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Category: World

New report details China’s efforts to control Uyghurs beyond its borders

Editor010 mins

On a sunny summer day in the South Australia city of Adelaide in late January 2018, scores of community groups marched through the streets in a parade to celebrate Australia Day. Among them was the South Australia Xinjiang Association, a nonprofit organization set up in 2009 that provides a platform for Chinese migrants from the region in northwestern China to meet one another and network. The group also has a more nefarious purpose, two researchers say in a new report on China’s efforts to tamp down global criticism of its policies in Xinjiang, where well-documented reports have uncovered widespread abuses toward Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups. The Han Chinese-dominated South Australia Xinjiang Association, which has the backing of China’s diplomatic mission to Australia, “claims the right to speak on behalf of the Xinjiang diaspora while neutralizing the legitimate concerns of the Uyghur community about Beijing’s human rights abuses in the Uyghur homeland,” write Lin Li, and independent researcher, and James Leibold, a senior fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s International Cyber Policy Centre, Dozens of SA Xinjiang Association members displayed a huge banner bearing the group’s name as they marched wearing the traditional attire of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities, despite objections from some of the city’s 1,500 Uyghur residents that the Han Chinese were appropriating their culture, which Chinese authorities back home were working to extinguish through a harsh campaign of forced assimilation. Adding insult to injury, the association won the best costume award, its members triumphantly posing for photos with Jay Weatherill, who was then the premier of South Australia, boosting the group’s public profile. Some Uyghurs later complained to the Adelaide City Council that the parade march by the Han Chinese was an intentional by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) effort at “a soft propaganda publicity act” to distract from the communist Chinese government’s persecution of Uyghurs, including members of their own families. The CCP uses deceptive and coercive influence operations around the globe to undermine Uyghurs living outside China, often through the United Front Work Department (UFWD), say Li and Leibold in their 65-page policy paper, titled “Cultivating Friendly Forces: The Chinese Communist Party’s Influence Operations in the Xinjiang Diaspora.” The UFWD gathers information about and attempts to influence individuals and organizations inside and outside China to ensure they are supportive of or useful to the party’s interests. The information collected is also used to harass Uyghurs and other minorities living overseas, the report says. Community organizations with innocuous-sounding names serve as conduits for propaganda about Xinjiang in an effort to dispute the well-documented human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), the researchers say. “What we were trying to do in this report is to open up another window onto the strategy of the Chinese Communist Party in its very complex and decentralized united front system,” Leibold told RFA in an interview. “And that is the efforts to co-opt Chinese overseas community organizations who would have members which had some links to Xinjiang.” Since 2017, Chinese authorities have ramped up a clampdown on Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in the XUAR through arbitrary arrests and lengthy detentions. An estimated 1.8 million members of these groups have been held in internment camps, where some experienced severe human rights abuses, torture, rape and forced labor. “The SA Xinjiang Association, which is part of a large network of Xinjiang-linked overseas groups, might not be immediately recognizable as closely aligned with the CCP and its united front system, but our research demonstrates how the CCP actively cultivates community organizations, such as the SA Xinjiang Association, as conduits for advancing the party’s agenda abroad and obscuring — or even silencing — the voices of Uyghurs and other critics of its policies in Xinjiang,” the report says. ‘Tool to exert influence’ The report cites three other case studies of organizations like the SA Xinjiang Association that work to neutralize or silence criticism of CCP policies in Xinjiang. “It’s a tool of the Chinese Communist Party to exert its influence amongst the entire diasporic community and really undermine democratic values and institutions in places like the United States, Canada and Australia,” said Leibold, who has been blacklisted by the CCP. “The starting point really is to expose the way the system operates, its aims, its ambitions and its strategies.” “By offering up four case studies, we tried to expose the kind of inner workings of these community organizations and their direct links back to the united front system and the Chinese Communist Party,” he said. The CCP gathers intelligence on its critics, maintains databases of former and current Xinjiang residents with overseas connections, and establishes research institutes that suggest policies to lawmakers in their respective countries, the report states. The tactics also include cultivating overseas community leaders and sending officials tasked with qiaowu — overseas Chinese affairs —to conduct united front work, while inviting targets residing abroad to China. The CCP taps into business networks, offers political honors for its backers, and stages cultural performances to “nurture friendly forces for China” through language schools and summer camps in a widespread public relations campaign. “It’s easy to get duped into thinking these are just normal cultural activities,” Leibold said. The researchers used Chinese-language media reports, government documents and social media posts to track groups and individuals promoting the CCP’s Xinjiang narrative and policies overseas. They urge other researchers to document human rights abuses in the XUAR and call on governments to hold China accountable for its repressive policies there. They also recommend that media, NGOs and research institutes increase public awareness of the links between community organizations in the Xinjiang diaspora and the CCP and ask on law enforcement and civil society groups to disrupt the CCP’s ability to interfere. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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India shuts Myanmar border as anger over pro-junta militia killings rises

