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EXPLAINED: Why are leaflets protesting North Korea dropped in Japan?

Editor6 days ago06 mins

Read a version of this story in Korean An organization dedicated to advocating for South Koreans abducted by North Korea plans to air-drop anti-North Korean leaflets in Tokyo on this week. Specifically, the group plans to use drones to drop the leaflets — containing photos and stories of some of the 516 South Koreans kidnapped by North Korea over the years — over the headquarters of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, which many regard as Pyongyang’s de facto embassy there. North Korea doesn’t have an embassy in Japan because the two countries don’t have formal diplomatic ties. What’s the goal of this tactic? The group is doing this because staffers at the headquarters of the pro-North Korean organization — also, abbreviated to Chongryon (in Korean) or Chosen Soren (in Japanese) — refused to accept a hand-delivered list of abductees, according to Choi Sung-ryong, the head of the South Korea-based Association of the Families of Those Abducted by North Korea. Choi said that dropping the leaflets on Chongryon headquarters is like sending them directly to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — and he hopes that his efforts can prompt Pyongyang to acknowledge that it has abducted many South Koreans over the years. Choi said he would continue to distribute leaflets until this happens. “The leaflets include a request to quickly confirm whether the abductees are alive or dead,” said Choi. “We are asking Kim Jong Un to quickly confirm the fate of 516 family members. That’s why we’re protesting.” Zainichi Koreans in Japan pray for the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during a memorial service at a Korean cultural center in Tokyo on Dec. 29, 2011, shortly after his death. Its rival organization is the South Korea-aligned Korean Residents Union in Japan, referred to colloquially in Japanese and Korean using the abbreviation Mindan. Both organizations advocate for Zainichi Koreans living in Japan — which for most of the second half of the 20th century was the largest minority in the country, and is now the third largest. What does Zainichi mean exactly? In Japanese, it literally means “staying in Japan.” Today, there are hundreds of thousands of zainichi Koreans who live in Japan — they have been living there for generations, but for one reason or another they have not acquired Japanese citizenship. The history behind this is that when World War II ended in 1945, there were around 2.4 million Koreans in Japan, and while most of them returned to Korea over the next few months, around 640,000 stayed behind. A group of Japanese and zainichi Koreans stage a protest against Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara’s anti-foreigner remarks, in front of the Tokyo metropolitan government office April 12, 2000. Japan became party to several international human rights covenants in the 1980s and since the post-war period there has been a general change in mainstream Japanese attitudes towards minorities. But for much of the early postwar period, the community struggled economically, and community organizations emerged to counter discrimination against Zainichi. The Chosen Soren and Mindan groups have advocated for their rights in Japanese society and preservation of Korean culture and language among the community, including by securing funds from the South and North Korean governments to run schools for Zainichi children. Today, while there is greater acceptance of zainichi Koreans in Japanese society, they still face discrimination. Translated by Leejin J. Chung. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Xi Jinping calls for wider use of Mandarin in China’s border areas

