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

Editor09 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.

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Chairwoman and 85 accomplices indicted in high-profile corruption case

Editor06 mins

Vietnam on Friday issued an indictment against the principal suspect and 85 alleged accomplices in the high-profile Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank embezzlement case, state media reported. Van Thinh Phat Group’s Chairwoman Truong My Lan and her alleged accomplices are charged with accepting bribery, violating banking regulations and embezzlement.   From Feb. 9, 2018, to Oct. 7, 2022, Lan directed the creation of nearly 920 bogus loan applications, appropriating more than 304,000 billion dong, or US$12.5 billion, from the bank, the indictment said.  The case is considered to be one of the biggest corruption cases in Vietnam ever and the value of the known embezzled funds amounts to about 6% of Vietnam’s GDP. The indictment said that from 2012 to October 2022, Lan acquired 85-91.5 percent of Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank, or SCB, and then controlled and manipulated the bank’s activities.  She is accused of directing her subordinates to recruit personnel and appoint relatives and close associates to key SCB positions.  She is also accused of establishing several SCB units dedicated to lending and disbursement at her request, establishing and using thousands of “ghost” companies and hiring multiple people to collude with leaders of many related businesses to commit crimes. Lan’s accomplices allegedly colluded with many asset validation companies to inflate collateral values, creating a large number of fake loan applications to take money from SCB.  They are also believed to have made plans to withdraw money, manipulate money flows after disbursement, sell bad debts and defer credit grants to reduce outstanding debts and bad debts and cover up their wrongdoings as well as bribing and influencing government officers to break the law.  According to the Vietnam Supreme Procuracy, five former SCB leaders are on the run, including  Dinh Van Thanh, former chairman of SCB’s Board of Directors, who left the country before the case was filed; Chiem Minh Dung, the former SCB deputy director, who also fled abroad and is wanted; Tram Thich Ton, a member of SCB’s Board of Directors; Nguyen Thi Thu Suong, another former Chairwoman of SCB’s Board of Directors; and Nguyen Lam Anh Vu, a former SCB staff member. Web of greed and deceit The indictment also said that 15 former officers from the State Bank of Vietnam, three former officers from the government inspectorate, and a former officer of the State Audit of Vietnam were prosecuted for “embezzlement,” “accepting bribes,” “abusing their position of authority on official duty,” “dereliction of responsibility, causing serious consequences,” and “violating regulations on banking activities.” The former government officers discovered many wrongdoings during their inspecting activities but let them happen.  Do Thi Nhan, the former director of the Inspectorate and Supervision Department is accused of receiving bribes of$5.2 million, according to the indictment.  According to the Vietnam Supreme Procuracy, Lan did not acknowledge her wrongdoing during the investigation, while 80 other defendants honestly testified and admitted their violations in compliance with the evidence and documents collected by the investigation security agency.  Lan’s niece, Truong Hue Van, who is the director general of Windsor Property Management Group Corporation, was said to have paid back over 1,063 billion dong ($43.7 million). Meanwhile, Lan’s husband Chu Lap, the co-chairman of the board of directors of Times Square Investment Company, has returned 1 billion dong ($41,000).  Former director Nhan returned $4.8 million of the $5.2 million she is accused of having received, in addition t10 savings books worth more than 10 billion dong $411,000. RFA reported in November that experts have said that the SCB scandal is just the “tip of the iceberg” in terms of uncovering corruption in Vietnam. Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.

