided that their new enemy is Russia so they set up NATO.” ‘World government’ The rivalry between the world’s two superpowers China and the U.S. once again was highlighted at the Future of Asia event, in its 28th year this year. Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Thursday that his country “welcomes the G7’s announcement that they are prepared to build a stable and constructive relationship with China.” Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong went further adding: “Any attempt either to contain China’s rise or to limit America’s presence in the region will have few takers. Nobody wants to see a new cold war.” Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (right) at a Q&A session at the Future of Asia conference, May 26, 2023. Credit: RFA/Screenshot from livestream For his part, Mahathir Mohamad urged Asian countries that they “should not take sides to support either the U.S. or China.” “We should support the world that includes the U.S., China and the rest.” “We should free ourselves from the influences by the West both in the economic and political fields,” said the former leader, known for his anti-Western rhetoric. In his opinion, the United Nations as an organization needs to be restructured in order to lead global efforts in dealing with common world problems such as climate change, pandemics and consequences of wars. “We should think of a common approach to deal with world problems, through a kind of world government,” he said. Future of Asia, held by Japan’s Nikkei annually since 1995, is “an international gathering where political, economic, and academic leaders from the Asia-Pacific region offer their opinions frankly and freely on regional issues and the role of Asia in the world.” This year’s theme is ‘Leveraging Asia’s power to confront global challenges.’ Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivered a speech Thursday saying Tokyo is “focused on co-creating the future” with its Asian partners. Edited by Mike Firn.

Read More

A new big brother for Laos?

Editor01 mins

The Friendship Shield 2023 war games brought 200 Chinese troops and 700 Lao soldiers together for three weeks near the Lao capital Vientiane for joint military exercises. The drills between the two Communist states gave troops from impoverished, land-locked Laos firsthand experience using modern Chinese weapons, opening the way for the Southeast Asian country to replace its Soviet-era and Russian military supplies. Neighboring Vietnam, Laos’ biggest traditional ally, is believed to be watching the Sino-Lao relationship warily, while the U.S. is also concerned about China’s expanding military influence.

Read More

Court in Myanmar’s Mandalay imprisons 3 monks for funding terrorism

Editor02 mins

A court in Myanmar’s central Mandalay region has handed down 22-year sentences to three Buddhist monks accused of supporting anti-junta People’s Defense forces, a local resident told RFA Thursday. Tuesday’s sentences came after the monks from Taw Kyaung Gyi monastery in Patheingyi township were found guilty under Section 50 (j) of the Counter-Terrorism Law, which prohibits the financing of terrorist groups. The local, who didn’t want to be named for safety reasons, said the monks became involved because anti-junta militia often seek refuge in religious buildings, thinking they will be safer. “A monk is not a People’s Defense Force [member]. PDF youths set up camp in that monastery and sent drones over Mandalay city,” he said. “The monks probably encouraged them because locals are involved. Monks host the PDF and collect donations for them.” RFA has not been able to find out the names of the monks but the local said one was the chair of Mandalay’s Madaya township Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, established by the government in 1980 to oversee the Buddhist clergy. Another local, who also requested anonymity, told RFA the three monks are being held in Mandalay’s Obo Prison following the hearing in Mandalay city’s Aungmyaythazan District Court  Some 18,364 people are currently in detention in Myanmar, 6,076 of them serving prison sentences, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