Editor6 days ago05 mins

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Chinese President Xi Jinping said common Chinese language, or Mandarin, should be “spoken more broadly” in border regions, adding to longstanding concerns about the impact on China’s ethnic minority languages, which some of their speakers say are struggling to survive. China’s borderlands, spanning five provinces and four autonomous regions, including Tibet, Xinjiang Uygur and Inner Mongolia, are culturally and linguistically diverse and have seen opposition to Beijing’s efforts to assimilate ethnic minorities into the majority Han culture. While Mandarin is China’s official language, efforts to promote it have sparked controversy, with critics warning of harm to ethnic languages and cultural identities. “We should continue to deepen efforts on ethnic unity and progress, actively build an integrated social structure and community environment, and promote the unity of all ethnic groups – like pomegranate seeds tightly held together,” said Xi, addressing a Politburo study session on Monday. Xi also said Mandarin, colloquially known as Putonghua, and its writing system should be comprehensively popularized in border regions, and the use of national textbooks compiled under central guidance should be fully implemented, the state-run People’s Daily newspaper reported. He told members of the ruling party’s top policymaking body that it was necessary to guide all ethnic groups in border regions to “continuously enhance their recognition of the Chinese nation, Chinese culture and the Communist Party”. The Chinese leader added that maintaining security and stability was the “baseline requirement” for border governance, noting that efforts should be made to improve social governance, infrastructure and “the overall ability to defend the country and safeguard the border”. China’s Politburo regularly holds sessions, with discussion usually led by an academic – Monday’s session was led by Li Guoqiang, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of History. RELATED STORIES Tibetan language rights advocate under surveillance after release from detention Mandarin speech contests in Tibet are attempts to erase native language, experts say 4 Tibetan teens detained for resisting going to Chinese schools Xi’s latest remarks come amid a broader push in recent years by authorities to promote Mandarin-language education as part of a nationwide effort to assimilate ethnic minorities into the majority Han culture. In Inner Mongolia, the 2020 introduction of Mandarin as the primary language of instruction for core subjects led to widespread protests, school boycotts, and demonstrations by ethnic Mongolians, who fear the erosion of their native language and identity. Similarly, in Tibet, the increasing use of boarding schools where children are taught primarily in Mandarin has been condemned by rights groups as a strategy to weaken Tibetan cultural ties and instill loyalty to Beijing. In Xinjiang, the strict enforcement of Mandarin education has been linked to broader campaigns targeting Uyghur Muslims, including reports of mass detentions and forced assimilation – which Beijing denies – raising alarm over the systematic suppression of Uyghur language and traditions. On Dec. 28, 2021, China’s Ministry of Education, the National Rural Revitalization Bureau and the National Language Commission issued a plan to promote Mandarin. By 2025, it aims for Mandarin to be spoken and understood in 85% of the country as a whole and in 80% of rural areas. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

