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New Hong Kong school history textbooks say the city ‘never was a British colony’

Editor3 years ago010 mins

A nationalistic program of Moral, Civic and National Education brought in to replace Liberal Studies in Hong Kong’s primary and secondary schools has removed references to the city’s status as a former British colony, local media reported. Four textbooks recently released online from three publishing houses contain the sentence “Hong Kong was not a colony,” the Ming Pao and other newspapers reported. The move comes after articles in media controlled by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) expressed the same idea. “Before 1997, the United Kingdom regarded Hong Kong as a colony, and its use of the term “overseas dependent territory” was just another term for a colony,” a 2021 opinion piece in the CCP-backed Ta Kung Pao said in an op-ed piece dated April 10, 2020. “But Hong Kong was never actually a colony; it’s just that the British practiced colonial rule here.” The article dismissed British sovereignty over Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, ceded by the Qing Dynasty in perpetuity, or the New Territories, which were governed by Britain under a 99-year lease that expired in 1997. The colonial status of Hong Kong was “wishful thinking” on the part of the British, the article, signed by Xiao Ping, said. “The Chinese government after the Qing Dynasty did not recognize the unequal treaty that ‘ceded’ Hong Kong, and never gave up its territorial sovereignty over Hong Kong,” it said, adding that China had successfully had Hong Kong removed from a United Nations list of colonies in 1972. It said the removal of Hong Kong from that list meant that the city wasn’t eligible for independence under post-war, post-colonial settlements like other former colonies. An installation marking the July 1 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from Britain to China is seen in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong on June 12, 2022. Credit: AFP CCP arguments taught as fact Now, this CCP-endorsed argument has made it into Hong Kong schools, to be taught as fact, as part of the new nationalistic education program in the city. Students are required to absorb, and find arguments to support, the political points made in the program, without considering arguments for and against, the Ming Pao reported. The Liberal Studies critical thinking program, rolled out in Hong Kong schools in 2009, has been blamed by Chinese officials and media for several mass protests in recent years, from the 2011 campaign against patriotic education by secondary school students, to the 2014 youth-led Umbrella movement, to the 2019 protests that began as a campaign against extradition to mainland China and broadened to include demands for fully democratic elections. Details of the new textbooks emerged after staff removed more than 200 titles from school libraries, including those written by pro-democracy advocates and former lawmakers. Meanwhile, CCP leader Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the Ta Kung Pao on its 120th anniversary on Monday, commending the newspaper for its contribution to “maintaining social stability in Hong Kong” and “winning back hearts and minds”. The letter was read out by Luo Huining, director of Beijing’s Central Liaison Office in Hong Kong, who also lauded the paper’s patriotism. “In a diverse society like Hong Kong, it is especially necessary for the patriotic media to uphold the truth … and promote clarity,” Luo said. “We especially need journalists who will uphold their mission and act responsibly.” Public opinion still appears to be lagging behind CCP propaganda, however. The Ta Kung Pao has been bottom of the class in recent polls by public opinion researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, according to Taiwan-based political commentator Sang Pu. “They want to bring Hong Kong under complete subjugation to the CCP, and the Ta Kung Pao is a good tool for Xi Jinping to achieve this,” Sang told RFA. “The Ta Kung Pao, along with Xinhua news agency, the People’s Daily and CCTV, have played a key role in … placing the CCP’s press releases in Hong Kong [media].” Party mouthpieces proliferate He said the Ta Kung Pao had printed political denunciations of prominent, pro-democracy media organizations shortly before they were forced to close amid the threat of prosecution under the national security law, which ushered in an ongoing crackdown on public dissent and peaceful opposition in the wake of the 2019 protest movement. “Xi Jinping is of the view that the media are the mouthpiece of the party, so the Ta Kung Pao counts as a media organizations, while all the rest are chaotic elements that don’t count as media at all,” Sang said. “In the view of the CCP, there is no such thing as freedom of the press.” Sang said the removal of certain books from primary and secondary schools shows that the entire publishing industry must be walking a fine line to avoid prosecution under the national security law. Among those removed were books about the democratic processes that developed in Hong Kong between the 1990s and 2019, when the last democratic elections to the District Council following months of mass popular protest over vanishing freedoms resulted in a landslide for the pro-democracy camp. An autobiography by Wang Lingyun, mother of 1989 student protest leader Wang Dan, and by late ousted liberal premier Zhao Ziyang, were also among those removed from schools. Wang said the removal of the books showed that freedom of expression was being stifled in the city. “There used to be no taboo around June 4, 1989-related or other politically sensitive books in Hong Kong, but now they’re being removed by the education authorities,” Wang told RFA. “Under the national security law, the Hong Kong authorities must support the government in Beijing, which has made up its mind to stifle freedom of speech in Hong Kong, and have no choice but to take them off the shelves to protect themselves,” he said. He said the CCP’s aim is to erase memories of mass protests, and to prevent younger people in Hong Kong from being influenced by ideas like freedom and democracy. Translated and edited by…

