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Shanghai police warn bereaved families of elderly COVID-19 patients not to speak out

Editor3 years ago012 mins

Authorities in Shanghai are warning the families of elderly people who have died of COVID-19 not to talk to the media, as the omicron outbreak rips through at least one hospital in the city, causing an unknown number of deaths. At least 27 elderly people in Donghai Hospital in Shanghai’s Pudong New District have died of COVID-19, with many more deaths suspected as a result of an outbreak among staff and patients. Some families have refused to have their loved ones’ remains cremated, and have been warned not to talk to foreign media by police, a person who has spoken to the families told RFA. “A person identifying as a police officer told me that they are conveying a message to families from the internet police in Pudong; it’s not the hospitals that are contacting them,” Yue Ge, a Chinese YouTuber who has been following the outbreak among the elderly closely, told RFA. “[This person] said they would let it go as understandable if they spoke to Chinese media, but that they mustn’t talk to foreign media, on pain of legal consequences,” Yue said. The warning comes after several families of elderly people who died in the Donghai Hospital after being admitted for COVID-19 claimed that the hospital had under-reported the number of patients who have died of the disease. “The families counted and found [references to] 27 bodies, which basically means that there were 27 dead bodies that tested positive for COVID-19,” Yue said. “Some of the Donghai families are saying that the Donghai Hospital has totally failed to contain an outbreak [of nosocomial infections] that started in mid-April,” he said. “According to their account, deaths are still happening there,” he said. ‘No means of controlling it’ Yue said the hospital is understaffed, with at least 80 percent of its staff dispatched elsewhere for disease control and prevention work, and elderly people admitted there aren’t being properly cared for or treated. He said the figure of 27 deaths didn’t include people who had died there due to other causes than COVID-19. Yue said large numbers of elderly patients with the virus are also being sent to temporary field hospitals or designated hospitals, with fears that some may even have died due to neglect or starvation. “In the two weeks or more since the start of April, there have been four staff changes among the nurses on the ward where [some of the elderly patients] are,” Yue said. “Three of them were due to the fact that the nurses tested positive.” “The fourth just got there … but the family fear that transmission is still occurring,” he said. “It seems they have no effective means of controlling it.” “The nursing staff are already in full PPE, but transmission is still taking place; they can’t stop it, and the new nurses aren’t paying full attention to taking care of the elderly because they’re afraid of getting infected too,” Yue said. Yue said there are also concerns that the hospital will start editing death certificates to suggest that COVID-19 wasn’t the primary cause of death, and that the patients had died “with” it rather than “of” it. “They got the feeling that there is a certain amount of embellishment or editing of medical records going on after the event,” Yue said. “The official response is that the charts have to be written up after attempts to resuscitate someone.” In this image taken from video provided by Beibei, who asked to be identified only by her given name, residents take a rest at Shanghai’s National Exhibition and Convention Center, which converted to a quarantine facility set up for people who tested positive but have few or no symptoms, April 15, 2022. Credit: Beibei via AP ‘Who are people supposed to talk to?’ Wuhan-based activist Zhang Hai, who has campaigned for redress after his father died in the early days of the pandemic, said the government is suppressing a huge amount of information about the current outbreak. “We don’t have a free press in China, so there are no reasonable channels available for us to tell the rest of the world what’s happening to ordinary people,” Zhang said. “This is because our domestic media organizations are all controlled by the government.” “Who are people supposed to talk to, if not foreign media? Their loved ones have been treated unfairly and lost their lives,” he said. “Anyone with a bit of courage would find it impossible not to speak out,” Zhang said. Meanwhile, some residents of Shanghai have been posting notices in their doors and windows refusing to take any more PCR tests after many rounds of citywide mass testing. “No PCR tests: negative antigen self tests,” read one notice, a photo of which was sent to RFA. “Negative all along,” read another card. The notices are an indicator of growing public anger at the citywide lockdown, which comes after the city’s leaders were repeatedly told to pursue the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s zero-COVID strategy, regardless of how hard it was to keep 26 million people stuck at home amid lack of resources and food shortages. Dozens of residents of one residential community responded with “we don’t want to,” after their neighborhood committee told them to line up downstairs for yet another round of PCR testing. Many are unclear why they need to be repeatedly tested if they haven’t been outside their homes for weeks, according to Zheng Jianming, a resident of Jiading district. “We have done more than 20 PCR tests, so what else is there left to do?” Zheng said. “We are all negative, we can’t go out, so we can’t get infected.” “And getting a PCR test could put you at risk; we think it’s now the biggest source of potential infection,” he said. “We’ve all stopped going for PCR tests in the past few days; fewer and fewer people are doing them.” Compulsory PCR testing Current affairs commentator Zhang Jianping said the repeated rounds of PCR testing was “bizarre.”…

