World Archives - Page 85 of 237 - Investigative Journalism Reportika

Anti-junta forces claim attack on Myanmar’s central region military HQ

Editor1 year ago04 mins

Anti-junta armies have attacked Myanmar’s military headquarters of Central Region Command in an old palace compound of Aungmyaythazan township, Mandalay city, the residents and members of forces who conducted the attack told Radio Free Asia on Thursday. This attack was carried out on Dec. 21 by the Mandalay Security and Special Task Force, People’s Defense Group from Pyinoolwin District, No More Dictatorship and Brave Warriors for Myanmar (BWM), according to a BWM announcement. A BWM official said that they targeted the dormitories where the regional commander and deputy regional commanders of junta’s Central Region Military Command were staying. “We were able to attack with six long-range 107-mm missiles. One device failed to detonate due to a material malfunction. But, five others successfully launched their attacks,” said the official who wished to remain unnamed due to security reasons. “The targets, which included the special office of the Central Region Military Command, the barracks of junta troops, and the residences of the regional commander and deputy regional commander, were successfully struck.” Damages to the buildings and casualties are still under investigation, the official added. A resident of Mandalay who lives near the royal palace compound speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals said Thursday that following the attack, junta troops intensified security measures and are carrying out searches and checks throughout the city. “It is true that the military headquarters in the palace compound was attacked. I became anxious and couldn’t sleep anymore. Since it was over two or three o’clock [in the morning]. This morning, as I rode my motor scooter around the neighborhood, I noticed something unusual. The roads were blocked off more than they had been in previous days, and there was an increased checking of motorcycles and cars,” he told RFA Burmese. The Central Region Military Command’s interrogation center is infamous for detaining and questioning anti-coup demonstrators, university students, and members of the People’s Defense Force in Mandalay city, following the military coup on February 1, 2021. RFA Burmese contacted Thein Htay, the military junta spokesman for Mandalay region and regional economic minister, regarding the incident by phone, but he did not reply at time of publication. Separately, on Dec. 20, Mandalay Palace – military headquarters – and some police stations in Mandalay city, including Obo Prison’s main guard posts, were attacked with drone bombs as part of “Operation Shwe Pyi Soe,” according to the Mandalay-based People’s Defense Forces. Edited by Taejun Kang.

Food, supplies run low at large prison in Myanmar’s Kayah State

Editor1 year ago05 mins

Food and medicine shortages are putting nearly 500 prisoners in eastern Myanmar’s Kayah State at risk as fighting between the military junta and resistance forces has hindered the transport of supplies into the capital of Loikaw, aid workers said. Ethnic Karenni forces and anti-junta People’s Defense Force paramilitaries began a coordinated offensive against the military on Nov. 11 in an attack that’s been dubbed “Operation 1111.” Intense fighting has taken place near Loikaw Prison over the last week as food and medicine supplies continue to drop, said Thike Tun Oo, a member of the leading committee of the Political Prisoners Network-Myanmar. Basic supplies at the prison are typically stockpiled for about three months, he said. “The military troops are defending the prison against the attacks of joint forces who are holding back on all-out attacks out of consideration for the prisoners,” said Khu Nye Reh, the spokesman of the Karenni Military Information Center. “Family members dare not visit prisoners due to security concerns,” he said. “In this circumstance, the prisoners will receive only a very small quota of food. Just enough for survival.” Civilians trapped amid airstrikes run to safety during a battle to take over Loikaw in Kayah state, Myanmar, Nov. 14, 2023. (Reuters) Karenni forces have suspended attempts at taking control of the prison, but continue to occupy 85 percent of Loikaw, according to Col. Phone Naing, the Karenni Army’s adjutant general. The prison’s 500 inmates include 140 pro-democracy activists and other prisoners of conscience. Human shield worries “Whether the prison is attacked or not, food supplies and fuel cannot be taken into the city due to the ongoing armed conflict,” said Banyar, the founder of the Karenni Human Rights Group. “The prisoners will also not receive regular meals and medicines. Patients in the prison cannot be taken out for medical treatments,” he said. “They have lost their human rights.” He added that he’s worried that junta troops will force prisoners to wear military uniforms if they attempt to relocate them or use them as cover. Junta officials haven’t made any statements about the situation of inmates at Loikaw Prison. Radio Free Asia attempted to contact the office of the deputy director-general of the Prison Department, as well as junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, but no one responded to messages. Fighting between Karenni forces and junta troops near the prison in January 2022 also caused food shortages. “We were tightly confined in a prison cell. Food rations were significantly reduced,” a member of the Karenni Political Prisoners Association and a former Loikaw Prison inmate recalled to RFA on Wednesday. “We even had a hard time finding salt to eat,” he said. “We had no chance to avoid heavy weapon shelling. While I was in this prison, some 120 mm mortars and RPG attacks hit the prison. Our lives were at risk at that time.” The former prisoner also expressed concern for the security of prisoners currently inside the facility. Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

