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China nationalizes private schools in ongoing reform of education sector

Editor2 years ago06 mins

Authorities across China have begun nationalizing private schools, amid ongoing reforms aimed at bringing all educational institutions under the direct control of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Thirty-eight private primary and secondary schools across more than 10 districts were forced back into public ownership in the northern city of Xi’an, the municipal education bureau announced on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Shanghai municipal government said it had “bought out” around 20,000 places at the city’s private schools, effectively turning at least 30 private schools into free education providers. Former teacher Jia Minling said Shanghai’s government had previously welcomed private education in the city, and the number of private schools had mushroomed, many of them offering extremely high standards of teaching and facilities. “If they are taking back [the private sector] in this way, then it means education will be completely in the hands of the government,” Jia said. “Private schools make efforts to compete for enrollments, and the teachers are very responsible and really serious about improving the children’s grades.” Provincial authorities in the central province of Hunan, eastern province of Jiangsu and the southwestern province of Sichuan have recently all announced they are moving to ensure that private schooling accounts for no more than five percent of the education sector in their province. An education insider in Shanghai who gave only the surname Pan said the nationalization program appears to be gathering momentum across China. “They are gradually bringing them back into the public sector, although they can’t do that all in one go,” Pan said. “Now there are targets being set for each district.” “A lot of Shanghai private schools have reduced their fees … so now, not only do they not make money, they can’t even operate. They call it delisting.” The government has bought out some of the places at private schools, in order to enable students to pay no fees, according to reports, while imposing lower or zero fees on others. More than 17,000 school places have been forcibly bought out by the government, across 87 schools, with 30 schools now charging no fees at all. Eradicating private education Jia said the government was “interfering” with the schools’ private operations. “Private schools are responsible for their own profits and losses,” Jia said. “What right do they have to interfere with that?” “If the tuition is too high, they will not be able to recruit students. They are restricted by the market economy,” he said. “[The government] are building public schools with taxpayer money.” “Private schools are private enterprises that didn’t ask the government to invest a cent when they built their schools, nor were their teachers paid by the education bureau,” he said. “Now they want to take them back into public ownership when they see them doing well.” The ministry of education announced in August 2021 that there will be no more private education in China by August 2023. On June 15, 2021 the ministry set up a new department to monitor off-campus education and training provisions and to implement “reforms to the off-campus education and training sector,” and the CCP leadership then signaled on July 30 that it would crack down on private tuition schools and other measures aimed at slashing homework and out-of-hours educational activities. Training institutions were banned from offering subject-based tutoring on national statutory holidays, rest days, or winter and summer vacations. More than 75 percent of students in primary and secondary education attended after-school tutoring in 2016, the most recent industry figures showed, and the need to hothouse children privately to get them into the best schools was criticized by CCP leader Xi Jinping in March as a barrier to boosting birth rates. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