More than 40 anti-regime protesters arrested in Yangon in two days

Editor3 years ago04 mins

Myanmar’s military junta is targeting younger protesters in the country’s business capital, Yangon, arresting more than 40 men and women on Monday and Tuesday. Witnesses said those arrested were aged between 18 and 30. An activist told RFA the military council tracked down the remaining members of an anti-regime group after rounding up protestors in Yangon’s Kyee Myin Daing township on Monday “Seven or eight people in one house have been arrested. The junta forces are able to find the location of the rest of protesters and arrest them under the pretext of checking household guest lists. Most of the detainees were UGs [underground], supporters of anti-regime leaders and protesters on the ground,” said the person, who declined to be named for safety reasons. Most of those arrested are from Kyee Myin Daing, San Chaung, Tamwe, Kyauktadar and Yan Kin townships. Junta forces raided their houses day and night under the pretext of checking household lists and forcefully arrested them, sources told RFA. Protesters still at liberty and their families said the exact whereabouts of the more than 40 detainees are not yet known. Witnesses and protesters who are currently in hiding said the police and army arrested activists and beat them at their homes, forced them to kneel in the road and tortured them to discover the whereabouts of remaining members. Calls to a military council spokesman by RFA on Wednesday remain unanswered. Anti-regime protesters in Yangon on June 3, 2022. CREDIT: Yangon People’s Strike Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said Tuesday that a total of 14,110 Anti-regime activists across the country have been arrested in more than 16 months since the military coup. Of those, 11,053 are still in custody. Even younger opponents of the regime are being systematically targeted by police and troops according to a report by the United Nations. UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews called on world leaders to “take immediate coordinated action to address an escalating political, economic and humanitarian crisis that is putting Myanmar’s children at risk of becoming a lost generation.” “During my fact-finding for this report, I received information about children who were beaten, stabbed, burned with cigarettes, and subjected to mock executions, and who had their fingernails and teeth pulled out during lengthy interrogation sessions,” Andrews said, describing the junta’s actions as “war crimes.” The UN report said at least 142 children have been killed, more than 250,000 have been displaced by the military’s attacks and over 1,400 have been arbitrarily detained since the coup in February, 2021. It said at least 61 children, including several under 3-years-old, are reportedly being held as hostages, while the UN has documented the torture of 142 children since the coup.