Escaping war in Myanmar for prison in India

Editor1 year ago05 mins

Women who escaped the fighting in Myanmar are being detained and beaten in an Indian prison, according to a group that helps Burmese refugees. The India For Myanmar group said Tuesday the women have gone on hunger strike to demand their release from the prison in Manipur state which borders Sagaing region and Chin state. The group’s spokesperson Salai Dokhar said that the hunger strikers were being tortured at the command of prison authorities. “The prison authorities promised to release them on Dec. 15. Since they were not released on the 15th, the inmates of the women’s prison went on a hunger strike from the 16th. But starting on the night of the 17th, they were forced to sleep where it had snowed as punishment,” he said. “On Dec. 19, the authorities started beating the inmates. They called policemen and asked them to beat the female prisoners. I heard that there are some critically injured people.” The husband of one of the women, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday that 36 protesting Myanmar women were beaten. “Those who have already been sentenced to five months in prison and fined were told that they would be released on Dec. 15. But they were not released, so they started protesting on the 16th. On the 18th they were beaten by policemen, and they were severely beaten,” the man said. “My wife has swollen cheeks. Some of the women lost their Htamein [Burmese traditional lower dress for women]. The policemen stopped beating them when their Htamein came off and they looked inappropriate.” He added that Burmese prisoners in the men’s dormitory had also been on hunger strike since Dec. 19 to support the female inmates. There are currently around 100 Myanmar nationals in Manipur prisons. Male inmates are held in detention centers and the women are in prisons according to family members. Manipur authorities charged those arrested under the Foreigners Act and sentenced them to a fine and imprisonment of up to six months. RFA Burmese emailed the Indian Embassy in Yangon about the beatings but did not receive a reply at time of publishing on Wednesday. Salai Dokhar said India For Myanmar would call on the chief minister of Manipur to release the Myanmar nationals as soon as possible and treat them as war victims. Currently, a total of 86 Myanmar refugees and migrant workers are being held in Manipur prisons, according to those helping refugees and migrant workers. They said there are around 6,000 Myanmar war refugees in Manipur state. Most of them are from Kale and Tamu townships in Sagaing region and Tedim, Tonzang townships in Chin state. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

Son of prominent Cambodian lawyer sought in fatal hit-and-run crash

Editor1 year ago04 mins

A Phnom Penh prosecutor issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday for the son of a prominent lawyer who is suspected in a hit-and-run car accident that killed a decorated badminton player. The victim’s wife posted on Facebook this week that the suspect’s father – Prohm Vicheatsophea – attended the funeral of badminton gold medalist Seang Kimhong and offered the family US$1,000 if they agreed to not pursue criminal charges against his 23-year-old son. The victim’s wife, Kruy Chhin Liang, said on Facebook that she rejected Prohm Vicheatsophea’s proposition and said she would continue to demand justice for her husband. Her post has received hundreds of comments from Cambodians outraged by the offer. Justice Minister Keut Rith responded by ordering Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutors to “investigate and resolve the matter properly and strictly according to the law,” ministry spokesman Chin Malin told the Khmer Times. The Dec. 14 accident between a jeep and a motorcycle took place in Phnom Penh’s Toul Kork district, an area of the capital known for its large villas. Seang Kimhong was riding on the motorbike, according to Kruy Chhin Liang. Prosecutor Plong Sophal wrote in the warrant that evidence proves that Prohm Vichet Sosakda was the driver of the car and fled the scene “without responsibility.” The suspect has been ordered to appear at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court before Jan. 9. Seang Kimhong won the gold medal in badminton at this year’s SEA Games, a regional Olympiad that takes place every two years and was hosted by Cambodia for the first time in May. Because of its rampant corruption and inadequate constraints on government power, Cambodia often places near the bottom of global rankings for adherence to the rule of law. In October, the World Justice Project put Cambodia at 141st out of 142 countries. Soeung Sengkaruna, a spokesman for human rights group Adhoc, said authorities should take strict measures against the suspect, regardless of his background. Several NGOs are closely monitoring this case, he added. Typically, prominent suspects are able to escape justice when they are accused of a crime, he told Radio Free Asia. “But we are looking to see if the authorities are working hard to bring this suspect to justice,” he said. Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