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Tibetan activist and former political prisoner dies at 54

Editor04 mins

Kunchok Lodoe, a Tibetan activist who was sentenced to 13 years in prison for protesting against the Chinese government, died Monday at the age of 54, Radio Free Asia has learned. Lodoe’s friends and fellow activists reported that he was in overall good health before his death on Dec. 11. “Kunchok Lodoe was doing well the day before he died, so his death was very sudden,” former political prisoner Ngawang Sangdrol told RFA.  “Many political prisoners die in their 40s, mostly because of the severe torture they go through while in the prison.” Lodoe was sentenced to 13 years at Drapchi Prison in Lhasa, Tibet’s largest detention center. But after being subjected to “tremendous physical torture,” he began experiencing serious health issues related to his liver and was released in 1995 to undergo medical treatment, Sangdrol said. Sangdrol, a childhood friend of Lodoe who now resides in the United States, was imprisoned alongside him at Drapchi Prison in Lhasa. Lodoe, who was born in Meldrogunkar county near Lhasa, was first arrested in 1992 for participating in a protest against the Chinese government.  “Kunchok Lodoe, along with four other Tibetans, took to the streets on June 30, 1992, to protest the Chinese government,” Sangdrol recounted.  “They unfurled the Tibetan flag and shouted ‘free Tibet’ outside of the building where local Chinese leaders were holding a meeting.” “Five of us, including Kunchok Lodoe, shouted slogans such as ‘Long live the Dalai Lama,’ ‘Free Tibet,’ and ‘End China’s one-child policy,’” recounted Sonam Dorjee, a Tibetan activist who protested alongside Lodoe in 1992. “During that time, the exploitation of Tibet’s natural resources by the Chinese government was at its peak, so we also shouted, ‘Stop exploiting our natural resources!’ We even took down a Chinese flag outside the building and unfurled our Tibetan flag. That’s why we were imprisoned.” “We were beaten a lot during our time in prison, especially our chests and stomachs,” Dorjee, who now resides in Switzerland, told RFA. “I remember Kunchok had health issues with his liver that made him so weak and sick all the time.” Jamphel Monlam, a former political prisoner and researcher at the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Dharamsala, expressed his respect for Lodoe’s activism.   “Kunchok Lodoe and the four other Tibetans arrested in 1992 [come from simple backgrounds] and their courage to protest in front of the Chinese authorities is commendable,” he told RFA.  “I know they went through both physical and mental torture while in prison. It’s very sad to learn that [Lodoe] is no more.” Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Edited by Claire McCrea and Malcolm Foster.

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Junta shelling forces residents to flee Myanmar township

Editor04 mins

Almost all the residents of a Kachin Independence Army-controlled town were forced to flee when Myanmar’s junta fired heavy artillery at residential areas, according to army officials and locals. In an online video seen by Radio Free Asia an alarm can be heard and school children are seen running to safety. A resident, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told RFA that junta troops stationed in Lwegel fired heavy weapons on Mai Ja Yang town from early Friday morning. “At around 10 a.m., five heavy weapons were fired,” the local said.  “I was still sleeping when the first shells were fired. The sound of the mortar could be heard, and a house in the city was hit. We all ran away. The students who were attending school also ran away in fear. There are not many people in the city now.” A university, a college, two high schools and a primary school all fall under the governorship of the Mai Ja Yang Institute of Education led by the Kachin Independence Organization, the political wing of the Kachin Independence Army. College students who were sitting exams had to abandon their classrooms when the junta shelled the area, residents said, adding that two high school students and a civilian adult were injured but not critically. Kachin Independence Organization Information Officer Col. Naw Bu said the junta shelled the town and carried out air raids on the group’s headquarters in Laizar in retaliation for the Kachin Independence Army seizing two joint camps of junta troops and affiliated militia. “The militia camp in Ta Law Gyi was captured this morning and another militia camp in Baw Sar Dee village, which is between Ta Law Gyi and Shwe Nyaung Pin villages was also captured,” he said. “The junta side opened fire with heavy weapons believed to be 105 millimeters in the direction of  Mai Ja Yang and Laizar towns. The junta carried out an airstrike near Mong Set Par village and we are still investigating whether people have been injured.” RFA called junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun seeking comment, but calls went unanswered. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.  

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Third time a charm?

Editor01 mins

Scores of high-level officials and experts from multiple countries have nominated jailed Uyghur academic Ilham Tohti to receive the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. Tohti, 53, was shortlisted for the Peace Prize in 2020 and 2023. He is serving a life sentence, with no contact with his family for years, on separatism charges for what supporters say were efforts to promote peaceful interethnic dialogue between Uyghurs and China’s Han Chinese majority.

