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Category: World

Hong Kong’s intrepid press corps battle dislocation, nostalgia and unemployment

Editor013 mins

Former members of Hong Kong’s once-free press corps are launching their own media outlets aimed at covering the city from overseas, from a pro-democracy point of view. While the implementation of a draconian national security law since July 1, 2020 has ushered in a crackdown on pro-democracy media organizations, activists and politicians in Hong Kong, many journalists have already joined the steady stream of people leaving their home to seek a less restricted life elsewhere. The Chaser, a Chinese-language news site, was set up “to preserve press freedom, defend democracy and human rights, and serve Hong Kong people around the world,” according to its Patreon page. It cited the recent forcible closure of Jimmy Lai’s Next Digital media empire, including the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, as well as the closure of Stand News and Citizen News, and the “rectification” of iCable news and government broadcaster RTHK to bring them closer to the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s official line. “Any independent media that remain are struggling for support, and are in danger of being banned at any time,” The Chaser said. “Our news platform hopes to provide readers with the most authentic, in-depth reports without red lines and official censorship by recruiting independent and quality professional journalists, and strive to maintain the position of press freedom of the Hong Kong media.” The outlet aims to become the biggest source of news for Hongkongers in exile, while still serving those who remain in the city, it said. Since its inception six weeks ago, The Chaser has filed daily news on Hong Kong, Taiwanese and international affairs, posted exclusive investigative reports and kept Hongkongers overseas connected with each other. Another media platform — Commons — has been started by Hongkongers based in democratic Taiwan, although its editorial team were reluctant to go on the record due to security concerns for those they left behind in Hong Kong. “The Hongkongers in Hong Kong, including some who are interested in migrating overseas, are very curious about the lives of Hongkongers overseas, and want to know everything about them,” Commons’ editor-in-chief told RFA, giving only the pseudonym A Muk. File photo of 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong that were followed by a crackdown and the imposition of the National Security Law for Hong Kong, which has made it virtually impossible for journalists to work in the Chinese city. Credit: Liang Mingkang. Diaspora journalists Commons is focusing on in-depth interviews, and all of its content is free to read online, unlike The Chaser, which requires a subscription through Patreon. “The environment in Hong Kong is no longer conducive to journalism, so I wondered if there could be opportunities and a more suitable environment overseas, to set up a media outlet for Hongkongers overseas,” he said. Commons currently employs around 8-10 people, as well as stringers in Canada and the U.K., to keep track of the newly arrived Hong Kong communities there. “Now that Stand News and Citizen News are gone, there is an even bigger gap, and an even greater need among Hongkongers,” A Muk said. “We thought we should try to use our environment and platform to report news from overseas, to see if we can fill that gap, to meet the demand among Hongkongers for news.” New media platforms like Commons and The Chaser could also provide limited opportunities for Hong Kong’s growing community of former journalists in diaspora. When Stand News folded on Dec. 29, 2021 under the threat of investigation by national security police, reporter Lam Yin-bong was the one who turned off all of the lights in the office for the last time. Lam said he had been hugely reluctant to leave the building. “There was a sense that it was all over, and, even though we were expecting it, that night, we really didn’t want to leave,” Lam said. “We knew that from that day onwards, nothing would be the same.” “I still have nostalgia for those times, but I also know that nostalgia is pretty useless, and not worth clinging to,” said Lam, whose 10-year career as a journalist ended overnight. ‘ Photojournalist Liang Mingkang moved to Manchester, England at the beginning of 2022 and put down his camera to put on a uniform and become a traffic inspector in the northern British city. Credit: Liang Mingkang. A way of life’ He described being deprived of his professional identity and way of life, something he had enjoyed for 10 years. “It wasn’t just a job, but a way of life, but then suddenly that way of life is gone completely. It’s a horrible feeling,” Lam said. What Lam finds harder than losing his own job is a more generalized silence emanating from Hong Kong’s once-crowded media landscape. He was stunned to find that the boundaries with the rest of mainland China were also fading rapidly, citing the building of a new bridge with neighboring Shenzhen and a mainland Chinese-style makeshift hospital staffed with mainland Chinese staff under emergency regulations in March. “This was a huge development. Suddenly there’s this bridge between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and extraterritorial powers not regulated by Hong Kong laws,” Lam said. “Why did nobody care about this story?” “I thought maybe the world needs this information, and that maybe I could still do my bit … to remind people what is going on in Hong Kong,” he said. Lam’s “bit” took the form of his blog “ReNews,” which describes itself as a “one-person news platform founded by an unemployed journalist.” He hopes at least to use it to chronicle the death of the Hong Kong he once knew. “People often say that Hong Kong is dead, or dying,” Lam said. “So people living here should know how it died, and what the process entailed.” “Even if you can’t change it, at least you know,” said Lam, who offers all of his content free of charge, although paid subscriptions are available. Stand News reporter reporter Lam Yin-bong, who turned off all of the lights…