Anti-junta forces capture Myanmar border crossing gate

Editor1 year ago02 mins

One of Myanmar’s powerful anti-junta armies has seized a key border gate from the military in a self-administered part of eastern Shan state, residents told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday. Communist Party breakaway group the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army – or MNDAA – occupied the Yanlonkyaing (Yan Long Zhai) border trade gate in the Kokang Self-Administered Zone’s Laukkaing township on Monday. A Laukkaing resident told RFA he heard gunshots near the gate on Monday morning. “I heard continuous shots from [the Myanmar] side of Yanlonkyaing gate Monday,” said the man who didn’t want to be identified for fear of reprisals. “The gate was seized in the morning. That was the only place left and [MNDAA troops] are saying there are no more places left to capture. I do not hear the sound of gunfire anymore.” A source with knowledge of the military situation, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons, said junta troops and affiliated militias had surrendered. A video of the MNDAA providing cash assistance to those who surrendered – seen by RFA Burmese – was posted on social media by the group. Shan state-based media outlets have also reported that the Yanlonkyaing border gate was captured by MNDAA forces. RFA tried to contact MNDAA Kokang spokesman Li Kyarwen but did not receive a reply at time of publication Tuesday. The junta has not released any statement regarding the incident. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

The limits of a Russia-China partnership that claims to have none

Editor1 year ago022 mins

Three weeks before Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine last year, President Vladimir Putin traveled to Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping – an event shunned by Western leaders. In a 5,300-word joint statement issued the same day, Xi and Putin said their friendship had “no limits” – a declaration that caused a wave of unease in the West. It signaled that the world’s two preeminent authoritarian powers were making common cause. Beijing was also Putin’s first overseas visit outside the former Soviet Union in October since an arrest warrant was issued by the International Criminal Court against him for war crimes in Ukraine. In recent years, the China-Russia relationship has deepened as the two nations have sought a new world order against their common rival, the United States. However, since the war began, China has avoided providing direct military aid to Russia. Bilateral ties between the two powers are more complex and nuanced than meets the eye. Moscow’s association with China has a long and storied past that pre-dates the rise of the Chinese Communist Party to power in Beijing seven decades ago. Belarus-born Chiang Fang-liang poses with her husband, former Taiwan President Chiang Ching-kuo, March 15, 1985. Credit: AFP Kuomintang’s Soviet bride In the early afternoon on Dec. 15, 2004, Chiang Fang-liang – widow of former Taiwanese President Chiang Ching-kuo – died of respiratory and cardiac failure at a hospital in Taipei at age 88. She had lived a quiet, lonely life as a member of Taiwan’s first family. Her husband and three sons all passed before her. Born Faina Vakhreva in the Russian Empire, she was a member of the Soviet Union’s Communist Youth League and met her future husband when they both worked at a factory in Siberia. They married in 1935. A few years before that, Chiang’s father, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, led the Chinese nationalist party Kuomintang to power in mainland China. Yet in 1949, the victory of the Communists drove the Chiang family and their government to retreat to the island of Taiwan, where Fang-liang lived and died. The Soviet Union, and Russia afterwards, have had little contact with Taiwan, but the Chiang family’s Russian connection served as a reminder of how much influence the Soviets once had over the politics across the Taiwan Strait. Chiang Ching-kuo arrived in the USSR aged 15 and spent 12 years there. He embraced the life of a Soviet Marxist, even adopted a Russian name – Nikolai Vladimirovich – after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the first leader of the USSR. The Kuomintang, founded in 1912 by Sun Yat-sen, for a long time received support and aid from the Soviet Union. However, during the Chinese Civil War (1927-1949) the Soviets turned to support the Communists who defeated the Nationalists and established the People’s Republic of China. Chiang Fang-liang is seen with her husband, former Taiwan President Chiang Ching-kuo, and their children in an undated photo. Credit: AFP/KMT In his memoir “My Days in Soviet Russia,” Chiang Ching-kuo recalled his time as being “completely isolated from China, I was not even allowed to mail a letter,” and those long years