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PRC at 75: Deng Xiaoping never delivered on young people’s desire for freedom

Editor8 hours ago018 mins

Read RFA’s coverage of this in Chinese. Editors note: This is the second in a series of profiles of Chinese leaders on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Many in China under Communist Party leader Xi Jinping look back to the economic boom-time under late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping with nostalgia, as a freewheeling era in which it was easier to get rich, and when the government had less control over people’s lives. But the reality of life under Deng was much grittier, political activists and commentators told RFA Mandarin in recent interviews. In June 1983, postgraduate philosophy student Chen Kuide was singled out for political criticism after taking part in an academic conference in the southwestern city of Guilin, as part of a political campaign against “spiritual pollution.” It was just a few years after then supreme leader Deng had kicked off a slew of economic reforms and “opening up” to the rest of the world in the wake of the death of Mao Zedong and the trial of the Gang of Four that marked the end of the Cultural Revolution. But despite the rosy glow that often suffuses people’s memories of China in the 1980s, the political campaigns didn’t stop when the universities reopened and the government started the massive task of rehabilitating people who had been persecuted under Mao and his wife, Jiang Qing. Then Chinese Vice President Deng Xiaoping meets U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the White House in Washington, Jan. 29, 1979. (AP) Instead, Deng launched the “spiritual pollution” campaign targeting anyone with any liberal tendencies, who advocated humanitarianism, market economics or appreciation of the arts for their aesthetic, rather than social, value. By the time Chen got back to his dorm at Shanghai’s Fudan University, there was a red circle around his name on a list in the municipal government, and Chen and a fellow student were suspended from their studies for three months. Luckily for Chen, the campaign was later called off and he was reinstated. His friend with government connections told him at the time: “There was a red circle round your name, as if you were going to be exiled to Qinghai or something.” Leaving aside the upbeat official narrative of “reform and opening up,” the 1980s was not an easy time to be Chinese, according to veteran U.S.-based democracy activist Wang Juntao. “I don’t think there was any golden age during the 1980s,” Wang said. “Intellectuals back then were pretty unhappy with Deng Xiaoping and Zhao Ziyang.” Fall of Hu Yaobang A 1980 amendment to the country’s constitution deleted a clause protecting people’s right to “speak out, air their views freely, hold debates and make big-character posters,” while a 1978 amendment made two years after Mao’s death deleted their right to “reproductive freedom,” amid growing concerns about the burgeoning population. A system of film censorship was set up in 1980, while the right to private ownership of land disappeared with a constitutional amendment in 1982. Nationwide student protests in 1986 were sparked by local officials’ insistence on interfering in local elections to the People’s Congresses, and spread from eastern Anhui province to Shanghai and Beijing, in protests that lasted 28 days. Former 1989 student leader Chen Pokong also took part in the 1986 student protests in Shanghai. “We didn’t do anything much; just walked along the street and sometimes sat in front of the city government,” he said. “We weren’t trying to overthrow the government, just asked them to move a little faster and meet some of people’s demands for democracy and equality.” “It all fizzled out peacefully in the end, because the weather was cold, and the winter vacation was about to begin, and a lot of students wanted to go back home for the Lunar New Year,” he said. Deng Xiaoping and French President Francois Mitterand share a toast at a state banquet in Beijing, May 5, 1983. (Gabriel Duval/AFP) Soon afterwards, news emerged that premier Hu Yaobang would resign to take the fall for those protests, blamed for his “ineffective leadership.” Then the party expelled a number of prominent dissidents from its ranks, including journalist Liu Binyan, physicist Fang Lizhi and author Wang Ruowang. “Before that, I didn’t have much of an impression of Deng Xiaoping — he just seemed like a short little guy among the old guys in charge of the Chinese Communist Party,” Chen said. “But he had suddenly made such a big move, and I started to think about why that would be. I felt he didn’t really understand young people or our ideas.” “Once young people get started with economic reform, they’ll immediately start to want political reform too, and as soon as they start to interact with the West, they’ll want freedom and democracy,” he said. “But this old man just wanted to take a leisurely walk — he was behind the times, and not suited to ruling the country. He should have let younger people take charge,” Chen said. 1980s political purges Following the 1986 protests, the right to demonstrate was stripped from students in Beijing, with the passage of new regulations warning that anyone who took part in “unauthorized parades” would be prosecuted. Those rules were enshrined in national law after the 1989 Tiananmen Square mass protests. “For me, there was nothing good about the 1980s. Anyone who tried to fight for freedom and democracy was still suppressed,” said Wang, citing the heavy jail terms handed down to 1979 Democracy Wall dissidents Wei Jingsheng and Wang Xizhe. “The political purges continued throughout the 1980s, and large numbers of people were affected each time,” he said. “I think people who remember the 1980s as a good time probably didn’t care much about politics.” “I don’t think there has ever been a good time under the Chinese Communist Party, and that hasn’t changed.” Deng Xiaoping meets with foreign guests in Beijing on April 8, 1989. (AP) U.S.-based former Party School professor Cai Xia agreed…