China balancing close ties with Russia and distance from Ukraine war: analysts

Editor2 years ago2 years ago011 mins

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is struggling to balance his country’s geopolitical interests with his support for Russia in the wake of president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, analysts said following a call between the two leaders. China’s foreign ministry said Xi had told Putin that Beijing would work with Moscow on bilateral cooperation, but struck a cooler note on Ukraine. “China is willing to work with Russia to continue supporting each other on their respective core interests concerning sovereignty and security, as well as on their major concerns,” it paraphrased Xi as saying. “China is also willing to work with Russia to promote solidarity and cooperation among emerging market countries and developing nations, and push for the development of the international order and global governance towards a more just and reasonable direction,” Xi told Putin. But he called for a “responsible” approach to the war in Ukraine. “Xi emphasized that China has always independently assessed the situation on the basis of the historical context and the merits of the issue, and actively promoted world peace and the stability of the global economic order,” the foreign ministry statement said. “All parties should push for a proper settlement of the Ukraine crisis in a responsible manner,” it quoted Xi as saying in a phone call marking his 69th birthday. According to the Kremlin, the two leaders discussed “increasing economic cooperation, trade and military-technical ties between China and Russia.” The Chinese statement made no mention of military or technical cooperation. There was also no mention of a trip by Putin to China, suggested by Xi during a phone call on March 4. “[Beijing] is worried about U.S. sanctions, but covertly supporting Russia won’t satisfy Putin, so they need to talk to each other personally,” current affairs commentator Lu Nan told RFA. “Actually, what Xi Jinping does will be a long way from want Putin wants.” A photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the Russian Embassy in Santiago, Chile is defaced in a protest in support of Ukraine, February 26, 2022. Credit: AFP Marriage of convenience Xi and Putin last met in person just before Russia invaded Ukraine, vowing to boost ties during the February 2022 Winter Olympics. China has refused to describe the Ukraine war as an invasion, nor to condemn Russia’s military action in Ukraine, blaming eastward expansion by NATO for stoking security tensions with Russia and calling for the issue to be resolved through negotiation. Chinese has repeatedly said there is “no upper limit” on bilateral cooperation, but vowed to play a “constructive role” to normalize the situation in Ukraine. Liu Hsiao-hsiang, associate researcher at Taiwan’s Institute for the National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), said the relationship between Beijing and Moscow remains a marriage of convenience. “China and Russia have no choices right now,” Liu told RFA. “China knows very well that even if it supports the West and the United States on Ukraine, that won’t win it the goodwill of the U.S.” “Russia is its natural support base … but when calculating how to support [Russia], they will always prioritize their own national interest,” he said. The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday it sees China as a close Russian ally. “China claims to be neutral, but its behavior makes clear that it is still investing in close ties to Russia,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson said in a statement shortly after Xi and Putin’s call, adding that Washington is monitoring Chinese activity closely. “China is still standing by Russia. It is still echoing Russian propaganda around the world. It is still shielding Russia in international organizations,” the spokesperson said. “And it is still denying Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine by suggesting instead that they were staged.” “Nations that side with Vladimir Putin will inevitably find themselves on the wrong side of history,” the statement said. “It’s in the best interests of the United States for it to dampen China’s support for Russia with verbal threats and actions of appeasement,” Lu said. “China won’t overtly challenge Washington, but it will carry on quietly buying grain and natural resources from Russia, so as to meet its own domestic needs and also appear to be supportive of Putin,” he said. CCP ‘word games’ Liu said that when the two leaders last spoke in March, the war in Ukraine had barely begun, and both likely underestimated the strength of Ukrainian military resistance. “How the geopolitical situation changes in future will be the decisive factor,” Liu said of the bilateral relationship. “The relationships between the major powers will shift along with the changes in the way the war is going.” The call came as Xi issued a new directive setting out guidelines for the use of the Chinese military for “non-war operations.” The Chinese government has previously defined non-war military operations as actions to create military deterrence, international peacekeeping, anti-terrorist activities, anti-smuggling, anti-drug operations, and martial law. The full text of the outline has not yet been published. Germany-based analyst Wu Wenxin said the move has parallels with Putin’s “special military operations” against Ukraine, and indicate that the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is trying to create a legal basis to invade the democratic island of Taiwan. “There are two reasons for this. One is that Xi Jinping’s status is threatened [due to the zero-COVID policy], and he wants to stabilize support from the military … ahead of the 20th CCP National Congress [later this year],” Wu told RFA. “The other is that Xi Jinping may want to invade Taiwan,” said. “But starting a war looks very negative, so he has come up with the phrase ‘non-war military operation’.” “The CCP is playing word games,” Wu said. Akio Yaita, Taipei bureau chief for Japan’s Sankei Shimbun and an expert on China, said the move is in keeping with Beijing’s insistence that the Taiwan Strait is part of China’s territorial waters. “Everyone is still very worried about whether Xi Jinping will use this kind of ‘non-military action’ as justification when he launches…

Three people killed as troops target villages in Chin State

Editor2 years ago03 mins

Three people died Thursday after junta forces fired artillery shells at a farm in Mui Tui village in Chin State’s Mindat township, residents told RFA. Yaw Man, an official from Mindat People’s Administration which is engaged in armed resistance, said a man and two women died when shells exploded. He said the military council’s Infantry Battalion No. 274 started shelling villages in the northern part of the city on Thursday morning. Mui Tai village is located 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) from Mindat. “A 70-year-old man, a 60-year-old woman and a 30-year-old woman working on the farm died on the spot. Another was wounded by bullets. The shells also landed in the village. Three houses were destroyed there,” said Yaw Man, adding the the injured man was being treated at a charity clinic near Mindat Township. Residents told RFA that Infantry Battalion No. 274, which is based in Mindat, fired shells seven times targeting villages, including Mui Tui, in the north of Mindat city from around 9:30 a.m. Locals said the army was not targeting local People’s Defense Forces (PDFs), but deliberately aiming at the villages. Calls to a military council spokesman by RFA on Thursday morning went unanswered. In the past, the spokesman has said the army had to open fire to destroy villages where local PDFs were sheltering and conducting military training. On May 23, heavy artillery fired by Infantry Battalion No. 274 hit a house in Madat village critically injuring an 11-year-old boy whose right leg had to be amputated. Chin State was one of the first regions in Myanmar to form militias to fight the military following the coup in February last year. More than 200 people have been killed in the state since then according to the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO), which monitors human rights abuses. At least 10 civilians have been killed in Mindat City and Mindat Township since February 1, 2021. Fighting between junta troops and local militias has forced nearly 90,000 locals to flee their homes in Chin State.