China demolishes prominent Xinjiang building owned by Uyghur activist in US

Editor7 days ago09 mins

A symbolically important building in Xinjiang’s capital that was instrumental in the emergence of Uyghur entrepreneurs and businesspeople in the 1990s has been demolished, Radio Free Asia has learned. Authorities destroyed the Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center in Urumqi on Nov. 29, said Zumret Dawut, a Uyghur internment camp survivor now in the United States, citing sources from inside China’s far-western region of Xinjiang. The building had been shuttered for 15 years. Other sources in Xinjiang, including police officers and a tourism worker, confirmed the demolition, and satellite photos show debris where the building once stood on a corner of downtown Urumqi, near the Grand Bazaar. Built in 1990, the seven-story Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center, including the adjacent Akida Trade Center, was a 30,000-square-meter (323,000-square-foot) space with over 600 shops, conference rooms, wedding halls, classrooms and hotel rooms. Besides promoting the development of Uyghur entrepreneurs, the center became a meeting place for intellectuals, a training ground for young researchers and a starting point for philanthropists. The red arrow points to the Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center in Urumqi, capital of northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Sept. 9, 2009. Dawut’s sources told her that the building was imploded. She also said she closely monitored Chinese state media and social media platforms, including Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, for more information or videos, but found nothing. Strict security measures were implemented the day the building was torn down, Dawut learned from her sources, and the road where the trade center was located and surrounding streets were placed under surveillance. Before authorities destroyed the trade center, they distributed notices about closing nearby shops and buildings and restricted access to tourist sites. “I was told that the store owners were instructed to keep their shops closed on the day of the demolition, and no one was allowed in the area,” she said. When RFA contacted police and other officials in Urumqi about the building’s fate, most warned that the topic was sensitive and declined to answer questions when Kadeer’s name was mentioned. ‘Sensitive topic’ A police officer at the Urumqi Ghalibiyat Police Station said the situation was normal and that foreign tourists could visit the area around the Grand Bazaar, but he did not deny the building’s demolition. RELATED STORIES Sister of Uyghur Rights Advocate Rebiya Kadeer Confirmed to Have Died After Release From Detention ‘More Than 30’ Relatives of Uyghur Exile Leader Rebiya Kadeer Detained in Xinjiang Uyghur Leader’s Family Evicted World Cannot Turn a Blind Eye: Rebiya Kadeer China Frees Rebiya Kadeer “The Grand Bazaar can still be toured, and the museums are open for visits,” the officer said. “However, there is no longer a Rebiya Trade Center. You can’t refer to it by that name at this moment. It’s a sensitive topic.” When asked why the building was demolished, the officer said she and others at the police station had heard something about it but could not provide details because of the topic’s sensitivity. A duty officer at the city police’s external affairs department said the Kadeer building was demolished on Nov. 29 by municipal construction workers. But she said she did not have further information. A staff member from a tourism agency in Urumqi also confirmed the center’s destruction. “The Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center has already been demolished,” she said. “I haven’t been there since it’s in ruins, and everything is a mess.” A government worker in Urumqi who declined to give his name said authorities tried to carry out the demolition as quietly as possible, but the sound of the building imploding and police presence on surrounding streets created more fear in the already uneasy city. A view of the facade of the Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center in Urumqi, capital of northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Sept. 9, 2009. An officer from the Nanhu Police Station near the Kadeer building who was on duty around the Grand Bazaar on Nov. 29 suggested that others’ accounts were exaggerated and noted that few policemen were needed during the demolition because Urumqi’s streets are filled with surveillance cameras. “The demolition was carried out without causing any panic,” she said. 1999 arrest When Kadeer lived in Xinjiang, she was politically active and held positions in China’s National People’s Congress in Beijing and in other political bodies prior to her arrest in Urumqi in 1999 while en route to a meeting with a U.S. Congressional staff delegation. Chinese authorities accused her of sending confidential internal reports to her husband, who at the time worked as a broadcaster for Radio Free Asia and Voice of America in the U.S. Kadeer was released on medical parole in 2005 and fled to the United States, where she took on leadership positions in overseas Uyghur organizations, including the World Uyghur Congress. After deadly unrest between Muslim Uyghurs and Han Chinese in Urumqi in July 2009, Chinese authorities accused Kadeer, who was not present at the time, of being an instigator of the turmoil, and permanently shuttered her trade center. Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Did a Chinese tabloid publish a front-page story about Bashar al-Assad’s fall?

Editor1 week ago02 mins

A photo of what appears to be a front page of a newspaper emerged in Chinese-language social media posts that claim it shows coverage of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad by China’s state-run tabloid, the Global Times. But the claim is false. The photo has been digitally doctored. The original photo shows a Global Times report about former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein published in 2003. The photo was shared online about Syria on Dec. 7, citing a statement from the Syrian Presidential Palace denying claims that Assad had left Damascus. The phrase “Why Bashar is not alarmed” was not used in the article’s title or body. Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Taejun Kang. Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Arakan Army takes fight to Myanmar’s western command in bid to control Rakhine state