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Shelling kills 3, including a child, in Myanmar’s Mandalay region

Editor04 mins

Heavy weaponry in central Myanmar killed three civilians, residents told Radio Free Asia on Thursday. Junta troops fired a shell at Mandalay division’s Tha Hpan Kaing village on Wednesday night, killing two women and a child, locals said. The victims are eight-year-old Su Su Nway, 17-year-old Nadi Hlaing, and 45-year-old Ma Nwe, all from Tha Hpan Kaing village.  Two people were also injured, including Ma Nwe’s son, one resident said, asking to remain anonymous for security reasons. Six-year-old Htet Pyae Sone Chit and 31-year-old Aye Min Thu are being treated for their injuries.  “The injured six-year-old boy is the son of the dead woman, Ma Nwe. And all the people who were hit by the heavy artillery are relatives,” he told RFA Burmese on Dec. 14. “The military junta deliberately shot into the village, rather than indiscriminately shooting. Lately, Madaya township has been experiencing daily attacks with heavy weaponry.” Ten soldiers entered Madaya township from neighboring Patheingyi township on a truck and fired 120 millimeter shells at Tha Hpan Kaing village, he added. Troops shot from roughly 10 kilometers (six miles) away in Kyauk Ta Dar village around 8 p.m. on Wednesday. Calls by RFA to Mandalay’s junta spokesperson Thein Htay to learn more about the attack went unanswered on Thursday.  Tha Hpan Kaing village is a large village in the region, with 500 houses, residents said, adding that it’s 16 kilometers (10 miles) from Mandalay’s Madaya city. Troops also fired weaponry from Kyauk Ta Dar village at other villages in the area before Wednesday’s attack, locals said. On Tuesday, a two-hour battle erupted between junta troops and joint defense forces near Kyauk Ta Dar village. Following the battle, junta soldiers fired heavy weapons toward the War Lone Pyun village, but there were no reported injuries, residents told RFA Burmese. The fighting between the junta and local People’s Defense Forces has intensified since November in Madaya township, residents and People’s Defense Force members said. As fighting escalates, so have junta raids on nearby villages. Soldiers are using helicopters to fire shells at villages where they believe resistance groups may be sheltering, according to locals. Data compiled by RFA show attacks on villages in Madaya township have killed 17 locals and injured three in November alone. From Jan. 2022 to Sept. 2023, RFA found that 816 civilians have died and 1,628 were injured by heavy weapons and airstrikes across the country.  Edited by Taejun Kang.

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Motorcycle protester appears in ‘confessional’ video