Thousands flee Myanmar airstrikes after rebel ambush

Editor20 hours ago06 mins

About 10,000 villagers in Myanmar’s Sagaing region are fleeing junta airstrikes launched after forces loyal to a shadow pro-democracy government inflicted unusually heavy casualties on a military column, residents told Radio Free Asia. The heartland central region of Sagaing has seen some of the worst violence over the past year with pro-democracy guerrillas, largely from the majority Burman community, hounding junta forces who often respond with heavy artillery and airstrikes. On Wednesday, air force planes bombed Maung Htaung village in Budalin township, about 110 kilometers (68 miles) northwest of the city of Mandalay, destroying buildings and wounding at least two people, a resident said. “A bomb fell on the school and another was dropped near a Buddhist religious building. A third bomb hit a clinic,” said the resident who declined to be identified for fear of reprisals. “A man and a woman were wounded.” Residents of about 10 villages in the area were too frightened to stay in their homes and some took shelter in woods by their fields while others headed to the nearest monasteries and towns, villagers told RFA, estimating that about 10,000 people were displaced, many in urgent need of food. The airstrikes came after anti-junta People’s Defense Force fighters ambushed an infantry column on patrol from a camp in Ku Taw village on Monday. Nearly half the soldiers in the patrol were killed and most of the rest were captured, according to a spokesman for one of the groups involved in the ambush called the Student Armed Force. “There are 32 dead junta soldiers and 42 were captured,” the spokesman, identified as Maj. Okkar, told RFA. “The detainees are being held in accordance with the Geneva Convention, in accordance with agreement of the National Unity Government affiliates and local PDFs.” Four PDF members were wounded in the battle, he added. RFA has not been able to independently verify the account and calls to the junta’s Sagaing region spokesperson, Nyunt Win Aung, went unanswered by the time of publication. Democracy supporters of the government ousted in the 2021 coup set up the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, to oppose military rule and organize the PDFs operating around the country. The guerrillas released photographs of what they said were captured junta soldiers. The U.N. refugee agency estimated that 3.1 million people have been displaced internally by fighting in Myanmar since the military overthrew a civilian government in early 2021. Nearly 70,000 have fled to neighboring countries, the UNHCR said in a report published on Thursday. Residents fleeing fighting in Khin-U township, Sagaing region, on March 25, 2024. (Khin-U township Right Information Group) The military has increasingly resorted to airstrikes over recent weeks, in different parts of the country including Sagaing, Shan state in the northeast and Rakhine state in the west, particularly since the junta chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, vowed early last month to recapture areas lost to guerrilla forces. More than 130 people have been killed and more than 70 wounded by airstrikes from Sept. 1 to Sept. 24, across eight states and regions, RFA data shows. RELATED STORIES A new generation in Myanmar risks their lives for change No limits to lawlessness of Myanmar’s predatory regime Month of fighting leaves once-bustling Myanmar town eerily quiet Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Traders in Myanmar struggle as borders with China remain closed in rebel-held areas

