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Category: World

Shanghai residents take issue with ‘fake’ propaganda claims about reopening

Editor08 mins

Residents of Shanghai have been reporting their city government to a national fraud hotline after claims of fully stocked, open supermarkets and eateries were posted by a ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) newspaper. Shanghai officials say the city has been free from any new COVID-19 infections for four days straight, as some shops have been allowed to open and public transport will likely resume at the weekend. Residents of housing compounds are now being allowed out on a limited basis, one person at a time, and with ongoing restrictions on their movements in the local area. Some 790,000 people remain under total lockdown, while 2.71 million are still subject to strict controls on their movements and 19.8 million are now in “prevention” areas requiring a green health code to travel or access goods and services outside the home. Citywide testing and contract-tracing will continue, hoping to close in fast on any new infections to contain outbreaks before they can spread, municipal health commission spokesman Zhao Dandan told journalists on Wednesday. Infected people and close contacts will continue to be sent to isolation facilities, Zhao said. Since the city government claimed it had achieved zero-COVID on Monday, officials have ramped up local visits and inspections, with municipal party secretary Li Qiang visiting Fengxian district and mayor Gong Zheng visiting Songjiang district on Tuesday, to encourage ongoing testing and tracing efforts. CCP newspaper the People’s Daily also published a graphic based on the Shanghai government’s plans to reopen food and beverage businesses from May 16, describing breakfast and dim sum bars, fast food joints, hair salons, supermarkets and farmers’ markets as opening up gradually. A delivery worker is seen delivering orders to residents next to a checkpoint on a closed street during a Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown in the Jing’an district in Shanghai, May 17, 2022. Credit: AFP Fraud hotline report Social media users hit out at the graphic, with some people posting screenshots showing they had reported the municipal authorities to a national fraud hotline. “Sort this account out,” one comment read, referencing the Shanghai government’s official Weibo account, while another wrote: “Sort out the Shanghai government, stop them talking rubbish with their eyes open.” “Please sort out @shanghaifabu,” another tip-off says, referencing the same account. The People’s Daily account later removed the graphic. A Xuhui district resident surnamed Zhou said senior officials appear to be ramping up public appearances as part of their “celebration” of zero-COVID. “The leaders will be putting on a show, including appearing under the Oriental Pearl tower,” Zhou said. “They have already begun rehearsals, and they seem to be getting ready to celebrate.” Zhou said the compound he lives in remains locked down, and he can’t go out even to buy daily necessities. “A lot of stores are still closed right now, so there’s no point in going out anyway,” Zhou told RFA. “Even if the stores are open, they have nothing in stock, nothing to buy.” “If you want to buy stuff, you still have to rely on group buying,” he said. Fresh fruit highly sought after Zhou said one of the most sought-after items is fresh fruit, with even apples currently selling for prices 50 percent higher than before lockdown. In a video clip posted to social media, a member of a neighborhood committee in Xuhui accused local residents of breaking disease control regulations by buying in fruit, and stop them from collecting their order. “All we want is to eat some fruit,” a woman says in the video. “It was banned until May 15, but we’re still not allowed to order it on May 16.” “Now there are several people dragging me away,” she says. “This is such bullshit. Don’t ordinary people have a right to live as well?” Current affairs commentator Zhang Jianping said many people are angry over what they say is fake news stories being peddled by the authorities. “Of course they’re going to be angry, if they’re living through hell in Shanghai right now,” Zhang said. “We should take seriously these accusations of fake news coming from the people of Shanghai.” “They should take a good look at their content. The police lied and released false information, so this post was bound to cause offense to people,” he said. Meanwhile, police detained a man surnamed Lu on Tuesday at the China Resources Vanguard supermarket in Global Harbor on suspicion of “conjuring up rumors from thin air,” the Shanghai government said. Lu had allegedly claimed that the supermarket was being forced to operate by the government under chaotic management and in filthy conditions. Lu was jailed on an administrative punishment by police in Shanghai’s Putuo district for “disturbing public order with made-up allegations,” it said. Administrative sentences of up to 15 days can be handed down by police to perceived troublemakers without trial. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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New civilian death toll since coup ‘unprecedented’ in Myanmar’s history