Editor08 mins

Authorities in India’s Manipur state have temporarily closed the Indo-Burmese border after pro-military militiamen killed two Indian nationals in Myanmar’s war-torn Sagaing region, prompting Indian protesters to attack a junta border checkpoint on Wednesday. A source in Sagaing’s Tamu township told RFA Burmese that Indian nationals M. Pyanar, 32, and P. Mohan, 28, were visiting friends in the area on Tuesday when they were stopped by members of the pro-military Pyu Saw Htee militia at an unofficial checkpoint in Tamu’s Saw Bwar ward and shot dead. “There’s a school we call Saw Bwar 10 No. 4. The two were shot near there,” said the resident, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Witnesses said that the shots were fired by Pyu Saw Htee. The two men were shot in the head and died instantly.” The source said the bodies of the two men were brought to the Tamu People’s Hospital, where they are being held in the morgue. He said that residents of Moreh township across the border in India’s Manipur state are demanding that the bodies be returned to their families, prompting Indian authorities to shut down their side of the border crossing on Wednesday. “At the moment, we are not allowed to enter India at all,” the source said. A Tamu resident who is close to the families of the victims told RFA that the area where they were killed is “Pyu Saw Htee territory.” “The two Indians were killed in that area. [The perpetrators] found out only later that they were Indian citizens,” said the source, who also declined to be named. “Both were shot in the head. They had a motorcycle with them. One wore a ring on his hand and the other had two. … When the bodies arrived at the morgue, [the motorbike and rings] were gone.” RFA was unable to independently confirm the details of the deaths. India’s Tamil Guardian on Wednesday also reported the killings as having been carried out by the military proxy Pyu Saw Htee. “The Myanmar army might have suspected them to be spies and shot them dead,” the report said, citing the local Tamil Sangam. “There is a killing every day by the army in this part of Myanmar.” An official order issued on Wednesday by the deputy commissioner of Tengnoupal township, under the government of Manipur, announced that no one would be permitted to cross the border from Moreh into Myanmar without a special permit, citing the “prevailing law and order situation” in the country. Indian residents of Manipur’s Moreh township protest near the Myanmar-India border, demanding the return of the bodies of two Indian nationals killed in Myanmar’s Sagaing region, July 6, 2022. Credit: Citizen journalist Indian outrage A Myanmar national living in Moreh told RFA that local youths were outraged over the deaths and said around 200 people had gathered near the border on Wednesday, demanding that the bodies of the victims be returned to their families. “Young people have gathered near the border gate and are challenging the Myanmar authorities,” he said. “They also beat up some people from the Myanmar side who crossed the border this morning [prior to the closure]. They are all furious.” Another resident of Moreh said the protests began when Myanmar authorities failed to deliver the bodies back to India by noon on Wednesday, as had been originally promised. “They are protesting because [the bodies were] not sent,” he said. “They have been gathering since the morning. Myanmar nationals in Moreh have not been able to go out in fear. The protesters set fire to a Myanmar border patrol checkpoint between Tamu and Moreh.” Indian media reported that shops had been closed amid increased security in Moreh, citing the unrest over the killings. Repeated attempts by RFA to contact the Indian Embassy in Yangon for comment went unanswered Wednesday, as did attempts to reach junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun. The Tamu-Moreh border crossing was reopened on June 4 after being closed for nearly two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. Residents of Tamu told RFA that around 50 traders travel across the border to the neighboring Indian township daily for work. Myanmar refugees in India say more than 300 families displaced by conflict between junta troops and armed opposition groups in Sagaing have crossed the border seeking shelter in Moreh, and that anger over Tuesday’s killings forced many Myanmar nationals living there to flee the area. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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During Manila visit, Wang Yi touts potential ‘golden era’ in Sino-Philippine ties