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Auction of activists’ homes seen as revenge for sale of junta assets

Editor010 mins

An announced plan to auction off the homes of anti-coup activists is the military regime’s bid for revenge after Myanmar’s shadow government began selling shares of assets appropriated by Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and other junta officials, according to analysts. On April 27, junta deputy information minister, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told reporters at a press conference in the capital Naypyidaw that the sealed-off homes of detained activists had been “presented to the court” and would be sold at auction sometime in the future. When asked for clarification on Thursday, Zaw Min Tun told RFA’s Myanmar Service that the junta had obtained court permission to proceed with the sales. “You must present evidence according to court procedure,” he said. “Once the court has ruled on the evidence, there are certain procedures to follow. Right now, we have presented the evidence as needed.” The deputy minister provided no other details on the homes in question, including who they had belonged to or what the former owners are being charged with. Last week’s announcement came six days after National Unity Government (NUG) Minister for Finance and Investment Tin Tun Naing told RFA of plans to sell a number of properties he said were identified by the shadow government as having been illegally occupied by senior junta officials when the military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup. Among the properties is the former guesthouse of Myanmar’s military and accompanying two-acre plot of land at No. 14 Inya Road in Yangon, which now serves as Min Aung Hlaing’s home. Tin Tun Naing said the NUG plans to sell the estate for U.S. $10 million — about one-third of the property’s current value — in 100,000 shares of U.S. $100 each. On Thursday, Tin Tun Naing provided additional details of the sale, which he said involves 100,000 shares of the estate priced at U.S. $100 apiece. “Once we identified it as state property, we started to sell it to facilitate the end of the dictatorship and to raise funds needed for the success of the Spring Revolution, in the interest of the people,” Tin Tun Naing said. “As soon as it was announced that it would go on sale, there were several purchases. One single person has already bought shares worth U.S. $100,000.” The NUG’s Ministry of Finance and Investment said the sale will involve around 400 acres of land occupied by junta officials in Yangon, Mandalay, and Naypyidaw, which will be “confiscated and made available to the public in May on a pre-purchase basis.” The sale assumes that the NUG will claim control of the country from the junta, at which point it would deliver on the promised asset. Proceeds from the sale will be donated to the opposition movement and used to compensate victims of junta arrest and torture, rehabilitate members of the Civil Disobedience Movement who left state jobs in protest of the coup, and assist people whose homes have been burned in arson attacks by junta forces, the ministry said. The NUG said that its plan to seize junta assets “is to discourage likely dictators who want to abuse power from illegally taking over state-owned land and properties in the future.” ‘No legal right to confiscate’ Lawyers and political analysts told RFA that while the sale of the former military guesthouse involved returning public property to the people, the military has no legal right to confiscate and sell private assets. A spokesman for the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) called the junta’s announcement a form of “retaliation” against democracy and human rights activists, adding that many of the homes belong to people whose trials have not been ruled on by the courts. “The law does not allow for the confiscation of properties of innocent people,” they said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Some of the houses they sealed off were not even owned by the person they arrested. Now we are seeing family-owned properties being confiscated too. It’s a form of revenge.” High Court lawyer Kyee Myint, who assists with human rights cases, told RFA that the junta plan to sell private property is in violation of the law. “I am very pleased that the NUG has said it will auction off the former military guesthouse on Inya Road, now taken over by Min Aung Hlaing. But how can it be legal for them to retaliate against us,” he asked. “They are robbers. The courts are now under their control. The chief justice is a military officer. The judiciary in our country has been destroyed for a long time. It is a violation of the law to seize properties of ordinary politicians.” Well-known singer Chan Chan, who has a warrant out for her arrest on charges of incitement, said in a May 1 post to her Facebook page that she heard the junta is preparing to sell her house in the port city of Thanlyin near Yangon and urged fans to protest. Other properties seized by the junta are owned by artists, anti-junta activists, members of the deposed National League for Democracy and paramilitaries with the prodemocracy People’s Defense Force. On May 3, authorities sealed off the family home of Myint Zaw Oo, an NLD member of Parliament in Sagaing region’s Kanbalu township. “They have no rules or laws. They just act blindly,” he said. “They think we may be demoralized if they do these things. It is seen as a kind of psychological warfare. But we have already thought of the consequences of our actions, so it doesn’t matter whether they seize our property or even burn it.” According to the AAPP, authorities have killed 1,825 civilians and arrested some 10,545 since February last year, mostly during peaceful anti-junta protests. The group said the junta has confiscated more than 570 homes and buildings since the coup. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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European Parliament calls on Cambodian government to stop targeting opponents