Membership of a political party ‘cannot be grounds for arrest’ UN group says

Editor3 years ago09 mins

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has criticized the case against a Vietnamese Australian facing a 12-year sentence as lacking grounds for arrest. The comments came in a report released in the first week of June, concerning the case of Chau Van Kham, an Australian resident and member of the banned U.S.-based Viet Tan opposition party. WGAD also released a report on Nguyen Bao Tien, a driver who volunteered for a publishing house founded by a jailed activist. According to documents No. 13/2022 and No. 35/2022, approved by WGAD during its 93rd session from March 30 to April 8, 2022, the agency considers the arrests of Tien and Kham to be arbitrary. WGAD called on Vietnam’s government to take the necessary steps to remedy their situation immediately and in accordance with relevant international conventions, including those set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Chau Van Kham, 72, was arrested on January 13, 2019 on charges of “operating to overthrow the people’s administration.” He was later sentenced to 12 years in prison on another charge of “terrorism aimed at opposing the people’s administration,” because he was a member of Viet Tan, labeled a “terrorist” organization by Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security. Viet Tan was described by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as a moderate activist group advocating for democratic reform. WGAD said it was not the general rule to arrest Chau Van Kham without a warrant in violation of Article 9 of ICCPR. The agency said the deprivation of his liberty was arbitrary because he was only exercising the freedoms of conscience and belief as well as the right of expression enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ICCPR. It said Kham’s connection to Viet Tan could not be considered grounds for arrest. WGAD also criticized Kham’s limited consular access from the Australian Mission in Vietnam and inadequate legal assistance. In an interview with Radio Free Asia this week, Viet Tan chairman Do Hoang Diem said: “Right now we are in Australia and the purpose of our trip is to meet Australian politicians and elected officials to campaign for Mr. Chau Van Kham.” “This UN ruling is very timely. With this verdict, it is clear that Mr. Chau Van Kham is innocent … We will fight for Mr. Kham to be free and return to his family.” In March the Vietnamese government responded to criticism by saying Kham was arrested for violating Vietnamese law, not for his democratic views. The government said his arrest and sentencing were carried out in accordance with Vietnamese law, consistent with international conventions that Vietnam has ratified. Hanoi said it had announced that Viet Tan was a terrorist organization with the aim of overthrowing the government by methods such as armed activity, directly threatening national security and social order, and recruiting and training members in the use of weapons and explosives. The government said Kham illegally entered Vietnam on January 11, 2019, under the direction of Viet Tan, to organize recruitment and training for sabotage and terrorist activities. Since his arrest, many civic groups and parliamentarians in Australia have called on the government in Canberra to put pressure on the Vietnamese government to secure his release. However, he is still detained and forced to do hard labor in a Vietnamese prison. In a separate report the working group commented on 36-year-old Nguyen Bao Tien, a book courier and voluntary worker for Liberal Publishing House. The publishing house was founded by imprisoned activist Pham Doan Trang and is not registered with the Vietnamese government, Tien was arrested on May 5, 2021 on charges of “conducting propaganda against the state” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months in prison on January 21 this year. WGAD said Tien was punished only for peacefully exercising the right to freedom of expression and association as provided for in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ICCPR. It noted that during his detention and trial Tien was deprived of the right to a defense attorney. In March the Vietnamese government said Tien was arrested for violating national law and that during his arrest and trial, his rights were guaranteed. The government said Tien owned and distributed 108 books containing content defaming the regime’s policies in order to call for the overthrow of the people’s government. WGAD operates under the auspices of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), with the mandate to “investigate cases of deprivation of liberty imposed arbitrarily or inconsistently with the international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or the international legal instruments accepted by the States concerned.” In the last five years it has released documents criticizing the arbitrary arrest and conviction of dozens of prisoners of conscience, including Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy, Pham Doan Trang, Nguyen Thuy Hanh and Le Van Dung. It has called on the Vietnamese government to release them. However, Vietnam has sentenced them to lengthy prison terms and placed them in prisons with harsh living conditions.

North Korean doctors in Laos ordered to pay ‘loyalty funds’ to Pyongyang

Editor3 years ago08 mins

North Korea is forcing two doctors who set up a highly profitable ward in a hospital in Laos to send their earnings back home as so-called “loyalty funds,” North Korean sources in Laos told RFA. The North Korean doctors, a physician and a surgeon, were dispatched to the Southeast Asian country to set up a practice on one floor of the Lao-Asean Hospital in the capital Vientiane, an upscale medical facility that offers a higher standard of care than an average Lao hospital. The hospital caters to wealthy foreigners who live in Laos, as well as tourists. Under the normal terms for North Korean workers dispatched to other countries, the doctors had to give their government a percentage of their earnings. In most cases, the money these workers keep is still several times what they could hope to earn at home. But the COVID-19 pandemic caused revenue at the hospital to decline, as there were fewer wealthy foreign patients. The ward operated by the North Korean doctors was forced to suspend operations until the Lao government lifted restrictions in May. As the money started rolling in, Pyongyang ordered the two doctors to resume payments, only in greater amounts that cut sharply into their incomes. “I heard from an acquaintance, who is close to the doctors from Pyongyang, that the North Korean authorities have demanded excessive loyalty funds from the doctors,” a North Korean source in Laos told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “Their operations have barely become normalized. But they look particularly depressed and disappointed because they owe more in loyalty money than they earn,” she said. The doctors started their practice in Vientiane to capitalize on the tourism industry centered there. “Since there are many tourists, they expected that [opening a ward] in that hospital would be able to earn a lot of foreign currency,” said the source. “They designated [their ward] as [part of the] international hospital rather than a North Korean one,” she said. “Most foreign tourists and residents recognize it as [part of] an international hospital that offers better treatment than the local Lao hospitals, and they visit a lot.” Prices can be up to 10 times higher, and must be paid in U.S. dollars, cash only, according to the source. She said she was aware of a Chinese businessman who paid $20 for an abdominal pain diagnosis that would cost $2 in a typical Lao hospital. “Since May, the hospital has been making a good profit as the Lao government completely lifted the COVID-19 lockdown,” she said. Another North Korean in Laos said the hospital ward was established a few years ago, before the worst of the pandemic had reached Laos. “It was founded and operated by two doctors in their 40s who were dispatched from Pyongyang a few years ago. They diagnose, treat and perform surgeries on patients regardless of their nationalities, and get a lot in foreign currency,” she told RFA on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely. “The Lao government closed the border and banned movement between regions in 2020. As the entry and movement of foreigners was suspended, the North Korean hospital [ward] started seeing fewer patients,” the second source said. Eventually the ward had to suspend operations as the steady flow of patients dwindled. “The [ward] has emerged from operational difficulties caused by the COVID-19 crisis, and it is making significant profits,” she said. Sources told RFA that the North Korean ward is able to earn between $100 and $200 per day on average, but has been asked to send to Pyongyang $3,000 per month. After factoring in overhead, very little remains for the two doctors. An employee of the Lao-Asean hospital confirmed to RFA’s Lao Service that two North Korean doctors have been working at the hospital for the past two years, but could not elaborate on how they came to work for the hospital or what their exact positions were. A Lao health official, meanwhile, told RFA that the hospital is privately owned by a domestic company, Lao Medical Service Co., but that it was common for hospitals to hire doctors from abroad. “Many private hospitals in Laos employ many foreign doctors and medical experts including Chinese and Vietnamese because these foreigners have great knowledge in the field,” the official said. “As for the Lao-Asean Hospital, I know that the owner is a Lao investor who has hired several Chinese doctors to work with Lao counterparts and at least one of them is the head of a treatment department, but I don’t know whether the hospital has any North Korean doctors,” he said. Additional reporting by RFA Lao. Translated by Claire Lee, Leejin J. Chung and Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Police report: ARSA rebel chief ordered Rohingya leader Muhib Ullah gunned down