Editor07 mins

New President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s friendly policy toward Beijing promises to usher in a “golden era” in Sino-Philippine relations, China’s top diplomat said during a visit here Wednesday, only weeks after Manila filed another protest over Chinese boats intruding in territorial waters. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a courtesy call to Marcos after meeting with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo. Wang said the nations’ two-way relationship “overcame all sorts of difficulties” under previous Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte, who handed the reins of government to Marcos on June 30.  However, as Duterte pursued closer ties with Beijing during his six years in power, bilateral tensions over the South China Sea persisted as senior officials from his administration complained about the unauthorized presence of Chinese ships within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).    Given the “uncertain, unstable and complex regional and international dynamics, it is even more important for China and the Philippines, as two close neighbors, to join hands to further enhance mutual trust (and) expand mutually beneficial cooperation,” Wang said through an interpreter about his meeting with Manalo.  “This will not only serve the common interest of the two countries and two peoples but will also be our important contribution to peace and stability in our region,” he said, noting that cooperation during the previous administration brought “tangible benefits” to both countries.  Wang’s visit to Manila was his third stop on a five-nation tour of Southeast Asia. The Philippines, an archipelago in the middle of the disputed South China Sea, is one of the region’s oldest defense allies of China’s main superpower rival, the United States, whom Marcos’ father, the longtime Filipino dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, staunchly supported during his rule from 1965 to 1986. Shortly after Duterte took office in mid-2016, an international arbitration court ruled in favor of Manila over Beijing after its ships refused to leave Scarborough Shoal, which lies within the Philippine EEZ.  Instead of confronting China, Duterte set aside the ruling in favor of investments and cooperation. The soft approach allowed Beijing to carry on with its expansionist moves in the maritime region, according to observers. With the election of Marcos, Beijing’s relationship with Manila has “turned a new page,” Wang said. “We highly appreciate President Marcos’ recent commitment to pursuing friendly policy toward China,” said Wang, whose government is seeking to blunt U.S. influence in Southeast Asia. “And we speak highly of his recent statements that have sent out very positive signals to the outside world.”  He quoted Marcos as saying that China “is the strongest partner of the Philippines” and that he hopes to fortify the relationship. China, in turn, is “ready to work toward the same direction,” Wang said. “And I am confident, with our two sides working together, we can surely open up a new golden era for the bilateral relationship.” After the meeting, Marcos posted a message on Twitter saying he was “grateful to Minister Wang Yi for extending the message of congratulations and support from President Xi Jinping. We also discussed agriculture, infrastructure, energy, and our commitment to maintaining the strong relationship between our peoples in the coming years.” The new president had previously said he would pursue close ties with China without necessarily giving away the country’s sovereignty.  On Tuesday, before Wang landed in Manila, Marcos said the visit was expected to boost ties with Beijing, including through military exchanges. “It’s essentially always trying to find ways to improve relationships. We would like for us to increase the scope. China and the Philippines should not only focus on the West Philippine Sea. Let’s do other things too and that way we will normalize our relationship,” Marcos said, referring to Philippine-claimed territories in the South China Sea. Beijing claims nearly all of the South China Sea including waters within the EEZs of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan. While Indonesia does not regard itself as a party to the maritime disputes, Beijing also claims historic rights to parts of the sea that overlap Indonesia’s EEZ. Last month, the Philippines announced that it had filed a new diplomatic protest against Beijing over a massive Chinese fleet operating “illegally” in April around Whitsun Reef. The complaint cited a 2016 landmark international court ruling that invalidated China’s sweeping claims to the waterway. Beijing has refused to recognize the decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.

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North Korea gives war death certificate to soldiers who died from COVID-19 symptoms

Editor011 mins

North Korean soldiers who died of COVID-19 symptoms after participating in a military parade in April are receiving an honorable war death certificate that used to confer bereaved families with special privileges, but is essentially worthless these days, sources in the country told RFA. After two years of denying the coronavirus had penetrated its closed borders, North Korea in May acknowledged coronavirus had begun to spread among participants of the large-scale military parade held at the end of the previous month and declared a “maximum emergency” to fight the disease. The soldiers who developed symptoms of COVID-19 after the parade and died while in quarantine were quickly cremated and their remains were returned to their families along with the once prestigious “Certificate of Honor for War Death.” In years’ past, the certificate was given out only in the rarest of circumstances, such as when a soldier died in combat training or during the infrequent skirmishes with the South Korean military that occasionally erupt along the demilitarized zone that separates North from South. Bereaved families who received the certificate would also get extra food rations or special preference when applying for government jobs or party positions. But the sheer number of certificates sent out these days, combined with North Korea’s struggling economy, make the certificates essentially worthless, sources told RFA. “Immediately after the massive military parade held in Kim Il Sung Square in April, the soldiers who were confirmed to have COVID-19 received intensive treatment at an isolation facility in Pyongyang,” a resident of the North Korean capital told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “But hundreds of the severely ill patients died and they were promptly cremated at the Obongsan crematory,” he said. The cremations were ordered even before families were aware that their soldier had died, the source said. When they informed the families, they said the soldiers died while receiving treatment for an “acute respiratory infection,” stopping short of calling the infection COVID-19. “Because the military parade was considered a success thanks to the sacrifice of the dead soldiers, the authorities awarded the families with the Certificate of Honor for War Death when they returned the ashes of their loved ones,” he said. “The bereaved families wept at the sudden news, and they returned home with a cremation urn and the certificate as gifts from the state. A month and a half later, many of the families are still angry at the authorities, who they say have put these young soldiers in unnecessary danger, even killing some of them, for the sake of a military parade,” said the source. The parade involved more than 100,000 military officers, soldiers and college students from all over the country, with students from the military university in Pyongyang participating in large numbers, another source from the city, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told RFA. “I heard from an official of the Capital Quarantine Committee that many of the students were among the participants in the parade who died from COVID-19,” the second source said. “The authorities secretly transported the dead bodies to the Obongsan crematory in Pyongyang. They cremated the bodies and gave the bereaved family an urn and the Certificate of Honor for War Death,” she said. The certificate this time carries less meaning than it did in the past, according to the second source. “It is customary to hold a public award ceremony as a national event for recipients of the Certificate of Honor for War Death, but the authorities quietly called on the bereaved families, because they want to keep secret the total number of parade participants who died from COVID-19,” she said. “The bereaved families… were unable to say anything and wept while receiving the certificate. They are resentful at the thought that their healthy sons died because of a military parade,” she said.   While technically not fighting and dying in a battle, the parade participants are eligible for the certificate because they carried their military ID cards during the parade. On this technicality the parade was designated as combat training. The certificate is merely a means to placate the bereaved families though, according to the second source. Under normal circumstances the state would give many perks to the families who received the certificate including priority in personnel decisions, because the soldier died in battle or in combat training. But these days, due to North Korea’s extreme economic hardship, and because most personnel decisions are decided through bribery, the certificate is no longer valued as it once was. In fact, the state has been widening the circumstances where soldiers can receive the certificate to justify giving more of them out, according to the second source. “If soldiers die while working at a construction site, that should be treated as a labor safety accident, but there have been many cases where the Certificate of Honor for War Death is given when soldiers die while working on the Pyongyang Household Construction project, because it is a priority of the Highest Dignity,” said the second source, using an honorific term for the country’s leader Kim Jong Un. Kim has vowed to build 10,000 new homes in the capital per year for a total of 50,000 homes by the end of 2025. The builders failed to reach their goal of 10,000 homes in 2021 but are still trying to hit 20,000 by the end of this year, so speed, rather than safety is the main concern, the second source said. Giving out the war death certificate for deaths that are clearly unrelated to combat is becoming more common, a former high-ranking military official, who has resettled in South Korea after escaping the North, told RFA on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. “It’s just a trick to avoid complaints from the bereaved families and residents. They are angry at the leaders who held the parade [amid the pandemic], causing so many young people to die,” he said. The North Korean government has only reported a handful…