Russia says military drills planned with Vietnam

Editor3 years ago09 mins

As fighting rages across Ukraine, Russia and Vietnam are planning to hold a joint military training exercise, Russian state media reported Tuesday, a move that analysts described as “inappropriate” and likely to “raise eyebrows” in the rest of the region. It comes amid international outrage over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the mounting civilian death toll there. It also coincides with U.S. preparations to host a May 12-13 summit in Washington with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Vietnam. Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti said the initial planning meeting for the military training exercise was held virtually between the leaders of Russia’s Eastern Military District and the Vietnamese army. The two sides “agreed on the subject of the upcoming drills, specified the dates and venue for them” and “discussed issues of medical and logistic support, cultural and sports programs,” the news agency reported without giving further details. Col. Ivan Taraev, head of the International Military Cooperation Department at the Eastern Military District, was quoted as saying that the joint exercise aims “to improve practical skills of commanders and staffs in organizing combat training operations and managing units in a difficult tactical situation, as well as developing unconventional solutions when performing tasks.” The two sides also discussed what to call the joint exercise. One of the proposed names is “Continental Alliance – 2022.” Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, right, and his then-Vietnamese counterpart Ngo Xuan Lich, left, reviewing an honor guard in Hanoi, Vietnam, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018. Shoigu was on a visit to Vietnam to boost military ties between the two countries. Credit: AP ‘Inappropriate decision’ Vietnamese media haven’t reported on the meeting, nor the proposed exercise. Vietnamese officials were not available for comment. “This is a totally inappropriate decision on Vietnam’s part,” said Carlyle Thayer, professor emeritus at the New South Wales University in Australia and a veteran Vietnam watcher. “The U.S. is hosting a special summit with Southeast Asian leaders in May,” Thayer said. “How will the Vietnamese leader be able to look Biden in the eye given the U.S. clear stance on the Ukrainian war and the Russian invasion?” “This is not how you deal with the world’s superpower,” he said. Earlier this month, Vietnam voted against a U.S.-led resolution to remove Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council. Before that, Hanoi abstained from voting to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the U.N. General Assembly. “As Russia’s closest partner in the region, Vietnam wants to demonstrate that it still has a firm friend in Southeast Asia,” said Ian Storey, senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. “But this joint exercise is likely to raise eyebrows in the rest of the region,” Storey said. Vietnam and Russia have a long-established historical relationship that goes back to the Soviet era. Russia is Vietnam’s first strategic partner, and one of its three so-called “comprehensive strategic partners,” alongside China and India. Moscow was also Hanoi’s biggest donor until the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. “Vietnam’s nuanced approach to the Russia-Ukraine war and its refusal to single out Russia’s invasion suggest introspection in Hanoi over its foreign and defense policy calculations,” wrote Hoang Thi Ha, a Vietnamese scholar at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. The Russia-led war in Ukraine “presented a hard choice for Hanoi between preserving the fundamental principle of respect for a sovereign nation’s independence and territorial integrity and maintaining its good relations with Russia — a key arms supplier and a major oil and gas exploration partner in the South China Sea,” Ha said. Political message That explains Vietnam’s moves but there are distinctions between casting votes at the U.N. and holding joint military activities. The latter would send a wrong message about Vietnam’s intention to work with the West and raise its profile among the international community, analysts said. In particular, the past decade or more has seen a notable growth in ties between the U.S. and Vietnam, which share a concern over China’s assertive behavior in the South China Sea. Details of the proposed Russia-Vietnam exercise have yet to be made public, and already some observers are expressing doubts that it would take place. A Vietnamese analyst who wished to stay anonymous as he is not authorized to speak to foreign media said the Russian side announced similar exercises in the past which didn’t materialize. The Press Service of Russia’s Eastern Military District also said back in 2015 that the first bilateral military drill between Russia and Vietnam would take place in 2016 in Vietnamese territory. The supposed drill was rescheduled to 2017 but in the end didn’t happen at all. Vietnam has, however, taken part in a number of multilateral military exercises with Russia. The latest was the first joint naval exercise between Russia and countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations last December. The Eastern Military District, headquartered in Khabarovsk, is one of the five operational strategic commands of the Russian Armed Forces, responsible for the Far East region of the country. The district was formed by a presidential decree, signed by the then-President Dmitry Medvedev in September 2010.