Editor3 years ago06 mins

The leader of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army rebel group ordered the killing of Rohingya activist Muhib Ullah at a Bangladeshi refugee camp last year, police in the South Asian country said in recommending murder charges against 29 suspects, although the insurgent group denied being involved. Muhib Ullah was more popular than Ataullah Abu Ahmmar Jununi, the head of ARSA, and that displeased him, according to an investigation report that police submitted to a court in Cox’s Bazar district on Monday. Seen by BenarNews, the police report says the 29 suspects were members of ARSA and that they acted at the orders of Ataullah and were involved in Muhib Ullah’s murder at various stages. Fifteen of the 29 suspects have been arrested since the killing last September and the remaining 14 are absconding, police said. The report says that four of the 15 persons confessed to their involvement in Muhib Ullah’s murder. According to one of them, ARSA leaders organized a meeting at one of the refugee camps two days before the murder, the police report says. “At the meeting, [one suspect] and others said ‘our leader Ataullah Jununi told us that Muhib Ullah is emerging as a bigger leader. The Rohingya are giving him more support. He must be killed’ said accused Azizul Haque who was guarding the meeting venue,” according to a portion of the police report. “All of the persons having involvement with the murder are the members of the so called ARSA/Al-Yaaqin,” reads the report, adding that the accused persons had reportedly been involved in theft, robbery, murder, rape, mugging, human trafficking and smuggling of illegal narcotics. “All of them are rogues,” says the report, stating that ARSA and Al-Yaaqin were the same organization. This is the first official admission by Bangladeshi authorities on the presence of ARSA at the refugee camps. Until now, the Bangladesh government has strenuously denied that ARSA exists on Bangladesh soil. Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, an additional superintendent of police in Cox’s Bazar district, confirmed to BenarNews that police submitted the investigation report to the local court on Monday, but he declined to comment further. “The investigation report says it all. We have no comments beyond the investigation report,” he told BenarNews. On the night of Sept. 29, 2021, unidentified gunman burst in and fatally shot Muhib Ullah, a refugee and internationally known Rohingya activist, in his office at the Kutupalong camp while he was meeting with other refugees. ARSA is a Rohingya insurgent group whose 2017 attack on government outposts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state led to a brutal military crackdown against the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority, causing about 740,000 of them to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. ARSA is also blamed for criminal activities at the Rohingya camps in Ukhia and Teknaf, two sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar, a southeastern district near the border with Rakhine state in Myanmar. The police report says that ARSA was against the repatriation of the Rohingya to Myanmar but it did not elaborate on the reason. “Ataullah Abu Ahmmar Jununi could not accept the leadership of Muhib Ullah. He asked Muhib Ullah to stop the operation of his organization to promote the repatriation of the Rohingya. But he did not listen,” the report says. Without going into detail, the report also says that the popularity of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, Muhib Ullah’s organization, would stand in the way of ARSA’s operations. In addition, according to the report, Ataullah asked Muhib Ullah to join ARSA but he rejected the offer. Sunil Barua in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, contributed to this report. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.