Editor07 mins

The European Parliament on Thursday adopted a resolution calling on the Cambodian government led by Prime Minister Hun Sen to stop persecuting and intimidating political opponents, trade unionists, human rights defenders and journalists ahead of local elections in June and national campaigns next year. The government of Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia since 1985, is now five years into a no-holds-barred crackdown on its political opposition and civil society, jailing or driving into exile scores of opposition figures. The resolution, which was adopted with 526 votes in favor and only five votes against (another 63 members abstained), condemns the Cambodian Supreme Court’s dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the country’s largest opposition party, in November 2017. The European Parliament repeated its call for charges against former CNRP leaders Kem Sokha, Sam Rainsy and Mu Sochua and other opposition officials to be dropped and urged authorities to release all prisoners of conscience, journalists, human rights defenders, environmental activists and union members. The CNRP was banned for its supposed role in an alleged plot to overthrow the government. With the CNRP out of the picture, Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) went on to win all 125 seats in the country’s July 2018 general election. Since then, the government has continued to target activists associated with the CNRP, arresting them on arbitrary charges and placing them in pretrial detention in overcrowded jails with harsh conditions. Government spokesman Phay Siphan said he doesn’t understand why the resolution was passed given discussions with the Cambodia’s EU representative on the progress the country has made in regard to human rights. “So far, individuals have breached the law, so [that] is the issue between the court and those individuals,” he said. “What the EU raised was a political matter that we already have explained. If they raise the same issue, we will explain it to them again because we are strengthening the law and the rule of law.” Men Vanna, who served as leader of the youth movement for the CNRP, told RFA that the resolution will give hope to Cambodian’s fighting for a more democratic country. The government “must change if they love democracy and the country,” he said. ‘Friday Wives’ petition US Embassy Also on Friday, a group of spouses whose husbands are in jail for political activities staged a protest in front of the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh to call on the government to push for their release before a special U.S.-ASEAN Summit in Washington on May 12-13. Cambodia currently holds the rotating chair position of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). About 10 women from the group “Friday Wives” handed a petition to the embassy seeking U.S. support. At least 60 CNRP activists have been imprisoned. Some of the former members of the banned political party have been convicted as others are being tried. “Please release our husbands. We are suffering, our families are splitting apart,” one of the women, Prum Chantha, said. “In Cambodia, people don’t give credit to politicians, but rather prosecute them. This shows that Cambodia doesn’t respect human rights and democracy.” Another protester, Ouk Chanthy, whose husband has been detained for two years, said she hopes that the U.S. will pressure the Cambodian government at the summit to release her husband “in order to restore Cambodia’s reputation.” “Hun Sen is heading to the U.S. as the ASEAN chair,” she said. “I urge him to drop all charges against political opponents and release them. Should Hun Sen represent ASEAN when Cambodia has imprisoned politicians who haven’t committed any crimes?” Phnom Penh security guards harassed the women, injuring at least two of them and destroying their banners. Kata Orn, spokesman for the Cambodian Human Rights Committee, an organ for the government, said the guards responded to the women because they allegedly assaulted the guards. He also said the government has nothing to do with the cases against the women’s husbands. “Cambodia isn’t worried about international pressure during the U.S.-ASEAN Summit,” he said. Translate by Samean Yun for RFA’s Khmer Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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Laos’ ‘circle of cronies’ keeps a tight lid on country’s news outlets, report says