Editor1 week ago06 mins

Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. Arakan rebels are fighting within the borders of the junta’s Western Military Command headquarters in Myanmar’s Rakhine state after having taken control of nearby Ann township last week, residents said Tuesday. The Arakan Army, or AA, is fighting for self-determination in Myanmar’s western-most state and has made unprecedented progress over the past year, pushing forces loyal to the junta that seized power in 2021 into a few pockets of territory. On Nov. 30, the AA seized the junta’s last military posts in Ann’s Myo Thit, Lay Yin Kwin, Aut Ywar and Ah Hta Ka neighborhoods, taking complete control of the town, which lies 220 kilometers (135 miles) west of Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw. By Tuesday, AA fighters had penetrated the headquarters of the junta in Rakhine state and the military has responded with aerial strikes and troop reinforcements, a resident of Ann told RFA Burmese. “The AA is now able to break into the western command headquarters and is calling on the remaining troops in the junta’s western command to surrender,” said the resident who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. RELATED STORIES Myanmar’s Arakan Army captures Ann town, focus now on army HQ EXPLAINED: What is Myanmar’s Arakan Army? A year after offensive, rebels control most of Myanmar’s Rakhine state Another resident, who is familiar with the ongoing conflict and also declined to be named, told RFA that junta troops were advancing to the headquarters along the 150-kilometer (93-mile) road connecting Ann northeast to Minbu township “in large numbers,” and had taken up defensive positions along Chinese infrastructure projects. On Nov. 20, the AA captured the town of Toungup in the center of the state, which is on a road hub including a link to the the Kyaukpyu economic zone on the coast, where China is funding a deep-sea port, and has energy facilities including natural gas and oil pipelines running to southern China. Beijing threw its support behind the junta shortly after the 2021 coup and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s regime has vowed to protect Chinese interests in Myanmar amid the country’s nearly four-year civil war. Reinforcements en route Meanwhile, residents said that a junta column of about 200 troops is advancing west towards Ann along the road that links it to neighboring Magway region’s Padan township. All the while, the military has been resupplying its troops in the Western Command headquarters with weapons and other supplies by air, they said. Last week, when the AA took control of Ann, sources told RFA that only a few residents had remained in the township and the AA had taken them to safety, leaving the town empty. Attempts by RFA to contact Hla Thein, the junta’s attorney general for Rakhine state, about the fighting in Ann township went unanswered Tuesday, as did efforts to reach AA spokesperson Khaing Thu Kha. The AA, which largely draws its support from Rakhine’s Buddhist majority, has made steady advances over the past year, from the state’s far north on the border with Bangladesh, through central areas to its far south, and it now controls about 80% of it. On Dec. 6, the AA announced that it had taken control of all of the junta’s more than 30 camps in Rakhine, except for the Western Military Command headquarters. Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Myanmar to organize election in fewer than half of townships, parties say

Editor1 week ago1 week ago06 mins

Myanmar is expected to organize an election next year in fewer than half of its 330 townships in the first phase of a staggered vote, a political party official said on Tuesday, with an insurgency by anti-junta forces likely to prevent the polls from opening in large parts of the country. The generals who seized power in 2021 are hoping that an election will legitimize their rule and please neighbors, including China. The junta’s opponents say a vote under the military, with the most popular politicians locked up and their parties banned, will be a sham. More than 6,000 people have been killed in Myanmar’s war since the coup and some 21,000 have been jailed, U.N. experts said last week, calling on governments around the world to reject the junta’s election plan. No date has been set for the vote but it is expected this year. The chairman of the Election Commission, Ko Ko, met representatives of political parties in the capital, Naypyidaw, on the weekend to outline arrangements, said Myo Set Thway, general secretary of the People’s Pioneer Party. “He’s saying elections will just be held in places that are already safe and trusted,” Myo Set Thway, who attended the meeting, told Us. He cited the commission chairman as saying voting would be held in 161 of the 330 townships. Myo Set Thway did not say which townships would vote first but large parts of the country, including some central areas, have been rocked by fighting over the past year. Insurgents controlled at least 86 towns as of November, said the Burma News International’s Myanmar Peace Monitor. “He’ll hold the next elections in places that can be made secure, that was the connotation,” Myo Set Thway said, referring to the chairman. A spokesperson for the Election Commission could not immediately be reached for comment. China, with energy pipelines and other economic interests in Myanmar, supports the election and has been pressing ethnic minority insurgents to talk peace with the junta. Votes for the displaced In Myanmar’s last election in 2020, voting was held in 315 out of the 330 townships. The party led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi swept that vote, as it did in 2015. The army complained of cheating in 2020 and overthrew Suu Kyi’s government on Feb. 1, 2021. She has been jailed for 27 years. Authorities have effectively barred many parties from the vote, including Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, but 53 have registered, said Ko Ko. Voting will likely take place in Mon state and the Thanintharyi region in the south, Yangon and the Mandalay and Ayeyarwaddy regions, where the military retains strongholds, analysts say. A party leader from war-torn Rakhine state said people displaced by fighting had to be able to vote. “The Election Commission must protect the rights of internally displaced people fleeing from the military and sheltering in areas outside their scope,” said Aye Maung, chairman of the Arakan Front party. The U.N. says more than 3 million people have been displaced by the fighting and by flooding this year. Neighbors will be hoping an election can help to bring stability to resource-rich Myanmar. Thailand, China and India have discussed support for a census now underway and the vote. Edited by Kiana Duncan. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Cambodian journalist who reported on illegal logging dies from gunshot wound