Junta pledges ‘year of peace’ after Thingyan, but opposition says fight just starting

Editor3 years ago015 mins

Junta chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing marked the end of Thingyan on Sunday by declaring the Myanmar New Year a “year of peace,” even as the military continued an offensive in nine of the country’s 14 regions and armed resistance groups vowed to fight harder than ever. “This year is the eve of the diamond anniversary of our Independence Day. Therefore, we must all strive hard to fully enjoy the fruits of independence and the essence of democracy,” the coup leader said in an address in the capital Naypyidaw at the close of the April 13-16 New Year Water Festival. “That’s why we are doing our best to make this year a ‘year of peace’ and bring stability to the whole country.” Min Aung Hlaing did not elaborate on how the military regime, which rights groups say has killed at least 1,769 civilians since its Feb. 1, 2021, coup, intends to carry out his vision. Thingyan — normally a bustling and jubilant holiday — was eerily silent in Myanmar’s main cities of Yangon and Mandalay, as residents chose to boycott junta-led festivities and heed warnings by armed opposition forces that the areas could become the target of attacks. An RFA investigation found that authorities arrested nearly 100 people in the two cities, as well as Myawaddy township in Kayin state, in the first 10 days of April as part of a pre-Thingyan crackdown. Some of those detained had joined anti-coup protests, while others were accused of being members of Yangon-based anti-junta paramilitary groups, including the People’s Defense Force (PDF). Meanwhile, armed clashes between the military and joint anti-junta forces were in full swing through the New Year in Kayin, Kachin, Kayah, Chin and Rakhine states, as well as in Sagaing, Magway, Bago and Yangon regions, according to Karenni National Progressive Party. Khoo Daniel, first secretary of the ethnic Karenni National Progressive Party, predicted that the fighting will get even worse in the new year with an expansion of war zones. “The military situation is going to get worse as each and every group is preparing in their own way,” he said. “The [shadow National Unity Government (NUG)] itself has openly said it will launch military operations everywhere. So, it’s likely to be very tense.” In 2021, the clashes were relatively minimal, he said, because there was “a lack of unity among the armed groups to fight the military junta.” But Khoo Daniel said that the nation’s politicians and public now have a better understanding of why ethnic groups have taken up arms against the military and are more likely to throw their support behind them. People’s Defense Force fighters in Kayah state’s Loikaw township, in an undated photo. Credit: Loikaw PDF ‘Sacrificing’ for democracy One group that has benefitted from such an alliance is the Karen National People’s Party in Kayin state, which has linked up with the Karen National Defense Force (KNDF) paramilitaries and other PDF units in neighboring Kayah and Southern Shan states to fight the military. A member of the KNDF, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity, said the group hopes to open new fronts in the new year. “As resistance fighters, our focus this New Year is to fight the junta together,” she said. “We hope to open several fronts across the whole country.” The Free Tiger Rangers, a group loyal to the NUG’s Ministry of Defense that is attacking junta targets in Yangon, also said in a recent statement that its New Year resolution is to “defeat the military.” Observers told RFA they expect the military to heavily crack down on the armed resistance this year if it hopes to find a solution to the country’s political crisis and hold a general election in 2023. “What is special about this New Year is that we are seeing a lot of intense fighting between the military forces and the PDFs, as well as the ethnic armed groups. The clashes have intensified,” said Myanmar-based military analyst Than Soe Naing. “I think both sides are hoping for a decisive situation and the armed conflict will likely intensify in the mountains, in the plains, and in the cities — in both rural and urban areas.” Even if the military achieves its objectives, it is unlikely the country will be in any sort of state to hold a general election next year, he added. Hein Thiha, a former high school teacher who has worked as a farmer since joining the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement, told RFA that the people of Myanmar showed how much they want a return to democracy by abstaining from celebrations for Thingyan, which he called the nation’s “most cherished festival.” “The world can now see how our people are willing to sacrifice in the hope that democracy will one day flourish again,” he said. NUG acting President Duwa Lashi La, meanwhile, vowed in a New Year’s address on Saturday to reclaim territory under military control and said he would do everything in his power to free the people from junta rule. “The NUG has redoubled its efforts to build a peaceful federal democratic union and to provide people with the services they need with help from international organizations,” he said. “I can see a ray of light at the end of the tunnel, and we will make the people’s dream come true.” The NUG said in a statement over the weekend that it is affiliated with 354 PDF units fighting the military and that more than 100 of them are working under its control. It said PDF and armed ethnic groups are now in control of “nearly 50 percent of the country.” Family members of inmates wait in front of Insein Prison in Yangon, April 18, 2022. Credit: RFA Prisoner amnesty The end of Thingyan also saw the junta release more than 1,600 inmates from jail in a general amnesty on Monday, none of whom were political prisoners or journalists, according to observers and family members. The junta pardoned 1,619 people, most…