Editor1 day ago04 mins

Merchants of Chinese goods in Myanmar are reeling as China keeps its borders closed to areas of the Southeast Asian country that are controlled by anti-junta ethnic rebels, residents in Myanmar told Radio Free Asia. Since the junta took over Myanmar in a coup in February 2021, cross border trade between junta ally China and northern Shan state has amounted to a total of US$9 billion. But after rebel groups seized control of the area, Beijing shut down its border crossings, disrupting the livelihood of those in Myanmar who buy, sell and ship Chinese goods. “Many drivers have faced many difficulties,” a truck driver who works in northern Shan state told RFA Burmese. “In the past, we could drive cargo trucks. Now we have no jobs.” The trucker said that the owners of transportation firms are trying to get work in areas where the borders remain open, out of consideration for their drivers. Rebels control six border crossings with China on the Myanmar side. Five of these are under the control of the Three Brotherhood Alliance – which is made up of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Arakan Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army – while the sixth is under the control of the Kachin Independence Army. Man Wein gate near the Chinese border, Sept. 2019. (RFA) Daily trade at the Kyin Sang Kyawt gate in Shan state’s Muse township was around US$6.6 million daily when it was open. A resident of Pang Hseng township, who sells produce to Chinese buyers, said the closed border is creating hardship. “We rely on this border gate by selling vegetables to make a living,” the resident said. “Some others buy Chinese products to be sold here. But with the border gate closed now, all of us are facing many challenges, and unemployment has also increased.” Singbyu gate in Muse township is the only open trade route to China in northern Shan state, with limited time for crossing, and the junta has increased custom duties and restrictions. As a result, prices of imported Chinese goods have sharply increased. RFA tried to contact the junta’s spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun to learn more about the situation at the border, but he did not respond by the time of publishing. Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Eugene Whong. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Residents of Myanmar’s Lashio flee relentless airstrikes

Editor2 days ago05 mins

Hundreds of civilians in the rebel-controlled northeastern Myanmar town of Lashio are fleeing in the face of relentless junta air attacks as the military presses on with an offensive aimed at retaking territory captured by insurgent forces, residents said on Wednesday. Insurgents captured Lashio on Aug. 3, one of the most significant victories for a three-party guerrilla alliance that has made major advances since late last year against the junta that seized power in early 2021. But the junta now appears determined to recapture the town on a major trade link to China and is unleashing its air power to do so, residents say. “The planes normally come when night falls,” one Lashio resident who declined to be identified for security reasons told Radio Free Asia. “We worry about where they’re going to bomb, my home or others .. we pray no one gets hurt,” said the resident who is aiming to flee to the town of Taunggyi, about 25 kilometers (155 miles) to the south. “It’s happening almost every night so we just can’t stay anymore and have to flee again.” Lashio had a population of nearly 250,000 but more than 200,000 have fled to Taunggyi, and other towns in Shan state such as Kalaw and Nyaung Shwe, as well as to the main cities of Mandalay and Yangon, residents say. RFA tried to contact Khun Thein Maung, a military council spokesman for Shan state, to ask about the situation in Lashio, but he did not answer phone calls. A damaged vehicle in the town of Lashio on Aug. 25 (RFA) The intensifying conflict in Myanmar’s civil war has displaced more than 3 million civilians, the United Nations says, and there’s no sign of the situation improving. The military has been shifting troops from southern to northern Shan state in a bid to recapture Lashio and other towns it has lost to insurgent forces in The Three Brotherhood Alliance, but at least for now it is mostly relying on its air power, rebel officials and residents say. The fighting comes despite peace efforts by neighboring China, which has brokered several short-lived ceasefires over the past year, and a vow by the main rebel force in Lashio, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, to cease fighting and end its cooperation with the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, set up by pro-democracy politicians. China has major investments in Myanmar including oil and natural gas pipelines running from Rakhine state on the Indian Ocean coast through Shan state to its border. Lashio residents said that the telecommunications and internet access in the town had been cut since Tuesday, adding to a growing sense of panic. “I can no longer communicate with home and the planes are bombing every day, so I’m worried,” said another city resident, who also declined to be identified. Residents said it appeared that the MNDAA had cut communication links but RFA was not able to confirm that or to contact an MNDAA spokesperson for comment. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

