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New Australian PM pledges to help make Indonesia’s G20 presidency, summit successful

Editor2 years ago09 mins

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged Monday to help host country Indonesia make this year’s G20 summit a success, including by attending the gathering, which controversially has both the Russian and Ukrainian presidents on the guest list. Australia’s new PM made the pledge during a news conference at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, after he and Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo held talks and rode around the palatial grounds on bamboo bicycles, in a nod to their humble origins. Albanese, who took office two weeks ago, was on his maiden visit as prime minister to the giant neighbor next-door. “[D]eepening engagement with Southeast Asia is a priority for my Government,” he stressed in a statement read out to reporters. “I will work closely with President Widodo to help deliver a successful summit,” Albanese said, adding that international cooperation was needed “to tackle the many challenges we face in navigating the post-COVID global economic recovery.” Indonesia holds the 2022 presidency of the grouping of the world’s top 20 economies. The United States has urged Indonesia not to invite member-state Russia to the G20 summit, scheduled for November in Bali, because of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Jakarta so far has refused to disinvite Russia from the summit but has invited Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, which is not a G20 member, as a guest. In March, U.S. President Joe Biden said Ukraine should be able to participate in the G20 summit, if the grouping did not expel Russia. Indonesian President Joko Widodo (left) and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese interact with journalists at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, Indonesia, June 6, 2022. Credit: Indonesian Presidential Palace ‘Mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation’ Albanese also pledged closer cooperation with Indonesia on trade, security and climate change. “Indonesia is on track to be one of the world’s five largest economies,” Albanese said. “Revitalizing our trade and investment relationship is a priority for my government,” he said. Albanese added that the two countries were working to realize the potential of the Indonesia Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, a free trade agreement which came into effect two years ago. Albanese came to Indonesia with a delegation that included chief executives of major Australian companies, as well as Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Trade Minister Don Farrel. Jokowi, for his part, said that the “strategic partnership agreement” and the free trade deal with Australia provided a strong foundation for bilateral relations. “These two foundations are very important for the two countries to continue to strengthen mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation,” Jokowi said. Jokowi stressed the importance of expanding access to exports for Indonesian products to Australia, including cars. “The first shipment of completely built-up cars made in Indonesia to Australia was made in February and I hope that export access like this will continue to expand,” he said. Jokowi said he told Albanese that good bilateral relations could contribute to regional peace and prosperity. “International principles and laws must be consistently obeyed, strategic competition in the region needs to be managed properly to avoid open conflict, a culture of peace and strategic trust needs to be strengthened,” he said. Albanese also promised increased cooperation in the fields of defense, as well as maritime security and safety, amid China’s growing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea. Indonesia has on several occasions expressed concerns about a new trilateral security pact between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, known as AUKUS, which allows Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. In their respective statements, however, the two leaders made no references to AUKUS. Albanese stressed that his government would work closely with Australian Super Funds, one of the country’s largest investors, to explore investment opportunities in Indonesia. Ninasapti Triaswati, an economist at the University of Indonesia, said the visit provided an opportunity for Indonesia to strike business deals with Australian companies. “But it requires technical readiness on the part of the Indonesian side to be able to make cooperation contracts that benefit the Indonesian people,” Ninasapti told BenarNews. Ninasapti said she believed the presence of Putin at the upcoming G20 summit would not affect economic ties with Australia. “If Putin comes, the Australian government may leave the room, but CEOs of Australian private companies will still be interested in investing in Indonesia,” he said. ‘Strengthen partnerships in the Pacific’ Albanese also said his government was committed to deepening economic ties with Southeast Asian countries. “And we will deliver a comprehensive ASEAN Economic Strategy to 2040, to map current and future export and investment opportunities across key ASEAN markets,” he said. Albanese said Australia would give A$470 million (U.S. $338.55 million) to Southeast Asia over four years under Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) programs, on top of A$200 million for its climate and infrastructure partnership with Indonesia. “We also agreed to strengthen partnerships in the Pacific, especially in the fields of climate, fisheries and agriculture,” he said. “True to my government’s ambitious climate targets, I want better access to affordable, reliable and secure clean energy right across our region, as we transition to a net zero world together.”