were “the most difficult” of his life. All his requests to return to the mainland were rejected by the authorities, according to Russian historians Alexander Larin and Alexander Lukin, as Chiang was virtually held hostage by Lenin’s successor as Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin. Chiang and his small family were allowed to leave the USSR in 1937 when in China the Kuomintang and the Communists formed a new alliance to fight against a Japanese invasion that presaged World War II. That was a lucky escape for them as the Soviet country was undergoing a period of extreme political repression known as the Great Purge, during which hundreds of thousands of Stalin’s political opponents were removed and eliminated. From then until her final days, Chiang’s Russian wife would never set foot in her motherland again. The years in the Soviet Union led Chiang Ching-kuo “to examine socialism with a more critical eye, and contributed to his evolution towards anti-communism,” argued Larin and Lukin, who said that the failure of the Soviet economic system played a part in Taiwan’s transition to market reforms under Chiang’s premiership during the 1970s. And not only in Taiwan, “eventually, the Chinese communists in mainland China arrived at the same conclusion” about the Soviet economic model, according to the Russian authors. “Deng Xiaoping, the architect of mainland Chinese economic reforms, was a classmate of Chiang … and had a similar although much shorter experience in the USSR,” they wrote. Good neighbors From the 1960s to the 1990s, the Sino-USSR relationship was marked by turbulence, including a seven-month border conflict in 1969. Mao Zedong’s China condemned Moscow for “betraying communism” while the Soviet Union withdrew all economic assistance to Beijing. It only warmed up after Mikhail Gorbachev became the general secretary of the USSR Communist Party and initiated the political and social reform called perestroika. After the Soviet Union dissolved, China recognized the Russian Federation as its legal successor on Dec. 24, 1991. Moscow and Beijing signed a Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation 10 years later, paving the way for a new chapter in their special partnership. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev [right] gestures as he talks with Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping during a meeting in 1989 in Beijing. Credit: Boris Yurchenko/AP A joint statement on the 20th anniversary of the treaty in 2021 said that Russian-Chinese relations “have reached the highest level in their history.” “The Russian-Chinese relations are based on equality, deep mutual trust, commitment to international law, support in defending each other’s core interests, the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it said. Officially, Sino-Russia ties are described as a “comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction in the new era,” according to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. China has been Russia’s largest trading partner since 2010, with two-way trade reaching US$140.7 billion in 2021 and $134.1 billion in…

Two dead, 3 injured in airstrikes on central Myanmar village

Editor1 year ago03 mins

A junta jet dropped bombs and opened fire with machine guns on civilians in three townships killing two women and injuring three more, locals and People’s Defense Force members told Radio Free Asia. The aircraft attacked Magway region’s Seikphyu, Pauk and Saw on Friday night forcing almost 8,000 people to flee the townships. Locals identified the dead women as 21-year-old Yu Nandar and 24-year-old May Thingyan from Seikphyu’s Than Pu Yar Pin village. They were cremated on Friday evening according to a resident who declined to be named for fear of reprisals. “Two bombs fell when the girls were collecting water. They died on the spot,” he said. “The jet went back and opened fire with machine guns, hitting two children and a woman. The woman, Tin San Htwe was hit in [the back of her head] and is still unconscious.” About 600 people live in 140 houses in Than Pu Yar Pin village. They told RFA Burmese they were afraid to return to their homes because there may be more airstrikes. A People’s Defense Force officer based in Seikphyu said the junta launched an attack even though there had been no fighting because it considers the township strategically important. “Seikphyu is a key place,” he said. “Wazi, which prints banknotes, is in the area. There is an Air Defense Operations command headquarters and an aviation training school. Also there are two defense equipment factories.” Calls to junta spokesman Than Swe Win seeking comment on the junta’s airstrikes, went unanswered. Some 730 civilians have been killed and 1,292 injured by airstrikes and heavy artillery this year according to data compiled by RFA, Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