Editor1 week ago1 week ago04 mins

A Cambodian reporter who was shot last week while investigating a forest-clearing operation in a wildlife sanctuary has died from his wounds, his wife told us. Chhoeung Chheng, 63, was shot on Dec. 4 as he rode on a motorbike toward the Boeung Per Wildlife Sanctuary in Siem Reap province. He was taken to Siem Reap Provincial Hospital, where doctors removed a bullet from his abdomen, according to his wife, Chiev Chap. However, doctors were unable to stop the bleeding and he died early Saturday, she told. Chhoeung Chheung, who worked as a journalist for online news outlet Kampuchea Aphivath, had previously reported on the destruction of natural resources in a community forest in the sanctuary. He was shot by unknown persons believed to have been hiding along the road, Chiev Chap told Ij-Reportika last week, citing a conversation with her husband. Police have arrested a suspect on attempted murder charges and have said they believe the shooting stemmed from a personal dispute. Siem Reap provincial court spokesperson Yin Srang told us on Saturday that the suspect has been placed under pre-trial detention. Journalists killed in Cambodia It’s been several years since a journalist has been shot in Cambodia, Nop Vy, executive director for the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association, or Camboja, told us Khmer last week. Since 1994, at least 15 journalists have been killed in the country, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights said in a statement in October. Twelve of them were working on stories that could have posed a direct threat to powerful Cambodians, the center said. In 2014, journalist Traing Try was fatally shot in northeastern Kratie province as he was traveling with other reporters to investigate illegal logging in the region. “This murder is appalling and demands a strong response,” said Cédric Alviani, the Asia-Pacific bureau director of Paris-based Reporters Without Borders. “We call on Cambodian authorities to ensure that all parties responsible for the attack are severely punished,” he said in a statement. “We also urge the Cambodian government to take concrete actions to end violence against journalists.” Chhoeung Chheng was a person with sound character who always maintained good relations with his neighbors, Chiev Chap said. She urged authorities to sentence the offender to the fullest extent. “How can I accept this murder case? I saw him walking daily in front of me,” she said. “It is really unfair. I don’t know what else to do except to depend on competent authorities.” We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Myanmar rebels capture last military post on Bangladesh border