Vietnam Communist Party expels health minister and Hanoi mayor for COVID test scandal

Editor2 years ago07 mins

The Vietnam Communist Party (VCP) on Monday expelled the country’s health minister and the mayor of the capital Hanoi for their roles in a U.S. $172 million scandal involving overpriced coronavirus test kits, the party said at an emergency meeting of its Central Committee. Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long and Mayor Chu Ngoc Anh are the latest casualties of the one-party state’s crackdown on corruption, which has seen several high-profile arrests of government and private sector officials over the past few months. Long and Anh could face criminal charges for their actions in connection to the Viet A Technologies Company scandal, during which officials were paid off so that hospitals would use overpriced COVID-19 test kits. “It’s always a sign when the Vietnam Communist Party calls for an emergency session of its Central Committee,” Southeast Asia analyst Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington, told RFA. “Expulsion from the party is in itself a major deal… No longer protected by their elite party status, their legal jeopardy just went up a few notches,” he said. “Now that the party’s inspection has concluded, they will now be passed on the prosecutors for trial and an almost certain conviction.” The company’s director-general, Phan Quoc Viet, faces charges of bribing health officials so that they would agree to overpay for the test kits to be distributed to hospitals and provincial Centers for Disease Control. Viet was able to make $172 million in profit and then re-channel $34 million into more bribes, AFP reported. The Viet-A scandal was uncovered at the end of last year as part of the Communist Party’s efforts since 2016 to get tough on corruption. The anti-corruption campaign, referred to as “furnace burning” by its architect, Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong, has seen high-profile arrests of government officials over the past few months for their involvement in various scandals. For example, several Ministry of Health officials have been accused of accepting bribes for space on international rescue flights out of areas in the world heavily hit by COVID-19. Authorities have also discovered a number of training violations at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences. The director of a military hospital was arrested for granting slots to unqualified applicants at the ASEAN Medical and Pharmaceutical College. Vietnam also recently arrested 19 people on charges of “violating regulations on asset management and use, causing losses and waste” at an agriculture company, and seven senior coast guard officials, including the commander, for embezzling funds Nguyen Ngoc Gia, an independent journalist, told RFA that corruption is more widespread than even the recent arrests would indicate. “I think the big reasons are that the rule of law doesn’t exist, the rule of virtue is just a formality, and the technocracy is too weak,” Gia said. “Meanwhile, culture and education, the two most important areas making up the soul of a nation, are widely manipulated by money. Therefore, it can be seen that the current appearance of morality is just hypocrisy,” said Gia. Totalitarianism and the one-party system have led to an overemphasis on money and power, Gia said. The Viet-A scandal was not as large as others, but the government is paying special attention, Abuza said. “This scandal seems to have stung the leadership a little bit more. In part there was the direct link between the firm and the senior leadership. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong had egg on his face,” Abuza said. “Anti-corruption has been the hallmark of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s tenure. Trong has wielded anti-corruption as he believes that the country’s endemic corruption threatens the VCP’s legitimacy,” he said. “But he also has wielded it as a tool against political rivals. And many in the country will see this as just that: elite political infighting.” Trong suffered a stroke in 2020, so there are expectations that the third-term general secretary will step down before the term is up in 2026, Abuza said. “But as long as he believes that corruption is still reaching the senior most ranks, he’ll fight to stay on, convinced that others will take the issue of corruption as seriously.” Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Tank cake on eve of Tiananmen anniversary sparks shutdown of influencer’s livestream

