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Minister in Myanmar’s ousted government dies days after release

Editor6 days ago06 mins

Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. A former minister in Aung San Suu Kyi’s ousted government has died shortly after being released from prison, family friends and party colleagues told Radio Free Asia, the latest jailed member of Myanmar’s last elected government to die. Win Khaing, 74, was minister of electricity and energy in the government formed by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, or NLD, which was overthrown on Feb. 1, 2021, when the generals ended a decade of tentative reform and reimposed hardline military rule. “The respected Win Khaing joined hands with the NLD to make it the best. He was involved in both management and policy reforms and was capable of carrying them out,” said NLD colleague Bo Bo Oo, the party’s deputy chairperson for the Sanchaung township in the main city of Yangon. “The loss of our distinguished Win Khaing is a loss for all Myanmar citizens, the whole country’s loss,” Bo Bo Oo told Radio Free Asia from an undisclosed location. Family friends said Win Khaing died of heart disease and diabetes in hospital late on Friday. He had been released from the infamous Obo Prison in Mandalay on Oct. 28 due to deteriorating health and taken to Mandalay General Hospital. Win Khaing was arrested shortly after the 2021 coup and later jailed for 28 years on corruption charges related to a hydro-power project. Almost all NLD leaders, including Suu Kyi, have been jailed on various charges that they have dismissed as politically motivated. Calls to Myanmar military spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, went unanswered. Military-run media did not report Win Khaing’s death but the news spread quickly in Myanmar’s second-biggest city. ‘Military is responsible’ Some residents drew parallels with the death last month of Zaw Myint Maung, another top NLD member who died of cancer days after being released on medical grounds from a lengthy sentence in the same prison. “Of course, they only give amnesty to a person when they know they’re going to die,” said one resident who declined to be identified for security reasons. “People in Mandalay knew he had been released a week before he passed away.” The civilian shadow administration in exile, National Unity Government, or NUG, formed by former NLD members, has criticized the junta officials for failing to provide prisoners with adequate medical treatment. A spokesperson for the NUG, Nay Phone Latt, denounced the “ illegal capture and jailing” of pro-democracy politicians. “The military is completely responsible for this,” Nay Phone Latt said. The death of elderly NLD members raises concerns for the fate of Myanmar’s most popular politician, Suu Kyi. The 79-year-old daughter of the hero of Myanmar’s campaign for independence from colonial rule was also arrested after the 2021 coup. She was sentenced on various charges, that she dismissed as trumped up, and jailed for 33 years though her sentence was reduced to 27 years. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is believed to be in solitary confinement in prison in the capital, Naypyidaw, but her exact whereabouts are unknown. About 2,000 other NLD members have been jailed by the military regime since the coup along with thousands of other democracy campaigners. Among those to have died in custody was Nyan Win, a top NLD adviser to Suu Kyi, who died of COVID-19 in 2021. A year later, the junta executed former NLD lawmaker Phyo Zayar Thaw, for treason and terrorism charges. RELATED STORIES Myanmar democracy champion Tin Oo, dead at 98 Relative of Myanmar’s ex-dictator arrested over social media posts Over 100 Myanmar political prisoners have died since coup, group says Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Chinese state TV drama about Xi’s father fails to impress