Editor012 mins

More than 5,600 civilians have been killed in Myanmar since the military seized power last year, according to a new estimate by an independent research institute, which called the death toll “unprecedented” in the country’s history. The Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP Myanmar) said in a report last week that it had documented at least 5,646 civilian deaths between the Feb. 1, 2021, coup and May 10, including people killed by security forces during anti-junta protests, in clashes between the military and pro-democracy paramilitaries or ethnic armies, while held in detention, and in revenge attacks, including against informers for the regime. At least 1,831 civilians were killed in shooting deaths, the largest number of which occurred in war-torn Sagaing region, where junta troops have faced some of the toughest resistance to military rule in clashes with People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitaries that have displaced tens of thousands of residents since the coup. The numbers are largely in line with reporting by RFA’s Myanmar Service, which had documented at least 5,683 civilian deaths between the military takeover and May 12. On May 10 alone, junta troops slaughtered 29 civilians in Mon Taing Pin village, in Sagaing region’s Ye Oo township, sources recently told RFA, saying the victims appeared to have been “killed and burned intentionally” by soldiers targeting residents in retaliation for alleged ties to the PDF. ISP Myanmar said at least 3,107 civilians were killed after being named “Dalans,” or military informants, based on statements issued by the junta on Jan. 14 and by the chairman of the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party, Than Htay. A member of the PDF in Sagaing region told RFA on condition of anonymity that those who report paramilitary movements to the military have been targeted because the armed opposition is “handicapped in manpower and weapons.” “If these pillars supporting the junta are not removed in time, they will report every movement of ours to the military,” he said. “If the military finds out about our movements, they can easily crush our defenses on the ground. The military would always have the upper hand.” A similar form of revenge killing is on the rise with the emergence of the pro-junta Thway Thauk, or Blood Comrades, militia, whose members have killed at least 18 people — mostly members of the deposed National League for Democracy party and their relatives — in Mandalay region. The daughter of Zwee Htet Soe, a protester who died during a demonstration against the military coup, cries during her father’s funeral in Yangon, March 5, 2021. AFP ‘Unprecedented’ death toll Kyaw Htet Aung, a senior researcher at ISP Myanmar, called the death toll since the coup “unprecedented” in the history of Myanmar. “We are seeing pressures and reactions that are unprecedented in Myanmar’s history. As clashes between the two sides increased, so did civilian casualties. I think that’s the main reason why civilian deaths are the highest that have ever been in the post-independence era [beginning in January 1948],” he said. “One side is operating under the belief that the junta cannot be allowed to rule at all. But the junta is determined to work towards stability and dominance at all costs. So, I think the civilian casualties have increased because of these clashing ideologies.” Peace and security in Myanmar have been shattered, Kyaw Htet Aung said, and “people are living in fear.” When asked for comment on the estimated death toll, junta deputy minister of information, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, called ISP Myanmar’s numbers “baseless.” “These groups rarely provide true and accurate information,” he said. “We are publishing daily updates on what is happening. We can just ignore [the estimated death toll]. We don’t need to respond to them.” Spokesperson for the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) Nanda Hla Myint told RFA the civilian deaths do not bode well for the country’s future. “It’s unfortunate that our fellow citizens are being killed in such ways,” he said. “Instead of carefully trying to understand the cause of why all this is happening, people have become accustomed to arming themselves and killing at will. It’s not right to say, ‘You’re my enemy if you’re not with us.’ It’s a matter of grave concern for the future of our country.” Nanda Hla Myint urged both sides to “use wisdom to think and act correctly” before resorting to bloodshed. “The main thing is to be able to think carefully. We need to have the wisdom to think and see correctly.” Political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe said Myanmar’s political crisis will only be resolved “when all parties concerned act in good faith.” “People are suffering,” he said. “[But] if all stakeholders with the power to make decisions operate under this kind of mindset, there is nothing that is unresolvable.” The bullet-pierced motorbike helmet of Mya Thwe Thwe Khine, the first protester to die in demonstrations against the Myanmar military coup, at her funeral in Naypyidaw, Feb. 21, 2021. US-ASEAN Summit The latest death toll statistics came as Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) called the decision not to invite junta representatives to last week’s U.S.-ASEAN Summit in Washington, while allowing NUG officials to engage with their counterparts there, “a major setback” for the military regime’s international standing and “a win for the people of Myanmar.” “Arranging a meeting with senior government officials is … a very good step for the NUG [and] a great result for the people of Myanmar,” said NUG President’s Office spokesperson Kyaw Zaw. “This makes the military regime even more isolated. It’s a big diplomatic defeat and a source of shame for them.” Myanmar was one of only two ASEAN countries whose rulers were not at the May 12-13 summit. The Philippines was represented at the summit by its foreign minister as it wrapped up a presidential election, while Myanmar’s junta chief, Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, was barred from the gathering for the brutal crackdown on opponents of his regime. While absent…