Editor2 years ago010 mins

Chinese censors shut down the livestream of beauty influencer Austin Li after he displayed a tank-shaped cake ahead of the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, as former student leaders reflected on the June 4, 1989 crackdown from overseas. Li’s livestream was taken off air on Friday shortly after he showed an ice-cream dessert in the shape of a tank, prompting fans to wonder what unknown event he could have been referring to. Public commemorations of the massacre, in which the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) mowed down unarmed civilians with guns and tanks to end a weeks-long mass protest movement in Tiananmen Square, are banned in China. The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rarely allows any public reference to the event, although it describes the protests that preceded it as “countterevolutionary turmoil.” Online references to the events of June 4, 1989, including images of tanks, are swiftly deleted by government censors. Now, Li may have introduced a new generation of 170 million largely unsuspecting fans to the violent crackdown that left hundreds, possibly thousands, dead. Li attributed the premature ending of his livestream to a “backstage technical failure,” but hadn’t updated his social media account by Monday. A current affairs commentator who gave only the surname Su said anything that refers to the events of spring and early summer 1989 is politically sensitive for the CCP. “He’s the second most popular anchor after Wei Ya, and he has thousands of people among his suppliers,” Su said. “He has so many people around him, yet he was silly enough to promote a tank-shaped dessert on June 3.” “Why did his production team fail to detect or block such a common-sense issue; there must be some kind of problem,” he said. Su said Li was unlikely to re-emerge following the incident. “Given the current political environment, he is finished for sure, or at least will just fade away from the public eye,” Su said. Screenshot of Chinese beauty influencer Austin Li, whose livestream was taken off the air after he displayed a tank-shaped cake on the eve of the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, June 3, 2022. House arrest for dissidents Massacre survivors, victims’ families and prominent dissidents are typically placed under house arrest or similar restrictions by state security police during the anniversary, only to be released when the date has passed without incident. Qi Zhiyong, a massacre survivor who had both legs crushed by a tank in June 1989, said he had been forced to leave town with a state security police escort. “I was taken away from my home on May 28 by police, who confiscated my mobile phone,” Qi told RFA. “But my dialysis appointments weren’t affected.” “There are police and security guards at the entrance to my apartment complex,” he said. Former 1989 student leader Wang Dan said he is currently engaged in setting up a June 4 Memorial Hall in New York City. “All of my energy is devoted to this project now,” Wang, who also founded the Dialogue China think-tank since arriving in the U.S. on medical parole 24 years ago. He said the overseas democracy movement was the best exiled dissidents could do for China, and suggested that CCP leader Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy could open some younger people’s eyes to the nature of the regime. “We’re already seeing the effects of the Shanghai lockdown,” he said. “I think a lot of little pinks [CCP fans] in Shanghai, and many millennials will be realizing that this society isn’t as beautiful as they once believed.” Former 1989 student activist Zhou Fengsuo, who founded the rights group Humanitarian China after arriving in the U.S., said his organization manages to support more than 100 prisoners of conscience annually. “That has added up to more than 1,000 people over the years,” he said. “We hope that more people will come to know about them, and to thereby understand the human rights situation in China.” Brainwashing Former Shandong student activist Bob Fu has worked to promote religious freedom in China since becoming a Christian in the wake of the 1989 crackdown, founding the Texas-based group ChinaAid. “The first thing we want to do is to give them a voice, and the second is to make very specific efforts to promote religious freedom in China,” Fu told RFA. “In the past couple of decades, we have paid particular attention to human rights lawyers, as to support them is actually to promote religious freedom in China.” A member of the millennial generation who gave only the surname Li said he thought everyone should understand what happened in 1989. “June 4, 1989 is something that every Chinese person should remember,” Li said. “We can learn a lot from the way the students were thinking, from their spirit, now.” “But a lot of people don’t have access to the internet outside the Great Firewall, including a lot of Generation Z, so they don’t know about such things, and have never heard of any of it.” A slightly older man from Shanghai surnamed Wang said CCP brainwashing has been particular effective among the younger generation. “If anyone mentions freedom and democracy, they tell you that you can’t eat those things,” Wang said. “They really support the current regime with all their hearts.” “It’s clear that this brainwashing [patriotic] education they received has been hugely successful, from the point of view of those who rule,” he said. Zhou said he realizes how far there is to go. “Of course so far, this has been a losing battle,” he said of China’s faltering democracy movement. “But before the CCP falls, many more people will have to get involved in this losing battle.” “For those who are in it and are still fighting against this authoritarian regime, at least they have the courage to resist, the spirit of perseverance. This is worthy of huge respect.” Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Gunmen fire at cars on China-backed Lao expressway

Editor2 years ago05 mins

Gunmen opened fire Sunday on traffic moving along a China-invested expressway in Laos, leaving one of three injured in the shooting in a coma in a local hospital, Lao sources say. Four suspects described by authorities as “bandits” and including both Lao and ethnic Hmong are now under arrest following the incident, which took place at about 12:30 p.m. at the Phou-Pha tunnel on the Vientiane-Vang Vieng Expressway, a public security official told RFA on Monday. The group may have been involved in a business dispute, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media about the case. “We have already arrested four suspects, who include both Lao and Hmong,” the official said. “Details of what happened are still unclear, and we are carrying out an investigation.” An official press conference will be held when the investigation ends, the official said. Meanwhile, security measures will be taken to ensure safety along the Vientiane-Vang Vieng expressway, and vehicles will be checked before entering, the official said. Seriously wounded in the shooting, a resident of the Lao capital Vientiane is now in a coma at the Lao-Soviet Friendship Hospital in Vientiane, where doctors are attempting to remove a bullet from one of his lungs, and family members are appealing for donations of blood, sources said. A family member contacted by RFA declined to comment on the case. A toll gate on the Vientiane-Vang Vieng Expressway , Dec. 27, 2020. Photo: RFA Lao residents concerned over safety issues on the major roadway linking the capital with Vang Vieng, a popular tourist destination north of Vientiane, told RFA the gunmen had likely been involved in a dispute over drugs, with one source saying the shooters may have been under the influence of drugs themselves. “These young gangsters are all using drugs, especially methamphetamines. The police are always arresting them,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. Other Lao villagers following the news said those injured in the shooting may have been involved in earlier disputes. “After reading about this incident on Facebook, it seems to me there may have been some conflict over drugs. I’m sure this must be what this was all about,” one source said, also declining to be named. Government authorities must now strengthen security along the expressway, especially by deploying more police officers along the road, said another local resident who often drives along the Vientiane-Vang Vieng route. “I usually see CCTV cameras on the expressway, but not that many police,” he said. Reached for comment, an official of the Laos-China Joint Expressway Development Co., Ltd., declined to speak to RFA reporters, but the company issued a statement Sunday reporting the shooting and saying reasons for the incident were being investigated by the police. Traffic was moving normally along the expressway, which began operations in 2020, by 5:35 p.m., the company said in its statement. Translated by Phouvong for RFA’s Lao Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Police arrest six on banned Tiananmen massacre anniversary in Hong Kong