Cambodian political activists flee to safety after threat, court summons

Editor3 years ago011 mins

A prominent Cambodian activist fled to safety after receiving a death threat allegedly for joining street protests, while a member of a political party challenging Prime Minister Hun Sun’s government is also on the run after a court ordered him to appear on what he says are false charges. Five years after strongman Hun Sen launched a crackdown against the political opposition and civil society, the country of nearly 17 million people that he has ruled since 1985 will hold local elections on June 5, followed by a parliamentary vote next year. Opposition politicians, including those from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) that was banned during the 2017 crackdown, have faced harassment when trying to organize for the June elections. Sat Pha, a CNRP supporter, said she believes a handwritten threat that authorities from Hun Sen’s one-party government posted the note on the door of her home. The threat said, “You, contemptible, don’t be bold or you will be disappeared.” Sat Pha said she has been on the run since April 16, fearing that she will meet the same fate as other opposition activists in Cambodia. “[They] could put me in jail or make me disappeared or make me crippled for my whole life,” Sat Pha told RFA from an undisclosed location. “I see this dictatorial regime is good at beating people, killing people and throwing people in prison.” She herself was released from prison six months ago after serving a year in detention for inciting social unrest during a peaceful protest in front of Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh. Prior to her imprisonment and following her release, Sat Pha participated in protests staged by fellow activist Theary Seng, a Cambodian American lawyer who is on trial in Phnom Penh for treason and incitement, and with relatives of political prisoners. In a video clip apparently recorded in a jungle in neighboring Thailand and posted on Theary Seng’s Facebook page, Sat Pha said she left Cambodia under pressure from the government. “They posted a life threatening message at my house after I arrived home from the Khmer New Year holiday,” she says in the video. “I beg for national and international help to find justice for me.” Sat Pha also appealed to NGOs and the United Nations to help her remain safely in Thailand as a political refugee. Speaking to RFA on Monday, Theary Seng called the threat against Sat Pha “a cowardly move by this dictatorial regime,” aimed at tamping down her protests that have tried to draw attention to the crackdown. “She has received many threats in the past, but she has refused to give up her [street] protests. But this time I told her that her life is more important than joining protests with me. They have threatened her because she dares to join protests and do advocacy work with me.” Sok Isan, spokesman of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), told RFA that party authorities did not threaten Sat Pha and accused her and other activists of fabricating stories about political persecution to try to obtain asylum through the United Nations. “It is a made-up show to invent a political incident, so she can claim political rights,” he said. “It has happened in the past. In Phnom Penh, the authorities are everywhere, so they would see it if someone posted such a message.” Cambodian activist Sat Pha (C) takes a nap in a jungle in Thailand where she is hiding out after being threatened in Cambodia, April 18, 2017. Credit: Theary Seng/Facebook Fraud and forgery charges Siam Pluk, a former opposition Candlelight Party member and president of the unregistered Cambodia National Heart Party, also fled to safety after the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued an order for him to be apprehended for allegedly forging a document of party supporters, Theary Seng said. Seng Theary said that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued an arrest warrant for Siam Phluk because he did not remain silent after the Ministry of the Interior refused to register his political party. Ly Sokha, an investigating judge of the court, on April 4 ordered authorities to bring in Siam Phluk for questioning before April 25 in connection with allegations of fraud and the use of forged documents to form his party in 2021. The offense carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. After the ministry refused to recognize the new political party, Siam Phluk joined the Candlelight Party, which at one time was part of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) that opposed Hun Sen’s government. Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP and banned 118 of its elected officials from politics two months later for the party’s alleged role in a plot to overthrow the government. The moves were part of a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on the political opposition, NGOs and the independent media that paved the way for his CPP to win all 125 seats in Parliament in the country’s July 2018 general election. Soeung Sen Karuna, spokesman for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), said political persecution has prompted opposition activists to flee to safety to Thailand, Malaysia and other countries, especially after the dissolution of the CNRP. “Peaceful protests are the rights and freedoms of the people guaranteed by the constitution, so the authorities must not restrict the rights of citizens,” he told RFA. Siam Phluk also provided support to striking workers of the NagaWorld Casino in Phnom Penh, who demonstrated near the casino to demand that it reinstate laid-off workers and recognize their union, Seng Theary said. “Siam Phluk joined me to deliver drinking water to NagaWorld strikers a few times,” she said. “He stood in protest in front of the court each time I had a court hearing, and the authorities took pictures of him.” RFA could not reach Siam Phluk for comment. In an interview with Radio France International his attorney, Sam Sokong, denied that his client had falsified fingerprints as alleged by the Ministry of the Interior….

North Korea’s weapons system test seen as boosting short-range nuclear capabilities