Former Cambodian opposition chief Kem Sokha claims end to alliance with Sam Rainsy

Editor2 years ago010 mins

Cambodia’s top opposition partnership of the past decade is no more, one half of the duo said Wednesday, confirming rumors of a split within the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and raising questions over who can mount a legitimate political challenge to strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen. Speaking during proceedings for his trial on unsubstantiated charges of treason at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, former CNRP President Kem Sokha announced that his relationship with the party’s acting President Sam Rainsy had ended, although Sam Rainsy was quick to dismiss the comments as the result of legal pressure. “I am using this platform to speak about politics [to put an end to speculation]. Sam Rainsy and I are done. I would like to inform you that this is true. It’s no longer ‘Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha as one,’” Kem Sokha said in a rare courtroom audio recording that was later published by the pro-ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) Fresh News media outlet. “Before, Samdech [Hun Sen] maintained a culture of dialogue with Sam Rainsy, but now there is none. He [Sam Rainsy] led the Candlelight Party to join the [commune] election and in doing so, he left us and attacked me. I want to clarify this during the trial.” Sam Rainsy, who founded the Candlelight Party in 2005 before joining forces with the CNRP, has been living in self-imposed exile in France since late 2015. The opposition leader tried to return in November 2019 to lead a peaceful uprising against Hun Sen’s CPP, but his plan to enter Cambodia from Thailand was thwarted when he was refused permission to board a Thai Airways plane in Paris. Kem Sokha told the court on Wednesday that he had “never supported” his former ally’s plan to return, which has subsequently been used by authorities to try and convict several opposition members on charges of incitement to overthrow the government. His comments came after being pressed by the court prosecutor to explain his connection to the events of 2019. “I didn’t support him. I asked my supporters not to join. If I were granted political rights by the judge, I would have held a press conference to explain this,” Kem Sokha said, referring to a court-ordered ban on his political activities during his trial. “I’ve decided that Cambodia is my homeland and I have no other place that I belong. I have no interest in bringing foreigners into the country to provoke chaos.” Speaking to RFA Khmer following Wednesday’s hearing, Kem Sokha’s lawyer Pheng Heng confirmed his client’s statement. “This is real audio recorded during the trial. He responded to the same questions [asked by the prosecutor] who accused him of assisting with Sam Rainsy’s repatriation,” he said. “Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha ended their alliance when Sam Rainsy threw his support behind the Candlelight Party.” Pheng Heng added that he was “surprised” that the court had allowed Kem Sokha’s statement to be taped during the trial, as reporters are normally banned from making audio or video recordings during hearings and said that he will discuss with his client whether he intends to file a complaint. Kem Sokha leaves the Phnom Penh Municipal Court following a hearing in his case, June 15, 2022. Credit: citizen journalist Rumors of a split Kem Sokha’s claim to have ended his relationship with Sam Rainsy appear to confirm pervasive rumors of a schism within Cambodia’s opposition that were reignited following a four-hour meeting last month between the former CNRP president and Hun Sen at a funeral for the latter’s brother, during which the two discussed national policy issues. CNRP supporters had dismissed the rumors as part of a bid by the CPP to fracture the opposition ahead of nationwide elections for local councils held earlier this month but had urged party leaders to issue a statement clarifying the status of their relationship. The CPP claimed a sweeping victory in the commune polls last week — a contest that rights watchdogs said was heavily slanted toward the ruling party and marred by intimidation and obstruction of the opposition. The official election results will be announced on June 26. On Wednesday, Sam Rainsy told RFA that Kem Sokha had lied about the nature of their alliance, insisting that “nothing has changed.” “We must look at the circumstance. Is he speaking his mind or is he being pressured? He spoke before the court that charged him,” he said. “I don’t change my stance. Kem Sokha is a hostage of Hun Sen. He can’t say what he wants. Hun Sen has threatened Kem Sokha that he will send him back to prison.” Sam Rainsy also alleged that the leak of the courtroom audio is “part of a plot” organized by Hun Sen. “This is a plot to show that Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha are splitting,” he said. “If Cambodia’s democrats remain united, it will mean the end for Hun Sen. So, I’m not interested in what Kem Sokha said in this circumstance.” Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017, two months after the arrest of Kem Sokha for his role in an alleged scheme to topple Hun Sen with the help of the U.S. government — charges he denies. The former CNRP president, who faces up to 30 years in jail, declined to vote in this month’s election and was joined by many of his followers. Sam Rainsy told RFA that amid efforts to return the CNRP to legal status, the best way forward for Cambodia’s opposition supporters is to rally behind the Candlelight Party. “While we are in the jungle, we need candlelight until the sun rises,” he said. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