North Korea swaps soybean-based doenjang paste with wheat-based imitation

Editor2 days ago07 mins

Read a version of this story in Korean North Korean authorities are providing the public with “foul tasting” wheat paste as a substitute for doenjang, the fermented bean paste that is a staple in Korean cuisine, residents told Radio Free Asia. Something magic happens in the traditional making of soy sauce: when the salty liquid is siphoned off the top, the urn it’s been fermenting in still holds a treasure. It is the pungent paste of legend, doenjang – a key ingredient in Korean soups, stews, sauces and even snack foods. Doenjang is the subject of South Korean rap songs and tops ice cream dishes served at the Biden White House. The paste has been made on the Korean peninsula for millenia. But North Korea, which has been suffering from food shortages, recently boosted wheat production at the expense of other crops. Packaged gochujang and bara gochujang sold at Pyongyang department stores and markets. Gochujang is a spicy red chili paste made with meju, fermented blocks of mashed boiled soybeans, a precursor to doenjang and soy sauce. (RFA) The result has been an excess of wheat and a shortage of soybeans, leading to the unlikely production of doenjang using the former. But people find it disgusting, a resident of the eastern province of South Hamgyong told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “Starting this year, wheat-based doenjang is being supplied to residents in the city of Sinpo instead of soybean-based doenjang,” she said, adding that most residents are saying they can’t eat it. “They say it is because the white color of the paste is unsightly and the taste is foul compared to the soybean-based doenjang which was previously supplied.” She said the wheat paste’s quality is poor because the production process leaves part of the wheat husk in the final product. “The eater ends up chewing on the husk and smelling a strange, sourish odor.” She said that even after a deadly famine in the 1990s, when the government had almost no food to give to the people, supplies of doenjang never completely ran out. But now, the situation is so dire that the government is trying to pass off an inferior substitute. Because it is a fermented food, doenjang has a very long shelf life. An urn can be buried in the ground and used for several years. So in 2000, North Korea upscaled production, putting doenjang factories in every province and major city. But there’s a shortage of soybeans these days, the resident said. “The doenjang you could get in the grocery stores up until last year was not 100% soybeans. It was mixed with corn,” she said. But even the corn-soybean mix doenjang was better than the wheat substitute, she said. Wheat-based doenjang is unpalatable, a resident of the northeastern city of Rason told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely. A lemon bar ice cream with fresh berries, mint ginger snap cookie crumble and doenjang caramel dessert dish is displayed during a media preview, Monday, April 24, 2023, in advance of Wednesday’s State Dinner with South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) She said that the municipal government did give out soybean-based doenjang to residents, but only as a gift on the four major North Korean holidays–New Year’s Day, the two birth anniversaries of leader Kim Jong Un’s late father and grandfather, who were his predecessors, on Feb. 16 and April 15, and the founding day of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party on Oct. 10. Additionally on holidays, residents of Rason “sometimes got small amounts of soy sauce,” she said. While the government-supplied doenjang was made with soybeans, it wasn’t as good as homemade varieties, “it was still good enough to eat.” “Many families, who cannot make their own doenjang or buy it homemade from others, had relied on soybean doenjang supplied by grocery stores,” she said. The wheat doenjang is a poor substitute, they say. “Many people say it is too salty and stinks because it is not stored properly,” she said. “They wish that they could just get doenjang made from soybeans.” Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