Editor3 years ago07 mins

North Korea said it tested a new “tactical-guided weapon” on Saturday designed to bolster its nuclear capabilities, although experts questioned how big of a military advance the launch represents when Pyongyang has no miniature warheads. The state-run Korea Central News Agency said the test was successful and the new weapons system “is of great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the frontline long-range artillery units and enhancing the efficiency in the operation of tactical nukes of the DPRK and diversification of their firepower missions.” The launch came days before the U.S. and South Korea on Monday began annual joint military exercises, which the North says threatens its sovereignty. The new weapons system, though classified as long-range artillery by North Korea, is not different from guided missiles, Jeffery Lewis of the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies’ East Asia Nonproliferation Project, told RFA’s Korean Service Monday. “North Korea uses the phrase ‘Hwasong artillery’ to refer to its long-range ballistic missiles. This is probably what the U.S. government calls a ‘close-range ballistic missile’ that is apparently capable of delivering a nuclear warhead about 100 km,” Lewis said. Photos of the tested weapon appear to show “some kind of heavy rocket artillery or close-range ballistic missile,” Ian Williams of the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) in Washington told RFA. Williams likened the projectile to the KN-25, a tactical ballistic missile North Korea first tested in July 2019. “The rhetoric about nuclear fighting capability could be North Korea signaling this rocket is meant to deliver a tactical nuclear weapon. However, we have not seen evidence that North Korea has been able to miniaturize its nuclear weapons to this extent,” he said. The Pentagon’s description of the new weapon as a “long-range artillery system” was one of many choices, said Ankit Panda of the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Tactical-ballistic missile, close-range ballistic missile, and even long-range artillery system are all reasonable ways of defining this new ‘tactical-guided weapon,’” he told RFA by email “The main significance of this weapon is its presumptive nuclear weapons delivery role,” said Panda. The Rand Corporation’s Bruce Benet said having built-in guidance makes a rocket a missile, “so these apparently guided artillery rockets are actually guided artillery missiles.” Benet also expressed doubts North Korea’s claim that the new missile could carry a nuclear weapon. “Even if the new missiles did, the North could always have used its KN-23 and other larger missiles to deliver nuclear weapons close to the battlefield, so this new type of missile appears to have more political impact than military impact,” he said. Though he didn’t know what type of weapon was actually fired, David Maxwell of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington said the weapon was a means for Pyongyang to further its geopolitical strategy. “This is likely in support of the regime’s political warfare strategy and blackmail diplomacy to use threats, increased tensions and provocations to gain political and economic concessions,” he told RFA. “In the context of the regime’s objective to dominate the peninsula, this weapons test supports the development of advanced military capabilities to support warfighting to eventually use force to achieve unification under the rule of the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State. This test serves two purposes: support to blackmail diplomacy and support to warfighting,” Maxwell said. The U.S. remains open to engagement with North Korea, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a news briefing. “We have … sought to make very clear to the DPRK that the door to diplomacy is not closed, that it does remain open, but that the DPRK needs to cease its destabilizing actions and instead choose the path of engagement, something it has not yet done,” said Price. “Unfortunately, it is the DPRK that has failed to respond to our invitations, and instead they’ve engaged in this series of provocations, including the ICBM launches in recent weeks,” he said. The U.S. Department of Defense declined to release intelligence assessments but confirmed the weapons test and reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to the defense of its allies in the region.

Impoverished Laos has lost more than $760 million to corruption since 2016: report

Editor3 years ago011 mins

The Lao government has lost U.S. $767 million to corruption since 2016, with government development and investment projects such as road and bridge construction the leading source of the widespread graft, according to the country’s State Inspection Authority. The SIA reported on April 11 that nearly 3,700 members of the communist Lao People’s Revolutionary Party had been disciplined, with 2,019 expelled and 154 people charged. According to the inspection authority, 1,119 people, including 127 government employees, were involved in illegal logging and wood trade. In a country where illegal natural resource trade drives much of the graft, authorities seized 300,000 cubic meters of wood worth U.S. $127 million since 2016, according to the report. The government has vowed to address corrupt practices that are pervasive in politics and every sector of the economy society, and put off potential foreign investors from pumping money into much-needed infrastructure and development in the landlocked nation of 7.5 million people. However, despite the enactment of an anticorruption law that criminalizes the abuse of power, public sector fraud, embezzlement and bribery, Laos’ judiciary is weak and inefficient, and officials are rarely prosecuted. A Lao environmentalist, who like other sources in the report requested anonymity for safety reasons, told RFA that Lao authorities recently said they exported 1 million cubic meters of wood to Vietnam. Vietnamese authorities reported, however, that they imported 3 million cubic meters of wood from Laos during the same time period. “The difference, which is 2 million cubic meters, means that the Lao authorities are not transparent and are corrupt, and that there must be some kind of complicity between wood traders and Lao officials,” he said. A small business owner in capital Vientiane said the inspection authority should name officials involved in abusing their power for private gain. “Every year, they report the corruption and the losses in general,” he told RFA. “We don’t know who they are, names, position, where they work, on in which ministry, department or province they are.” A corruption inspector told RFA that officials can name officials caught engaging the most egregious cases of graft. “It depends on the case,” he said. “In serious cases of corruption, the agency can reveal names and positions, but because most of the cases are concealed, this will remain a state secret. It can’t be revealed.” Khamphanh Phommathat, president of the State Inspection Authority, delivers a report on corruption to the National Assembly in Vientiane, Laos, November 2021. Credit: Lao National Television screen shot ‘We can’t say anything’ State Inspection Authority President Khamphanh Phommathat has pledged to tackle the problem, saying that inspections are one of the most important tasks of the government and the Party. Laos’ vice president, Bounthong Chitmany, has called on the inspection authority and officials in other sectors to expose corruption and punish those responsible. “Our party considers corruption to be a major threat to the existence and development of our new regime,” he was quoted as saying by the Vientiane Times on April 11. “Not only that, it creates social injustice and affects the trust of people in the government and party.” But a resident of Champassak province in southern Laos said he was not surprised about the country’s massive financial losses due to corruption. “All nice and luxury cars on the road in this country belong the officials,” he said. “That’s not right, because their salary is only 3 million kip (U.S. $250) a month. How can they have that much money to buy those expensive cars for personal use? They still have a lot of money to spend on other things, too. “We, the people, just watch and can’t say anything,” he added. A volunteer teacher in Savannakhet province said that graft is so widespread in Laos that she and her colleagues have had to bribe officials to be hired for jobs with the government. “My friend paid $1,500 last year to pass an exam and to be hired as permanent teacher,” said the women who declined to be named so she could speak freely. “He could do that because he knew and paid somebody up there.” A young resident of Savannakhet province said Laotians have no way to report corruption without endangering their safety in the one-party country. “In Thailand, there is a multiparty system, so the Thais can expose wrongdoings,” he said. “But here in Laos, we can’t say anything, even though we know there is a lot of corruption. In Thailand, there is corruption too, but much less so than there is in Laos.” Lao inspectors acknowledged the problem of pervasive corruption and said they, too, are at a loss as to how to address it. One official who said he worked as an inspector in Vientiane for a decade said that he and his colleagues review the finances of government offices and departments but not those of individual officials who are powerful members of the party and the government. “Nobody would dare inspect them,” he said. A woman holds a wad of Lao kip at an open market in Laos, March 2022. Credit: Citizen journalist ‘That’s how it works’ An inspector in Luang Prabang province told RFA that the odds are stacked against the anti-graft campaign. “When we receive an order from the central government to investigate individuals, most of the time the individuals will know this before we do, so that the person can get away with it,” he said. “That’s how it works.” Berlin-based Transparency International 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Laos at 128 of 180 countries in the world. Laos received a score of 30 on a scale of 0-100, on which 0 means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean. Government officials who are caught engaging in graft usually face little or no punishment, officials said. A low-ranking government worker in Saravan province said that an official in his department was disciplined in 2021 for embezzling money from a government development project. “Then he was just transferred to another position, not even fined or…