UN member states criticize China over Uyghurs at Human Rights Council session

Editor2 years ago2 years ago09 mins

Nearly 50 United Nations member states on Wednesday issued a joint statement criticizing China’s atrocities against Uyghurs and calling on the U.N. human rights chief to release a long-overdue report on abuses in Xinjiang. Paul Bekkers, the permanent representative of the Netherlands to the U.N. office in Geneva, delivered the statement on behalf of 47 countries, saying the member states continued to be “gravely concerned” about the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Bekkers cited well-researched and credible reports of the detention of more than 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in the region, along with widespread surveillance, discrimination, and severe restrictions on culture and freedom of religion that these groups face there. “We are also concerned about reports of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, forced sterilization, sexual and gender-based violence, forced labor, and forced separation of children from their parents by authorities,” he said. Bekkers also said the member states continued to be “gravely concerned” about deteriorating human rights situations in Hong Kong and Tibet. In the statement, the nations urged China to respect for the rule of law, to protect human rights, to provide unfettered access for independent observers to Xinjiang, and to respect the principle of non-refoulement, which prevents people who have the right to be recognized as refugees from being forcefully returned to countries where they could be harmed. The statement from the member states came more than two weeks after Michelle Bachelet, a former Chilean president who has served as the U.N. high commissioner for human rights since 2018, wrapped up a six-day visit to China in May, including stops in its far-western region Xinjiang. At a news briefing following the visit, Bachelet, 70, said she was not in China for an official investigation of the situation in Xinjiang, though she said she had “unsupervised” access to sources that the U.N. had arranged to meet there. Uyghur rights groups demanded her resignation after they said she repeated Chinese talking points and said she had been unable to assess the full scale of what Beijing calls “vocational education and training centers” in Xinjiang, but which the human rights community and scholars call internment camps. Bekkers said Beijing should stop arbitrary detentions and immediately release those held, end travel restrictions, and begin impartial investigations into allegations of racial, ethnic and ethno-religious profiling, which were among the eight recommendations relating to Xinjiang issued in August 2018 by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination within Bachelet’s office. Bekkers also called on Bachelet to disclose more information about her visit to China. “We are interested in more detailed observations, including on the restrictions the Chinese authorities imposed on the visit as well as on your access to members of civil society and to places of your choice,” he said. As for the overdue report on abuses in Xinjiang, Bachelet informed the Human Rights Council in September 2021 that her office was finalizing its assessment of information on allegations of rights violations. Three months later, a spokesperson said the report would be issued in a matter of weeks, but it was not released. Support is growing The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) praised the issuance of the statement, saying it was pleased to see many countries from Latin America and the Pacific sign onto it, though the effort was bittersweet. “However, like last time, there is no single Muslim nation among them. It is very tragic,” said Semet Abla, vice chairman of WUC’s Executive Committee. But WUC president Dolkun Isa pointed out that the number of U.N. member states supporting the Uyghurs has been steadily growing with 47 backing Wednesday’s statement, compared to 43 showing support for Uyghur issues in 2021, and 14 in 2018. “Even Israel was one of the signatories of the statement,” he said. “Even though Turkey did not sign the statement, it issued a strong condemnation and rebuke of the Chinese concentration camps.” On Monday, Bachelet told officials attending the Human Rights Council session that she raised concerns about the human rights situation concerning Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang during her trip. “My office’s assessment of the human rights situation in Xinjiang is being updated,” she said in an oral update at the session. “It will be shared with the government for factual comments before publication.” Bachelet also said that her office and the Chinese government agreed to hold an annual senior meeting on human rights and to continue exchanges on human rights issues of concern. “We are now elaborating concrete steps to put the agreements into action,” she said. Sophie Richardson, China director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, noted that Bachelet now has said that she will release the report before the end of her term ends in August or September. “And we certainly hope that she follows through on that,” she told RFA. “We are a bit skeptical, but nevertheless still think that it is extremely important to hear the United Nations Human Rights Office offer up its assessment based on remote monitoring of what Human Rights Watch deems crimes against humanity targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic communities,” Richardson said. Bachelet also said Monday that she would not seek a second term for personal reasons, but later told reporters her decision was not connected to criticism over her China trip. “As my term as high commissioner draws to a close, this council’s milestone 50th session will be the last which I brief,” she said. Translated by Mamatjan Juma for RFA Uyghur. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Russia, Ukraine turn Indonesia into diplomatic battlefield