Editor7 days ago3 days ago06 mins

China’s state broadcaster has launched a historical TV show with an all-star cast dramatizing the role of President Xi Jinping’s father Xi Zhongxun in the communist revolution, although social media reaction and commentators suggest that young people in China would rather watch “Stranger Things.” Read our report on how CCP has established its propaganda using soft power propaganda network : Soft Power Propaganda Network of Chinese Cinema “When the wind blew from the northwest, the revolutionaries … watered their faith with their own blood and lived their lives in hope,” state broadcaster CCTV said in a Weibo post announcing the launch of the 39-episode TV series with a short trailer on Nov. 5. “I’m Xi Zhongxun,” whispers a youthful version of the revolutionary veteran over footage of idealistic young men saluting the communist flag and charging into battle. “I will forever fight for the struggling masses with all my might,” he pledges over full-costume footage of historic battles amid the yellow dust of northwest China, with red flags appearing in nearly every shot. “I make revolution with the Communist Party because it’s through them that I saw the light of truth, and was given something to fight for,” the character says. Later, the narrator intones: “Xi Zhongxun, a leader of the people who came from the people,” followed by a shot in which the elder Xi plays with his young son, Xi Jinping, driving home a political point about the current Chinese leader’s lineage. Personality cult The show comes amid growing signs of a Mao-style personality cult around Xi, as institutions and political figures compete to show the utmost loyalty to Xi and his personal brand of political ideology, including via propaganda movies and TV shows. The latest show, titled “The Northwest Years,” tells the story of the elder Xi’s role as a young man in the war against the Japanese in the country’s northwest, defending China’s borders and promoting land reforms to free farming communities from the yoke of local landlords. Chinese President Xi Jinping, on screen, delivers a speech during the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on July 1, 2021. “Nobody’s going to watch this kind of show unless they have to,” Gao said, adding that the role played by Xi Zhongxun in the 1969 Ninth Party Congress headed by late supreme leader Mao Zedong had been hugely inflated. “Xi Zhongxun was very low-ranking at the time of the Ninth National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, and played a very small role only,” he said. “I saw a scene showing him raising the curtain for Mao Zedong … which I think is a bit over the top.” But he said audiences were still unlikely to be impressed, despite the lavish costume and set design. “People are no longer interested in these dramas, which have nothing to do with the lives of ordinary people,” he told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview. He said such shows no longer have the captive audiences via free-to-air state broadcasters that they used to enjoy, as people can now go online for their entertainment. A resident of the northern province of Shaanxi who gave only the surname Li for fear of reprisals said Xi Zhongxun was more of a political than a military leader. “Xi Zhongxun’s most important political achievement was to instigate the Hengshan Uprising, which was a rebellion of two divisions of the National Revolutionary Army stationed in Yulin, in all about 5,000 to 6,000 people,” Li said. “This uprising cleared the obstacles for the Yan’an troops to move northward and ensured the safety of Mao Zedong’s troops based in Yan’an,” he said. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Perhaps it would be better if Myanmar’s civil war became a ‘forgotten conflict’

Editor1 week ago04 mins

It’s become fashionable in some quarters to suggest the three-year-old Myanmar civil war might be solvable if only more people remembered that it was taking place. Julie Bishop, a former Australian foreign minister appointed the UN Special Envoy on Myanmar in April, recently gave her first address to a UN General Assembly committee, in which she warned that “the Myanmar conflict risks becoming a forgotten crisis.” One might enquire by whom this conflict is apparently becoming “forgotten.” One can hardly say with a straight face that it has been forgotten by the 54 million people of Myanmar, nor by the 3.1 million people who have been displaced, nor the million or so Rohingya who must still live in hell-hole refugee camps abroad because they know the military junta wants to finish the genocide it started years ago. It is certainly not forgotten by the people who matter the most. Displaced people from Lashio cross the Dokhtawaddy river as they flee their homes following clashes between Myanmar’s military and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), in Zin Ann village between Lashio and Hsipaw township in Myanmar’s northern Shan state, July 8, 2024 But the claim also invites the question: Would there be any improvement if the conflict was less forgotten? Frankly, if any Western democracy or the UN wanted to intervene, they’ve had several years to do so. If ASEAN wanted to stop play-acting at mediation, it’s had since April 2021 to carve some teeth into the Five-Point Consensus, its unrealized peace plan. Post-colonial settlement This conflict has been raging since February 2021, though some might say, quite accurately, that it has actually been waiting to erupt since the 1950s. Whereas nearly every other Southeast Asian country underwent something like a civil war or democratic revolution after gaining independence from European colonial powers, Myanmar never did so. That process was left stillborne by the military coup of 1962. Because the military has shown that it cannot be trusted to share power with a civilian government, only now, do the people of Myanmar have the possibility of throwing off the foul despotism that has enchained them throughout the post-colonial era. RELATED STORIES 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