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Five Cambodian opposition parties demand political reform, greater freedoms

Editor07 mins

Representatives from five Cambodian opposition parties, including the main opposition Candlelight Party, met on Wednesday to demand electoral reforms and greater political freedom, but were unable to reach a deal on forming a political alliance, one of the party leaders told RFA. The Candlelight Party took about 19 percent of the country’s 11,622 local council seats in last month’s commune elections, but is outnumbered on the councils by Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) by about five to one. Prior to the election, the Candlelight Party candidates reported harassment and intimidation by members of the CPP and its supporters, including government officials. On Wednesday, Candlelight joined the Grassroots Democratic Party, the Cambodian Reform Party, the Khmer Will Party and the Kampucheanimym Party to issue eight joint statements demanding free and fair elections and the right to compete on equal ground with the ruling party. The statements will be submitted to the Cambodian government and the National Election Commission (NEC), Yang Saing Koma, the Grassroots Democratic Party’s founder, told RFA’s Khmer Service. The next step, he said, was for the parties to iron out the details on establishing an alliance. “The Grassroots Democratic Party has coordinated our efforts and built upon what we have previously accomplished to show that the Khmer political parties, even though we are separate, can cooperate to work toward a common goal,” Yang Saing Koma said. The five parties are studying their past experiences to create a new framework for their alliance, he said. Two scenarios are under discussion. The first would merge all of the parties into a single party and the second would keep the parties separate, but alliance candidates would not compete against each other for the same seat, he said. The five parties will hold a joint press conference on July 11 to release their statements and announce their goals. RFA was unable to reach NEC spokesman Hang Puthea and government spokesman Phay Siphan for comment. Kong Monika, president of the Khmer Will Party, told RFA his party advocates a merger before next year’s general elections, when Cambodians will choose members of the 125-seat National Assembly. The Candlelight Party’s vice president, Thach Setha, said Candlelight’s focus is on working with the other four parties to push for greater freedom and to improve the electoral process. Candlelight has not internally discussed an alliance with the others. Merging into a singular party has been tried before with moderate success, said Ros Sothea, director of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee, a local alliance NGOs. During the 2013 election, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was able to take 55 seats in the assembly, while the CPP took 68. The CNRP was an alliance between the Kem Sokha-led Human Rights Party and the Sam Rainsy Party, named after its leader who went into self-imposed exile in France in 2015 after he was accused of crimes that his supporters say are politically motivated and groundless.  Hun Sen had Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolve the CNRP in 2017 after it performed well in that year’s commune council elections. The move allowed the CPP to take all 125 of the assembly seats in 2018’s general election. The dissolution began a five-year crackdown on the opposition that made political activities under the CNRP banner illegal and forced many former CNRP members into exile. Many of those who stayed were later imprisoned. The Sam Rainsy Party was technically a separate entity from the CNRP and not affected by the 2017 Supreme Court ruling. It rebranded itself as the Candlelight Party, and many former CNRP members have joined Candlelight, which after this year’s commune elections is firmly established as the main opposition party. “To me, if the parties can combine forces to get free and fair competition, it would be better because of Cambodia’s electoral system,” Ros Sothea said. The four smaller parties that participated in Wednesday’s meeting won a combined seven seats in this year’s commune council elections. The Grassroots Democratic Party won six seats, and the Kampucheanimym Party won one. The other two parties did not win a single seat but had a higher number of total votes for their candidates than the Kampucheanimym Party. Four other smaller parties that did not participate in Wednesday’s discussion also won seats in this year’s commune elections. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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‘Diplomatic drama’ possible over Russian attendance at G20 meeting in Bali