Editor2 years ago2 years ago08 mins

The Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors have turned Indonesia – this year’s G20 chair – into a diplomatic battlefield by holding tit-for-tat press briefings, becoming regulars at local newsrooms and giving interviews to present their versions of what’s happening in the actual warzone. Take the case of an in-person press conference last week by Lyudmila Vorebieva, Russia’s envoy here. During the interaction with reporters, she claimed that her country’s forces did not target civilians in Ukraine and the Western media had published fake news. When asked to respond, Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Hamianin shot back. He called Vorebieva a liar and war criminal who had “reserved a place in hell.” The reason for this diplomatic battle is Indonesia’s position as holder of the 2022 presidency of the Group of Twenty leading economies, said Radityo Dharmaputra, an international relations lecturer at Airlangga University in Surabaya. “For Russia, Indonesia is important because they need to show that not all countries support Ukraine,” Radityo told BenarNews. “For Ukraine, they need support from countries other than Europe and the United States.” And Indonesia? It does not have an incentive to support either side, partly because its citizens have no affinity with Russians or Ukrainians, Radityo said. “Indonesia’s foreign policy tradition in such a situation is to play it safe,” he said. Indonesia voted for a United Nations General Assembly resolution in March that condemned Moscow’s military strike on Ukraine. But, at the same time, Jakarta has not ever directly criticized Russia or used the word “invasion.” And still, Indonesia has been drawn into a tug of war between the United States and the European Union on one side and Russia and China on the other, by virtue of being this year’s G20 president. The U.S. and other Western countries wanted Russia expelled from the group, while China said no member had the right to expel another country. U.S. President Joe Biden said Ukraine should be able to participate in the G20 summit, which is scheduled for mid-November in Bali, if Russia is not expelled. Indonesia has been reluctant to disinvite Russia, but has asked Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, which is not a G20 member, as a guest. The Ukrainian government has said that Zelenskyy’s attendance at the G20 summit would “depend mainly on the situation in the battlefield.” In April, Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said that Russian President Vladimir Putin would attend the summit, although the Kremlin had not confirmed his participation. Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Lyudmila Vorobieva gestures while talking to journalists as Defense Attache Sergey Zhevnovatyi listens during a news conference at the Russian Embassy in Jakarta, March 23, 2022. Credit: Reuters Meanwhile, Moscow’s and Kyiv’s ambassadors to Jakarta launched dueling diplomatic offensives to court Indonesia and its people. In March, both Vorobieva and Hamianin visited the headquarters of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization that boasts 80 million followers, only a day apart. They met with NU’s new chairman, Yahya Cholil Staquf, a former advisor to Jokowi. The two have also given “exclusive” interviews to various Indonesian media outlets. At last week’s press conference, Vorobieva repeated Moscow’s assertions that what happened in Ukraine was the result of the West’s “anti-Russian project.” “They’re actually spreading terror, people were fearing and are still fearing. You will not see that in the Western media, but we see it every day,” she said. Hamianin laughed off Vorobieva’s allegations. “She doesn’t look ignorant. That’s why she’s just a liar, right?” Hamianin told BenarNews in a phone interview. “The oppression Russia committed over Ukraine during the last 30 years, the non-stop blackmailing, nonstop humiliation, like territorial attacks and all that, especially the last eight years … is what turned Ukraine into anti-Russia,” he said. “Because we don’t accept the aggressors. We don’t accept liars, murderers, and rapists.” He described Vorobieva’s claim that Ukraine’s government backed Nazis as “disgusting.” “I’m absolutely sure that by saying this, she booked her personal seat on the bench of war criminals in The Hague tribunal, and definitely reserved a place in hell,” he said, referring to the International Court of Justice, based in the Netherlands. Hikmahanto Juwana, an international law professor at the University of Indonesia, said winning the hearts and minds of people in the world’s fourth most populous country was important for Russia and Ukraine. “The Indonesian public needs to be propagandized so that the government takes a position that is in line with public aspirations,” Hikmahanto told BenarNews. Alvin Prasetyo in Jakarta contributed to this report by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