Editor2 years ago08 mins

Police in Hong Kong have arrested six people on public order offenses around the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre near Victoria Park, commemoration of which has been banned under a draconian national security law for the third year in a row. Police said they had arrested five men and one woman aged 19-80 by 11.30 p.m. on June 4 after stepping up patrols around Causeway Bay and Victoria Park and warning people not to try to stage their own personal memorials. The six arrestees were taken away on charges that included “inciting others to take part in an illegal assembly,” “possessing an offensive weapon” and “obstructing police officers in the course of the duties.” The soccer pitches, basketball courts and central lawn areas — where mass candlelight vigils had taken place for three decades since the June 4, 1989 massacre by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Beijing — were reopened on Sunday after being closed to the public. Police remained at the park on Sunday, stopping passers-by for questioning, but otherwise allowing people in and out again. Large numbers of Hongkongers in exile turned out to mark the massacre in London at the weekend, lighting candles and writing messages of commemoration, including outside the Chinese Embassy, where protesters mock-charged the building with paper effigies of tanks, only to be pushed back by police. Protesters held up photos of political prisoners jailed in Hong Kong under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the wake of the 2019 protest movement, which called for universal suffrage and greater official accountability, as well as opposing plans to allow extradition to mainland China. A former Hong Kong teacher who gave only the English name Jeremy said he had emigrated to the U.K. with his family, and had continued his annual attendance at the vigil in London, this time bringing his daughter along too. “The regime did something wrong, and we are here as proof of that, and to tell the next generation that justice should be done, and that someone should admit responsibility for that wrongdoing,” he said. “It’s that simple.” “The people of Hong Kong see you, and we haven’t forgotten the June 4 massacre,” he said. Hongkongers in exile in Britain join mainland democracy activists to mark the 33rd anniversary of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen massacre in London at the weekend, lighting candles and writing messages of commemoration outside the Chinese Embassy, in London, June 2, 2022. Credit: RFA Danger to families A participant who gave only the surname Liew said Hongkongers are beginning to have similar fears to mainland Chinese in exile, namely that their friends and families back home could be targeted if they speak out overseas. “Of course I’m scared too, but my view is that if we do nothing, they’ll be even more contemptuous of our rights,” she said. “They won’t go any easier on us if we do nothing; the abuse of our rights will only intensify.” Around 2,000 people turned out to mark the anniversary on the democratic island of Taiwan, many of them chanting now-banned slogans from the 2019 protest movement including “Free Hong Kong! Revolution now!” A replica of the now-demolished Pillar of Shame sculpture that once stood on the University of Hong Kong campus formed a focal point for the event, as Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen wrote on her Facebook page that the authorities in Hong Kong are currently working to erase collective memory of the massacre. The country’s foreign affairs ministry sent an open letter to the people of China in the simplified Chinese used in China, calling on them to research the massacre for themselves, beyond the Great Firewall of internet censorship. A replica of the now-demolished Pillar of Shame sculpture that once stood on the University of Hong Kong campus is displayed in Taiwan, where some 2,000 people turned out to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, June 4, 2022. Credit: RFA Hong Kong artist Kacey Wong, now in exile in Taiwan, gave a speech to the crowd, saying the CCP fears such events because of how many people they killed. “Friends looked for friends in piles of corpses, wives looked for husbands in piles of corpses, parents looked for their sons and daughters among the blood and corpses,” Wong said. “The Chinese Communist Party is very afraid of passing on [that knowledge] from generation to generation, but that’s exactly what we want.” “Make sure everyone knows they killed those people … fight for freedom and democracy, and then their deaths will have made sense.” Back in Hong Kong, national security judge Peter Law handed over the “subversion” cases of 47 former opposition lawmakers and democracy activists to the High Court, paving the way for potential life imprisonment under the national security law for organizing a democratic primary in 2020. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Five people killed in Sagaing region township blazes