Police clamp down on carrying cell phones in public

Editor1 year ago06 mins

North Koreans walking around in public holding their cell phones are getting in trouble with the police, residents there told Radio Free Asia. But it isn’t clear if it’s an effort to guard state secrets, as the government claims, or simply an excuse for police to shake down people for bribes. Or both. North Korea introduced the State Secrets Protection Law in February to prevent photos and videos – especially those of propaganda lecture materials – from finding their way out of the country. The country remains blocked off from the global internet, making it hard for most people to send any kind of information outside the country through their phones. But people living along the border with China do sometimes use smuggled Chinese phones to access the Chinese cellular network, and can transmit photos and videos that way. Now it appears that authorities are trying to stop people from taking any photos that would reveal anything at all about life in the isolated country. Police in plain clothes patrol the marketplaces and stop people walking around with their cellphones in their hands, a resident of South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “Recently, when police see people walking around in the marketplace with cell phones in their hands, they stop them and check their phones,” he said, adding that it isn’t possible to know how many police are observing a particular location, since they are not wearing uniforms. Excuse for extortion? Previously, when police would stop to check people’s electronic devices, the goal was to find contraband media, such as TV shows or movies from South Korea. But now they are simply looking for pictures, the resident said. “The crackdowns on cell phones involve searching for photos and videos of the marketplace among the photos in the phone,” he said. A man looks at his mobile phone as he waits to cross a street in Pyongyang, North Korea, Feb. 18, 2017. (Ed Jones/AFP) If such a photo were to be found, there is a possibility that the phone owner could be accused of spying and trying to sell secret information to South Korea, and imprisoned. “As the police randomly crack down on cell phones, market merchants say it is a tactic to extort money ahead of the end of the year,” he said. Police are more privileged than the civilian population, but just like the average citizen, the salary from their government-assigned job is nowhere near enough to make a living. Most families must run side businesses selling goods or services in the local market to support themselves. Police, however, can catch people doing questionable or illegal activities and accept a bribe to look the other way. So it is possible that the increased scrutiny is a way to collect some cash before year-end, the residents said. In the city of Sinuiju, on the border with China in North Pyongan province, police have been on the lookout for phones near the train station and at the marketplace all December, a resident there told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely. “Residents who were caught [with their phones] say it is ridiculous because the police said … they want to check whether they are taking pictures of their surroundings,” he said. “The police threaten them, saying that preventing people from taking ‘internal photos’ with cell phones … is merely upholding the State Secrets Protection Law.” But many people aren’t buying the police officers’ explanations, the North Pyongan resident said. “[They say] authorities are creating anxiety by cracking down on cell phone owners as leakers of national secrets,” he said. “But the scenes around the market and the station are not national secrets.” Translated by Leejin J. Chung. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.

Hong Kong vows to pursue wanted overseas activists ‘to the end’