UN official urges action to prevent a lost generation of children in Myanmar

Editor3 years ago06 mins

The international community must “reengage and refocus” on Myanmar to head off a looming crisis that may leave a “lost generation” of children, who have already suffered incredible deprivation since the country’s February 2021 military coup, a United Nations human rights official said on Tuesday. In a 40-page report titled “Losing a Generation: How the military junta is attacking Myanmar’s children and stealing their future,” Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, says the military regime has systematically abused children since taking power. Soldiers, police officers and military-backed militias have murdered, abducted, detained and tortured children in a campaign of violence across the Southeast Asian nation, the report says. Military attacks have displaced more than 250,000 children, the report says. More than 1,400 youths have been detained and at least 61 are currently being held hostage. The report says that 142 children have been tortured — beaten, cut, stabbed, burned with cigarettes, deprived of food and water — since the military seized power from the democratically elected government. “The junta’s relentless attacks on children underscore the generals’ depravity and willingness to inflict immense suffering on innocent victims in its attempt to subjugate the people of Myanmar,” said Andrews, a former member of the U.S. Congress from Maine from 1991 to 1995, in a statement. He was appointed to his U.N. role in May 2020. An estimated 7.8 million children remain out of school because of the conflict. As many as 33,000 minors could die preventable deaths this year because they have not received routine immunizations, according to the report. Andrews called on U.N. member states, regional organizations, the U.N. Security Council and other U.N. agencies to significantly increase humanitarian assistance and regional support for refugees. Countries should also implement stronger economic sanctions and coordinated financial investigations to diminish the military’s ability to remain in power. The parties must “respond to the crisis in Myanmar with the same urgency they have responded to the crisis in Ukraine,” the special rapporteur said. “The junta’s attacks on children constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes,” Andrews said. “Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing and other architects of the violence in Myanmar must be held accountable for their crimes against children.” There was no immediate response from the State Administration Council, the formal name for the junta regime. In Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, urged member states to step up pressure on the Myanmar junta amid ongoing reports of violence and human rights violations. “[T]here are reasonable grounds to believe the commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes,” Bachelet said. “What we are witnessing today is the systematic and widespread use of tactics against civilians in respect of which there are reasonable grounds to believe the commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes,” she told the current session of the Human Rights Council. Bachelet called on U.N. member states to take sustained and concrete action to end the violence against civilians and minority groups. “I urge all member states, particularly those with the highest-level access and influence, to intensify the pressure on the military leadership,” she said, citing measures such as increased restrictions on the regime’s financial holdings and business interests and limiting its access to foreign currencies to restrict the purchase of military equipment and supplies. “I also call for continued support to the efforts underway to pursue accountability for the ongoing and past serious human rights violations, as well as alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity through all available tracks,” she said. “Myanmar’s future depends on addressing the root cause of this crisis.”

Vietnam state media trained to protect government policies

Editor3 years ago05 mins

Reporters and editors employed by state media outlets in Vietnam are being trained to uphold the views of the ruling Communist Party on human rights, freedom of expression and other politically sensitive topics, sources in the country say. Vietnam’s government appears especially sensitive to foreign criticism on human rights issues, frequently attacking allegations of abuse or the suppression of free speech as the work of hostile forces, according to rights groups and other activists. Trainings are now held each year to ensure that those working in Vietnam’s state-owned media work within limits set by the government and ruling party, Nguyen Ngoc Vinh — former managing editor of the country’s popular Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper — told RFA in an interview. “Vietnamese law already clearly stipulates that the media in Vietnam are a tool of the party and state, and fighting against ‘hostile forces’ is just one of the goals the media has to achieve,” Vinh said. A training course recently held in northern Vietnam’s Ninh Binh province, and reported in an article on Monday by the country’s Labour newspaper, served to remind the reporters, editors and other staff attending of their role in affirming “the party’s guidelines in media affairs,” Vinh said. “Those guidelines have been agreed by the media in Vietnam at all levels, and they are that caution must be used in reporting on human rights issues. That’s it!” he added. Employees of state media in Vietnam are also instructed to guide public opinion on politically sensitive and controversial cases, Vinh said, pointing to the deadly January 2020 clash between land protesters and police at Dong Tam commune outside Hanoi as an example. At first, only social media covered the killing by police of Dong Tam elder Le Dinh Kinh, but then official media reported the incident, using the police as their only source of information, Vinh said. “The media rejected all other sources of information, including accounts by local residents who were witnesses to the killing.” One-sided stories According to standards of modern reporting, the media must obtain information from different sources in order to get as close to the truth as possible, Vinh said. “But in Vietnam, the media are only allowed to tell one-sided stories, especially in human rights cases.” A human rights lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, told RFA that the censoring of media by political authorities has badly hurt the defense of human rights in Vietnam. In a free and democratic society, the media play a critical role in protecting the freedom and dignity of the people, RFA’s source said. “However, in Vietnam, the media are seen as a tool of the ruling party and government. They lose their function of creativity and criticism, as they are closely controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam’s Central Commission on Education and Communications. “The media therefore only serve as the authorities’ mouthpiece in cracking down on dissenting voices, providing misleading information to divide people in society, and protecting the ruling elite,” the lawyer said. Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Cambodian American lawyer gets 6 years for ‘treason’ in mass sentencing of opposition