Editor011 mins

Laos is an information “black hole” where the government exerts complete control over news outlets, Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) said in its 2022 World Press Freedom Index this week that ranks the Southeast Asian country near the bottom of its list in terms of allowing journalists to challenge authorities. Laos placed 161st out of of 180 countries in the index, a slight improvement over 2021, when it was ranked 172nd. But the index still painted a dismal picture of press freedom in Laos, a finding that local reporters and citizens backed up in interviews with RFA this week. “The government essentially controls all press. Laos’ 24 newspapers, 32 television networks and 44 radio stations are required to follow the party line dictated by the Peoples’ Propaganda Commissariat, which is disseminated by the three dailies that the ruling party publishes,” the index, released this week, said. “The Lao Popular Revolutionary Party (LPRP) keeps the press under close surveillance and makes the creation of independent media impossible. The circle of cronies at the heart of the system, in many cases descendants of the old aristocracy, keep a lock on information,” the report said. Laos’ guarantee of freedom of expression is undone by laws prohibiting media outlets from harming the “national interest” or “traditional culture.” “The penal code provides for imprisonment of journalists who criticize the government, a provision extended in 2014 to internet users. Internet service providers are required to report web users’ names, professions and data search histories to the authorities,” the index said. The small boost in the rankings was likely due to more reporting on drugs and corruption, a former reporter for Lao state media told RFA’s Lao Service on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. “In March this year, a drug lord, Sisouk Daoheuang, was sentenced to death for drug trafficking and smuggling. State media also report some more details like the number of corrupt officials who have been disciplined, dismissed and charged,” the former reporter said. But one current reporter who is an employee of the Information, Culture and Tourism Department of Savannakhet Province told RFA’s Lao Service that journalists’ work is still restricted. “Despite improvement in ranking, we in the Lao media still don’t have much press freedom. There are no independent news outlets. All the news agencies belong to government and are controlled by government,” the reporter said. “We’re all members of the state media and we’re not independent and there is no variety of news in Laos. So, our reporting is restricted especially when reporting about corruption of the Party members and government officials. We can’t be critical to the Party and government at all. Even reporting on social media is restricted,” said the source. Reporters must run their stories by their department directors before they are published and they cannot cover any events without permission from at least the head of the department, the reporter said. Another reporter in the capital Vientiane told RFA that no media outlet there is free or independent. “If we’re told to cover that event, we’ll go and do it. They’ll tell us whether we can or can’t go and we must follow government policy. We only report what is approved and permitted by the authorities,” the Vientiane reporter said. “Sometimes, we know that what we are reporting is not true, but we can’t do anything about it. For example, we know that those government officials in that ministry are corrupt and are embezzling state money, but we can’t report that. We can’t report any news that the government considers as dangerous to the national security, the political process or is too critical of the leaders,” said the Vientiane reporter. Another problem with freedom of the press is that too many people are afraid to speak the truth, a resident of the southern province of Savannakhet told RFA. “If we speak out we’ll be thrown in jail. In this country, if someone tries to speak the truth, they will end up missing like Mouay,” the resident said. Houayheuang Xayabouly, better known by her nickname Mouay, was arrested Sept. 12, 2019, a week after she published videos critical about the government’s inability to rescue people from flooding in the country’s southern Champassak and Salavan provinces. The delayed government response had left many Lao villagers stranded and cut off from help, she said in the video, which was viewed more than 150,000 times. “She criticized the government, and actually what she said was true, but now she’s in jail for five years. People outside the country can speak out, but no one inside can. The people of Laos are afraid and worried, even when they express themselves on social media,” said the resident. A resident of Vientiane province told RFA that people can get in trouble for complaining about their lives. “The government will suppress you right away before you can do more harm. It’s like they’ll put out the fire before it spreads. Even if you escape to Thailand, the government will get you. That’s why many people here don’t get involved in politics,” the Vientiane province resident said. An aid worker in Laos told RFA that social media has in some ways given people more of a voice, as it provides more access with less restrictions than traditional media like radio, television and newspapers. “More and more Laotians are hungry for information and they turn to social media for it. The trend will continue because Laotians can express themselves more on social media. They want to vent their frustration because the government can’t do anything to solve the problems like the crumbling economy and financial crisis.” The number of social media users among Laos’ population of 7 million people increased to 51% this year, up from 49% last year and from 43% year before, data from statista.com shows. “Social media is a voice and a tool of people. When they see an official doing something wrong or judges making an unfair decision, they can post their comments…

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After more firms quit, Myanmar junta claims Russia to enter energy industry