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North Korea prioritizes vaccines for border soldiers as COVID wave hits

Editor09 mins

North Korea’s border patrol soldiers have been among the first to receive shots of the Sinovac vaccine hastily procured from China as the isolated country struggles to contain a wave of COVID-19 infections, North Korean sources said. The Korean Central News Agency reported that more than 1.2 million had fallen ill with an unspecified “fever” believed to be the highly contagious respiratory virus from the end of April until May 15. The announcement came only two days after North Korea first admitted that some of its citizens had COVID-19. Of the people who fell ill, more than 50 later died, the country said. Ryu Yong Chol, an official of the National Emergency Quarantine Command Center, said on Korean Central TV that there were 42 confirmed cases of the virus in Pyongyang and a total of 168 confirmed cases in seven cities and provinces. Leader Kim Jong Un has mobilized military forces to distribute vaccines in the nation of nearly 26 million people, many of whom have weakened immune systems from chronic malnourishment and a lack medical supplies. “The National Emergency Quarantine Command started administering Chinese vaccines to soldiers of the 31st Border Security Bureau brigade,” a military official from North Pyongan province told RFA on Sunday. Though vaccinations also have been given to Border Security Bureau and armistice units stationed in North Pyongan and Chagang provinces, which border China, the vaccination rate remains less than 1%, said the source, who declined to be named for safety reasons. News of COVID-19 infections surfaced after soldiers who had participated in a military parade on April 25 reported high fevers and respiratory symptoms and later tested positive for the disease. As of the beginning of May, the coronavirus has been spreading among members of the Border Security Bureau and soldiers stationed along the entire border region, the source said. Because of this, a delegation of the National Emergency Quarantine Command was urgently dispatched to China to obtain doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, he said. “The delegation of the National Emergency Quarantine Command went to China, contacted the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac with the cooperation of the trade representative in China, and requested support for the COVID-19 vaccine,” the source told RFA. Sinovac provided that vaccines for free, he said, adding that it was likely that Chinese authorities ordered the company to give the doses to North Korea. “The vaccines from China were immediately brought in by sea and the Border Security Bureau patrols and soldiers stationed on the border were vaccinated first,” the source said. “It’s a state secret how many people can be vaccinated with Chinese vaccines, which have just now come in for the first time.” ‘Death toll will increase’ A trader from North Pyongan province told RFA on Sunday that the National Emergency Quarantine Command initially announced that there were 296,180 of “fever” cases nationwide as of May 14. “In fact, the published figures show fever and respiratory symptoms are being reported at rates more than a few times greater than that,” he said. North Korean officials requested COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Sinovac because they can be stored and transported at normal refrigeration temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (36-46 degrees Fahrenheit), the trader said. “If sufficient amount of vaccines are imported in the future, Pyongyang citizens and all military personnel across the country will be vaccinated,” he said. North Korean citizens, however, are going untreated due to lack of access to medicines, including those to treat common cold symptoms, a medical source and a resident of North Pyongan province told RFA. As COVID-19 cases soar, hospitals are quickly becoming overrun, said the medical source, who declined to be named in order to speak freely. “It looks like that the death toll will increase because they will not receive any medicine to alleviate their symptoms,” she said on Sunday. Cold and fever medicines were not available after the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the country’s ruling party, began operating the emergency quarantine system at a maximum level, she said. The medical professional warned that people who are able to get their hand on cold medicines must be careful of fake product that could harm them. “Sometimes, pharmacists and drug dealers sell cold medicines, but most of them are fake,” she told RFA. “In fact, a patient with a high fever from Sunam district in Chongjin [North Hamgyong province] died of side effects after taking a cold medicine manufactured by the Pyongyang pharmaceutical factory.” But a resident in North Pyongan province told RFA that all cold medicines manufactured in neighboring China are gone, as are the counterfeit drugs made by state-owned pharmaceutical companies. “As the number of coronavirus patients rapidly increases these days, fever and cold medicines have become unavailable,” said the resident, who declined to be named for safety reasons. Meanwhile, the cost of herbal medicines unrelated to coronavirus treatment has skyrocketed, with the price of uhwang-cheongsimhwan, a pill made from about 30 herbs used to treat various symptoms such as numb limbs, apoplexy and epilepsy in traditional Korean medicine, more than doubling to 25,000 North Korean won (U.S. $4.16) from 10,000 won (U.S. $1.66). The price of uhwang-angunghwan, another herbal medicine, has risen to 35,000 won from 15,000 won, and the price of sochewan is up to 8,000 won, the source added. Neighborhood monitors have stepped in to try to prevent the number of infections from growing by instructing residents to perform basic hygiene. “The head of the neighborhood watch unit visits each household in the morning and evening, emphasizing that washing hands and gargling with salt water is an effective way to prevent coronavirus,” said the resident of North Pyongan province. Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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Uyghur university lecturer confirmed detained in China’s Xinjiang region