Editor08 mins

A man jailed for nine years for riding a motorcycle carrying a banned slogan of the 2019 protest movement has appeared in another mainland Chinese-style televised “confession,” as part of a series of propaganda films made by the Hong Kong police in praise of a harsh security law. “I wasn’t thinking straight. I was under the influence of the atmosphere that prevailed at that time,” Tong Ying-kit says in the police-made video published Dec. 12 to the website of Hong Kong broadcaster TVB.  “It felt as if there was no way to resolve issues other than through violence,” says Tong, who appears in prison uniform with his back to the camera. A narrator intones: “Tong Ying-kit became the first person to be prosecuted under the National Security Law for ‘inciting others to secession’ and ‘terrorism.’ He was just 23 years old at the time.” Motorcyclist Tong Ying-kit carries a flag reading “Free Hong Kong, revolution now!” during a protest in Hong Kong, July 1, 2020. (Cable TV Hong Kong via AP) The video is the second “confession” by a political prisoner to air in Hong Kong, and comes amid a citywide crackdown on political opposition and public criticism of the authorities under the National Security Law, which Beijing imposed in 2020 in response to protests the year before. Last week, Tsang Chi-kin, who was jailed for “rioting” after being shot in the chest by police during the 2019 protest movement, made a similar video claiming that he too was drawn into the movement as emotions ran high. “#HongKong police & pro-CCP TV station TVB have broadcast a #propaganda video of Tong Ying-kit, the 1st person prosecuted under the national security law,” the U.S.-based Hong Kong Democracy Council said via its account on X, formerly Twitter. “This is the 2nd show using a #PoliticalPrisoner. It is reprehensible coercion similar to CCP-style forced televised confession,” the council said. ‘Free Hong Kong’ banner Tong was jailed in July 2021 after much of the case was spent deciding whether the banned protest slogan on his banner – “Free Hong Kong, revolution now!” – could be considered an incitement to secession, or independence for the city. The judges said Tong’s offense was “serious” and therefore deserving of a jail term of between five and 10 years, but said his call for “secession” hadn’t come with a plan attached, and that he had committed the offense alone. They said that while the police officers who brought him and his motorbike down weren’t seriously injured, Tong’s actions were pre-planned, and his bike was a “lethal weapon.” Tong Ying-kit arrives at court in Hong Kong. July 6, 2020. (Vincent Yu/AP) “These were very serious criminal charges that could have resulted in life imprisonment,” Tong says in the video. The narrator highlights how much he misses his family, adding that he has enrolled in a rehabilitation program to help him “manage his emotions,” and is studying for a high-school qualification. The ends with footage of Tong handling and saluting the flag of the People’s Republic of China in a formal flag-raising ceremony of the kind now commonly seen in schools and other public institutions in Hong Kong. Political prisoner honored The video was released as another prominent political prisoner – barrister and former 1989 Tiananmen massacre vigil organizer Chow Hang-tung – was honored by two European governments with a human rights award. Chow was announced on International Human Rights Day as one of 12 activists, journalists and lawyers “working to defend the inalienable rights of each and every human being” being presented with the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law. “The prizewinners … stand up for those whose voices would often not be heard without them, such as women, refugees, LGBTIQ+ people and prisoners,” according to the award website.  Chow Hang-tung, a barrister and former 1989 Tiananmen massacre vigil organizer in Hong Kong, poses after an interview in Hong Kong, May 24, 2021. (Vincent Yu/AP) “They are committed to the cause of justice, political participation and unbiased reporting in the media, often risking their own freedom, frequently even their lives, under the most difficult conditions,” it said. The Hong Kong government hit out at the foreign affairs ministries of France and Germany over the award, expressing its “strong disapproval.” “Chow Hang-tung is facing a criminal prosecution of ‘incitement to subversion’ and the case has been committed to the Court of First Instance of the High Court awaiting trial,” a spokesman said. “The judicial proceedings of the case are still ongoing, but the ministries of foreign affairs of France and Germany have issued the so-called prize … in the name of ‘human rights’ and the ‘rule of law’.” Authorities in Hong Kong will continue to “effectively prevent, suppress and punish acts and activities that endanger national security,” the spokesman said. Last month, Chow, who has been behind bars since September 2021, was honored with Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe human rights awards, alongside Chinese rights attorneys Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, who were jailed in April for attending a 2019 gathering of dissidents in the southeastern city of Xiamen. Translated with additional reporting by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

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Junta kills 3 during raid in central Myanmar while torching a village