Editor010 mins

Russia will soon begin participating in Myanmar’s energy industry in place of international companies that quit, the Burmese junta said in response to the exit of three big Asian firms from a gas field in the coup-hit nation. Since April 29, the Malaysian and Thai state-owned oil firms and a Japanese energy conglomerate have withdrawn from Myanmar’s Yetagun gas field, with all three citing commercial reasons for pulling out. Japan’s ENEOS also mentioned Myanmar’s “current situation, including the social issues” as one of the reasons for quitting, referring to human rights excesses by the military where nearly 1,800 civilians have been killed since the February 2020 coup. The companies quit not because of political instability but because of declining economic benefits from the Yetagun project, Myanmar’s military spokesman told RFA’s Myanmar Service. “Our allies and friendly organizations are cooperating with us in the electricity and energy sectors. You will soon see Russia’s cooperation in the near future. We will expand our oil and gas operations as soon as possible,” Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said on Thursday. One political analyst said it would not be surprising if Russia entered Myanmar’s oil and gas industry. “When democratic countries sever relationships or slap sanctions against a military junta, countries that do not value human standards or rules and regulations will step in for their own benefit. This has happened in many countries,” analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe told RFA.. “There have been similar incidents in the history of Myanmar.” One economist, who requested anonymity, said it was unlikely that Myanmar could find a replacement so soon for the companies that have quit its energy sector. “Russia is a very powerful country in the oil world,” the economist said. “[E]fforts could be made with them [the Russians] but a sudden replacement is not so easy. It’s not going to work right away.” A logo of Petronas is seen at the Malaysian state-owned oil firm’s office in Kuala Lumpur, April 27, 2022. Credit: Reuters. Declining output While it is true that ENEOS, Malaysia’s Petronas, and Thailand’s PTTEP withdrew from a depleting gas field, the political situation did not help, analysts told BenarNews. Besides, said one Southeast Asia observer, the withdrawal of the firms representing two ASEAN nations, even from an unprofitable project, would have been a huge blow to the junta. It had bamboozled the regional bloc by reneging on a consensus among ASEAN members to put the country back on the democratic path. The three firms packed up from the Yetagun project because gas output had plummeted, Readul Islam, a Singapore-based energy research analyst, told BenarNews. “The Yetagun project produced roughly 3 percent of Myanmar’s 2020 gas output, which already was a steep decline from the project’s 6 percent of Myanmar’s 2019 output,” said Islam, an analyst for Rystad Energy, an independent energy research company, about a field where experts say output had been declining since 2013. “[S]o, while the politics certainly don’t help, the Yetagun exits appear to be purely economic decisions,” Islam said. BenarNews could not reach the chief executive of PTTEP for comment, nor did officials at Petronas immediately return phone calls or reply to emails. Human and civil rights activists have been pressing corporations, especially oil and gas companies, to quit post-coup Myanmar. Since the military took over, a slew of companies, not only oil firms, have left. They cited the coup or the subsequent abuses, and said they had also been hobbled by international sanctions imposed on the regime that makes it difficult to do business there. Among the international firms that quit Myanmar are British American Tobacco, Chevron, Coca-Cola, Posco, Telenor, TotalEnergy, and Woodside Petroleum. The ASEAN factor The departures of Petronas and PTTEP from the Yetagun project should be viewed in this context, according to Southeast Asia analyst Zachary Abuza. He agreed that Petronas and PTTEP may have left a dying field but, in his view – at least in the case of Malaysia’s Petronas – apart from the economics, others reasons motivated the decision. “My takeaway from this is that the Malaysians are frustrated and want to put pressure on the SAC,” said Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington, referring to the State Administration Council, the junta’s official name. It was different for Thailand’s PTTEP, which, in fact, announced they were taking over the stakes quit by Chevron and TotalEnergy in another Myanmar gas field, Yadana, Abuza acknowledged. And yet, “[i]t is a loss for the SAC. It doesn’t look good when your key cash cow, the MOGE (the Ministry of Oil and Gas Enterprises) is losing key investors even if [the oil] fields are not profitable. The optics are bad.” What makes it worse for Myanmar, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc, is that state-owned firms from fellow member-states were the ones that quit, Abuza said. “These [Malaysian and Thai companies] are ASEAN partners. For the junta, it is probably not a huge surprise that Western oil firms have pulled back, but for ASEAN partners to do so, that has got to sting a bit more,” Abuza said.  “Symbolism matters for a regime that craves international recognition.” Meanwhile, activist group Justice for Myanmar, told BenarNews that the withdrawal from the Yetagun gas project was a result of the “sustained pressure from the people of Myanmar and activists around the world.” According to the group, more pressure is needed to stop all oil payments to the junta so it cannot use the funds to buy the arms and ammunition it uses to gun down civilians in its brutal nationwide campaign against anyone who opposes the generals’ rule. “PTTEP now must go further and suspend payments to the Myanmar military junta from the Yadana and Zawtika projects, or withdraw,” Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for Justice For Myanmar, told BenarNews by email. “These projects bankroll the Myanmar military junta, a terrorist organization, and PTTEP’s continued involvement aids and abets the junta’s … crimes. …We call on the Thai government to change…

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Poking China in the eye

Editor01 mins

The Biden administration is reportedly preparing to place tough human rights-related sanctions on Hikvision, a company in Hangzhou, China that is the world’s largest manufacturer of surveillance equipment. The U.S. accuses the firm of providing the Chinese government with surveillance cameras used for intrusive monitoring and repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, where some 1.8 million members of the Turkic Muslim minority group have been detained in internment camps.

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ASEAN envoy says he will visit Myanmar in ‘the next few weeks’

Editor05 mins

The special envoy to Myanmar for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) aims to visit the strife torn-country in coming weeks, he said Friday in a statement following humanitarian relief talks with the U.N. and regional agencies. The visit, specific dates for which have not been announced, would be the second trip to Myanmar by the ASEAN envoy, Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, following a trip in March. “I look forward to my second visit to Myanmar in the next few weeks,” the minister wrote on Facebook Friday, after hosting the Consultative Meeting on ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar. The meeting addressed plans to deliver humanitarian aid and administer Covid-19 vaccines to Myanmar, Cambodia’s foreign ministry said in statement. The country of 54 million people, ASEAN’s poorest per capita, has been engulfed in political turmoil as well as military conflict since the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup that overthrew the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi three moths after her party won re-election by a landslide. “Today we are taking another step forward in our collective endeavor to ensure that the people of Myanmar will have access to humanitarian assistance without discrimination,” Sokhonn wrote. “As the ASEAN Chair’s Special Envoy, I remain optimistic that our persistent efforts will genuinely benefit the people of Myanmar,” he added. Cambodia is the current rotating chair of the 10-member ASEAN. In a video conference on May 1, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen urged the Myanmar junta chief, Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, to allow the special envoy to visit and meet deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi and take other steps to implement a five-point agreement the military leader reached between ASEAN’s foreign ministers in April 2021. Although the military regime in Naypyidaw agreed with ASEAN on humanitarian aid and the creation of the special envoy, little concrete progress has been made on more challenging parts of the five-point agreement, including an end to violence, talks among all parties in Myanmar, and mediation by the envoy. The junta on May 3 poured cold water on calls from Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah last month for ASEAN talks with Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel, civilian administration formed of ousted lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party, prominent civil servants, and ethnic minority leaders. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper quoted the junta’s foreign ministry as saying it “protests and rejects” the Malaysian foreign minister’s remarks, because “they could abet terrorism and violence in the country, hampering the Myanmar Government’s anti-terrorism efforts and infringe international agreements related to combatting terrorism.” The junta has branded opponents of military rule as terrorists. The military regime has jailed Aung San Suu Kyi among thousands of political prisoners and killed 1,800 people, mostly anti-coup protesters. The 76-year-old Nobel laureate has been sentence to 11 years in jail on various charges, and faces other charges that could land her in prison for more than a century. Her supporters and human rights groups reject the charges as baseless and designed to end her political career. Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Written by Paul Eckert.