Editor06 mins

A Uyghur lecturer from a university in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region has been sentenced to prison for “disregarding the national language,” by failing to teach in Chinese, a Uyghur source in the town of Ghulja and local officials told RFA. Dilmurat Awut, 65, was a senior literature teacher at Ili Pedagogical University in Ghulja (in Chinese, Yining) and was deputy Chinese Communist Party secretary of the school’s Marxism Institute, said a source in the city who has knowledge of the situation. Awut is among a group of more than 20 educators at the university that an earlier RFA report said have been detained. Not all of the names of the educators have been publicly released. Awut held administrative positions in the school’s institutes of political education and philology until his abduction in 2017. He was well respected but at times clashed with the Chinese administrators at the school, said the source, who declined to be named for safety reasons. When government authorities banned of the usage of Uyghur language at the university, Awut sometimes continued to use his native tongue whenever his students had difficulty mastering the course material when presented in Mandarin Chinese, the official language. In 2017, Awut was investigated on allegations that he taught in the Uyghur language and was sentenced to prison for the transgression, local education officials said. When RFA called the university to inquire about the “crimes” of teachers there, including Awut, an official in the Education Department said he could not provide information because it was a “state secret.” A disciplinary officer at the university, however, confirmed that Awut was among the teachers who had been detained. The officer did not know the length of Awut’s sentence. “I heard that Dilmurat was abducted; that’s what I know,” he said. “The rest I don’t have the authority to know. I don’t know how many years [he was sentenced to]. I don’t know this information since I’m not a member of law enforcement.” Behtiyar Nasir, a student of Awut’s in the 1980s who now lives in the Netherlands, recalled his former teacher as being an outspoken, cheerful and active person. “Dilmurat taught us philology,” said Behtiyar Nasir, who is now the deputy inspector general of the World Uyghur Congress. “He was medium height and white faced. A friendly teacher.” A former Ghulja educator named Yasinjan, who now lives in Turkey, recalled that Awut had been questioned several times on suspicion of “opposing the national language.” “Dilmurat Awut was investigated a few times by the Chinese authorities for not speaking in Chinese in school,” he said. One of Awut’s former students who now lives overseas told RFA that the university lecturer has two children, and that his son, Dilyar, is living in the United States. RFA has been unable to locate the son. Before 2017, Chinese authorities sought to arrest Uyghurs in Xinjiang who were known to have anti-China sentiments, the source in Ghulja said. Since then, however, officials have abducted Uyghurs simply considered “likely to resist,” including the university teachers, because of their social influence and personal character even if they have not actively shown resistance to the China’s repressive policies, the source said. Some of the detainees ended up in prison, while others were interned in China’s vast network of “re-education” camps in Xinjiang, he said. Translated by RFA’s Uyghur Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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PM Hun Sen threatens Cambodian opposition after shoe-throwing incident in Washington