Jailed Tibetan community leader denied retrial

Editor1 week ago03 mins

Read a version of this story in Tibetan Chinese authorities in Tibet have denied to retry an envirnomental activist who is serving a seven-year sentence for campaigning against government corruption, his lawyer said on social media. Anya Sengdra, 53, a resident of Kyangchu township in Gade (in Chinese, Gande) county in the Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture has already served six years of his sentence for “disturbing social order” after he complained online about corrupt officials, illegal mining and the hunting of protected wildlife. He was convicted and sentenced in 2019, and has attempted to appeal the decision twice before, his lawyer Lin Qilei said in a post on X on Tuesday. “This marks the third appeal for a retrial submitted to the Sixth Circuit Court of the Supreme People’s Court in Xi’an,” Lin said on X. “As usual, I filled out the necessary forms and waited in line. After some time, a judge came out and informed me that they had decided not to review Sengdra’s case,” Lin said. “He advised me not to return to the court regarding this matter in the future.” RELATED STORIES UN Human Rights Experts Call on China to Free Jailed Tibetan Community Leader Tibetan activist detained for exposing illegal sand, gravel mining In 2020, a group of UN human rights experts appealed to the Chinese government, urging them to dismiss the charges against him. Earlier this month, the Chinese authorities detained Tsogon Tsering, a Tibetan environmental activist from Sichuan province after he made a rare public appeal on social media for action against a company he accused of illegally extracting sand and gravel from a river. Tsering has remained in custody since then and his whereabouts are still unknown. Edited by Tenzin Dickyi, Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

UN climate change case ‘particularly relevant’ following Trump election win: lawyer

Editor1 week ago02 mins

An international legal judgment on governments’ obligations to prevent human-driven climate change has become more crucial after Donald Trump’s election victory raised the prospect of the U.S. again withdrawing from the landmark Paris agreement, a lawyer in the case said. The U.N.’s International Court of Justice, or ICJ, is set to begin hearings on Dec. 2 that will culminate in it issuing an opinion on states’ responsibilities and the legal consequences for countries that fail to act. More than 130 nations – but not top polluters China and the U.S. – supported a push by Pacific island nation of written statements ever filed in an advisory proceeding before the court. The court also received dozens of written responses to the initial submissions. It extended the deadline for written submissions several times. China and the U.S. both made written submissions, as have organizations such as OPEC and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Regenvanu said in a statement Hurricane Milton last month showed the U.S., like Pacific island nations, increasingly faces extreme weather. “This is a shared problem that will not solve itself without international cooperation, and we will continue to make that case to the incoming president of one of the world’s largest polluters,” he said. Edited by Mike Firn. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Climate ‘flashpoint’ looms for Trump’s China-centric focus on Pacific: US analysts