Editor2 years ago03 mins

The charred bodies of a 79-year-old woman and a 14-year-old boy were among five people discovered after military forces set fire to two villages in Myanmar’s war-torn Sagaing region, locals told RFA. The elderly woman was from Thargara village in Khin Oo township. The boy and three men came from Than Se Chaung village in Kani township. Residents told RFA the elderly woman may have been trapped after suffering a stroke when junta troops burned down houses on June 4. They say the blaze also killed cattle and destroyed 70 houses, agricultural machinery, motorbikes and 10,000 baskets of rice, being stored for food. Agricultural equipment and food supplies were also destroyed in the blaze. CREDIT: citizen jounalist. The bodies of four Than Se Chaung residents were found close to their village, near Nat Sin Gone at Nga Pyat village. They had been detained by the military a few days earlier. A local resident told RFA the four villagers, aged between 14 and 45, were killed after being taken hostage by troops. “They were sent to the frontline and were then killed as they did not do what the junta troops asked and commanded,” said the resident, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity. It was still not known how the four were killed. Calls to a military council spokesman by RFA on Monday morning went unanswered. Most of Sagaing’s townships and villages have been affected by fierce fighting between junta forces and members of the People’s Defense Forces since the military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup. RFA reported last month that nearly 6,300 homes in 19 townships had been burned down in the northwestern region over the previous two months. Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun blamed the PDFs for starting the fires. RFA figures show that 414 people were killed in Sagaing region between Feb. 1 and Dec. 1 last year, 309 by the junta and 105 by PDFs.

Australia protests to China after dangerous air intercept

Editor2 years ago09 mins

A Chinese fighter jet dangerously intercepted an Australian reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea last month, Australia’s Department of Defence (DOD) said, but China’s state media stated it was “Western countries” who were in the wrong. A DOD statement said on May 26 a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8A Poseidon “was intercepted by a Chinese J-16 fighter aircraft during a routine maritime surveillance activity in international airspace in the South China Sea region.” “The intercept resulted in a dangerous manoeuvre which posed a safety threat to the P-8 aircraft and its crew,” the DOD said, adding that the Australian Government had raised its concerns about the incident with the Chinese Government. Last week the Canadian government also expressed concerns over Chinese aircraft “buzzing” a Canadian surveillance aircraft in the East China Sea, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling it “extremely troubling.” Chinese media rejected the accusations, saying Canada and Australia – members of the Five Eyes Western intelligence alliance – conducted “close-in reconnaissance and provocative activities” on China. The Global Times, a mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, said reports on the Chinese intercepts “are not consistent with the truth.” On Monday China’s defense ministry said the PLA has taken reasonable measures to counter provocations by Canadian military jets that have been carrying out increased reconnaissance in the region. Spokesman Wu Qian described China’s response as ‘reasonable,’ adding that Beijing has made ‘solemn representations’ through diplomatic channels, according to Reuters. ‘Dangerous mid-air maneuvres’ The Australian DOD’s statement said that it has “for decades undertaken maritime surveillance activities in the region and does so in accordance with international law.” Defence Minister Richard Marles told Australian media that the J-16 jet flew very close to the RAAF P-8A maritime surveillance aircraft, released flares and then “accelerated and cut across the nose of the P-8, settling in front of the P-8 at very close distance.” “It then released a bundle of chaff, which contains small pieces of aluminium, some of which were ingested into the engine of the P-8 aircraft,” Marles told Australia’s Channel 9. “This maneuvre is dangerous and designed to provoke,” said Alexander Neill, a defense and security consultant based in Singapore. “Dispensing chaff is extremely dangerous,” Neill added, as the pieces could cause serious damage when entering the engine of the P-8. The Chinese interpretation of the event was very different. The Global Times quoted Zhang Xuefeng, a Chinese military expert, as saying that “it is possible that the Australian P-8 used its jamming pod to lase the Chinese aircraft, triggering the latter’s self-defense system which is programed to automatically release the flares and chaff.” Earlier this year Australia accused a Chinese warship of pointing a military-grade laser at an Australian P-8A Poseidon in the Arafura Sea, north of Australia, posing great danger to the pilots’ safety. The RAAF has a fleet of 14 modern Boeing-manufactured P-8As that it uses for maritime surveillance. Canberra raised concerns with Beijing over the Feb. 17 incident but the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) did not issue an apology, arguing that the vessel was fully complying with international law and Australia was “maliciously spreading disinformation” against China. In 2019 a similar incident happened in the South China Sea when Australian helicopter pilots, operating from the naval vessel HMAS Canberra, were forced to land as a precaution after a Chinese warship targeted it with a laser. “This maneuvre in May is similar to the one which downed a U.S. Navy P-3 back in 2001,” said Alexander Neill. In April 2001 a Chinese F-8 fighter jet collided with a U.S. Navy EP-3 Aries II surveillance plane over the South China Sea, killing the Chinese pilot. The U.S. aircraft had to make an emergency landing on China’s Hainan island. “It seems the PLA returned to using such dangerous techniques but dispensing chaff is even more serious,” the analyst said. A CP-140 Aurora, similar to the aircraft “buzzed”by Chinese jets over the East China Sea, in a Canadian Government file photograph ‘Five Eyes’ Such events have become more regular as China ramps-up its campaign to back up territorial claims in the region. At the same time the U.S. and its allies have also intensified activities in accordance with the ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ initiative. In September last year Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States formed the AUKUS security alliance, which is generally seen as an effort to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. Canberra was alarmed when China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands in April and sought to reach a multi-sector deal with some other Pacific island nations. “I would say this latest incident is part of a new coercive strategy to put pressure on Australia following the creation of AUKUS and also in response to pressures by Australia in the South Pacific,” Neill told RFA. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. are already members of the long-standing intelligence alliance known as Five Eyes. China has been accusing the U.S. and partners of conducting “provocative reconnaissance” on China. The South China Sea Probing Initiative, a Beijing-based Chinese think tank, alleged that last month the U.S. military performed 41 sorties of land-based reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea alone.