Editor09 mins

Group of Twenty diplomats will gather in Bali this week for a meeting that analysts expect will turn into a “diplomatic drama” over the participation of Sergey Lavrov, foreign minister of Russia, which the West has ostracized for invading Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi are scheduled to attend the G20 meeting, which is set to begin on Thursday, and hold talks on the sidelines the next day, but a bilateral meeting between America’s top diplomat and Lavrov is not on the cards, officials in Washington said. Still, analysts warned, divisions over Lavrov’s presence could sidetrack delegates at the Bali gathering hosted by Indonesia, this year’s G20 chair. “It is likely there will be a diplomatic drama, such as statements that criticize Russia,” Riza Noer Arfani, an international relations lecturer at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, told BenarNews. “If the foreign ministers engaged in a diplomatic drama, more substantial issues such as efforts to mitigate the impact of the [Russia-Ukraine] war could be left unaddressed and that would make the meeting fruitless.” Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, Indonesia’s president, has warned that a global food crisis caused by the war would send people in developing and poor countries into “the abyss of extreme poverty and hunger.” Since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24, its military forces have blocked all of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and cut off access to almost all of that country’s exports – especially of grain – sparking fears of a global food crisis. However during a meeting in Moscow last week, Russian leader Vladimir Putin assured Jokowi that he would provide secure food and fertilizer supplies from his country and Ukraine, to avert a global food crisis.  While Western countries led by the U.S. have called on Russia to be disinvited from G20 meetings, other members of the grouping such as Indonesia and India refuse to do so and continue to maintain ties with Russia. During a stopover on Wednesday in Vietnam, a close Russian ally, Lavrov said he was not aware of any attempts to stop Russia from participating in G20 meetings. “We have Indonesia’s invitation to attend both a [G20] Foreign Ministers Meeting to open in Bali tomorrow, and a G20 summit there in November,” Russia’s TASS news agency quoted him as saying. “If there have been any such attempts, the Indonesian authorities might have ignored them,” he said. ‘Give us a reason to meet’ Meanwhile, there promises to be plenty of drama at the foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali. Lavrov’s Canadian counterpart has warned she would not shake his hand. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has promised some kind of response, saying “we will not simply let Russia take the stage of the meeting.” “We all have an interest in ensuring that international law is observed and respected,” she said in a statement before departing for Bali. “That is the common denominator.” Blinken plans to shun Lavrov as well. The U.S. State Department said Blinken would not meet Lavrov formally. “We would like to see the Russians be serious about diplomacy. We have not seen that yet,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters during a briefing on Tuesday. “We would like to have the Russians give us a reason to meet on a bilateral basis with them, with foreign minister Lavrov, but the only thing we have seen emanate from Moscow is more brutality and aggression against the people and country of Ukraine,” he said. Meanwhile, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that all G20 member countries would be represented by their top diplomats. Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah declined to comment on possible tensions over Lavrov’s participation, but said:  “We as diplomats must anticipate all possibilities.” He said that the summary of the meeting’s outcome could be in the form of a chair’s statement from Indonesia. Vasyl Harmianin, the Ukrainian ambassador to Indonesia, said he hoped the meeting could spotlight what he called “the continued killing of civilians” in his home country. Preview of G20 summit Jakarta, which has been trying to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, said the meeting would discuss collective efforts to strengthen “multilateralism” and avert a looming food crisis caused by the war. “Rising commodity prices and disruption of global supply chains have had a huge impact on developing countries,” the foreign ministry said in a statement Wednesday. “For this reason, the G20 as an economic forum representing different regions of the world has the power to discuss these issues comprehensively to find sustainable socio-economic solutions.” This week’s meeting could set the tone for the G20 summit in November, according to Agus Haryanto, a professor of international relations at Jenderal Soedirman University in Purwokerta. “It will provide us with an idea of how the G20 summit will go. If the ministerial meeting is successful, it is likely that the summit will be attended by all heads of government,” Agus told BenarNews. The ministers should talk about how to bring peace to Ukraine after Jokowi’s visit to Kyiv and Moscow last week, a senior Indonesian diplomat, Sugeng Rahardjo, told the national news agency Antara. “The positive results from Jokowi’s trip deserve follow-up by G20 members at their meeting in Bali,” Sugeng told the national news agency Antara. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.

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Jailed Chinese NGO worker ‘tortured’ in Hunan’s Chishan Prison, according to letters