Editor1 week ago07 mins

Growing U.S. security and diplomatic ties with Pacific island nations are unlikely to slow even if American foreign policy undergoes a major shake-up during Donald Trump’s second term, say former White House advisers and analysts. Following decades of neglect, Washington has in recent years embarked on a Pacific charm offensive to counter the growing influence of China in the region. While Trump’s unpredictably and climate change skepticism could be potential flashpoints in relations, deepening U.S. engagement with the Pacific is now firmly a consensus issue in Washington. Trump is likely to maintain focus on the relationship, experts say, but he will have to prove that U.S. attention extends beyond just security-related matters. “President Trump saw a strategic rationale for increased engagement in the Indo-Pacific and increased engagement in the Pacific islands,” said Alexander Gray, a senior fellow in national security affairs at the American Foreign Policy Council. “While the reality is that the security lens is going to galvanize our commitment of resources and time on the region, it’s important for us to send a message that we have other interests beyond just security,” added Gray, who was the first-ever director for Oceania & Indo-Pacific security at the National Security Council. “We have to show an interest in development, economic assistance and economic growth.” A number of firsts Trump’s first term between 2017-21 contained a number of firsts for relations between the world’s No. 1 economy and Pacific islands. PHOTO President Joe Biden (R) meets with presidents of Pacific island nations at the U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit in Washington, D.C., Sept. 29, 2022. Paik, who is now a senior fellow with the Australia Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the climate factor would complicate the relationship, but it was unlikely to “completely sink” it. Despite Trump’s open skepticism about dangerous planet warming, U.S. support for resilience efforts across the Pacific might not be affected, some observers said. “The Pacific certainly didn’t agree with us on our macro approach to climate change,” said Gray, who visited the region a number of times, including for the 2019 Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Tuvalu. “But we made tremendous progress in advancing our relationships in the region because we were able to talk about resilience issues that affect people day to day.” Shared values, mutual respect Following Trump’s sweeping victory on Tuesday, Pacific island leaders tried to stress their shared interests with the U.S. “We look forward to reinforcing the longstanding partnership between our nations, grounded in shared values and mutual respect,” said Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape. Tonga’s Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni and Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabukia both said they looked forward to advancing bilateral relations and Pacific interests. Pacific island nations have sought to benefit from the China-U.S. rivalry by securing more aid and foreign investment. But they have expressed alarm that their region is being turned into a geopolitical battleground. Reilly said a danger for any new president was treating the Pacific islands as a “geopolitical chess board.” “That’s a terrible way to actually engage and win hearts and minds and build enduring partnerships,” he said. Paik said the U.S. now needs to build on the successes of the first phase of American re-engagement. The U.S. renewed its compact of free association deals with Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands earlier this year, but “some of the implementation is still pending,” she said. The deals give the U.S. military exclusive access to their vast ocean territories in exchange for funding and the right for their citizens to live and work in the U.S. “Some of the embassies have been opened, but we still only have one or two diplomats on the ground,” said Paik. “We still need to open an embassy in Kiribati and potentially other locations. “We need to get ambassadors out to the region. We need a permanent ambassador to the PIF.” No sitting U.S. president has ever visited a Pacific island nation. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Exclusive: How Chinese nationalism is sending jitters through the Arctic