Editor06 mins

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen blasted a man who threw a shoe at him last week in Washington, saying that if the U.S. fails to condemn him, then similar attacks against his political opponents in Cambodia would be justified. “If the U.S considers shoe-throwing as freedom of expression, it is encouraging [the practice] in other countries,” said Hun Sen, a strongman who has ruled Cambodia since 1985 and who allows little opposition or criticism. “Now I am concerned for the safety of the opposition party leaders,” he said. “Here we can also throw shoes at opposition party leaders’ heads in Cambodia,” he said. As the 69-year-old Hun Sen prepared to meet supporters in Washington last week on the eve of a summit of U.S.-Southeast Asian leaders, a retired Cambodian soldier, Ouk Touch, flung a shoe that whizzed by his head and missed him. The incident at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel on May 11 was caught on video and went viral on social media. Ouk Touch, 72, a resident of California, last week told RFA that he had been planning the attack for quite some time and he hoped that Hun Sen would be humiliated.  He said family members died in a 1997 grenade attack on rival politicians in Hun Sen’s governing coalition that has been widely attributed to the prime minister’s supporters. He was able to talk his way into the group of Hun Sen supporters outside the hotel. He said Hun Sen’s bodyguards jumped toward him and attempted to beat him, but U.S. security officials intervened and urged him to leave the scene. Scene of an incident in which former Cambodian soldier Ouk Touch threw a shoe at visiting Prime Minister Hun Sen in Washington, D.C., May 11, 2022. Credit: Screengrab of official TV. Upon his return to Cambodia from the U.S. summit with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Hun Sen lashed out at Ouk Touch, saying the attack was premeditated. He said he would not be sending a diplomatic note to the U.S. over the issue, but promised that Ouk Touch would be prosecuted if he were to return to Cambodia. In February opposition activist Sam Sokha was released after serving a four-year prison term for throwing her shoe at a poster of Hun Sen and sharing it on social media. She is among scores of activist jailed in a sweeping crackdown on opponents of Hun Sen, the media and civic society groups that begin in 2017. Sam Sokha told RFA’s Khmer Service that Hun Sen “should be more patient and should not imprison people without finding out the reason” they protest, she said. “Pertaining to my case, [he] should have asked me why I did it. He should have tried to find out what the cause of the dissatisfaction is.” Throwing a shoe is nothing compared to the suffering of innocent people under Hun Sen’s rule, Khmer-American human rights lawyer Seng Theary told RFA’s Khmer Service. “It is an individual’s frustration, but the incident represents many people’s feelings,” she said. Exiled political analyst Kim Sok told RFA he is saddened that Hun Sen is taking the incident seriously and has allowed it to incite hatred among people and dilute Cambodia’s diplomatic relationships. The analyst, who took asylum in Finland to avoid arrest in the 2017 crackdown, said he feared concern Hun Sen’s supporters would start attacking opposition leaders. Many opposition figures are in hiding, exile or prison. “Any comment from Hun Sen should not be taken for granted. It is incitement. It will happen because Hun Sen is an influential figure managing all issues in the country,” he said.  Translate by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Tibetans forced to move to make way for Chinese power plant

Editor03 mins

Residents of a Tibetan village in northwestern China’s Qinghai province are being forced from their homes to make way for a government-ordered hydropower station, with monks living in a nearby monastery also told to leave, Tibetan sources say. Monks at the Atsok Gon Dechen Choekhor Ling monastery in Tsolho (in Chinese, Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture have petitioned Chinese officials to rescind the order, a Tibetan resident of the area told RFA this week. “But the Chinese local supervisor and other authorities have been visiting the Tibetans and warning them to relocate regardless of the cost,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “Monks from the monastery are also being summoned for meetings and ordered to agree to relocation,” the source added. Construction of the power plant was authorized by the Chinese government, with supervision of the work assigned to a company called Machu after an investigation into the project’s viability concluded in December 2021, RFA’s source said. Dechen Choekhor Ling monastery was founded in 1889 and is currently home to 157 monks, with monks under the age of 18 forbidden since 2021 by government order to live or study there, sources say. Frequent standoffs Chinese development projects in Tibetan areas have led to frequent standoffs with Tibetans who accuse Chinese firms and local officials of improperly seizing land and disrupting the lives of local people. Many projects result in violent suppression and the detention of project organizers, with intense pressure put on local populations to comply with government wishes. The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, an NGO based in Dharamsala, India, has reported that China’s development drives in Tibet have pulled the region closer to economic and cultural integration with Beijing. Projects have failed to benefit the Tibetans themselves, however, with rural Tibetans often moved from traditional grazing lands and into urban areas where the best jobs are held by Han Chinese. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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Interview: ‘All they’ve learned is how better to control people’