Editor07 mins

Jailed Chinese NGO worker Cheng Yuan has been subjected to torture in a ‘high security’ sector of Hunan province’s Chishan Prison, according to his family. Cheng, who founded the Changsha Funeng NGO, was tried in secret at the Changsha Intermediate People’s Court in September 2020 for “subversion of state power” alongside two colleagues, after being held incommunicado for nearly 18 months, according to Cheng’s wife Shi Minglei, who arrived in the U.S. with the couple’s daughter on April 7, 2021. Since his transfer to Chishan Prison on Jan. 18, 2022, he has been detained in the high-security wing in a tiny cell and subjected to bright lights and chronic sleep deprivation, according to three handwritten letters received by Cheng’s family on July 5, Shi told RFA. “We’re talking about a tiny cell with room only for a single bed, no room to move around, and no windows, with very strong lights on 24 hours a day,” Shi said. “They don’t let you sleep under a quilt … and you’re not allowed to sleep on your side.” She cited Taiwanese democracy activist Lee Ming-cheh — who also served time in Chishan Prison — as saying that high-security detainees suffer from extreme constipation due to reduced rations. “We think it’s very likely that they are trying to get Cheng Yuan to implicate other people, but that he is very unwilling to do so,” Shi said. “So they used this very cruel form of torture to force him … locking him in there for three months.” Weight loss, white hair Shi said Cheng’s hair had turned white in prison, and he had lost a large amount of weight, reading out a section from one of the letters: “You may be sad and upset to see me: I have lost 12 pounds now, and my hair is nearly totally white,” she quoted Cheng’s letter as saying. “My husband used to weigh more than 120 pounds, so basically he’s a little over 100 pounds now … actually, very, very thin,” Shi said. “Our family all cried for a long time when they read those two sentences.” Patrick Poon, a visiting researcher at the Institute of Comparative Law at Japan’s Meiji University, believes that the confinement has likely caused significant physical and psychological harm to Cheng Yuan. “He can’t even see a lawyer, so they can’t help him file a complaint,” Poon said. “Being locked up in such conditions for several months will have long-term effects and cause damage to his mind and body.” Poon said Chinese law bans torture and cruel or degrading treatment of prisoners and detainees — in theory, at least. “In actual fact, [prisons] are able to get away without any regulation, basically,” Poon said. “It’s a very serious violation of detainees’ rights.” Lawyers fired Cheng, Liu Dazhi, and Wuge Jianxiong all stood trial sometime between Aug. 31 and Sept. 4, 2020, according to the overseas-based rights group Front Line Defenders. Their families weren’t informed of the trial, and were therefore unable to attend. Wu’s father, the Zhejiang-based lawyer Wu Youshui, said his son had been handed a three-year jail term, while Liu was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in a judgment handed down on July 20, 2021. But there was no information given on the sentence handed down to Cheng, he said. The three defendants have been denied meetings with attorneys hired by their families since being detained on July 22, 2019. The lawyers were told in March 2020 that the defenders had “dismissed” them and that the government had assigned them government-funded lawyers. But the families said they believe that the lawyers were fired under duress, and said they have had no contact with the government-appointed lawyers. Changsha Funeng co-founder Yang Zhanqing, who now lives in the U.S., has previously said that the three men were targeted because their rights work had received overseas funding, which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regards as “collusion with hostile foreign forces,” and a threat to its national security. In a statement co-signed by the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network, the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) and the Rights Practice, Front Line Defenders said the three men had “advocated for the rights of marginalized groups and worked to protect the rights of the most vulnerable people in society.” Changsha Funeng sought to prevent discrimination and ensure equality in line with Chinese law by using the courts to strengthen protections for individuals living with disabilities and with HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases, it said. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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Hong Kong leader wants ‘more effective’ security laws, as soon as possible

Editor09 mins

Hong Kong’s chief executive John Lee vowed on Wednesday to press ahead with more “effective” security laws that could draw on security forces in mainland China to implement them. “The National Security Law for Hong Kong currently deals with the most pressing risks to national security,” Lee said of a law that has criminalized public criticism of the authorities anywhere in the world. But further laws will be need “to deal with any conceivable serious security risk … and the timing needs to be as soon as possible,” he told the city’s Legislative Council (LegCo). “The cities in the Greater Bay Area [of the Pearl River delta] are like brothers and sisters to us … so what kind of help will they provide, if we need it?” Lee said. “That’s what we need to figure out.” Lee’s comments to LegCo came after he reiterated his commitment to enacting further security laws under Article 23 of the city’s Basic Law, a move that prompted mass protests in 2003. “We will legislate as soon as possible, but … we must also consider whether the laws we make can really deal with the most serious national security risks we can imagine,” Lee said. Current affairs commentator Johnny Lau said the new laws are part of a package of four requirements given to Lee by ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping when he visited the city last week to mark the 25th anniversary of its handover to Chinese rule. “Xi Jinping came to Hong Kong to put forward four requirements, the first of which was to improve governance,” Lau said. “I don’t think it will be long [before they act on Article 23].” “They want this legislation to cover anything and be infinitely expandable,” Lau said. “It will definitely be stricter than the initial draft [that was shelved] back in 2003.” Singapore as model? Current affairs commentator Sang Pu said Lee may be considering far tighter controls on the internet, looking to Singapore as a model. “Singapore passed a law last year that allows the government to order social media sites and Internet providers to disclose users’ personal data or block content they deem hostile or risky, which you could call [the power to] shut down the internet, and enhanced use of AI,” Sang told RFA. “It’s like 24/7 monitoring.” “As long as the government thinks there is hostile intent, and it has the absolute right to decide this, it can block something,” he said. Lee’s comments came as five speech therapists stood trial for “conspiracy to print, publish, distribute, display or reproduce seditious publications” in connection with a series of children’s books about a village of sheep defending itself against wolves. The defendants — all of whom are members of the Hong Kong Speech Therapists General Union — were arrested in connection with three children’s picture books titled “The Guardians of Sheep Village,” “The Garbage Collectors of Sheep Village” and “The 12 Heroes of Sheep Village.” Police said the sheep were intended to represent protesters who fought back against riot police in 2019, and depicted the authorities as wolves, “beautifying bad behavior” and “poisoning” children’s impressionable minds. One book characterizes the wolves as dirty and the sheep as clean, while another lauds the actions of heroic sheep who use their horns to fight back despite being naturally peaceful, police said at the time of the therapists’ arrests. The indictment alleges that the books were intended to “provoke hatred or contempt for, betrayal of, or to incite violence against the government … and judiciary.” The defense said its arguments would seek to disprove any violent or disruptive intent, and draw on the constitutional right to freedom of expression in the Basic Law. Back to pre-reform era Dozens of former members of the pro-democracy camp in LegCo have been arrested in recent months, either for public order offenses linked to peaceful protests during the 2019 anti-extradition and pro-democracy movement, or under the national security law. Observers have told RFA that changes to Hong Kong’s election system imposed on the city by the CCP since the law took effect have set the city’s political life back by decades, to the pre-reform colonial era in the mid-20th century. The rule changes mean that opposition candidates are highly unlikely to be allowed to run, but even when candidates make it into the race, they will now be chosen by a tiny number of voters compared with the previous system. Under the “one country, two systems” terms of the 1997 handover agreement, Hong Kong was promised the continuation of its traditional freedoms of speech, association, and expression, as well as progress towards fully democratic elections and a separate legal jurisdiction. But plans to allow extradition to mainland China sparked a city-wide mass movement in 2019 that broadened to demand fully democratic elections and an independent inquiry into police violence. Rights groups and foreign governments have hit out at the rapid deterioration of human rights protections since the national security law was imposed. Chinese and Hong Kong officials say the law was needed to deal with an attempt by foreign powers to foment a “color revolution” in Hong Kong. Its sweeping provisions allowed China’s feared state security police to set up a headquarters in Hong Kong, granted sweeping powers to police to search private property and require the deletion of public content, and criminalized criticism of the city government and the authorities in Beijing. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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Tensions rise in Rakhine state after a five-day naval drill