South Korea unveils missile that can hit the North’s bunkers

Editor3 days ago08 mins

South Korea unveiled its latest domestically produced ballistic missile, the Hyunmoo-5, on Tuesday as President Yoon Suk Yeol warned North Korea that it would face the end of its regime if it attempted to use nuclear weapons. Dubbed the “monster missile,” reflecting a destructive capacity that South Korean media says is comparable to that of a nuclear weapon, the Hyunmoo-5 can carry a warhead weighing up to 9 tons and is capable of striking deeply buried command centers. It incorporates an advanced cold-launch system, which uses compressed gas to propel the missile from its launcher before ignition, minimizing damage to the launcher and increasing operational stability, South Korean media has reported. Media have drawn parallels between the Hyunmoo-5 and China’s Dongfeng-31 intercontinental ballistic missile, with the former estimated to have a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,107 miles), capable of targeting critical infrastructure in North Korea and beyond. The new missile is a centerpiece of the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation plan, designed to respond to damage caused by a North Korean nuclear weapon by targeting its leadership and military headquarters in a retaliatory strike. “Our military will immediately retaliate against North Korea’s provocations based on its robust combat capabilities and solid readiness posture,” Yoon said at a ceremony to mark the 76th founding anniversary of the founding of South Korea’s armed forces, where the new missile was showcased for the first time. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a celebration to mark the 76th anniversary of Korea Armed Forces Day, in Seongnam, South Korea, Oct. 1, 2024. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool/Reuters) “If North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face the resolute and overwhelming response of our military and the South Korea-U.S. alliance. That day will be the end of the North Korean regime,” Yoon added. Denouncing North Korea for threatening the South with its nuclear weapons and missiles, as well as other provocations, Yoon urged the North to abandon “delusions” that nuclear weapons could guarantee its security “False peace, based on the enemy’s goodwill, is nothing but a mirage. History has proven that the only way to safeguard peace is by strengthening our power so the enemy cannot dare challenge us,” he added, vowing to build a strong military and strengthen security based on the strong alliance with the U.S., as well as trilateral cooperation involving Japan. The South Korean military would reportedly aim to use dozens of Hyunmoo-5s to destroy the North Korean military command’s underground bunkers and devastate Pyongyang in the event of an emergency. RELATED STORIES INTERVIEW: Former ‘Office 39’ official on how North Korea finances nukes North Korea may conduct nuclear test after US election: South’s spy agency Satellite photos show expansion of suspected North Korean uranium enrichment site ‘Never bargain’ Some 5,000 troops and 340 pieces of military equipment, including the Hyunmoo-5, K9 self-propelled howitzers and four-legged robots, were mobilized for an anniversary ceremony parade that began at Seoul Air Base in the city of Seongnam, according to the South’s defense ministry. The ministry said the event was organized to show South Korea’s “overwhelming” capabilities to powerfully retaliate against enemy provocations. The showcasing of the Hyunmoo-5 came amid growing concern in South Korea as North Korea has intensified its nuclear posturing with the first public disclosure of its uranium enrichment facility last month. North Korea’s envoy to the U.N., Kim Song, said on Monday that the North would never bargain over its “national prestige,” reaffirming the isolated country’s adherence to its nuclear weapons program. “When it comes to the right to self-defense, a legitimate right of a sovereign state, we will never go back to the point in the far-off past,” he said during a general debate at the U.N. General Assembly, repeating North Korea’s accusations of America’s “hostility” and claiming that its nuclear weapons were “just made and exist to defend itself.” “When it comes to national prestige, we will never bargain over it with anyone for it was gained through the bloody struggle of the entire Korean people,” he added. The ambassador also said that no matter who wins the U.S. presidential election in November, North Korea would only deal with “the state entity called the U.S., not the mere administration.” “Likewise, any U.S. administration will have to face the DPRK which is different from what the U.S. used to think,” he said, using the acronym of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, without elaborating. Edited by Mike Firn. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Prominent Cambodian journalist arrested: rights groups