Editor1 year ago012 mins

Hong Kong on Friday vowed to pursue overseas pro-democracy activists on its national security wanted list “to the end,” amid calls from U.S. Congress members for sanctions linked to transnational repression by the Chinese Communist Party. National security police on Thursday issued arrest warrants for former British consular employee Simon Cheng, who co-founded the advocacy group Hongkongers in Britain, Frances Hui of the U.S.-based Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, U.S. citizen and Hong Kong campaigner Joey Siu and overseas YouTube hosts Johnny Fok and Tony Choi. Police said they had “absconded overseas” and offered a HK$1 million (US$128,000) bounty for information leading to their arrests. “Fugitives should not have any delusion that they could evade legal liabilities by absconding from Hong Kong,” a spokesman said on Friday. “Fugitives will be pursued for life unless they turn themselves in … we will pursue these fugitives … to the end and use all practicable measures to bring them to justice,” he said in a statement posted to the government’s website. The wanted activists “continue to engage in acts and activities endangering national security,” slamming criticism of the move as “unreasonable” and “tainted with double standards,” he said. Chief Superintendent of Police (National Security Department ) Li Kwai-wah and Senior Superintendent Hung Ngan attend a press conference on arrest warrants issued for activists Simon Cheng, Frances Hui, Joey Siu, Johnny Fok and Tony Choi, in Hong Kong, Dec. 14, 2023. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters) The new additions to the Hong Kong authorities’ wanted list come after similar warrants were issued for eight prominent pro-democracy activists in July, and amid growing concern over China’s long-arm law enforcement activities far beyond its own borders. The group are wanted on a slew of charges under a draconian security law that bans public criticism of the authorities, including “incitement to secession”, “incitement to subversion” and “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security,” police said in a statement on Thursday. Intimidation and harassment The warrants prompted calls in Washington for sanctions on Chinese Communist Party-backed officials. “Last night, CCP-controlled authorities in Hong Kong issued bounties on five Hong Kongers living abroad, including two pro-democracy activists living in the United States, one of whom is an American citizen,” Chairman Mike Gallagher and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party said in a joint statement on Dec. 14. “CCP-controlled Hong Kong authorities’ effort through intimidation and harassment to persecute US citizens and residents engaging in peaceful political activism in the United States is unacceptable,” they said, calling for urgent action from Congress to stem China’s “transnational repression.” U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi, seen at a hearing earlier this year, issued a joint statement calling for urgent action from Congress to stem China’s “transnational repression.” (J. Scott Applewhite/AP) Hong Kong’s national security police said on Thursday that “the acts of these five persons seriously endanger national security,” announcing a reward of HK$1 million to members of the public who provide information leading to their arrest. Police also arrested four people on suspicion of offering financial assistance via online crowdfunding to exiled former pro-democracy lawmakers Ted Hui and Nathan Law. No change Wanted activist Frances Hui said she wasn’t surprised by the bounty on her head, and wouldn’t be giving up her advocacy as a result. “I will continue to do what I think is right, including my advocacy activities for freedom and democracy in Hong Kong, and fighting for the imposition of sanctions on Hong Kong officials, continuing to advocate for the release of Hong Kong political prisoners, and continuing to appeal to the international community and [over China’s] transnational human rights violations,” she told Radio Free Asia. “I will also continue to build the overseas Hong Kong community and promote Hong Kong culture.” “I will continue to do what I think is right, including my advocacy activities for freedom and democracy in Hong Kong,” says Frances Hui, seen in the Chinatown neighborhood of Boston, Oct. 2, 2019. (Charles Krupa/AP) Meanwhile, Joey Siu said the Hong Kong authorities are using their trade and economic offices in overseas cities as a base from which to target and harass overseas activists from the city. She said even being a citizen of a foreign country is no protection. “The Hong Kong government’s basis for making me a wanted person is comments I made as a U.S. citizen in my own country,” Siu said. “This just shows how unreasonable and all-pervasive this transnational suppression by the Hong Kong and Chinese governments has become.” An honor Former U.K. consular employee Simon Cheng said it was his “lifelong honor” to be singled out by the authorities. “The accusations … that I betrayed my country are actually highly political and baseless,” Cheng told Radio Free Asia. “It’s actually a pretty humble wish that the government respect the rights of its citizens, and allow their voices to be more freely heard.” “We’re just a bit more persistent than the average person and are not afraid to carry on speaking out, so that’s why we are receiving this so-called punishment,” he said, adding that his main fear is that the authorities will target his friends and relatives in Hong Kong. Simon Cheng, seen in London in 2020, says his main fear is that authorities will target his friends and relatives in Hong Kong. (AP) British Foreign Secretary David Cameron condemned the warrants, saying his government would take up the matter “urgently” with Beijing and Hong Kong officials. “We will not tolerate any attempt by any foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the U.K.,” Cameron said in a statement. “This is a threat to our democracy and fundamental human rights.” “We call on Beijing to repeal the National Security Law and end its persecution of political activists.” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called on Beijing to act in accordance with international norms and…