Cambodia opposition decries intimidation as ruling party claims local election sweep

Editor2 years ago07 mins

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party claimed a sweeping victory in nationwide elections for local councils on Sunday, a contest that rights watchdogs said was heavily slanted toward the ruling party and marred by intimidation and obstruction of the opposition. The voting for local councils in rural and urban precincts was seen as a test of support for opponents of the CPP five years after Hun Sen had the largest opposition party banned after a strong showing in the previous election. The National Election Committee has yet to release preliminary results, but said the ruling CPP was leading an election in which 77.91 percent, or about 7.1 million of 9.2 million registered voters turned out to elect 11,622 commune council members. “It’s been a successful electoral process with a calm environment, security, public order, no violence and no intimidation,” NEC President Prach Chan told a news conference after the polling stations closed Sunday afternoon. “The voters voted overwhelmingly — 77 percent voted. The preliminary results are showing the CPP is the leading in all provinces and municipalities,” said CCP spokesman Sok Ey San. “This is a big success for the CPP,” he said. People look for their names in the voters’ list at a polling station during local commune elections in Phnom Penh, June 5, 2022. Credit: AFP RFA has not independently confirmed the turnout and preliminary results. The official election results will be announced on June 26. “It was not a free and fair and just election,” said Thach Setha, vice-president of the Candlelight Party, the most prominent of 16 non-CPP parties competing. “There was pressure and intimidation,” he said, noting that the NEC was dominated by the ruling party, when the law stipulates a neutral body. Thach Setha said his party will file complaints with the NEC over the alleged election irregularities, including CPP village chiefs who violated the election law by sitting at the polling stations. He said authorities arrested two of his election observers, releasing one later. Voters did not turn out in as great a number as in 2017 and many polling stations were quiet, said Soeung Sengkaruna, a spokesman for the rights group Adhoc. “Fewer people went to polling station to find their names. And to the ballot counting stations, I didn’t see many people monitoring the process,” he said. “This shows that people didn’t actively participate in the process like the previous commune election,” added Soeung Sengkaruna. Kem Sokha, the former leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) who was arrested months before the party was banned in 2017, declined to vote on Sunday and was joined by many of his followers. “We didn’t vote because if we have voted it would been seen like we supported the CNRP’s dissolution,” said close Kem Sokha ally Khou Haingmeang. The former CNRP representative from Siem Reap said Kem Sokha, who is embroiled in a slow-moving treason trial on charges from 2017, also feared that getting involved Sunday could violate court orders banning political activities. On the last day of two weeks of campaigning Friday, the United Nations Human Rights Office criticized what it called “the pattern of threats, intimidation and obstruction targeting opposition candidates.” “Candidates have faced numerous restrictions and reprisals that have hindered their activities, with imprisonment of a number of candidates that appears designed to curb political campaigning,” office spokesperson Liz Throssell said in a statement. France-based opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who founded the Candlelight Party in 2005 before joining forces with the CNRP, said that while “these elections are worse than the previous ones in terms of transparency and honesty,” the party did well in the face of obstacles thrown up by the government. “Despite the continuous atmosphere of fear and intimidation in Cambodia, hope for democratic change at the ballot box has been revived by the Candlelight Party,” he said a statement. “Every seat won is a seat less for the autocratic regime of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power for 37 years,” said Rainsy, who has lived in exile in France since 2015 under threat of arrest on a raft of charges he and his supporters say are aimed at keeping him out of politics. Translated by Samean Yun. Written by Paul Eckert.