Editor3 days ago06 mins

Award-winning Cambodian freelance journalist Mech Dara, who reported regularly on trafficking and cyberscam compounds, was arrested in the southwestern part of the country on Monday afternoon, a rights groups and local journalists’ association said, though his whereabouts remain unknown. Six police cars intercepted Dara’s car at the Srae Ambel toll booth in Koh Kong province while he was driving to Phnom Penh, a relative who was with him told human rights group Licadho. Last year, Dara won the U.S. State Department’s human trafficking Hero Award for his coverage of Cambodia’s scam-compounds, where an estimated 100,000 have been forced to work – under threat of violence – as the perpetrators of online scams targeting people across the world. Dara’s reporting included stories for Voice of Democracy linking Cambodian businessman Ly Yong Phat to scam compounds. Known as the “king of Koh Kong,” Ly Yong Phat and his LYP Group conglomerate were sanctioned earlier this month by the U.S. Treasury Department for alleged abuses related to the treatment of trafficked workers in online scam centers. “Arresting one of Cambodia’s bravest journalists will have a devastating effect on access to information for all Cambodians,” said Naly Pilorge, outreach co-director at Licadho. Dara sent a text message to Licadho informing them of his arrest, but as of 10:30pm they had not been able to determine where he was being held, said Pilorge. RFA Khmer attempted to contact government officials but were unable to get any confirmation of the arrest. The Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association, or CamboJA, said it had confirmed the arrest with Eng Hy, a military police spokesman, who did not reveal the reason or where the journalist had been sent. Facebook photos of quarry While the reason for the arrest remains unknown, the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association said in a statement it came one day after Dara reportedly posted since-deleted photos to Facebook that appeared to show how a quarry operation had destroyed the concrete stairs leading to a pagoda in Prey Veng province called Ba Phnom, a local tourist destination. The Prey Veng provincial administration on Monday released a statement condemning the post and accusing the journalist of causing “social disorder.” The same day, Fresh News, a government-friendly outlet, on Monday published an article labeling Dara’s post “fake news.” Dara previously reported for The Cambodia Daily, which shut down in 2017 citing government pressure; The Phnom Penh Post, which was purchased by a government-friendly businessman in 2018; and Voice of Democracy, which had its license revoked by the Cambodian government in February 2023. His arrest set off a flurry of concerned social media posts from local and international journalists and others, who highlighted his fearless reporting. “There is NO SCENARIO in which this is not a politically motivated arrest,” J Daniel Sims, a visiting expert on transnational crime with the United States Institute of Peace, posted on X. Mech Dara “has been a leading voice shedding light on state-affiliated criminal industries for years amidst mounting repression. Concerned govts must call on @Dr_Hunmanet_PM to release him immediately.” A State Department spokesperson told RFA they were aware of the reported arrest and were “following developments closely with great concern.” Additional reporting by Alex Willemyns. Edited by Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Myanmar guerrillas attack junta military headquarters in Mandalay

Editor4 days ago06 mins

Pro-democracy insurgents battling Myanmar’s junta fired rockets at the military headquarters in the city of Mandalay, the group said on Monday, the latest in a series of strikes at the heart of the military’s command structure. There was no immediate confirmation from the junta of the attack on the Central Military Headquarters in Myanmar’s second-biggest city early on Sunday, which an activist group called Brave Warriors for Myanmar (BMW) said its members carried out with 107 mm rockets. “Two of the rockets hit a building where junta troops who are about to attack in northern Shan state are staying,” a member of the group who declined to be identified for safety reasons told Radio Free Asia. He said some troops were believed to have been wounded in the attack but the extent of casualties and damage were being investigated. Those who carried out the attack escaped, he said. RFA tried to contact the junta spokesman for Mandalay region, Thein Htay, by telephone to ask about the reported attack but he did not answer calls. The headquarters is in the heart of Mandalay, on the site of what used to be the walled palace of Myanmar’s kings who were deposed by British colonialists in the 19th century. The place was largely destroyed during World War II but the site is of symbolic importance for the nation. A resident of the area, which is known as Aungmyaethazan township, said he heard loud explosions early on Sunday. “I heard three or four blasts at around 2.28 a.m. on Sunday morning, they were quite loud, from a big weapon, I think,” the resident, who declined to be identified for safety reasons, told RFA. Myanmar’s military has been facing setbacks in fighting in several parts of the country over the past year, at the hands of its old ethnic minority insurgent enemies and new pro-democracy People’s Defense Forces, or PDFs, set up by activists largely from the majority Burman community, who took up arms after the generals overthrew an elected government in early 2021. Despite the setbacks, which have included the loss of a regional command headquarters in Shan state, northeast of Mandalay, and of a naval base in Rakhine state in the west, the military remains in control of major cities and can unleash devastating strikes with its air force. PDF fighters have launched several rocket attacks on military bases and junta leaders in the capital Naypyidaw as well as in the main city of Yangon. The junta has condemned what it calls “terrorist” attacks and arrested several groups of plotters. The BWM member said his group and an allied faction called the Shadow Mandalay Group had attacked the Mandalay base twice before, on Dec. 21, 2023, and on Sept. 3 this year. The BWM also helped plan a rocket attack on an air base in Naypyidaw in July, the group members said. PDF insurgents and their ethnic minority force allies have also captured a growing number of towns in the Mandalay region including Mogoke, Thabeikkyin, Singu and Tagaung. Anti-junta forces are also threatening Pyin Oo Lwin, a hill town 64 kilometers (40 miles) east of Mandalay that is home to the military’s Defense Services Academy. RELATED STORIES A new generation in Myanmar risks their lives for change No limits to lawlessness of Myanmar’s predatory regime Month of fighting leaves once-bustling Myanmar town eerily quiet Edited by Mike Firn We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