Editor04 mins

Three people are dead and nearly 30 houses have been burned down following a junta raid, residents told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday. On Tuesday, a junta battalion with roughly 100 members from Sagaing city’s 33rd Division entered Pan Chi village, locals said. One victim was a civilian and the other two were members of local People’s Defense Forces, one man added, asking to remain anonymous for security reasons. The civilian was 40-year-old Lin Lin, who returned to the village to help his parents. “The junta troops entered the village with loud gunfire. They started burning a house that they thought belonged to the village chief. One man, who has since died, returned to the village to rescue his parents,” he told RFA. “He planned to carry them on his back, as his parents were not able to run during the raid. But he was shot in the chest before he reached his parents. He was cremated immediately on Tuesday.” Later that day, two resistance group members were also shot dead near the village. About 10 villagers were arrested and interrogated in the village monastery, the local added. They have since been released. Junta troops raided Pan Chi village because a captain and a soldier from battalion No. 6005 went missing on Monday evening, another resident told RFA. “I heard that [the missing soldiers] wanted to join the Civil Disobedience Movement. They linked up with the defense forces and rode along with the car while they went shopping in Ohn Taw village,” he said, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. “But from [the junta’s] point of view, they thought it was an arrest by the People’s Defense Forces. They saw that the car was driven towards the road leading to Yae Myet village. [Junta troops] went to check in Yae Myet village, but they were not there.” On Wednesday morning following the attack, junta troops arrested 15 men sheltering in two monasteries with other villagers in Ohn Taw village on suspicion of being associated with resistance groups, he said, adding that the entire village had fled. Nearly 5,000 residents from Sagaing’s Pan Chi, Ohn Taw, and Yae Myet villages ran to safety as a result of the arrests and killings. Calls to Sagaing region’s junta spokesperson Sai Naing Naing Kyaw by RFA to learn more about the attacks went unanswered. In May 2022, a defense camp near Pan Chi village was torched and eight members of the defense forces were killed, according to the residents and defense forces. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.  

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Pro-Beijing ‘thugs’ tormented Xi protesters, activists say

Editor012 mins

China’s embassy and consulates in the United States bused hundreds of pro-Beijing counter-protesters to San Francisco last month to violently suppress demonstrations against Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit, activists and a U.S. lawmaker said on Tuesday. In many cases, the San Francisco Police Department stood idly by while the assaults were occurring, according to the activists. Speaking at a media event organized by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, the Tibetan, Uyghur, Chinese and Hong Konger activists said the pro-Beijing counter-protesters constantly harassed them and even assaulted them during Xi’s four-day visit to the city. Xi was in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, during which he also met U.S. President Joe Biden in what the White House promoted as a chance for warmer U.S.-China ties. On the streets of San Francisco, things were far less cordial, with pro-Beijing counter-protesters harassing any anti-Xi voices across the four days of the summit and beating many who did not flee, said Anna Kwok, executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council. What she witnessed made her “heart ache,” she said, and had changed her mind about the scope of trans-national repression in America and, therefore, the safety of speaking out on U.S. soil. Anna Kwok, executive director of Hong Kong Democracy Council, speaks during an event in Washington, D.C., to present evidence of violence and harassment by pro-Chinese Communist Party groups at the APEC Leaders’ Summit in San Francisco in Nov. 2023. (Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA) “I thought the United States was a safe haven for me to continue my advocacy work, but last month proved me all wrong,” Kwok said. “I’m very sorry to say that I no longer feel safe to be in the United States, and I no longer feel safe to continue doing my advocacy work.” “I urge authorities to conduct a thorough and extensive investigation into the violence waged against us,” she said. “Congress should also pass policies to combat transnational repression.” ‘I thought we were safe’ Wearing a black eye patch, Kaiyu Zhang said he fled from China to the United States earlier this year to escape political persecution, and decided to exercise his newfound freedoms by joining a protest against Xi’s arrival at San Francisco International Airport on Nov. 14. After parking his car at a Costco about 10 minutes’ walk away from the protest, he said, about “a dozen young Chinese men” started following him – likely, he said, after hearing him speak Cantonese to a friend, which caused them to offer an expletive-ridden rant about Hong Kong. “I thought we were safe in America,” Zhang said. So he replied with a similar collection of expletives about China’s soon-to-arrive president. The next thing he knew, he recalled, he was thrown to the ground and was being beaten “violently” by the men. Another group of men arrived to join in at some point, he said, and he then lost consciousness. He later posted a video of the men onto the X social media platform. “It was a well-organized and well-coordinated assault,” Zhang said. “The groups of thugs were wearing red headbands and red scarves to identify fellow thug members, and to coordinate with each other.” Like Kwok, Zhang said his time in San Francisco opened his eyes. He had once been surprised to meet other Chinese immigrants who still counsel others against publicly criticizing the Chinese Communist Party, even while in the United States. “I was once angry with them,” he said. “Now I understand why.” Police inaction The activists spoke of the pervasiveness of the harassment. Pema Doma, the executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, estimated about two dozen young Tibetan-Americans were assaulted by the pro-CCP counter-protesters during APEC. Doma said the “thugs” appeared to be targeting young protesters – including following them home on the subway from protests – in order to scare the groups into disbanding or ending the anti-Xi protests. “Chinese CCP agents were targeting individuals and picking them off from the group as if they were prey,” she said. “I was very proud that night when the student activists, some of them as young as 16 … decided they will stay at the protest regardless of the threats.” The counter-protesters worked together to use large Chinese flags both as weapons – leveraging the poles to beat their targets – as well as covers to hide their violent activities from nearby police, she said. In one particularly bad case, Doma recounted, a Tibetan-American mother alerted police to her son being beaten “about 50 feet away,” but they refused to intervene because it was obscured by the flags.  A woman protesting Chinese President Xi Jinping’s arrival at a hotel in downtown San Francisco on Nov. 14 is surrounded by pro-Beijing counter-protesters bearing large flags (Alex Willemyns/RFA) Instead, she said, police cautioned her not to stay away. “I have never felt such disappointment as when the San Francisco Police Department told me ‘We cannot go there,’ and they actually restrained the mother from going to her own child,” she said. “I have never felt so powerless as a Tibetan-American person.”  RFA reporters in San Francisco last month witnessed a separate incident where a protester outside the Chinese president’s downtown hotel was surrounded by a group bearing large flags before being thrown to the ground and stomped on as police stood nearby. Calls for investigation Both the San Francisco Police Department and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment from RFA. Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey who serves as a co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, told the news conference that he believed police on the scene were acting on orders “from above” and said an investigation was warranted. “These claims, as well as the non-responsiveness of the San Francisco Police Department … must be investigated, as this marks an escalation of flagrant transnational repression on United States soil,” Smith said. Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ), chair of Congressional-Executive Commission on China, speaks during…