Editor016 mins

In April 2020, independent Chinese author Murong Xuecun traveled to Wuhan under lockdown, quietly interviewing people from the front line of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. In his newly published work, “Deadly Quiet City,” his conversations with a number of people from an exhausted doctor in a small hospital to an unlicensed motorcycle taxi-driver, to a citizen journalist, are recorded for the world to read. He spoke to Jane Tang of RFA’s Mandarin Service about the experience, and about the ongoing lockdown in Shanghai: RFA: During the lockdown in Shanghai, we have seen a lot of grass-roots creativity, including music, videos, and texts, emerge from the experience. How does this output compare with what you saw during Wuhan’s lockdown? Murong Xuecun: First, this content deals more with the lives of the middle class: exhibitions, fashion shows … most of the people and things mentioned are part of the middle-class community. It makes me even more worried about the lives of people lower down the social ladder in Shanghai; how are the migrant workers managing? What about the elderly who live alone? That’s not so visible. Second, there were a few citizen journalists working out of Wuhan, as well as a lot of people shooting and gathering footage, and several documentaries were released afterwards. But I don’t think that’s been possible in Shanghai, because very few people in the city have been allowed to go out, apart from white people, the police and volunteers. But back when I arrived in Wuhan, and when [now-jailed citizen journalist] Zhang Zhan got there on Feb. 1, there was still some freedom of movement. We were able to move around freely, conduct interviews and shoot footage. This time in Shanghai, pretty much everybody has been confined to their home. Third, a lot of content is presented in a mocking way. This sarcasm is actually something of a last resort. In fact, many of this content, these videos and posts are asking the same question: how did Shanghai get to this state today, which is so different from Wuhan at the beginning [of the pandemic]. At that time, there was more grief and anger in Wuhan, and there was a layer of confusion and shock in Shanghai. How did Shanghai get here? RFA: So you think that Shanghai has stricter restrictions on shooting and creative work this time around? Have you seen any non-fiction works along the lines of Wuhan Diary by Fang Fang? Murong Xuecun: There are a lot of parodies. These don’t take long to do. To actually write something like Wuhan Diary requires a long period of observation, material gathering and then writing. The current situation doesn’t allow for a process like that, and anyway, I think it would be deleted by the next day. There are actually more writers in Shanghai, but so far I haven’t seen any works like Fang Fang’s diary. This tells us that Shanghai’s lockdown restrictions, controls, and suppression  [of public speech] are much stricter than Wuhan’s were. Let me give you an example. When Wuhan needed to transport patients and their close contacts [to isolation facilities], it relied on volunteers. In Shanghai, the police are doing it. When Wuhan was locked down on Jan. 23, 2020, we still didn’t have the QR code. But by the time Shanghai locked down, we were living in a world governed by them. Everyone is now controlled by big data, and everyone’s whereabouts are available at a glance. Also, the shortage of supplies in Shanghai is far worse than it was in Wuhan back then. I witnessed all kinds of misery back then in Wuhan, but the levels of misery and cruelty in Shanghai have been far greater than in the Wuhan lockdown of 2020. RFA: The material for your book Deadly Quiet City came from first-hand interviews in Wuhan. How did you get into the city? Many citizen journalists ran into trouble trying to get in. How did your interviews and writing go? Murong Xuecun: I arrived on April 6, 2020, they lifted the lockdown on the 8th, and I left on May 7. I had been there a month when the secret police called me and said they knew my whereabouts. I had already interviewed a lot of people by then, and I was afraid that that work would be lost, so I left … soon after they called me. RFA: So did you go back to Beijing to write the book? Murong Xuecun: I didn’t dare to go back to Beijing, because I was one of those old ‘tea drinkers’ who was often under surveillance by the secret police, or called to ‘drink tea’ or summoned for interrogation. So I holed up in Mount Emei and finished writing the book there. It was very exciting, that time. I would send each chapter to a friend of mine overseas as soon as I finished it, so he could back it up for me, then I’d delete it from my hard drive. RFA: Were the locals willing to talk to you during your visit to Wuhan? Murong Xuecun: They fell into two types: regular citizens were very willing to be interviewed; and community officials, doctors and nurses, who were extremely reluctant. For example, I called one residential community official several times, and he just told me straight that they weren’t allowed to give interviews. It was the same with the doctors. One doctor from Tongji Hospital hesitated for several days, then finally told me, sorry, friend, but it’s really not a good time, so we left it. I could feel that he felt a strong need to tell me about his experiences and everything he knew, but he could also have been under a lot of [political] pressure [to keep quiet]. I said: “Well, I can understand where you’re coming from, and hopefully one day you can tell me about your experiences.” “He sighed softly and said: “It’s a shame. I hope too.” These conversations told me that all of these officials, doctors and…

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Vietnamese blogger sent back to jail after three years in mental hospital