Editor3 years ago2 years ago011 mins

Police in Phnom Penh on Tuesday arrested a Cambodian American lawyer and activist dressed as the Statue of Liberty outside a courthouse, where minutes before a mass trial ended by convicting her and more than 50 other opposition figures of treason. Theary Seng was a high-ranking member of the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) before the country’s Supreme Court dissolved the party five years ago, a decision that paved the way for Prime Minister Hun Sen to tighten his grip on the country and squash criticism of his longstanding government. Wearing a copper-patina hued flowing gown and speckled in glitter, Theary Seng stood holding the torch of liberty in one hand and a tablet reading “Paris Peace Accord, 23 October 1991” in the other, a reference to the agreement that ended civil war in Cambodia and established the Southeast Asian nation as a fledgling democracy. “I am ready for the sham verdict that will be announced this morning which will be a guilty verdict. I am ready and prepared to go to the notorious Cambodian prison for my political opinions, for my beliefs, for my belief in democracy,” she told reporters prior to the conviction. “This regime will not let me go free. It will be an unfair and unjust verdict, because I am innocent, the others charged with me are innocent. But we are living in a dictatorship, we are living in a regime that suppresses and represses its own people, that punishes, that uses the law as a weapon against its own people,” Theary Seng said. She also said that she would not enter the court during the trial. If the authorities wanted to arrest her, they would have to do it publicly, she said. Theary Seng was sentenced to six years in prison, while the others received sentences ranging from five to eight years. Among the other activists on trial Tuesday, 27 were tried in absentia, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch. The treason charges against the activists stem from abortive efforts in 2019 to bring about the return to Cambodia of CNRP leader Sam Rainsy, who has been in exile in France to avoid what his supporters say are politicized charges against him. Following the verdict, authorities obliged Theary Seng’s request for a public arrest — two police officers grabbed her and rushed her into a waiting truck, a video shows. Chhoeun Daravy, an activist who witnessed the arrest, told RFA the police truck drove her to prison. “We are deeply troubled by today’s unjust verdicts against Theary Seng and others,” the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia said in a statement posted to Facebook. “Freedom of expression and association, and tolerance of dissenting views, are vital components of democracy. “We call on Cambodian authorities to release her and other human rights activists from unjust imprisonment.” The Cambodian government’s spokesperson, Phay Siphan, told RFA’s Khmer Service that Theary Seng’s courtside demonstration had nothing to do with the verdict, and tried to dispel the idea that her conviction could damage relations with Washington. “The court’s measures are based on the law,” he said. “Cambodia and the U.S relationship is important … more important than just one person,” Phay Siphan said. Because Theary Seng is a dual citizen of Cambodia and the United States, the embassy can request that she serve her sentence in the U.S., Phay Siphan said. He also said she had the option to appeal and could also seek amnesty from Cambodia’s king after serving two-thirds, or four years, of her sentence. Theary Seng’s lawyer, Choung Chou Ngy, told RFA that he will appeal the court’s verdict. Meanwhile, the prison department refused to allow him to see her, which he said violated the law. The court’s verdicts today show a double standard, Ny Sokha of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association told RFA. He said that former CNRP officials who agreed to defect to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party have seen their sentences suspended or the charges they faced dropped. “The court’s decision is more about politics rather than the law. If the culture of the dialogue still existed, no one would have been prosecuted. The problem stemmed from political conflict,” he said. In an interview with RFA, Sam Rainsy said he would return to Cambodia to face charges if Hun Sen dropped all charges against former CNRP officials, including Theary Seng. “Hun Sen has targeted me. Hun Sen is afraid of my presence. Why is Hun Sen is afraid of me?” he said. “Release all the prisoners. I volunteer to stay in jail since they [the court] accused me of being the ring leader.” During the mass trial in Phnom Penh Tuesday, Sam Rainsy was given an additional eight years in absentia–adding to the 47 years he has received in recent years. “Hun Sen is afraid of democracy. About 61 were prosecuted but millions of people won’t be intimidated. Wipe your tears and continue,” he said, adding that Theary Seng would be a bone that Hun Sen would have to swallow. Jared Genser, who is providing pro bono counsel to Theary Seng, condemned the court’s decision. “By detaining Theary on plainly fabricated national security charges, Hun Sen has violated a litany of her rights — and dealt yet another blow to Cambodia’s civic space,” said Genser. “It is clear that Hun Sen feels greatly threatened by this courageous woman who speaks truth to power.” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, called Tuesday’s proceedings a “show trial” and said they “expose the Hun Sen government’s fear of any vestige of democracy in Cambodia.” “The mass trials against political opposition members are really about preventing any electoral challenge to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s rule, but they have also come to symbolize the death of Cambodia’s democracy,” Robertson said. “By creating a political dynamic that relies on intimidation and persecution of government critics, Hun Sen demonstrates his total disregard for democratic rights,” he said. The convictions draw to a close a trial that began in 2020…