Former Vietnamese coast guard leadership charged with embezzlement

Editor3 years ago03 mins

Authorities in Vietnam have arrested seven coast guard officers, including the former commander and the top Communist Party leader, for allegedly embezzling the military branch’s funds in the country’s latest high-profile corruption case, media reports said. In mid-April arrests announced on Monday included former coast guard commander of the, Lt. Gen. Nguyen Van Son, and the former political commissar, Lt. Gen. Hoang Van Dong. Both men had previously been confined to their homes after being dismissed from the coast guard and all other party positions in October 2021 during a review of the coast guard’s Vietnamese Communist Party leadership The review found that between 2015 and 2020 the leadership “lacked responsibility, leadership, direction, examination and monitoring.” It reported serious violations in financial management, the procurement of technical equipment, and the prevention and control of smuggling. Also charged with embezzlement after being dismissed after the review were the former deputy commander and chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Pham Kim Hau; the former deputy commander, Maj. Gen. Bui Trung Dung; the former deputy political commissar, Maj. Gen. Doan Bao Quyet; and the former deputy commander, Full Col. Nguyen Van Hung; and the deputy head of the Finance Department, Sen. Col. Bui Van Hoe. The Vietnamese Coast Guard is a young force. It was established in 1998 but has grown rapidly. Amid rising tensions in the South China Sea, Vietnam has prioritized maritime security, and the Vietnamese navy and coastguard have received large investments from the government budget. However, observers say that big money and the lack of transparency has led to rampant corruption in the system. The sacking of the coast guard generals could serve as a warning signal for authorities to tighten control over government funds invested in law enforcement, analysts say. The Ministry of Defense’s Criminal Investigation Agency, meanwhile, has been conducting another investigation related to oil and gas management violations. The agency has prosecuted 14 people for taking bribes, including Maj. Gen. Le Xuan Thanh and Maj. Gen. Le Van Minh. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Chinese censors, police go after list of Shanghai dead, zero-COVID critics