Editor08 mins

A Vietnamese blogger held for three years in a mental hospital while awaiting trial for criticizing Vietnam’s one-party communist state has been sent back to his former detention center on the orders of the Hanoi Police Investigation Agency, RFA has learned. Le Anh Hung, a member of the online Brotherhood of Democracy advocacy group, was returned to the agency’s Detention Center No. 1 on May 10 following a decision made the day before by police investigators, his mother Tran Thi Nem told RFA in a recent interview. His trial will now be held within a few months, Nem said. Hung, who had logged for Voice of America, was arrested on July 5, 2018 on a charge of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state” under Article 331 of Vietnam’s criminal code. If convicted at trial, he could serve up to seven years in prison. He was transferred in April 2019 for “observation and treatment” from jail to Hanoi’s National Institute of Forensic Psychiatry, where he was beaten and forcibly injected with psychiatric drugs, including a powerful sedative that left him unconscious, to treat his supposed mental illness, sources told RFA in earlier reports. While held in hospital, Hung was confined with 15 female patients, journalist Huynh Ngoc Chenh—the husband of prisoner of conscience Nguyen Thuy Hanh, also held in the Institute—told RFA following a May 6 meeting with his wife. However, security guards and hospital staff had prevented Hanh and Hung from speaking with each other, Chenh said. Prisoners at Gia Trung Detention Center are shown returning from work in an undated photo. Photo: State Media Held in cells all day Meanwhile, political prisoners held at the Gia Trung Detention Center in Dak Lak, a province in Vietnam’s central highlands, are being kept in their cells all day, with only an hour allowed outside for meals, for refusing forced-labor assignments, prisoners’ relatives said. Prisoners convicted of political crimes have been singled out for harsh treatment at the center, said Le Khanh Duy—the former husband of prisoner of conscience Huynh Thuc Vy—citing a phone call made by Huynh to family members on May 16. “Vy told me that political prisoners at the detention center are being persecuted,” Le Khanh Duy told RFA this week. “They are locked up in their cells all day for refusing to go to work, and are allowed outside for only one hour each day to get their meals.” Vy, who is serving a 33-month jail term for “offending the national flag” under Article 276 of Vietnam’s criminal code, also reported being harassed by common prisoners suspected of acting under orders to make political prisoners’ lives “more difficult,” Duy said. Other political prisoners held at Gia Trung include Nguyen Trung Ton, a member of the Brotherhood for Democracy now serving a 12-year jail sentence, and Luu Van Vinh, a member of the Vietnam National Self-Determination Coalition, now serving a 15-year term. Phan Van Thu, the leader of a religious group called Council for the Laws and Public Affairs of Bia Son, named for a mountain in coastal Vietnam’s Phu Yen province, is also serving a life sentence at the center. Speaking to RFA, Luu Van Vinh’s wife Le Thi Thap said her husband had previously been allowed to leave his cell twice a day, but now was under heavier restrictions. “Vinh and some other inmates don’t go out to work, and therefore had to stay in their cells while others work outside, but they were allowed to go out for a while at noon and then later in the afternoon,” Thap said. “But I’ve heard that things have gotten worse since last month, so now I want to visit my husband and ask him about this in person,” she said. ‘No forced labor’ The use of forced labor in Vietnamese prisons has been strongly criticized by human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. In August 2020, the Vietnam Times Magazine, a publication of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) published an article titled “There is no forced labor in Vietnam.” Making arrangements for prisoners to work is “a demonstration of the humanity in the policy of the Vietnamese Government and Communist Party,” wrote the article’s author Nguyen Van Dieu, an official of the Ministry of Public Security’s Department of Detention Center Management. Calls seeking comment from the Gia Trung Detention Center rang unanswered this week. Translated by Anna Vu for RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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California church shooter in Taiwan ‘peaceful reunification’ group linked to Beijing