‘Follow the party and prosper: oppose it and die’

Editor2 years ago024 mins

In the second part of this two-part essay, Bao Tong, a former political secretary to late, ousted Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang, comments on then Premier Li Peng’s accounts of the events leading up to the June 4, 1989 bloodshed by the People’s Liberation Army that put an end to weeks of student-led protests on Tiananmen Square. An English-language version of the diary was published in 2010 as “The Critical Moment – Li Peng Diaries.” Zhao was later removed from office and spent the rest of his life under house arrest at his Beijing home, dying in early 2005. Bao, who before the events of 1989 worked as director of the Office of Political Reform of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, served a seven-year jail term for “revealing state secrets and counter-revolutionary propagandizing.” The 89-year-old Bao, a long-time contributor of commentary on a wide range of Chinese and international issues for RFA Mandarin, including a column titled “Under House Arrest,” remains under close police surveillance in Beijing.Now I think we need to take a look at what Zhao Ziyang did next. Zhao, of course, had no idea that the tangled web being woven by the chairman of the Central Military Commission, the president and the premier. He just took Deng’s “all agreed” and set to work implementing it. His schedule for May 14 and 15 was full, and he had a meeting with visiting Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on the afternoon of the 16th. Once that was over, Zhao hurried back to his office in Qinzheng Hall to call a meeting of the Politburo standing committee. He had finalized the agenda, which was to affirm the student protesters’ patriotism and to retract the April 26 People’s Daily editorial. Zhao didn’t say or imply to the standing committee that Deng had agreed to the plan, but outlined his reasoning for the move. Li Peng made a few points against affirming the students’ patriotism, then looked at Yang Shangkun and Yao Yilin, and saw they weren’t very engaged. So he stopped trying to oppose the motion, and it eventually passed. So it was that on the following day, all the major media outlets reported that Zhao Ziyang, on behalf of the Politburo standing committee, had affirmed the students’ patriotism. But the retraction of the People’s Daily editorial remained a sticking point. Li Peng, Yao Yilin and Yang Shangkun were all adamantly opposed, saying that it couldn’t be allowed because it would harm the image of Comrade Xiaoping. Zhao tried to reassure them by saying that the editorial was based on inaccurate reports made to Deng by standing committee members, so it should all be seen as coming from the committee. People would know that Comrade Xiaoping had supported us in making a correction of our own mistake, so the move wouldn’t harm Deng, but rather enhance his prestige, Zhao argued. Qiao Shi and Hu Qili made their support for Zhao’s plan clear, while Li Peng and Yao Yilin were strongly against it. Yang Shangkun supported Li Peng’s position, but he wasn’t a member of the Politburo standing committee. According to the standing committee’s rules of procedure, a majority vote holds sway. Three votes were for Zhao and two for Li Peng, so they could have gotten the resolution through. But they decided to keep talking just to be on the safe side. This is why Zhao didn’t request his next meeting with Deng until the morning of May 17.Deng said that was fine. Deng told Zhao to arrive at a specific time that same afternoon (I no longer recall the exact time) and not to be late. As soon as Zhao turned up, on time, Deng set his plan in motion. The devil’s in the details. But I have never read a detailed account of this endgame written by any of those involved. And I certainly don’t set much store by the speculations of those who were not. All I have is Zhao Ziyang’s personal account when he spoke to me and his secretary and deputy director Zhang Yueqi that same evening. As I remember it, Zhao said: “There was a trial today. Yao Yilin has won everything. I have lost everything. I thought Deng and I were just talking privately. I didn’t realize he had called a meeting of the standing committee. When I got there, they were all ready for me. Yang Shangkun was there too. Yao criticized my [May 7] speech to the Asian Development Bank, saying it was appalling, as it had struck two notes that weren’t in keeping with Deng’s line.” “Some decisions were made today. I can’t tell you what they were, because they’re classified.” I replied: “A decision is better than no decision. But I can’t implement it.” “Deng told me that I’m still the general secretary,” Zhao told us. “But when I got back, I thought some more about it, and I realized that I have to resign. So you need to draft a letter of resignation for me.” “From both posts?” I asked, referring to the general secretary of the CCP and the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. “From both posts,” Zhao replied. The bodies of dead civilians lie among mangled bicycles near Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in this June 4, 1989 file photo. Credit: AP Deng’s personal mantra Incidentally, some details did emerge from the standing committee meeting called by Deng. I was told to be careful not to leak anything when I drafted Zhao’s letter of resignation. “That’s easy,” I said. “I never leaked a secret in my life.” “Someone is saying that you did,” Zhao replied. “That’s got to be Li Peng, because the others would never say something so irresponsible,” I said in anger. “They’re saying you have already leaked something,” Zhao said. I replied that there has to be some basis for such claims under the rule of law. He said “I have a basis, but I won’t talk about that until it’s really necessary.” I finally found out that Li Peng…