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Junta troops seize orphanage during battle in central Myanmar

Editor04 mins

Junta soldiers sheltered in an orphanage in central Myanmar to deter resistance groups from attacking, locals and People’s Defense Forces told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.  A junta military camp in Sagaing region’s Tamu township was abandoned by troops in November when it was captured by resistance groups, local People’s Defense Forces said. While attempting to recapture their lost base, junta troops positioned themselves in Kampat city’s orphanage on Sunday. Forty people were in the orphanage at the time, including 36 children and four teachers.  On Sunday, junta soldiers launched an attack on People’s Defense Forces from outside the building, according to a resistance group official, adding that the troops used heavy and small weapons, as well as airstrikes.  However, the resistance group removed the teachers and children from the orphanage on Monday, the official added.  “That orphanage is near the military camp on the hill. The junta troops regained control of that camp on the hill using the orphans as human shields,” he told RFA, asking to be kept anonymous for fear of reprisals.  “Both the children and the adults in that orphanage tried to escape, but they did not succeed. So they were evacuated by our People’s Defense Forces at around 12 yesterday. Now they are in a safe place.” The orphanage is owned by a Christian church in No. 1 neighborhood of Kampat city. Nearby are a police station and a temporary military camp on the hill, residents said, which troops regained control of after the battle.  Intense fighting on the India-Myanmar border near Kampat city has been constant since the end of October. People’s Defense Forces claim to have captured Kampat on Nov. 7. Almost a month later on Wednesday, junta troops launched an offensive to recapture the city, defense force officials told RFA. Since then, fighting has continued. On Sunday, the military junta carried out an aerial attack around the Kampat Police Station near the orphanage, he added.  Calls by RFA to Sagaing region’s junta spokesperson Sai Naing Naing Kyaw seeking comment on the incident went unanswered Tuesday. Nearly 5,000 residents from four neighborhoods in Kampat city and surrounding villages have fled on Tuesday, some to the Indian border. Fighting has also intensified near Tamu city, making it difficult for locals to find a place to seek shelter, residents said. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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