Editor07 mins

Myanmar’s military staged a five-day show of strength, starting last Friday, with warships, helicopters and two submarines, leading to fears the military is preparing for a major battle with the Arakan Army (AA). The junta-run newspaper, Myanma Alin (New light of Myanmar), said on Wednesday that the military exercise was carried out in the Bay of Bengal 1,300 miles (2,080 kilometers) off the coast of Rakhine state. People’s Assembly member Pe Than, who is closely monitoring the military situation, said the exercise shows that the military is prepared to make full use of the navy if fighting breaks out with the AA in Rakhine. “It is impossible to prevent international hostilities with such a force and there is no country planning a war with this country either,” he said “This is just an exercise to allow the systematic use of the navy in the event of a battle in Rakhine. The main thing is that they can show their strength.” Military Council Chairman joins top brass to watch war games Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing joins high ranking military staff to watch the exercise on Tuesday. CREDIT: DSINFO The drill was overseen by military council chairman Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. High-level members of the army, navy and air force attended on Tuesday. Min Aung Hlaing ordered the warships to be constantly prepared for combat, according to comments carried in Wednesday’s edition of the Myanmar Alin Newspaper. “The naval warships must be ready. Also weapons and weapons systems must be ready. The navy personnel must be ready. They also need to be constantly trained to be ready for battle, and these three levels of readiness must be maintained,” he said. Sea Shield 2022 aimed to cover the 12 nautical miles (22.2 kilometers/13.8 miles) of Myanmar’s territorial waters and protect the Myanmar Exclusive Economic Zone at sea, the junta chairman said. Myanmar’s exclusive economic zone is adjacent to its territorial waters and extends for 200 nautical miles (370.4 kilometers/230 miles) from the coastal baseline. One of the submarines used in the military drills, arrived in Kyaukphyu, Rakhine state, on May 31. Kyauk Phyu is home to some of China’s largest economic projects, and locals have criticized the military council for apparently preparing to protect Chinese businesses in the event of a battle with the AA. AA spokesman, Khing Thukha gave an online news conference on June 14, saying that the military council is expanding its forces and weapons in Rakhine to prepare for a full-scale attack in the event of a renewed fighting with the AA. Local residents said tensions have been further heightened due to arrests of AA members or sympathisers in retailiation for AA abductions of junta troops. Last June, the AA abducted more than 10 police and soldiers and the junta responded by arresting 40 civilians from the four townships of Sittwe, Kyauktaw, Ponna Kyun and Mrauk-U. The AA fought a fierce campaign against Myanmar’s military from December 2018 to November 2020, demanding autonomy for ethnic Arakanese. More than 300 civilians were killed and more than 700 injured during the fighting in Rakhine state according to figures compiled by RFA. The two sides agreed an informal ceasefire shortly before the coup on February 1, 2021 and an uneasy truce has held for more than a year. However, locals told RFA tensions have risen in the last two months, due to the arrests and the arrival of military reinforcements. Tensions are simmering even outside Rakhine state since the AA also has a presence in Chin, Kayin and Shan states. On Monday a military air strike killed six AA members and injured dozens when junta jets targeted a camp in Kayin (Karen) state near the Thailand-Myanmar border, a region controlled by AA allies the Karenni National Liberation Army. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs nearly 78,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Rakhine and Chin states as of March 6 this year due to fighting between junta forces and the AA.