Read More

Myanmar’s junta increasingly relying on airstrikes, research group says

Editor07 mins

Myanmar’s junta is increasingly relying on airstrikes in its war against groups opposed to its rule, according to tallies compiled by Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica, an independent local research group, because its troops have faced fierce resistance on the ground. The military carried out 1,427 airstrikes across Myanmar since taking power by force in a coup d’etat on Feb. 1, 2021, the group said in a report released Monday.  During the first four months of 2023, the junta launched 454 airstrikes – a rate that puts it on track for double the 2022’s total of 820, the group said. Most of the attacks have taken place in Kayin state and the Sagaing region – areas where junta forces have struggled to maintain control. Even former military officers have criticized the army’s reliance on airplanes. “The military uses its air power depending on the need for ground operations,” said Thien Tun Oo, executive director of the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, which is made up of former military officers.  “It’s funny to say that the military has to use its air power, as its ground troops cannot handle the battles,” he said. “That’s our opinion.” The number of people killed by junta airstrikes is also increasing every year, said Moe Htet Nay, a research and political adviser for Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica. In 2021, 74 civilians were killed; in 2022, 168 civilians were killed; and during the first three months of 2023, 192 have been killed, he said. Civilians hide in a cave after airstrikes and mortar attacks on their village in Doo Tha Htoo district in Myanmar’s eastern Kayin state, May 3, 2022. Credit: Free Burma Rangers/AFP Civilians targeted ‘indiscriminately’ The airstrikes are intended to bring chaos to anti-junta forces and to separate them from villages and civilian populations, Moe Htet Nay said.  The most deadly airstrike came last month when 188 people were killed in Kanbalu township of Sagaing region on April 11.  Political analyst Than Soe Naing believes the junta will continue to target airstrikes at civilian populations, in addition to the People’s Defense Forces, made up of ordinary citizens who have taken up arms against the military. “The military first used the air forces to relocate its ground troops,” he said. “But later, the air forces started attacking every possible target of the PDFs. Now, the junta launches airstrikes at any populated place indiscriminately.” Radio Free Asia reached out to a junta spokesman to ask about the airstrikes, but there was no response. Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica collected data on the airstrikes from reports in more than 40 news outlets, including RFA, Voice of America and Myanmar Now, and through the social media sites of more than 1300 PDFs.  Burned remains of buildings cover the ground in a village in Doo Tha Htoo district in Myanmar’s eastern Kayin state, May 3, 2022. Credit: Free Burma Rangers/AFP Some villagers afraid to dig bomb shelters  Kyaw Zaw, spokesman for the president’s office of the shadow National Unity Government, told RFA in early May that they are constructing a system that can notify the public in advance of incoming junta air strikes. The project also includes a proposal to build bomb shelter bunkers. But many villagers wouldn’t dare dig bomb shelter trenches because junta forces believe that families with bomb shelters are aligned with PDFs, according to a resident of Kanbalu township who refused to be named for security reasons. “How can we protect ourselves against the danger of their airstrikes during the battles? Their ground troops destroy our bomb shelters as they raid our places,” the resident said.  Debris and soot cover the floor of a middle school in Let Yet Kone village in Tabayin township in the Sagaing region of Myanmar the day after an airstrike hit the school, Sept. 17, 2022. Credit: Associated Press Chinese and Russian entities have sent more than US$660 million in weaponry and other arms-related equipment to the junta since the coup, according to the United Nations’ special rapporteur for Myanmar, Tom Andrews. That includes Russian-made Mi-35 military helicopters, MiG-29 and Yak-130 planes and Chinese-made K-8 jet fighters that have been used by the military to target and destroy civilian homes and buildings, Andrews said in a report last week. Pro-democracy activists, including NUG acting President Duwa Lashi La, have called on the international community to stop the junta from purchasing military equipment and technology, and to cut off its sources of jet fuel. Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

Read More

Myanmar troops raid Chin state hospital, arresting doctor and nurses

Editor04 mins

Junta troops have raided a hospital in Myanmar’s northwestern Chin state, arresting a doctor and four nurses, according to a local resident. The local identified the five women as Dr. Ci Ci Lia and nurses Henny Zivalem, KhupSian Lun, San Hniang Sung and Van Niang Mawi, all ethnic Chin. “They were arrested at midnight [Sunday] and informed they would be questioned,” said the resident who declined to be named for security reasons. “Many soldiers came to the hospital at the time of the arrest.” Agape Hospital is a privately-run medical facility, set up by the Presbyterian Church in Myanmar, which said it wanted to provide basic healthcare to a state with insufficient facilities. The doctor and four nurses all joined Myanmar’s civil disobedience movement soon after the military seized power in a February 2021 coup, the local told RFA although they said the junta had not given a reason for the arrest. The five are being held at the local police station in Hakha township and have been allowed to see their families. Other residents told RFA troops arrested at least 15 people in Hakha township on Sunday evening when they checked lists of visitors staying overnight. Sunday’s raid follows a similar one on April 2 when troops arrested two doctors and a staff member at Agape Hospital. Locals say the three were freed in exchange for the release of junta officials who had been detained by the Chin People’s Defense Force in Hakha, suggesting the latest arrests may also be part of a planned prisoner exchange. RFA has not been able to confirm this independently. The Chin People’s Defense Force confirmed Sunday’s arrest of the five medical workers but did not comment on any possible prisoner swap. RFA called Chin state’s junta spokesman and social affairs minister Thant Zin Wednesday, seeking comment on the latest arrests, but the calls went unanswered. Last week the junta revoked the business licenses of three private hospitals in Myanmar’s central Mandalay region. Palace, City and Kant Kaw hospitals had already been told to stop accepting patients because they were using staff belonging to the civil disobedience movement. According to Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government, the junta has attacked hospitals and clinics 188 times since the coup. They damaged 59 ambulances and seized 49 more, the NUG’s Ministry of Health said, adding that 71 medical workers were killed and 836 arrested in the past 27 months. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