Starvation becomes a side effect of North Korea’s struggle to contain COVID

Editor2 years ago08 mins

The increase of COVID-19 cases in North Korea is creating knock-on hardships for the families of patients, as the loss of income from quarantine restrictions has left some without enough money to feed themselves. The cash-strapped North Korean government has responded to reports of family members of COVID patients starving to death, by forcing neighbors to “volunteer” to feed them–but the state isn’t providing any additional food for the effort. North Koreans have long chafed at being drafted by the state to provide free labor, food, building materials or cash for national projects–orders that come on top of the non-stop struggle to survive on a bleak economy. A family illness can have devastating consequences in North Korea, where both men and women need to work to earn enough to support their families. Men work in government-appointed jobs, but because their salaries are low, women are expected to earn additional income through side businesses. “Confirmed COVID-19 cases have increased from the beginning of May. COVID-19 patients were quarantined at the facilities while their families were quarantined in their homes,” a resident from Unsan county in South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “An elderly family member of a COVID patient died, unable to eat properly during the 15 days that the patient was in quarantine. It was then that they started organizing the volunteer group,” she said. The source said that since the beginning of June, each neighborhood, or division and subdivision of each rural town, was directed to operate a group of volunteers to look after the families of quarantining patients. But the government did not give these groups any extra food to carry out their work, as it is in short supply in the chronically malnourished country. “The local government provides a certain amount of corn to COVID-19 quarantine facilities, but they don’t give anything, not even a single cabbage, to the families who all quarantine in their homes. There have been cases of elderly people who starved to death … because they were trapped at home, unable to make money, and they had nothing to eat,” she said. “As the residents’ complaints increased and became stronger, county quarantine command reported these cases to the National Emergency Quarantine Command. When the case was reported to the Central Committee, the authorities organized COVID-19 volunteer groups across the country, including in Pyongyang, and took measures to provide food and water for the elderly and other at-risk people in their quarantine homes,” she said. The measures included forcing some North Koreans to harvest their own vegetable gardens to give food to the quarantining families, the source said. While residents do what they can to avoid being tapped to volunteer, authorities tend to target the people with the largest vegetable gardens. “They complain and ask, ‘Who is this service for?’ The authorities are using us to provide what the government should be providing, and they are taking all the credit,” the source said. In Uiju county, near China in the northwestern province of North Pyongan, authorities organized volunteer groups there after the death of the child of a woman in her 30s who was away in quarantine, a source there told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely. “She was the breadwinner for her family and her 3-year-old child died of malnutrition as her husband watched at home,” he said. “The authorities who organized the volunteer groups are appealing to people to show the true face of socialism by displaying the spirit of service that offers generous support and effort. They are asking people to think of those who are facing greater difficulties than they are in the time of COVID-19,” said the second source. Authorities are forcing better-off citizens to volunteer for at least 10 days and to donate about 30 kilograms (60 pounds) of potatoes each, he said. “Residents say that if the state wants to take care of the families of COVID-19 patients, the state should be the one that provides the food and vegetables,” the second source said. “They say [the government] is just passing on the cost to the residents, and it is not volunteer work for the families of COVID-19 patients but volunteer work for the state.” After two years of denying the pandemic had penetrated its closed borders, North Korea in May declared a “maximum emergency” and acknowledged the virus had begun to spread among participants of a large-scale military parade the previous month. Though North Korea has not been tracking confirmed coronavirus cases, possibly due to lack of testing equipment, state media has been publishing daily figures of people who report fever symptoms. As of Tuesday, 4.53 million people have come down with fever, 72 of whom have died, 38 North, a site that provides analysis on the country and is run by the U.S.-based Stimson Center think tank, reported. Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Henan rural bank customers curbed by COVID-19 app as they protest frozen accounts