Police in China’s Tangshan promise citywide crime crackdown after thugs beat woman

Editor3 years ago012 mins

Police in the northern Chinese city of Tangshan have announced a citywide crackdown on violent crime after a viral video of thugs beating up a woman at a barbecue restaurant sparked massive public outrage. Nine people were arrested in connection with the incident. Tangshan mayor Tian Guoliang said the city would “strike hard” against organized crime and improve public order after several of the woman’s assailants were found to have ties to a Jiangsu-based criminal gang, the Tian ‘an Society, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The anti-crime campaign received widespread public support on social media, where the video has sparked outrage, prompting women to voice concerns about traveling or eating alone. It will target criminal activities that “spur strong emotion from the public and have an adverse influence on society, including intentional injury, extortion, drug abuse and cybercrimes,” the English-language China Daily newspaper reported. The video — which shows women initially fighting back after being approached and harassed by an unidentified man — has been traced to the early hours of June 10, at a restaurant in Tangshan’s Lubei district. Much of the outrage focused on the fact that nobody watching intervened to stop the subsequent, vicious beating of the women who fended off the initial assault, who was left severely injured as the attackers ran off. Four women were injured in the incident, two of whom were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, police told state media. The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s disciplinary arm called for the “root causes” of the crime to be investigated and dealt with. “We must stick to a zero tolerance policy for all kinds of illegal and criminal activities … and build a comprehensive and three-dimensional prevention and control system,” the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said. “Don’t wait for problems to emerge before you pay attention to them.” Hebei resident Zheng Cheng said the barbecue restaurant incident was just the tip of the iceberg, in a city plagued by gang violence. “They have their own independent source of funding, and there are [powerful] people behind them,” Zheng told RFA. “These attackers are very arrogant, and act as tyrants in the local area.” Further reports of violence against women have emerged in Tangshan since the beating video. Kidnappings Pictures posted by medical staff from a Tangshan hospital showed a young woman’s injuries after she was kidnapped outside the high-speed railway station, raped and stabbed, eventually crawling two kilometers before being rescued. A nightclub singer surnamed Zhang also reported being kidnapped by a Tangshan gang who held her for ransom, locking her in a dog cage. Six people have been arrested in connection with her case, and with that of a cake shop owner who reported extortion, Tangshan police department said on Monday. A current affairs commentator surnamed Cai said online discussion of the case was relatively free, even on China’s tightly controlled internet. “The reason they have gone easy on online [reports and comments] is that there was no official involvement here,” Cai said. “That’s hugely important. If officials had played any kind of a role here, they would have shut down discussion.” “They are now deflecting the blame onto criminal gangs, to take the heat off the government,” he said. Xue Li, a Generation Z woman, said she has been left sad and angry after reading constant updates on the Tangshan incident on her phone all weekend. “I just felt so angry at the time, and so disappointed, for the same reason as everyone else, which was why was nobody helping?” she said. “How is it that men can just get away with beating up women like that?” Another young woman who asked to be identified as S said she had felt panicky after seeing the video. “I couldn’t breathe,” S said. “I couldn’t believe that something like this could happen in 2022.” A Taiyuan resident who gave only the nickname Ellie said many women are well aware that the Tangshan incident was just the tip of the iceberg. “What makes me feel even more helpless is that this is just one of countless cases of violence against women, and if the authorities hadn’t decided to go in hot [due to the online outcry], they wouldn’t have arrested them so soon,” she said. ‘Powerless in the face of absolute violence’ Another woman who gave the nickname Shirley said telling women to be more careful wasn’t the right response. “I don’t know why, but every time this kind of incident happens, somebody comes out and says that women should take steps to protect themselves,” she said. “I used to agree with that, but after watching this incident, I wonder if women can actually protect themselves,” she said. “Even if I stop wearing [certain clothes] or going to out-of-the-way places … I’m still powerless in the face of absolute violence,” Shirley said. The Tangshan beating was just the latest case of violence against women to rock China in recent months, In February, harrowing video footage of a woman identified as Xiaohuamei chained by the neck in an outbuilding went viral on the Chinese internet, prompting widespread public anger over the rampant trafficking of women and girls, aided and abetted by local ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. An investigation by Jiangsu provincial authorities said Yang was a missing woman known by the nickname Xiaohuamei who was trafficked out of the southwestern province of Yunnan in 1997 and sold twice by human traffickers in Feng county. Nine people have been arrested for crimes linked to her trafficking, including her “husband,” who was identified by his surname, Dong. However, doubts remain about Yang’s actual identity. “Both the Tangshan incident and the case of the chained woman a few months ago, taken together, have contributed to a general concern among Chinese women that there are no guarantees for their personal safety,” Human Rights Watch senior researcher Maya Wang told RFA. According to the government-backed news website The Paper, found a number of court cases in which men stood trial for…