Editor3 years ago08 mins

Ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-backed censors have deleted an online list of people who died as a result of the Shanghai lockdown, and blocked the URL after internet users saved it to a blockchain-based site. “They did not die of COVID-19, but because of it,” the introduction to the list on the Airtable collaboration platform — which uses blockchain technology — said. “They should neither be ignored, nor forgotten.” The site showed “incomplete numbers” of more than 152 people whose deaths were believed to be directly linked to the CCP’s zero-COVID policy and stringent lockdowns that have dragged on in Shanghai for weeks. Searches for the list yielded no results on Weibo on Monday, with one repost of the Airtable URL to the social media platform yielding a notice that read: “This content cannot be viewed at this time.” Among dozens of others, the list names Qian Wenxiong, a former official at the Hongkou district maternal and child health center, as having committed suicide; Zhou Shengni, a nurse at the Dongfang Hospital, as having died of an asthma attack; Wei Guiguo, vice president of Netcom Securities, as having died of a cerebral hemorrhage; and “Captain Zhao,” a security guard at the Changning Hongkang Phase III residential community, as having died of overwork. Several suicides are recorded in the list, many as a result of people jumping from tall buildings. “Someone put the list of the dead onto the blockchain now, because the authorities deleted the post titled ‘Shanghai’s Dead’ yesterday,” internet user Zhou Ni told RFA. “It can’t be deleted, but the website has been blocked in China, so people there can no longer see it.” “Anyone in China will have to circumvent the Great Firewall to see it,” Zhou said. Meanwhile, Shanghai-based rapper Fang Lue, known by his stage name ASTRO, said he had taken down a video of a song he wrote about lockdown titled “New Slave.” “I am very grateful yet nervous that my song “New Slave” has been getting a lot of attention in recent days,” Fang wrote in a statement posted to his YouTube channel. “I had essentially hoped to use this song to call for more reflection and debate about the particular time we are living through and the problems we are having,” he said. “It was never my intention to bring up unfounded criticisms.” “I was told that there have been some reposts and appropriations of my song on other social platforms, alongside messages that are a long way from what I wanted, so I have deleted my public video of New Slave on YouTube,” Fang wrote. The song’s lyrics included the lines “When freedom of thought and will are imprisoned by power … when people who aren’t sick are locked up at home and treated as if they are sick, yet those who are truly sick can’t get into a hospital … it stinks; the stench of rotting souls fills the air.” “Open your mind, just open your mind,” Fang sings. “How much guilt and pain does the prosperity of skyscrapers cover up?” Before it was deleted, “New Slave” had gone viral on China’s tightly controlled internet, with commentators saying this kind of social commentary was exactly what rap should be doing, and supporting Fang to carry on writing and performing. The CCP has banned hip-hop from social media since the beginning of the year, and its propaganda and cultural officials have ordered entertainment platforms to avoid any “non-mainstream” cultural performances characterized as “decadent” by its directives. Protest slogans have also been popping up on the streets of Shanghai in recent days, according to photos posted to Twitter, one of which riffs on a common notice left in place of deleted content by censors: “This content can’t be viewed due to violations [of relevant laws and regulations].” Others have simply complained that “People are dying,” or referenced the “list of the dead.” Meanwhile, vice premier Sun Chunlan was found to have filmed some of her reported “visit” to Shanghai on the roof of the headquarters of a state-owned enterprise, rather than in Menghua Street, as claimed in the official footage. And rights activist Liu Feiyue was summoned by local police for questioning after he criticized COVID-19 restrictions in Suizhou. Liu was suspected of “violating supervision and management regulations,” according to the Zengdu branch of the Suizhou municipal police department, according to a copy of the summons uploaded to Twitter. He was ordered to go to the Dongcheng police station at 9.00 a.m. Monday local time for questioning. Liu Feiyue, who founded the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website, was convicted of “incitement to subvert state power” on Jan. 29, 2017 after giving interviews to foreign media. He was sentenced to five years in prison, deprived of political rights for three years, and had 1.01 million yuan of personal assets confiscated. He was awarded the 9th Liu Xiaobo Writers of Courage Award in November of the same year, as well as the 13th Writers in Prison Award from the Independent Chinese PEN Association. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Foreign students ‘taken from Shanghai’ as teachers resign from international schools