Editor1 week ago010 mins

This story was reported with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Read their story here On an early morning in late July, a luxury expedition cruise ship, boasting the latest in high-end Arctic travel, made a slow approach to the docks of Ny-Ålesund, a remote settlement in Norway’s Svalbard Islands. At 79 degrees north latitude, Ny-Ålesund is the northernmost inhabited outpost on Earth. Isolated in the Arctic’s desolate winter, it hosts just 30 year-round residents. Newayer, a Chinese travel agency, chartered the vessel for 183 tourists from Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing. Each passenger paid at least $13,000 for a two-week “Three Arctic Islands” tour, marketed as an exclusive opportunity to reach the “top of the Earth,” complete with “the luxury of Chinese hospitality.” Clad in matching red jackets bearing a polar bear logo, the travelers disembarked at their first stop: China’s Yellow River Research Station in Ny-Ålesund. There they marked the 20th anniversary of the station – one of several research facilities established on Svalbard by different nations. More than 100 Chinese tourists waved national flags beneath a Chinese Communist Party-style banner hung on the research station’s door. The travel agency’s blog likened the celebration to “raising the Chinese national flag during the Olympics.” Among the participants, a woman in a People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, uniform was seen saluting and posing for photos. A PLA Ground Force patch is visible on her right arm, two professional cameras are slung over her shoulders. “The big picture of China’s ambitions in the Arctic is that it reflects a clear, long-term strategic goal: China wants to be a significant presence in the Arctic,” says Isaac Kardon, a senior fellow for China Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington D.C. think tank. Since declaring itself a “near-Arctic state” in 2018—despite lacking territorial claims—China has steadily built its presence through legal, military, commercial, and individual channels. Svalbard has become the latest frontline. An Arctic Battleground for Great Powers A remote Norwegian archipelago roughly twice the size of Hawaii, Svalbard lies less than 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole, some 650 kilometers north of mainland Norway. Chinese tourists celebrate for a drone-style video at China’s Yellow River Research Station in Svalbard, Norway, July 2024 Entering the ‘gray zone’ Fan Li, the CEO of Newayer, the tour agency, told RFA and NRK that their tour group informed the research station of its plans to stage a celebration at Yellow River, and to hang banners and wave Chinese flags outside the station. The station never objected or even raised it as an issue. “The staff at the Yellow River Station came out to engage with us, and everyone was quite happy about that,” Li told RFA and NRK. A video of the tour group’s celebration was posted to Newayer’s social media account. It further features eight guests telling the camera that they are PLA veterans and perform coordinated military salutes to China while a patriotic song plays as a soundtrack. Afterward, passengers gathered to share their stories of service in the PLA. Li said that the presence of veterans on board was merely a “coincidence” and that when Newayer realized the connection, the company organized a ceremony and incorporated the clip into its video. According to Li, all of those featured were retired, as it’s difficult for active military members in China to travel abroad. However, one cruise participant, who identifies herself in the video as Yin Liu, was photographed wearing military garb bearing the insignia of the PLA on Svalbard. On camera, Liu says she enlisted in 1976 and fought in Vietnam in 1984 and gave the name of her unit. Ying Yu Lin, an expert on the PLA at Tamkang University in Taiwan, identified Liu’s fatigues as a “Type 21” training uniform issued by China’s Ministry of Defense in 2023. It is restricted to military personnel and would not be accessible to civilians, Lin said. The “Type 21” uniform can be seen on the Chinese Defense Department website. Members of China’s Arctic expedition team, based at the Yellow River Research Station, take a boat out for sampling on the Austre Lovenbreen glacier in Svalbard, Norway, June 22, 2024. Questions of diplomacy But sources familiar with diplomatic discussions say that Norway is unlikely to take a leading role in pushing back against China. “Like many countries, Norway just doesn’t have a lot of equities in its dealings with China,” says Kardon. Overt criticism or perceived slights can cause notable damage, like in 2010, when Beijing banned imports of Norwegian salmon after its Nobel committee awarded the Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. But as long as that’s the case, room for more muscular tactics in the Arctic will grow. Last month as China celebrated the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic, the Chinese Coast Guard engaged in joint operations with Russian forces in the Arctic. This was preceded in September by a meeting of Russian and Chinese officials in Beijing to discuss economic development and resource extraction in the region, and earlier, a Chinese and Russian meeting in Svalbard to explore opening a joint research center in Pyramiden, a former Soviet mining hub on the islands. “So if you’re looking for a pattern here, I would say this is the latest version of what China and Russia are trying to do—find a way to get to the red line without crossing it,” says Lanteigne, referring to the Yellow River celebration incident. “It is a very subtle signal, one that really demonstrates that China is now starting to deviate more directly from Norway regarding what is and is not proper activity on Svalbard.” Lanteigne views this as a pressing challenge that the Norwegian government must confront head-on. “I think there needs to be the understanding that with the Arctic beginning to militarize as a whole, Svalbard is caught in it, whether it likes it or not.” Edited by Boer Deng We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Residents of Kamala Harris’s ancestral Indian village are disappointed with her loss