Editor09 mins

California church killer David Chou has close ties to a Taiwan ‘peaceful reunification’ group linked to the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, a body that has been designated a representative of a foreign government by the U.S. government, according to a report on its founding ceremony. Chou, who opened fire on a Taiwanese lunch banquet at the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Irvine, CA on May 15, killing one person and injuring five others before being restrained, was pictured at the setting up of the Las Vegas Association for China’s Peaceful Unification on April 2, 2019, holding up a banner calling for the “eradication of pro-independence demons,” according to an April 3, 2019 report on the Chinese LVNews website. The group — whose president Gu Yawen warned the people of Taiwan that ‘peaceful unification is the only way to avoid war’ in his inaugural speech — is a local branch of the National Association for China’s Peaceful Unification (NACPU) under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s United Front Work Department. “The United Front Work Department (UFWD) is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organ tasked with co-opting and neutralizing threats to the party’s rule and spreading its influence and propaganda overseas,” the State Department said in a statement in 2020. “The CCP regards this party apparatus as a ‘magic weapon’ to advance Beijing’s policies.” In the same statement, the State Department designated NACPU a foreign mission of China. “The UFWD … uses front organizations like the NACPU to advance [Beijing]’s propaganda and malign influence,” then Secretary of State Mike Pence said. Taiwan has never been ruled by the CCP, nor formed part of the People’s Republic of China, but its nationals are regarded as Chinese citizens under another administration by Beijing. The majority of Taiwan’s 23 million people say they have no wish to give up their country’s sovereignty or lose their democratic way of life under Chinese rule, but CCP leader Xi Jinping has said “unification” is inevitable, and has refused to rule out the use of military force to annex the democratic island. David Chou holds up a banner calling for the ‘eradication of pro-independence demons,’ at the Las Vegas Association for China’s Peaceful Unification, April 2, 2019. Credit: LVNews ‘Politically motivated hate’ Orange County police said Chou’s actions were fueled by “politically motivated hate.” Sheriff-Coroner Don Barnes said Chou — who reports said was born in Taiwan to parents from China — had left a note in his car showing he didn’t agree that “Taiwan is a country independent of China,” and had expressed dissatisfaction with political tensions across the Taiwan Strait. Chou, 68, of Las Vegas, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder after he entered Geneva Presbyterian Church and fired multiple rounds, striking six victims, Orange County police said. “At the time of the shooting, members of the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, which has had a space at the church since 2009, were having a lunch banquet to welcome a pastor who had recently returned from Taiwan,” it said. Five victims sustained gunshot wounds and were taken to local hospitals for treatment, while the deceased was identified as Dr. John Cheng, 52, pronounced dead at the scene after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds when he intervened and tackled the suspect, enabling others to rush in and hogtie Chou to prevent further carnage. “There is no doubt that Dr. Cheng’s actions that day saved the lives of many other church members. He is a hero and will be remembered by this community as such,” Barnes told journalists, adding that Chou appeared to have superglued the church doors shut and had deposited spare ammunition and Molotov cocktails around the building ahead of time. The five injured victims, four men and a woman aged 66-92, were taken to a local hospital, where they are being treated, police said. The banquet had been in honor of pastor Chang Hsuan-hsin, who had returned to the church after a two-year absence, local pastor Hwang Chun-sheng told RFA. “Our pastor and elder hadn’t been back to California for more than two years, so most of the older members of the church wanted to go to church for that day’s service,” Hwang said. “[Dr. Cheng] decided he would bring his mother to church [for the occasion]. ‘Violence is never the answer’ Chien Ta, a former member of a NACPU branch in the U.S., said more violence could occur over the status of Taiwan, which is a sovereign country formally ruled by the 1911 Republic of China founded by Sun Yat-sen whose government fled to the island after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists in China. “If we don’t deal with this kind of nationalistic hatred, we will definitely see more intense conflicts on the issue of unification or independence in future,” Chien warned. Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, who has insisted that any dialogue must be on a government-to-government basis, expressed her condolences to Cheng’s family via social media. “I want to convey my sincere condolences on the death of Dr. John Cheng & my hopes for a prompt recovery for those injured in the shooting at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in California,” Tsai tweeted. “Violence is never the answer.” Taiwanese lawmaker for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Lin Ching-yee said via Facebook that the shooting was driven by a “genocidal” ideology, calling for greater awareness of the possibility of politically motivated killings of Taiwanese overseas, in addition to the threat of Chinese invasion. Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang said Tsai had asked Taiwan’s top representative to the U.S. Hsiao Bi-khim to visit California soon and support the victims’ families. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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Taiwan Navy ship grounded after a crew member tests positive for COVID-19

Editor03 mins

A Taiwanese warship has been grounded after a crew member tested positive for coronavirus, the second vessel to be hit by an outbreak of Covid-19 within just two days, Taiwan’s Navy has confirmed. The island is experiencing a new wave of infection, with over 60,000 new cases reported every day for almost a week and the daily tally is expected to exceed 100,000 later this week. Navy Spokesman Rear Adm. Feng Kuo-wei said in a statement that the Keelung-class destroyer of the 168th Fleet has just returned from a mission at sea when the crew member got sick. The whole crew is being isolated for PCR tests, and those who have Covid will be quarantined in accordance to the government’s regulations, Feng said, adding that the ship’s combat readiness is not affected. The Taiwanese Navy has four guided missile Keelung-class destroyers, bought from the U.S., each has a maximum capacity of 250 crew members. On Monday another ship, a Chi Yang-class frigate – the Fong Yang – was ordered to return to base after several crew members tested positive. The number of infected personnel has not been disclosed. Earlier this month, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told a committee at the Taiwanese legislature that more than 1,000 officers and soldiers had tested positive for COVID-19, but fewer than 100 of them had been hospitalized. Most of the cases only have mild symptoms, Chiu said. More than 98 percent of Taiwanese military personnel have had two jabs and around 89 percent have been triple-vaccinated. Taiwan’s army has about 180,000 service members.        

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