Cambodians to vote in local commune council elections Sunday

Editor2 years ago011 mins

Cambodians will go to the polls Sunday to elect local commune councils in what observers believe will be a test case of support for a rising opposition party after five years of a coordinated campaign by Prime Minister Hun Sen and his supporters to squash dissent. Hun Sen has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades. His Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) is expected to win in a landslide, as it is the only political party large enough to field candidates nationwide. Heading into Sunday’s vote, the United Nations Human Rights Office criticized what it called a “systemic shrinking” of political space in the country, leaving room only for the CPP. “We are disturbed by the pattern of threats, intimidation and obstruction targeting opposition candidates ahead of communal elections in Cambodia on 5 June,” office spokesperson Liz Throssell said in a statement. “Candidates have faced numerous restrictions and reprisals that have hindered their activities, with imprisonment of a number of candidates that appears designed to curb political campaigning. Four days before the election, at least six opposition candidates and activists are in detention awaiting trial while others summonsed on politically motivated charges have gone into hiding.” Throssell noted the government’s response to the last commune elections, five years ago. The Supreme Court dissolved the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) after it performed well in the local races in 2017, a decision that paved the way for the CPP to take all 125 seats in the National Assembly in the 2018 general election. Though the country is essentially now a one-party state, a new opposition party, the Candlelight Party, has entered the fray and will face its first major test on Sunday. The Future Forum, an independent think tank based in Phnom Penh, called the election a “litmus test” for the country. “The outstanding and primary concern of any election cycle set today is the absence of a viable political opposition,” it said in a report. “This in itself renders the anticipated outcome of such processes reasonably predictable. It is however crucial to note that, versus the 2018 cycle, there are a larger number of electoral observers, and the presence of an alternative vote for nearly all communes in the kingdom.” The elections will not have much effect on the balance of national power, as commune councils are concerned mostly with local matters. But councilors elected Sunday will vote on behalf of their constituents in 2024 elections for the Cambodian Senate. Election watchers are looking at the contest between the CPP and 16 other parties for 11,622 seats in 1,652 rural and urban precincts to find out how much support the opposition Candlelight Party can win in the atmosphere and after months of harassment from the ruling party. Members of parliaments in other Southeast Asian countries condemned “harassment and intimidation” suffered by the opposition during the campaign. In a statement released Friday, the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) took issue with incidents of political bullying by local officials. “It is impossible to hold free and fair elections in an ongoing climate of persecution against the opposition … these polls cannot be regarded as an exercise in pluralism and democracy when the CPP led by Prime Minister Hun Sen is not allowing anyone who can challenge their power to campaign freely and safely,” said Maria Chin Abdullah, a member of the Malaysian Parliament and an APHR member. “The intimidation of the opposition we are witnessing now is nothing new. It is part of a long pattern in which Hun Sen and his party have maintained and increased their control over Cambodia, closing the space for opposition and rights defenders to dissent without fear of reprisal. This does not bode well for the future of democracy in Cambodia. The outcome of this local election will pave the way for next year’s national elections and will determine who will control the country’s overall political power,” Abdullah said. She urged neighboring countries to “maintain a critical eye” on Cambodia and not accept that Sunday’s elections would be a true democratic exercise, criticizing the elections as “another attempt by the CPP to legitimize its increasingly dictatorial rule.” Campaign draws to a close On the last day of the official two-week campaign Friday, the CPP and Candlelight Party held political rallies all over the country, with thousands in the capital Phnom Penh attending the rallies for both sides. Hun Sen’s son Hun Many attended campaign events in the capital, as CPP supporters including famous celebrities drove luxury cars in a convoy, hoping to sway voters with star appeal. Candlelight supporters drove their own convoy through the city, using megaphones to remind people to vote. Both sides reflected on the campaign period optimistically. “For the past 14 days, we have showed that we are better and more firmly situated than other parties,” Sar Kheng, who is the CPP’s vice president and the country’s minister of interior, said to supporters while leading campaign activities in the southern province of Prey Veng. “We have shown that the CPP is the only party can guarantee peace and read development,” he said. Candlelight’s vice president, Thach Setha, who led campaign activities in Phnom Penh Friday, told RFA’s Khmer Service that his party has received overwhelming support because the voters recognize their true need for democracy. He acknowledged that the campaign is supported mainly by donations from supporters. During Friday’s convoy, people cheering the party on provided campaigners with water from the roadsides, he said. “[The people] want change, and they want to tell the CPP that they want change, they don’t want to keep doing the same thing,” Thach Setha said. The campaign period was mostly peaceful, Hang Puthea, spokesperson for the country’s National Election Commission (NEC), told RFA. “Over the past 14 days, there was no violence or threats,” he said. The NEC received only 52 complaints during the campaign period. “The campaigns were helped with good security and order,” he said. But Kang Savang, a coordinator at the Committee…

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