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Tight jeans, dyed hair forbidden as North Korea cracks down on ‘capitalist’ fashion

Editor07 mins

North Korea is cracking down on citizens who sport so-called “capitalist” fashion and hairstyles to ensure that they conduct themselves according to the ideals of socialism, sources in the country told RFA. Wearing certain items of clothing, such as tight-fitting pants or t-shirts with foreign words, or having hair longer than a certain length, has always been potentially problematic in North Korea. But now the government is redoubling its efforts to make sure that people don’t flaunt styles associated with capitalistic countries. “At the end of last month, the Socialist Patriotic Youth League held an educational session nationwide, where they defined the act of imitating foreign fashion and hairstyles as ‘capitalist flair,’ and examples of ‘anti-socialist practices,’” a resident of the city of Hamhung in the eastern province of South Hamgyong told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. The league, formerly known as the Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League until last year, is modeled after the Soviet Komsomol, a group of teenagers and young adults who spread communist propaganda. “The youth league’s patrols are cracking down on young people who wear long hair down to their waists, and those who dye their hair brown, as well as people who wear clothes with large foreign letters and women who wear tight pants,” the source said. “This time the crackdown mainly targets women in their 20s and 30s. If they are caught, they are made to wait on the side of the road until the patrols can finish their crackdown in that area. Only then will they be taken to the youth league office in the district, where they must write letters confessing their crimes. They must then contact someone at home to bring acceptable clothes for them, and then they are released,” she said. The country has been on a crusade against the infiltration of foreign — especially South Korean —culture. RFA previously reported that authorities ordered members of the country’s main youth organization to turn in the cellphones for inspection, so they could determine who was watching and distributing foreign media or spelling words in the South Korean way or using Southern slang. Patrols in the city of Chongjin, in the province of North Hamgyong, targeted the marketplace where many young people are known to hang out, a resident there told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely. “If they are caught, the company they work for and the Socialist Patriotic Youth League will be notified. They are then subject to criticism and in the most severe cases, the violator’s name, home address and workplace will be revealed publicly on the Third Broadcast,” she said, referring to government-controlled loudspeakers placed throughout most cities and towns to spread messages of propaganda. “Even though they have these kinds of crackdowns all the time, the young people do not stop trying to look and dress like people in foreign films and TV.” Illegal activities The government is also working to suppress what it deems to be illegal capitalistic activities, an official in Chongjin told RFA. “Recent arrests here in Chongjin caught five property brokers who illegally facilitated state-owned housing transactions and collected fees for their services. Meanwhile, six fortune tellers and a fake medicine seller were also arrested. The guy selling fake traditional medicines claimed they could treat diseases,” he said. “Everyone was sentenced five to seven years of hard labor and put in jail,” said the official. Chongjin authorities are also targeting the scalping of rail tickets, bribes given to train crews and rail police by merchants who don’t have the proper government permission for travel, and payments to police to look the other way when they catch someone doing something illegal, he said. In Ryanggang province, west of North Hamgyong, authorities there have been using the Third Broadcast to warn citizens against the evils of drugs, superstitions like fortune telling, and fake medicines, a resident there told RFA. “The people are complaining that the authorities are coming down hard on them again so soon after the April national holidays have ended, under the pretext of eradicating anti-socialist acts,” she said, referring to holidays that commemorated the life of country’s founder Kim Il Sung on April 15 and the formation of the country’s military on the 25th. Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Russian arms sales to Southeast Asia have tanked, report finds