Editor2 weeks ago06 mins

Residents in Kamala Harris’s ancestral village expressed disappointment at her defeat in the U.S. presidential election but said there is still hope in the future for her and that they feel pride in her participation in the hotly contested presidential race against Donald Trump. Former President Trump, who previously won the November 2016 election, emerged as the victor on Wednesday morning. In Harris’ maternal ancestral village of Thulasendrapuram in Tamil Nadu, India, the frustration among residents, who were saying daily prayers at a temple for her victory, was clear as a Trump win became apparent. “Many people gathered at our temple yesterday to pray for her victory,” Anbarasu, a retired oil company employee, told Radio Free Asia. “Though we’re disappointed by her defeat, she is still young and has future opportunities to run for president.” “On behalf of myself and our villagers, we congratulate Trump and pray that his work benefits the people,” he added. Young businessman Sundar said he was sad about Harris’ loss, though it was still admirable that she competed for the leadership of one of the world’s superpower nations. Assistant village leader J.A. Sudhagar also expressed disappointment over Harris’ loss, despite residents’ many prayers at the local Dharmasastha Hindu temple. He extended congratulations to Trump on his victory “as per our tradition.” Residents of Thulasendrapuram held special prayers and ceremonies at the temple on Nov. 5-6 to support Harris’ candidacy. Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Trump on his win. “Heartiest congratulations my friend Donald Trump on your historic election victory,” Modi wrote on X. “As you build on the success of your previous term, I look forward to renewing our collaboration to further strengthen the India-U.S. Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership. Together, let’s work for the betterment of our people and to promote global peace, stability, and prosperity.” Several Indians interviewed by RFA said they were pleased with the result and optimistic that Trump’s victory would mean a continuation of his past relationship with Modi when he served as the 45th U.S. president. Their relationship was marked by strong diplomatic engagement, strategic cooperation and personal warmth, despite sporadic spats over tariffs and trade imbalances. “I am happy about Trump winning,” said New Delhi resident Sohan Lal. “I think he is good for India, and he is a friend of Modi.” “If the American president is someone strong, then it is good for the world,” he said, adding that he believed Harris would not be as capable of governing the U.S. as Trump. Manish, who works in the IT industry in New Delhi but only gave his first name, said Trump’s second term as president would be beneficial for the U.S. economy, given his experience as a businessman. Manish also expressed hope that Trump’s good relationship with Modi would continue in the future. Prashant, who also works in the IT industry in India’s capital but gave only his first name, agreed, expressing optimism that U.S.-India relations would reach a new high during Trump’s second presidential term. “I think regardless of Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, whoever is better for India is what matters to us,” he said. Additional reporting by Tenzin Dickyi and Dickey Kundol for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Tenzin Pema, Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Myanmar junta chief seeks China’s help on border stability

Editor2 weeks ago06 mins

Read RFA coverage of these topics in Burmese. Myanmar’s junta leader called on China to help bring stability to their common border on his first visit to his northern neighbor, a year after insurgents in north Myanmar border regions launched an offensive that has raised questions about the sustainability of his military rule. China has extensive economic interests in Myanmar including energy pipelines running across it, from the Indian ocean to southern China’s Yunnan province, and is keen to see an end to the turmoil triggered by a 2001 military coup, when military chief Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing ousted an elected government. Min Aung Hlaing arrived in the city of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, on Tuesday for talks with provincial officials and regional meetings on investment opportunities. Myanmar’s state media has not reported any planned trip to the capital, Beijing. “The senior general discussed the need to place emphasis on stability of border areas and to accelerate cooperation for stability of border areas so that export and import trade can be conducted,” Myanmar’s military-run Myawady news outlet reported. A three-party insurgent alliance based in Shan state, on the northeastern border with China, made unprecedented gains against junta forces after launching an offensive on Oct. 27 last year, capturing at least five major border trade crossings. Insurgent allies in other parts of Myanmar have also been on the offensive, putting the military under unprecedented pressure and raising questions about the prospects of the military holding onto power. Analysts say China has become frustrated with the junta’s failure to end the chaos and had been reluctant to invite Min Aung Hlaing to visit Beijing, as a mark of its disapproval. While maintaining ties with the Myanmar junta, China also has contacts with the insurgent groups in northern and northeastern Myanmar battling to end military rule. China has called on both sides to negotiate and has offered to help the junta organize an election next year saying it hopes it can help encourage reconciliation. China has also pressed the insurgents to end their war and has closed border crossings to put economic pressure on them. China has also closed its border in some places to civilians fleeing fighting. In September, one Shan state insurgent group, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, which is part of an alliance responsible for major territorial gains from the junta over the past year, agreed to cooperate with China to reduce conflict and to stop its campaign to capture major cities. Political analyst Than Soe Naing said China was likely to maintain its pressure on the anti-junta groups. “I believe China will continue to help the junta and pressure them,” Than Soe told RAdio Free Asika. “They’ll also probably pressure them not to allow people to participate in the Spring Revolution,” he said, referring to the uprising against military rule triggered by the 2021 coup. Residents of Shan state said the latest Chinese restrictions were on the stretch of border controlled on the Myanmar side by the United Wa State Army, a powerful militia that has not battled the junta for decades and is known to have close contacts in China. Residents told Radio Free Asia that China’s closure of the border since Oct. 27 had led to shortages of medicine, fuel, food, electronics and household items causing prices to surge. RELATED STORIES China undermines its interests by boosting support for Myanmar’s faltering junta China border restrictions prompts pricing surge in Myanmar China calls for action after attack on consulate in Myanmar Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