Editor2 years ago07 mins

Authorities in the central Chinese province of Henan have been using the COVID-19 Health Code app to control the movements of protesters over failures at rural banks, according to social media posts. Some 400,000 customers of four rural banks were left unable to withdraw their money after an estimated U.S.$1.5 billion in assets were frozen in mid-April, according to Caixin magazine. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has said it is paying close attention to the four village lenders who stopped offering online banking services, was working with local authorities to resolve the issue, it said. “Many customers from wealthy southern and eastern regions deposited huge sums into these village banks for high interest rates and cash rewards,” it said. Some of the depositors staged — or tried to attend — street protests, but posted that their COVID-19 health codes had turned red, preventing them from going. The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has imposed an electronic traffic light system on all citizens, ostensibly to control people’s movements, trace close contacts of those infected, and limit community transmission of the virus. But the reports suggest the authorities could turn it to other purposes, preventing people from petitioning over government wrongdoing or protesting against injustice. A video clip posted to social media on Monday showed more than 20 people holding up placards in front of the Chongqing branch of the CBIRC. A man uses his smart phone to register with China’s COVID-19 Health Code app, in a file photo. Credit: AFP Health codes react Similar protests were reported outside the Henan provincial branch of the body, at the Zhengzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center and outside the Henan representative office in the southern city of Guangzhou. The CCP-backed Global Times newspaper cited several would-be protesters as saying that their health codes had turned red on arrival in Henan’s provincial capital Zhengzhou, despite their having a negative PCR test from within the past 48 hours. Some said their health codes had turned red after they scanned a QR code for “Zhengzhou station west exit” that had been shared in a group chat for depositors. Others said their codes had turned green again after they arrived back in their hometowns, the Global Times said. The paper quoted Henan officials as saying that “errors in the database” could be the reason for the sudden changes in creditors’ health codes. The Henan provincial health commission has said it is looking into the reports. U.S.-based legal scholar Teng Biao said the local government, if they did indeed use the health code app to control people’s movements, could have violated three Chinese laws. “The first is the Personal Data Protection Law, as it would be a violation of the right to personal privacy,” Teng said. “It could also involve illegally obtaining or leaking citizens’ personal information.” “It could also be in breach of the Law on the Control and Prevention of Infectious Diseases,” he said, adding that that law forbids false reporting of disease-related information, and that this could constitute a crime in cases deemed “serious.” “This case is fairly serious because so many people are involved,” Teng said. “The officials concerned could also be abusing their power, which is provided for in the Criminal Law.” Dissidents also targeted Teng said he thought it unlikely that anyone would be held accountable, even if they were shown to have misused the app. Former political prisoners and human rights lawyers have reported similar phenomena when using the app. Rights attorney Xie Yang had his health code turn red when he traveled to Shanghai to meet up with the mother of jailed citizen journalist Zhang Zhan. “They are abusing disease control and prevention measures, abusing the health code app, for political purposes, to restrict the freedom of rights defenders to travel,” Teng said. Shanghai resident Li Bing said similar issues are appearing in the city, which is still imposing strict controls on residents’ movements despite announcing an end to lockdown on June 1. “Everything just keeps getting better and better,” Li said sarcastically, when asked about the health code app. “This is going to get worse in future, as the CCP increasingly employs digital totalitarianism,” he said. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Laos to sell $350 million in high-interest bonds to combat inflation

Editor2 years ago05 mins

The Lao government is so desperate for cash that it is offering about U.S. $340 million in bonds with a six-month interest rate of 20 percent, terms that sources told RFA sounded too good to be true. The Lao economy is struggling with rampant inflation, a severe lack of foreign currency, and shortages of food and gas. While all the problems are interconnected, the government has taken to blaming the devalued kip on black market moneychangers and has introduced measures to maintain the value of its currency. To that end, the Bank of Lao P.D.R. said on Tuesday it would start selling bonds worth 5 trillion kip. Buyers will receive a certificate from the central bank. “We’re selling bonds to everyone except commercial banks and financial institutions,” a central bank employee told RFA’s Lao Service on condition of anonymity to speak freely. “Even foreigners who have lived in Laos for only one year are eligible to buy bonds.” But Laotians contacted by RFA said that the 20 percent rate over six months sounded too good to be true. They say they do not have confidence that their cash-strapped government will be able to honor the commitment. “I’m not interested in buying bonds like that because they are too risky,” said the owner of a rubber-processing plant in northern Laos, who like the rest of the unnamed sources in this report declined to be named for safety reasons. “I’m going to lose money on those bonds. Nobody is going to buy them. The government is broke right now, so how can it pay us back when the bonds mature?” he told RFA. A Lao financial expert said the interest rate will make it hard for the government to repay the notes. “The government won’t be able to pay that much. I heard yesterday from the Lao National Assembly meeting that the government wanted to sell 5 trillion kip worth of bonds to tackle inflation and divert more foreign currency into the system. The question is, who is going to buy them?” the expert told RFA. “My impression is that most people are concerned, not confident. They are afraid that the government won’t have money to pay it back,” said the expert. An import-export business owner from Vientiane also told RFA he won’t be buying any bonds. “I don’t have much kip. Most of the time I use Thai baht because I import products from Thailand, and pay in baht. Most of the big businesses in Laos use either dollars or baht,” he said. The owner of a business in the southern province of Savannakhet told RFA that she was surprised when she heard the interest rate on the bonds was set at 20 percent. “The government will pay that high interest? 20 percent! Usually, we get a little more than 6 percent a year for stocks or bonds, but we’ll get 20 percent for government bonds? That’s much too high,” she said. According to a report by the Lao Statistics Bureau, the country’s inflation rate climbed to 12.8 percent on the year in May, its highest rate in 18 years. This continued a trend of increasing on year inflation rates since January. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Interview: ‘I am a powerless Pakistani citizen’ who ‘raised my voice for you’