Read More

Rights attorney Yu Wensheng, wife Xu Yan ‘could be at risk of torture’ after arrest

Editor07 mins

Chinese authorities have notified the family of veteran rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife Xu Yan of their formal arrest on suspicion of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the Communist Party, friends of the couple told Radio Free Asia. Yu and Xu were detained last month en route to a meeting with European Union officials in Beijing, prompting calls for their release from Brussels. U.S.-based rights lawyer Wang Qingpeng said there are now fears that Yu and Xu may be tortured in order to elicit a “confession,” given the amount of international attention generated by their arrests. “The authorities will be concerned about how this case looks … and about international attention,” Wang said. “A lot of lawyers have been warned off representing Yu Wensheng and his wife.” “Many lawyers have been tortured already, including Xie Yang, Wang Quanzhang, Chang Weiping and Zhou Shifeng,” he said. “We have reason to believe that Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan could also be tortured, so as to avoid further outside attention and attempts at rescue.” “There could be further [and more serious charges] to come, for example, ‘incitement to subvert state power,’ which is impossible to predict right now,” Wang said. Chinese courts almost never acquit political prisoners, and the charge Yu and Xu currently face generally leads to jail terms of up to five years. Lawyers warned A friend of the couple who asked to remain anonymous said Yu’s brother received notification of his formal arrest on May 21. “According to what I have learned, Yu Wensheng has put up a great deal of resistance to the authorities since his detention,” the friend said. “His brother has also said [their detention] is unacceptable.” Police informed Yu’s brother of the change of status on Sunday, but had refused to give the family anything in writing, the brother said. “His brother tried to get a photo of the notification of arrest, but the police stopped him,” they said. “Now Yu Wensheng’s family need to find a lawyer to help him, but a lot of lawyers have been warned off doing this by the authorities.” They said police had also told the family not to try to find their own lawyer to represent the couple. Another person familiar with the case, who gave only the surname Shi, confirmed the friend’s account. “They wouldn’t let their [18-year-old] kid instruct a lawyer, and the police were also telling people that Yu Wensheng didn’t want a lawyer, and that Xu Yan had already hired two lawyers,” Shi said.  “Then the police visited the law firms [that might potentially represent Yu and Xu] and put pressure on them — the Beijing municipal judicial affairs bureau also stepped up the pressure, threatening the law firms that they would fail their annual license review,” he said.  “I don’t know whether they actually revoked any licenses or not — we won’t know until early June,” Shi said. Son alone A friend of the couple who gave only the surname Qin said he is worried about their situation, and also about their son, who is living alone in the family home under strict police surveillance, with no contact with the outside world. “It has destroyed this family, and their kid is still so young with nobody around to take care of them — it’s wrong to arrest both husband and wife together,” Qin said. The European Union lodged a protest with China after police detained veteran rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his activist wife Xu Yan ahead of a meeting with its diplomats during a scheduled EU-China human rights dialogue on April 13. “We have already been taken away,” Yu tweeted shortly before falling silent on April 13, while the EU delegation to China tweeted on April 14: “@yuwensheng9 and @xuyan709 detained by CN authorities on their way to EU Delegation.” “We demand their immediate, unconditional release. We have lodged a protest with MFA against this unacceptable treatment,” the tweet from the EU’s embassy in China said, referring to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

Read More

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