2024 US election live updates: Reactions from Asia

Editor2 weeks ago08 mins

What you need to know The U.S. presidential election is being keenly watched across Asia. The outcome of the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will have a major impact on America’s relations with the region on issues like trade, security and climate change. Radio Free Asia reporters will be gauging reactions in Asia and will regularly update this post with what we hear from regular citizens and from governments. For most part, our reporting is from countries that are under authoritarian rule. Hopes run high in Harris’ ancestral village A tiny village located on the other side of the world in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu is offering prayers at the local Hindu temple, hoping for victory for one of their own, Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris, 60, was born in California to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, both of whom immigrated to the United States for higher education. In the village of Thulasendrapuram – where Harris’s maternal grandfather Painganadu Venkataraman “P.V.” Gopalan was born – residents have been gathering each day at the village temple to offer special prayers to the Hindu deity Ayyanar – worshipped in rural parts of Tamil Nadu as a guardian or protector – to watch over Harris. The residents refer to Harris as the “daughter of the land,” and say they feel a deep connection with her because of her ancestral ties to the village. The village is decked out with signs featuring Harris‘s portrait and banners wishing her good luck in the election, which will determine whether or not she will become America’s first female president and first president of Indian descent. “We in this village offer daily prayers for Kamala Harris to win the election,” Aruna Murli Sudhagar, the leader of the village, told Radio Free Asia. Read more of this story Posted at 5:13 pm Eastern on 11/5/24 Take a moment to explore our election coverage Live U.S. election map Deep dive: How would Harris and Trump differ on Asia? China focuses on threat of violent unrest as US voters head to polls US presidential election sparks curiosity in North Korea Vietnamese show interest In Vietnam, social media platforms are abuzz about candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and at least three newspapers are asking, “Who will be elected U.S. president?” Nguyen Binh, a farmer in the southern province of Dong Nai, expressed surprise that Americans were free to talk openly about elections. He recalled that a number of independent candidates in Vietnam’s 2016 National Assembly election are in prison. “I only wish for one thing: that talented people in Vietnam and virtuous people in Vietnam can run for election fully, openly, and run comfortably without being coerced,” he said. “The right to self-determination belongs to the people with their votes, not from any political party.” Independent journalist Nam Viet said he believes that the interest shown by Vietnamese demonstrates their thirst for democracy. “The commenting, judging, choosing sides… of Vietnamese people in the U.S. election is sometimes funny, but it shows that a desire for change is still smoldering in the hearts of the nation,” he said. “The people must be rehearsing their right to self-determination,” Nam said, saying Vietnam holds “sham” elections. Posted at 5:34 pm Eastern on 11/5/24 Clockwise from top left, China’s President Xi Jinping, North Korea’s leader Jim Jong Un, Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone and Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary To Lam. How do elections work in authoritarian Asian nations? In a world bracing for a close U.S. presidential election result this week, a large swathe of Asia picks its leaders without suspense — and mostly with little popular participation. Chinese President Xi Jinping was confirmed by the National People’s Congress in March 2013 with 2,952 votes for, one against, and three abstentions. Last year the rubber stamp parliament voted unanimously to give him a third term, putting him on track to stay in power for life. North Korea’s leaders have inherited their power from father to son for three generations. They are technically “elected” – but there is no choice. In 2014, Kim Jong Un was elected to the Supreme People’s Assembly without a dissenting vote with 100% turnout. Fellow communist states Laos and Vietnam pursue their own variations of the same Marxist-Leninist party-state model copied from the Soviet Union, with Hanoi avoiding strongman rule in favor of collective leadership. Cambodia has been dominated by the ruling party of Hun Sen, who banned the main opposition parties in the previous two parliamentary elections. Myanmar held a credible multi-party election in November 2020, a vote that delivered a strong majority to the National League for Democracy of de facto national leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But the military didn’t like the results and staged a coup on Feb. 1, 2021. Read more here. Posted at 5:05 p.m. Eastern, 11/5/2024 We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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