Ancient theatrical tradition falls on hard times in crisis-torn Myanmar

Editor2 years ago09 mins

For 145 years, the Myanmar city of Pyapon has marked the end of the rainy season with a performance of the ancient Indian epic poem Ramayana–never halting the annual ritual, even during Japanese occupation in World War II, a major uprising against harsh military rule and a catastrophic cyclone. These days, however, the dancers who have for seven generations made the Ayeyarwady River delta region city famous for performances of the Burmese version of the Sanskrit epic fear they may be the last of their kind in a country plunged into economic hardship and political turmoil in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and a 2021 military coup. “COVID health problems arise. Political crises arise. The days of performance are getting shorter,” said Zaw Oo, chairman of the Pyapon Ramayana troupe. “Funds are scarce. Jobs are scarce. Moreover, foreign culture infiltrates. It is really hard to preserve it so it won’t disappear,” he told RFA Burmese. People gather to watch Ramayana, a traditional drama being performed. (RFA photo) The 53-year-old father of two is a national gold medalist in performing as Dathagiri, the ten-headed chief antagonist in the Ramayana epic poem and the subject of worship in both Hindu and Buddhist temples in India and across Southeast Asia. “The main reason for performing is for safety,” Zaw Woo said of the belief that to keep Pyapon safe, the annual reading of the play must not be broken. “If we cannot perform it, we have to serve meals for Dathagiri as a token offering every year,” he told RFA. “We have to perform it – even if it’s an hour or a verse – to keep the tradition.” The Pyapon dance troupe has made modifications to tradition to keep people in seats for a lengthy poem that in the original Sanskrit has 24,000 verses. The Burmese Ramayana’s 94 chapters used to take up to 45 days to perform. (RFA photo) Overseas tour The Burmese version of the Ramayana used to require 45 days to perform, but the troupe trimmed it back – to nine days and nine nights. During the pandemic and following the February 2021 military takeover, the dance became a one-day, closed-door performance at Pyapon’s Shwe Nat Gu Pagoda. Last year, they put on the Ramayana for one day at the Rama theater, but this year, it ran for three days at the end of November. The truncated version of Myanmar’s national epic got mixed reviews, even from sympathetic fans. “In the past, I liked watching it. Watching all nine episodes. Now it’s just one afternoon,” said a 65-year-old woman named Myint. “I’m just watching it to slake my desire.” “Now, young people don’t dare to go out, so it’s not as crowded as it used to.” added Myint. The Ramayana dates as far back as 7th to 4th centuries BCE in what is now northwestern India, and became a major cultural and moral influence on Hinduism and Buddhism. Versions of the story of Prince Rama are found across South Asia and Southeast Asia, from the Maldives to the Philippines. Children with Thanaka, a light-yellow cosmetic paste in their faces, gather to watch Ramayana being performed. (RFA photo) She told RFA that fears of instability in Myanmar since the coup has taken away her enjoyment in going to the theater. The Pyapon dancers – proud amateurs with day jobs – are hoping their fame in Myanmar can translate into international support for the struggling troupe. In October they were invited to perform the Ramayana at the Indian embassy in Yangon, 75 miles (120 kilometers), which led to plans to put on the drama in India, Nepal and Indonesia, said Zaw Woo. “While he was giving us certificates of honor, the Indian ambassador – together with diplomats from the Nepali and Indonesian embassies – promised that he would do everything possible to help our Pyapon Ramayana troupe to visit these countries to perform the drama,” he said. Dancing trumps job Passion for performing remains high in Pyapon, despite the gloom and doom. A Ramayanaya performer backstage. The Ramayana was performed continuously even during World War II under Japanese occupation. (RFA photo) “I may not have eaten a meal, but if I’m performing the drama, I’m satisfied,” said Wai Phyo Aung, who is playing the role of Lakshmana, younger brother of Rama and has been dancing in the Ramayana troupe for 15 of his 34 years. He is the first in his family to perform after becoming fascinated with Ramayana dancing as a schoolboy. “I used to work for a company, and I lost my job again and again after performing nine nights,” he told RFA. “So, in order not to lose my next job, I became a taxi driver.” Sein Myint, the 77-year-old father of Zaw Woo, winner of three gold medals in a long dancing career, urges people to help keep the Pyapon Ramayana troupe dancing. “Some people think we are performing the drama because we are receiving payments,” he said. “We’re not. We’re manual laborers. If anyone offers to help us, we’ll accept it at any time.” Translated by Htin Aung Kyaw. Edited by Paul Eckert.

Category: World