Editor1 week ago1 week ago06 mins

Ethnic minority insurgents have captured the last Myanmar military position on the border with Bangladesh after its defenders, including pro-junta militiamen from the mostly Muslim Rohingya community, abandoned the post and fled, the rebel group and residents said. The Arakan Army, or AA, which is fighting for self-determination in Rakhine state, seized the military stronghold known as Border Guard Post No. 5 near the town of Maungdaw on Sunday, the group said. “The Arakan army successfully captured and neutralized the last remaining outpost … in the Maungdaw region,” it said in a statement. Junta forces and members of Rohingya militia raised by the junta to battle the AA were trying to flee across the Naf River, which forms the border with Bangladesh, “using motorboats and canoes” and launching attacks as they did so, the AA said. “Clashes are still occurring … Therefore, due to military necessities and public security concerns, all river transportation in the Naf River will be indefinitely suspended,” the group said. Residents of Maungdaw said they were worried about the possibility of a navy boat operating offshore opening fire in retaliation for the AA’s capture of the position. “The AA has captured the entire border with Bangladesh,” said one resident who declined to be identified for safety reasons. “There’s still one junta navy ship … we need to keep that in mind, they can still shoot pretty far with their cannon.” The junta that seized power with the ouster of an elected government in February 2021 has been pushed back by insurgents in several parts of the country over the past year, raising questions about the sustainability of military rule. The capture of the entire border with Bangladesh by one of Myanmar’s most powerful insurgents armies comes days after ethnic minority Kachin insurgents in northern Myanmar, seized control of all of the border with China where its forces operate. ‘Commander captured’ A source close to the AA said the commander of military operations in the area, Brig. Thurein Tun, was among junta forces captured as they were trying to flee after the fall of the base. “He was arrested last night on the road that goes down to the river along with his personal staff, majors, captains and senior police officers,” said the source, who also declined to be identified. RFA tried to telephone the AA spokesperson, Khaing Thu Kha, and the junta spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, to ask them about the situation but neither answered calls. Rohingya militia men from groups such as the Rohingya Solidarity Organization, Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army and Arakan Rohingya Army, were among the pro-jutna forces that fled, the AA said. AA fighters were on Monday searching for fleeing junta forces along the Ah Leh Than Kyaw Beach and in various waterways, residents said. The AA draws its support from the state’s Buddhist majority and has a fraught relationship with members of the Muslim minority, particularly since the junta started recruiting Rohingya this year into militias to battle the AA. Human rights investigators said the AA was responsible for killing scores of Rohingya civilians trying to flee from Maungdaw to Bangladesh on Aug. 5, when they were attacked with drones and artillery as the AA intensified its campaign to capture the town. The AA denied responsibility. The AA controls about 80% of Rakhine state – 10 of its 17 townships and one in neighboring Chin state. In townships it does not control, it has pinned junta forces into pockets of territory, such as the state capital, Sittwe, a military headquarters in the town of Ann and the Kyaukpyu economic zone on the coast where China has energy facilities and wants to build a deep-sea port. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Is Laos actually tackling its vast scam Industry?

Editor1 week ago04 mins

In early August, the authorities in Laos delivered an ultimatum to scammers operating in the notorious Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone: Clear out or face the consequences. On Aug. 12, the Lao police, supported by their Chinese counterparts, swooped in. Some 711 people were arrested during the first week. Another 60 Lao and Chinese nationals were arrested by the end of the month, and more arrests have been made since. The way Vientiane frames it, Laos is now getting tough on the vast cyber-scamming industry that has infested much of mainland Southeast Asia. In Laos, the sector could be worth as much as the equivalent of 40 percent of the formal economy, according to a United States Institute of Peace report earlier this year. The think tank estimated that criminal gangs could be holding as many as 85,000 workers in slave-like conditions in compounds in Laos. People in Laos tell me there is some truth to Vientiane’s assertions. This might have been why Laos was downgraded to Tier 2 on the U.S. State Department’s annual human trafficking ranking in July, while Myanmar and Cambodia were downgraded to the lower Tier 3. According to one expert, “Laos is taking this issue more seriously than Cambodia and has more capacity to respond than Myanmar.” An apparent call center in Laos is raided by authorities, Aug. 9, 2024. However, Vientiane would care if scammers are now merely set up shop elsewhere in Laos. One source tells me that they are already embedding themselves in the capital and near the Laos-China border. Depending on how things play out, Laos might end up with a diffuse scam industry that’s structured a lot more like Cambodia’s — and which is far harder to dismantle. Dispersing the scam compounds means increasing contacts between the criminals and officials from other provinces. Less sophisticated syndicates mean more of the scamming profits stay in-country, laundered through the local economy, infecting everything. Narco-states like Mexico and Colombia have learned the brutal lesson that it’s simpler to deal with an illegal industry run by one dominant cartel, even one you have to tolerate, rather than a scorched-earth free-for-all between many warring factions. Possibly, a similar impulse may be why Vientiane seemingly wants to push Zhao and his associates enough for some smaller operators to flee the country, but not enough that the Golden Triangle SEZ collapses. David Hutt is a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS) and the Southeast Asia Columnist at the Diplomat. He writes the Watching Europe In Southeast Asia newsletter. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of RFA. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