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Russia’s Lavrov enjoys warm relations with Vietnam ahead of frosty reception in Bali

Editor010 mins

Sergey Lavrov is on a two-day visit to Russia’s closest ASEAN ally, Vietnam, before heading to the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting The Russian foreign minister is in Hanoi on a quick visit to Moscow’s main Southeast Asian partner before attending a G20 meeting in Bali, during which Lavrov’s Canadian counterpart has warned she would not shake his hand. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told Canadian media she would instead “confront him with facts and expose Russia’s narrative for what it is: lies and disinformation” about the war in Ukraine. Canada, alongside a number of Western countries, has imposed sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth month. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also expected to snub Lavrov in Bali, with the State Department saying “it cannot be business as usual with the Russian Federation.” Vietnam on the other hand has repeatedly refused to condemn the Russian war and also objected to a U.S.-led effort to suspend Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council. Lavrov is the first Russian cabinet minister to visit Hanoi since President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” against Ukraine in February. His visit is taking place as Hanoi and Moscow celebrate the 10th anniversary of the so-called “comprehensive strategic partnership” that Vietnam has forged with only three nations in the world. Besides Russia, the two other comprehensive strategic partners are China and India. ‘The most important partner’ The Russian foreign minister and his Vietnamese host Bui Thanh Son held a meeting on Wednesday morning, during which Foreign Affairs Minister Son was quoted by Russian state media as saying that he’d like to “reassure you that Russia will always be our most important partner and the main priority in Vietnam’s policy.” Son said he “deeply believed that with the high level of political trust and a long-term interest,” the Vietnam-Russia relationship would continue to develop. Moscow is Hanoi’s traditional ally and its biggest arms supplier. Most Vietnamese weaponry used by the navy and air force was bought from Russia, leading to a future dependence on Russian maintenance and spare parts, despite efforts to diversify arms supplies. Russian anti-submarine ship Marshal Shaposhnikov seen in a file photo. CREDIT: ITAR TASS A Russian presence in the South China Sea, where Beijing claims “historical rights” over almost 80 per cent, could also be seen as a counterweight for competing China-U.S. rivalry as well as keeping China’s aggression at bay, say analysts. On June 25-28, three warships of the Russian Navy’s Pacific Fleet, led by the Udaloy-class anti-submarine destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov, visited Cam Ranh in central Vietnam  where Russia operated a major naval base until 2002. Lavrov was quoted as telling his Vietnamese counterpart on Wednesday that “in the context of current world affairs, once again we should unite and strive to maintain international laws, the principle of national sovereignty and non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs.” The full agenda of the Russian minister’s visit has not been disclosed but some analysts, such as Artyom Lukin, Deputy Director for Research at the School of Regional and International Studies at Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University, said boosting economic cooperation at a time when Moscow has been isolated and sanctioned would be one of the main topics. “The Kremlin should already be more or less satisfied with Hanoi’s position on the Ukraine crisis since Vietnam’s stance all along has been strictly neutral,” Lukin said. “Rather than securing Vietnam’s political neutrality, which is already there, Moscow needs to ensure that Vietnam continues, and expands, economic links with Russia.” Between a rock and a hard place “What is important for Russia now is how to restructure economic ties, trade, cooperation in industry and technologies with the non-Western world,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, Chairman of the Presidium of the Russian Council for Foreign and Defense Policy. “It is highly important for Russia to intensify all possible ties to find ways to avoid and bypass the economic warfare applied by the West,” said the Moscow-based analyst. Artyom Lukin from the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok pointed out that “amid Western sanctions, Asia and the Middle East are replacing Europe as Russia’s main geo-economic partners.” “Vietnam is the only ASEAN country to have a Free Trade Agreement with Moscow and Vietnam’s economic significance for Russia will now grow substantially, both as a market in itself and as a gateway for Russia’s business interactions with Asia,” he added. Despite COVID-19, bilateral trade between Vietnam and Russia reached U.S.$5.54 billion in 2021, a 14-percent increase from the previous year, according to official statistics. Yet the Ukrainian crisis that severely disrupted the global supply chain of food, fertilizer and energy has put Hanoi in an uneasy position. Vietnam has established some important strategic links with foreign powers including the U.S. and Japan, both strongly opposed to the Russian war in Ukraine and both are considered supportive of Hanoi’s interests in the South China Sea. Being seen as too close to Moscow would give Hanoi a disadvantage unless it could act as a go-between to mediate Russia’s interactions with the West, said a Vietnamese expert who didn’t want to be named as they are not authorized to speak to foreign media. Vietnam also has to be watchful for Russia-China joint maritime activities that may hurt its interests in the South China Sea. On Monday Chinese and Russian warships were spotted just outside Japanese territorial waters around the disputed, Japan-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Tokyo lodged a protest with Beijing about the incident that happened amid China’s growing maritime assertiveness and increasingly robust China-Russia military ties, Kyodo News reported. Chinese media responded that the Russian Navy’s recent military activities in the West Pacific are a warning to Japan amid Japanese sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis.

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