Editor2 years ago2 years ago013 mins

Muhammad Usman Asad, a 22-year-old Pakistani student at the National University of Sciences & Technology in Islamabad, donned a doppa — a Central Asian skullcap — and clutched the sky blue flag of East Turkestan during a solitary sit-in to protest China’s repressive policies against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the country’s far-western Xinjiang region. Asad staged his peaceful protest on June 10 during a campus celebration of China’s Dragon Boat Festival. Nong Rong, China’s ambassador to Pakistan, and other Chinese officials involved in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor — a collection of multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects built in Pakistan since 2013 under China’s Belt and Road Initiative — attended the event, organized by the university’s China Study Centre and Centre for International Peace and Stability. Asad, who said he learned about China’s abusive policies targeting Muslims in Xinjiang while surfing online, was shocked to learn that Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim country, was not helping the Uyghurs, but instead siding with its ally China. Reporter Gulchehra Hoja of RFA Uyghur talked to Asad about why he staged the protest on the Chinese holiday and how others responded. The interview has been edited for clarity and length. RFA: How did you learn about Uyghur situation? Asad: When I was a child, I only knew that there was a province in China which is predominantly Muslim. I didn’t have much knowledge about the history or the culture or know anything about the genocide that is currently going on. When I started growing up, I used to spend a lot of time on the internet and reading about a lot of issues. I didn’t have enough knowledge or enough sources when I was back home, but when I lived in other cities where we had free internet service, we started using Facebook and other social media platforms like YouTube. From there, I started researching the topic. I [watched] many documentaries, and there was so much clear evidence that I couldn’t stop myself from sympathizing with the Uyghur issue or denying the fact that the genocide is currently going on. I then critiqued it within my own mind, comparing the Kashmir issue with the Uyghur issue, and I came to the conclusion that the Uyghur issue was more fundamental and more devastating and that the situation is very harmful for the Muslim community there. RFA: Have you been in touch with any Uyghur activist groups or activists in Pakistan? Asad: About one year ago, I came across a VICE News documentary. From that point on, I came to know about the … Uyghur community living here in Pakistan. When this event was being organized inside our university, about three or four days before, I was thinking about the university saying that there was a big billboard [for it]. So, I thought that I should do something about it in relation to protesting the Uyghur issue. I didn’t have any access to anything, so I started researching on the internet and found the Omar Uyghur Trust in Pakistan (a Uyghur language and cultural organization) and [contacted] Omar Khan (the group’s cofounder). We had a meeting just two days before the protest at the university. We discussed everything [about the issue], and he gave me the cap as well as a flag. I was preparing for my exams as I was preparing to do the protest. RFA: Did you reach out to your friends or other students to join your protest? Asad: I tried reaching people, but they were busy with their exams. They promised to support it, but when they got to the campus, there were fewer people present there. RFA: Did anybody try to stop you from protesting? Asad: When I entered the event, two people were sitting right beside me, and they were scaring off all the people I asked to take my picture. They told them that the authorities would come for them and they would be kicked out of the university. One person who took one of my pictures went out for some water, and the security team went up to him and ordered him not to sit beside me. The person did not agree with it. All they wanted to do was get all the images that I had taken during the whole event. … I said that if I just went outside the building and held this flag, it wouldn’t bother them and wouldn’t mean anything to either of them. …. [With] all the high Chinese cultural representatives here and all the different Pakistanis present, I said to myself, “OK, this will work.” RFA: Did anything happen to you after the protest? Asad: I haven’t received any threats either from the university or from the disciplinary committee. RFA: Have you been in contact with any Pakistani journalists at local news organizations? Asad: I am a student, so I don’t have connections with a lot of media persons — radio persons who are very influential. They are mostly controlled by the Pakistani establishment, so even if you go and speak to them, they will still need a green light from [officials]. Even if any of the media in Pakistan wanted to cover the issue, all the Chinese would need to do is place one call to the authority that regulates electronic media, and all the content would be taken off. RFA: Are you now concerned about your safety or are you being pressured by authorities? Asad: I have been following different stories of human rights activists within Pakistan, and our conditions are not very great. At the same time, I thought that the university could do something with having a disciplinary committee. I was having a lot of tension, and I was thinking again and again about how I should do the protest in such a way that my own studies and my own career [would not be affected] and that I would not get sued by the government. I thought that they would take me away for one or…

Category: World