Editor011 mins

Russia’s arms sales to Southeast Asia have plummeted due to international sanctions imposed since the start of the Ukraine crisis in 2014 and the ongoing war will likely lead to a further decline, creating market opportunities for countries like China, a new report says. An article in the bulletin ISEAS Perspective published by the ISEAS –Yusof Ishak Institute, a Singapore-based research institution, has found that Russia’s defense industry has been hit hard, with export values reduced from $1.2 billion in 2014 to just $89 million in 2021. Cumulatively Russia has been on top of the list of arms suppliers to Southeast Asia over the last two decades but the sales are likely to fall further and regional countries will look to divert their weapons contracts to other countries, the report says. Data provided by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) show that in 2021 alone, Russia has already slipped behind the United States and China. According to the article’s author, academic Ian Storey, the biggest reason behind the fall is sanctions and export controls that the U.S. and Europe imposed on Russia’s defense industry since its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Those restrictions haven’t necessarily prevented Southeast Asian nations from buying Russian arms, but there is less on offer as Russian manufacturers face difficulties in conducting financial transactions and accessing technologies and critical components. It’s also ended defense industry ties between Russia and Ukraine. “The conflict brought to an abrupt end longstanding and extensive cooperation between Ukrainian and Russian defense companies, especially in the production of engines for surface ships, helicopters and aircraft,” Storey said. Military visitors of Vietnam observe a Russian T-90MS tank during the International Military Technical Forum Army-2020 in Alabino, outside Moscow, Russia, Aug. 23, 2020. (AP Photo) Another factor is a pause in the military modernization program in Vietnam, Russia’s biggest customer in Southeast Asia. Hanoi began the program in the late 1990s and in the period 1995-2021, it bought $7.4 billion worth of weapons and military equipment from Russia. That accounted for more than 80 percent of Vietnam’s total arms imports. “Vietnam has put the military modernization program on hold because of concerns over Moscow’s ability to fulfill orders but also due to an anti-corruption drive,” Nguyen The Phuong, lecturer at the Faculty of International Relations, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance, wrote in July 2021 research paper. Hanoi will still have to rely on Moscow to maintain and operate its Russian-made arsenal of six Kilo-class submarines, 36 Sukhoi Su-30MK2 aircraft, four Gepard 3.9 class frigates and two Bastion mobile coastal defense missile systems, but experts say it has already been on the look-out for alternative supply sources including Israel, Belarus, the U.S. and the Netherlands. Downward trends In the light of the Ukraine war, the new report says will be difficult for Russia’s defense manufacturers to revive their sales due to “the imposition of tighter sanctions and export controls by a number of countries, the reputational damage caused by the poor performance of Russia’s armed forces in Ukraine, and its need to replenish battlefield losses.” Storey pointed out that the current sanctions on Russian banks, and their exclusion from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) international payment network, “will make it harder for the country’s defense industry to conduct financial transactions with overseas clients.” Export controls imposed on Russia will also restrict Russian manufacturers’ access to advanced technologies critical in modern military hardware and components that Russia doesn’t possess. “As a consequence, foreign buyers may decide to switch to more reliable sources of military hardware.” People walk past the headquarters of Russian Agricultural Bank in downtown Moscow, Russia, on July 30, 2014. It was one of the Russian banks hit by Western sanctions. (AP Photo) Furthermore, losses suffered by Russian forces in Ukraine this year may have seriously damaged Moscow’s reputation as a military equipment powerhouse. “The problems facing Russia’s defense-industrial sector will create market opportunities in Southeast Asia for other countries, including China,” the report says. According to SIPRI data, China’s arms exports to Southeast Asia in 2021 totaled $284 million, up from $53 million in 2020. So far, China has refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and as the war drags on Moscow’s dependence on Beijing may deepen. In return, “China will seek increased access to Russia’s most sensitive military technology and even pressure Moscow to reduce military sales to Vietnam,” Storey said. A medium range surface-to-air missile weapon system is displayed during the 12th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai city, south China’s Guangdong province, on Nov. 6, 2018. (AP Photo) Ukraine’s arms sales That would be a blow for Russian exporters but also for Vietnam, which has competing claims against China in the South China Sea. The situation in Ukraine also disrupted the Ukrainian arms supply to Hanoi which totaled $200 million during 2000-2021. Ukraine was part of the Soviet and then Russian defense industries even after proclaiming independence. It has been a major supplier of aircraft and spare parts, as well as armored vehicles and munitions. During 2009-2014, up until the annexation of Crimea, Ukraine was among world’s 10 largest arms exporters, according to SIPRI. In 2012, it was in fact the fourth-largest arms exporter. Kyiv sold $1.3 billion worth of conventional arms that year. Ukraine’s state-owned exporter Ukrspecexport had contracts with nearly 80 countries. In its heyday, the company ran 100 arms-producing plants and factories, and employed tens of thousands of workers. Besides Vietnam, in Southeast Asia Thailand and Myanmar were also big customers that spent $479 million and $111 million on Ukrainian weapons respectively during 2000-2021. In 2011, Bangkok ordered 49 T-84 Oplot battle tanks and 236 BTR-3E armored vehicles from Ukraine. However the delayed deliveries of the Oplots due to the Crimea crisis forced Thailand to buy VT-4 main battle tanks from China instead. Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia also bought weapons from Ukraine, though in much lesser quantities. A Bangladesh military officer, Brig (Rtd)…