Taiwan says China’s sovereignty claims over Taiwan Strait reveal military ambitions

Editor3 years ago07 mins

Taiwan on Tuesday rejected China’s claim that the Taiwan Strait, the body of water between the democratic island and China, were its own territorial waters. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said the Taiwan Strait is defined in international law as international waters. “Our government has always respected any activities conducted by foreign vessels in the Taiwan Strait that are allowed by international law,” Ou told reporters in Taipei. “We understand and support the freedom of navigation operations conducted by the U.S. as these operations promote peace and stability in the region,” she said. She said recent comments by Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin laying claim to the Taiwan Strait were “a distortion of international law.” She said Wang’s comments “revealed [China’s] ambition to annex Taiwan.” While Taiwan has never been governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) nor formed part of the People’s Republic of China, and its 23 million people have no wish to give up their sovereignty or democratic way of life, Beijing insists the island is part of its territory. “Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory,” Wang told a news conference on June 13. “Taiwan has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait.” “It is a false claim when certain countries call the Taiwan Strait ‘international waters’ in order to find a pretext for manipulating issues related to Taiwan and threatening China’s sovereignty and security,” he said. China vs rule-based international order In Taipei, Ou said Taiwan will continue to work with like-minded countries to jointly uphold the rule-based international order and promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), countries can claim an area 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) from the coast as their territorial seas, where they have full sovereignty. They can also claim exclusive economic rights over waters up to 200 nautical miles from their coast, but other countries still have the right to sail through or fly over the waters. Most of the Taiwan Strait is less than 200 nautical miles wide, meaning that Chinese and Taiwanese economic claims mostly overlap. Huang Chieh-chung, associate professor of international affairs and strategy at Taiwan’s Tamkang University, said the timing of Wang’s claim was interesting. “Is it appropriate to come out and say something like this now? The intentions behind [Wang’s comments] may need further analysis,” he said. He said it was unclear whether the international community would support China’s claim. “The Taiwan Strait is an important international waterway, so how can China claim it all as its own?” Huang said. “Whether or not China can win international support for this view is up to them.” “But we in Taiwan won’t accept it.” Legitimacy rejected Ye Yaoyuan, director of the Department of International Studies and Contemporary Linguistics at the University of St. Thomas in the United States, said Beijing’s intention could be linked to legal moves aimed at paving the way for a military invasion of Taiwan. “One thing China has been doing is showing [its actions regarding Taiwan] from a legal point of view,” Ye told RFA. “If there is war in the Taiwan Strait, can they prevent other countries from intervening in such a war using international law, or intimidate them?” “China has been making comments, particularly using the perspective of international law, to strengthen its legal case for forcing ‘unification’ on Taiwan,” Ye said. “But the legitimacy [of such arguments] isn’t accepted by most countries.” Chinese leader Xi Jinping has signed a directive allowing ‘non-war’ uses of the military, prompting concerns that Beijing may be gearing up to invade the democratic island of Taiwan under the guise of a “special operation” not classified as war. The U.S. State Department hadn’t responded to requests for its comment on Wang Wenbin’s comments by the time of writing. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan held “candid” talks with Chinese defense minister Yang Jiechi on Monday, with scant agreement reached on the matter of Taiwan. Sullivan reiterated the U.S. policy of recognizing Chinese sovereignty but expressed “concerns about Beijing’s coercive and aggressive actions across the Taiwan Strait,” a senior White House official told Agence France-Presse. Last month, U.S. President Joe Biden appeared to break with decades of Washington policy when he said the U.S. would defend Taiwan militarily if it was attacked by China. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Category: World