Editor3 years ago08 mins

The Shanghai lockdown has prompted an exodus of foreign students and teaching staff, as the city reported its first deaths from COVID-19. Foreign residents of the city, many of whom were working in the education sector, are being evacuated, with many consulates arranging for evacuation of their nationals back home, according to social media posts. “It’s not just in Shanghai; teachers at the best international school in China have left,” Fudan University graduate Li Min told RFA. “They sent out a letter saying that while they have more than 100 years of history as an international school, the lockdowns have left them feeling hopeless in just a short period of time.” “A large number of teachers [in Shanghai] have [also] resigned, because they can’t guarantee normal food and drink supplies there.” One announcement from an international school in Shanghai seen by RFA said in a letter to parents: “Currently, 28 teachers have indicated that they may leave Shanghai by June 2, and 24 of them are expected to return to Shanghai in time for the next academic year.” It said the school would move to distance learning until then. “We must create an environment that retains our top teachers, rather than forcing them to resign or to hesitate about their responsibilities,” the letter said. The South Korean consulate meanwhile wrote to Fudan University calling on university authorities to release the remaining South Korean students still locked down on campus. “Last week, half of the international students in China were evacuated by plane,” the letter said. “There are still [South] Korean students in various schools.” “The Korean consulate wrote to Fudan University because the school wasn’t cooperating … and refused to allow them to leave.” The letter described the students as “extremely panicked and helpless.” A December 2019 file photo showing a sign of Fudan University , One of China’s top universities, on the campus in Shanghai. Credit: AFP. 40,000 Japanese nationals A Shanghai resident surnamed Sun said Fudan’s foreign students have been transported out of Shanghai to isolation facilities in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and other provinces. “The foreign students at Fudan are no longer in Shanghai and have been moved to Zhejiang and Jiangsu,” Sun said. “They got taken away when the temporary hospitals no longer had enough space.” The Consulate General of Japan in Shanghai has also written to the local authorities to ask how long the lockdown will continue. In a letter to deputy mayor Zong Ming, it said that around 40,000 Japanese nationals are currently living in Shanghai, and are “facing an unprecedented and difficult situation.” It said some 11,000 Japanese-invested companies had been unable to operate normally for more than a month. “The impact on the business activities of enterprises has become increasingly serious,” it said. A Shanghai-based scholar surnamed Fan said the letter was a thinly veiled warning that Japanese companies could relocate, if the situation doesn’t improve soon. Three official deaths Health officials said on Monday that just three people have died from Covid-19 in Shanghai since the citywide lockdown began last month, although hundreds of thousands of cases of omicron have been recorded. Public anger among Shanghai’s 26 million residents over the ongoing restrictions is growing, amid ongoing complaints of food shortages, substandard and unsafe accommodation in isolation facilities and heavy-handed enforcement by officials. A Shanghai resident surnamed Lu said more than 20 million are totally confined to their homes, without external help for domestic chores like emptying septic tanks, fixing broken plumbing or water heating systems, as well as being barred from seeking hospital treatment without a negative PCR test, which can arrive too late for those in urgent need of care. “There are new issues starting to emerge,” Lu said. “For example, a friend of mine’s Wifi has been down for the past two weeks, so it’s been tough on them, staying at home.” “Yesterday, a friend’s water heater broke down, and another friend’s refrigerator the day before that, and another’s gas stove,” she said. “No-one came out to repair these things because the whole of Shanghai is shut down.” Online complaints have also pointed to garbage piling up in residential areas and overflowing septic tanks, while frail and elderly people have been forced to wait out the lockdown at home, alone. CCP leader Xi Jinping has repeatedly insisted on a zero-COVID approach, despite the ongoing outbreak, with officials warning that allowing the virus to rage unchecked through an under-resourced healthcare system and a sparsely vaccinated elderly age group could cause millions of deaths. But political commentators say Xi, who is seeking approval from party ranks for an unprecedented third term in office later this year, has staked his political reputation on the policy, and is unable to back down without admitting personal and political failure. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Report: Taiwan plans upgrade of runway on disputed island

Editor3 years ago04 mins

The Taiwanese military plans to extend a runway on a contested island in the South China Sea to accommodate fighter jets, local media reported on Monday, in a move that would likely trigger protests from other claimants. Taiwan’s government has previously pushed back against suggestions it might militarize the island, Taiping. Taiwan’s air force declined Monday to comment on the report. Taiping, also known as Itu Aba, is the biggest natural feature in the Spratly islands. It is currently occupied by Taiwan but is also claimed by China, the Philippines and Vietnam. United Daily News, a conservative newspaper in Taiwan, quoted an unnamed source as saying that the military is planning to finish another round of renovation works on Taiping this year, with an extension of the existing 1,150-meter-long airstrip by 350 meters. A 1,500-meter runway would be able to accommodate F-16 jet fighters and P-3C anti-submarine aircraft. Air force spokesperson Chen Guo-hua told RFA Mandarin Service that he was not aware of media reports and had no comment. If confirmed the news could provoke strong reactions from other claimants of the island. In March, the Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-Cheng said that Taiwan had no intention of militarizing Taiping despite reports that China had completed building military facilities on three artificial islands nearby. Runway extension Taiwanese media had reported in the past about proposed plans to develop the infrastructure on Taiping Island including the runway extension. The plans were criticized by the Philippines and Vietnam as stoking tensions in the disputed South China Sea. Taiping is located in the north-western part of the Spratly islands, 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from Taiwan and 853 kilometers (530 miles) from the Philippines. It is under the administration of Kaohsiung Municipality. It has been under Taiwan’s control since 1956 but the current runway was only built in 2008. According to a report on the website of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, “Beijing sees Taiwan’s development work on Taiping Island as a long-term strategic asset.” “China considers Taiwan to be a part of China and the runway or piers built on Taiping Island may be used by mainland China in the future after reunification of the two sides,” it said. The international tribunal in the case brought against China by the Philippines in 2016 however ruled that Taiping is a “rock” under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and therefore not entitled to a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. Both Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China rejected this ruling. RFA Mandarin journalist Xia Xiao-hua in Taipei contributed to this report.

Category: World