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Chinese journalist sentenced in Hainan for smearing reputation of CCP heroes

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Authorities in the southern province of Hainan have jailed a former journalist for “impeaching the reputation of heroes and martyrs” after he commented online about the portrayal of China’s role in the Korean War (1950-1953) in a ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda movie. Luo Changping was sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment by a court in the resort city of Sanya, which found him guilty of the charge in connection with his comments on “The Battle at Lake Changjin.” He was also ordered to make a public apology. Critics of the movie outside China say it never mentions that the Korean War was triggered by the North’s invasion of the South, and make it appear that the landing of U.S. forces at Incheon was an invasion out of the blue. Soldiers in the film are led to believe that they are ultimately fighting to protect China from a U.S. invasion, and Luo made fun of them as “stupid” in a social media post commenting on the movie. Luo was initially detained by police in Sanya in October 2021. The court found that while Luo deleted his post and apologized shortly afterwards, it had already been widely seen by other internet users, and “caused strong public indignation.” “Luo Changping’s remarks negated core socialist values and the spirit of resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea, disrupted social order and harmed the public interest, to a very serious degree,” the judgment said. However, it said the sentencing had been mitigated by Luo’s turning himself in, his guilty plea and acceptance of his punishment, as well as his willingness to pay 80,000 yuan (U.S. $12,000) in compensation to public welfare funds. The trial was reported in state media, but no footage of Luo’s guilty plea was used. Friends of Luo’s told RFA he will likely be released soon, as the sentence was equal to time already served in pretrial detention. But calls to Luo’s cell phone resulted in a shut down signal on Friday, while his accounts on WeChat and Weibo remained suspended. ‘Kill the chickens to frighten the monkeys’ U.S.-based legal scholar Teng Biao said the crime Luo was convicted of is in itself a violation of Chinese citizens’ constitutional right to freedom of expression. “The authorities like to use cases like this to kill the chickens to frighten the monkeys,” Teng told RFA. “The fact that even Luo Changping, who is a relatively well-known journalist, can still get arrested and sentenced to jail will make the deterrent even more effective.” “Even if others say similar things, the government can arrest them too, in their dozens, hundreds or even thousands, and jail them too,” Teng said. “The environment for freedom of speech and expression in China is getting worse and worse.” “The CCP uses … evil laws like ‘impeaching the honor of heroes and martyrs’ to deprive citizens of their basic rights and control them,” he said. A human rights lawyer who gave only the surname He agreed that such laws are problematic. “The whole concept is absurd,” He said. “How do you define a hero and what constitutes an insult?” “If you insulted [World War II hero] Sun Liren and called him a butcher, I think you’d be fine, because he was in the Kuomintang [the CCP’s political rivals],” he said. “But if you speak ill of a certain CCP general during the war against Japan, you could be guilty of this crime.” A fellow rights attorney surnamed Zhang said the CCP’s “defamation” law works similarly, as it has been used to prevent public criticism of officials. A resident looks out through a gap in the barrier at a residential area during a COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai, China, May 6, 2022. Credit: Reuters Lockdown anthem arrest Meanwhile, authorities in Shanghai have hauled a man in for questioning after he sang the Internationale, an anthem of global communism, from his apartment during lockdown. “Arise, slaves to hunger and cold,” the Chinese version of The Internationale begins. “Arise, all those who suffer around the world.” In a video clip uploaded to social media, four police officers in full PPE are shown at the door of the man’s apartment. “We heard the Internationale. Please cooperate with our investigation,” one of them tells the couple. “We will investigate this and may issue a summons. Please cooperate.” The clip sparked intense discussion on Weibo, with many comments expressing incredulity that a communist anthem is deemed illegal in a communist country, particularly on the birthday of late supreme CCP leader Mao Zedong. “So we can’t even play the Internationale in socialist countries now?” one person commented, while another added: “What’s wrong with playing it on Mao’s birthday?” Veteran Beijing political journalist Gao Yu said the song likely cut too close to the bone for the authorities amid ongoing public anger at CCP leader Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy. The people of Shanghai are currently in the same situation as those slaves to hunger and cold in the Internationale, Gao told RFA. “It’s because it has that line about ‘slave to cold and hunger’ in it,” Gao said. “Slaves have no personal freedom, and they’re all in lockdown.” “They are living through cold and hunger right now,” she said. Former 1989 student leader Wu Jianmin said the CCP typically views expressions of public anger as an attempt to cause trouble for the regime. “The police didn’t just issue a reprimand; no, they will charge you with a crime straight away if you oppose Chinese government policy, Xi Jinping or the CCP, so many people don’t dare to oppose them openly,” Wu told RFA. “But they still need to vent their feelings, and they have found something to express their mood in the lyrics of The Internationale,” he said. “That’s why they won’t let people sing it during lockdown, because they think they are disrupting public order.” Gao said the CCP usually sings the anthem during its five-yearly national party congresses, the next of which is slated for later this…

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