INTERVIEW: An Ex-FBI agent helps unravel the mysteries of a spy swap

Editor2 weeks ago1 week ago08 mins

A secret deal between the US and China announced in November allowed Chinese nationals to be freed in exchange for the release of several Americans imprisoned in China. One of the Chinese nationals who was freed, Xu Yanjun, had been serving a 20-year sentence. He had worked for China’s Ministry of State Security. One of the Americans in China, John Leung, reportedly an FBI informant, had been held in prison for three years. Two other Americans, Kai Li, also accused of providing information to the F.B.I., and Mark Swidan, a Texas businessman, were freed at the same time. In addition, Ayshem Mamut, the mother of human-rights activist Nury Turkel, and the two other Uyghurs were allowed to leave China. They all traveled on the same plane to the United States. Holden Triplett, the co-founder of a risk-management consultancy, Trenchcoat Advisors, has served as the head of the FBI office in Beijing and as director of counterintelligence at the National Security Council. Here, he weighs in on the high-stakes game of exchanging spies. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Interviewer: Spy swaps have a long history. What was it like in the past? Holden Triplett: During the Cold War, there were a lot of spy swaps. It’s kind of a normal way of interacting between two rival powers. But it was always Russia, or the Soviet Union, and the United States. It’s not something that China had typically engaged in in the past. Interviewer: Why would China, or any country, be interested in a spy swap? Holden Triplett: China would be very interested in getting back the individuals who’d worked for them. The longer they’re in prison in the U.S., the more chance they’re going to divulge information about what they’ve done. Also, the Chinese want to be able to say to the people who work for them, ‘Hey, we may put you in dangerous situations. But, don’t worry, if anything happens, we’ll get you back home.’ The down side for the Chinese, of course, is that it’s an implicit acknowledgement of what they’ve been doing. In the past, they’ve denied that they’re [engaged in espionage]. Interviewer: And for the U.S? Holden Triplett: The idea is the same; We get our spies back. It’s more of a game, I guess you could say. There’s a bit more protection for spies than for others. They get arrested, but they don’t serve time. And so, spying on each other is made into a regularized affair. My concern is that the Chinese say, ‘Now that we’ve established this kind of exchange, people for people, now all we need to know to do now is pick up some more Americans and arrest them.’ Then, the Chinese can try and bargain with the U.S. for their release. We’ve already seen that in Russia with Brittney Griner [an American basketball player who was imprisoned in Russia]. Look at who the Russians got back – Viktor Bout [a Russian arms dealer found guilty of conspiring to kill Americans]. The Russians have wanted him for decades. Nothing against Ms. Griner, but that is a pretty easy decision-making process. They pick up somebody who has star power, and they can get someone they want back. If China’s gotten that message, then Americans should be concerned about going to China. They could become a chip in a larger geopolitical game. There’s a possibility that they could get arrested and end up in a nightmare jail. Interviewer: Well, they say you’re not supposed to negotiate with – Holden Triplett: – with terrorists. Look, I think the U.S. is in a really difficult place. There’s pressure on the U.S. government from the families to get them back. Interviewer: Several Uyghurs were also released. What is the significance of that? Holden Triplett: I would assume the Chinese got something for this. They’re very transactional. They’re not doing something for the good of the relationship between the U.S. and China. Interviewer: It didn’t seem as though John Leung, who’d been held in a Chinese prisoner, was an important asset for the FBI. What do you think was behind this? Holden Triplett: I don’t know what role he played for the FBI, or even if that’s true. But regardless, the message from the bureau is: Don’t worry. Even if you’re doing dangerous work, we will protect you. We will come and get you. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative ReportsDaily ReportsInterviews Surveys Reportika

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