A Myanmar revolutionary battles an old enemy with new allies

Editor4 days ago014 mins

This story is the fourth in a five-part series exploring the war in Myanmar and what might come if the fighting stops. Read this story in Burmese. Tall, square-jawed and with a facial expression set to stern, Saw Kaw looks every bit the rebel commander that he is. But as he sits in a secret camp of Myawaddy township in Kayin (Karen) state, strumming his guitar and singing songs he learned in church, it’s easy to wonder what shape the 37-year-old’s life might have taken had circumstances allowed. As it was, Saw Kaw was born in a small village in eastern Myanmar and into one of the longest running insurgencies in the world. Almost ever since Burma gained independence from Great Britain in 1948, ethnic Karen forces from small villages in the mountainous areas near Thailand have battled successive military juntas for greater autonomy. Among them was Saw Kaw’s father, who was a member of the Karen National Union, or KNU. When Saw Kaw was seven, soldiers raided his village in search of his father, who wasn’t there at the time. Saw Kaw said they found and beat his uncles and an elderly grandfather instead, sending his mother, seven months pregnant at the time, fleeing into the surrounding jungle. An illustration shows seven-year-old Saw Kaw watching soldiers — who were looking for his father, a resistance fighter — torturing his relatives. (Rebel Pepper/RFA) For safety reasons, he said the family has remained fractured ever since, constantly on guard that the military or their supporters could use one to get to another. “Hello, Mom, how are you,” Saw Kaw sings, playing one of his favorite songs. “I miss you so much. Please pardon me as I cannot come back to you.” A long struggle The Karen are among the largest minority groups in Myanmar, which is thought to have more than 130 different ethnicities with various relationships with the Burman majority that has held the reins of power in the country. The complicated ethnic make-up is seen as a barrier to lasting peace. In-roads other armies have made against junta forces to the north and west don’t necessarily indicate the country can emerge from its complicated civil war whole. But the KNU has committed itself to the idea of a federation in which it and other groups have a high degree of authority over their own affairs but participate in a larger, national government. They are allied with the National Unity Government, a group of exiled former government officials helping to fund resistance movements and build a lasting peace should the military collapse. Cobra Column commander Saw Kaw stands on Asia Road, near the site of what was formerly the Myanmar junta’s Battalion 356, July 12, 2024. (Chan Aung/RFA) As a military commander, Saw Kaw doesn’t have time to weigh all the possible political dynamics. But the force he controls – Cobra Column – is an unusual joint effort of seasoned fighters from ethnic armies and young, largely Burman revolutionaries who no longer wish to be governed by the junta. It is an NUG force, not a KNU one. “I cannot precisely predict when this significant event will conclude, but I firmly believe that this war must come to an end,” he said. “It is not solely an arm revolution; the entire populace is involved.” In the shared tragedy, he hopes a lasting cohesion can be formed. READ MORE IN THIS SERIES A new generation in Myanmar risks their lives for change Love and struggle: A new generation in Myanmar’s civil war For Burmese journalist, an uneasy safety in Thailand A coup, then civil war Many of the Karen are Christian due to a history of missionaries operating in the area during colonial rule, and Saw Kaw learned to play the guitar in his church. Whatever early musical aptitude he demonstrated didn’t much matter. He always knew what his future held – fighting for his people. After attending college in Thailand he returned home to join the Karen National Liberation Army, or KNLA. His life has seen peace, however. In 2015, the KNU and the Myanmar military negotiated a ceasefire in the capital of Naypyidaw. Saw Kaw was part of the delegation. In this Sept. 9, 2015, photo, Myanmar President Thein Sein greets representatives of armed ethnic groups at the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) meeting in Naypyidaw. (Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP) By then, Myanmar’s military leaders began to open the country up to the world after decades of isolation. The agreement fell apart, though, in 2021 when Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing led a coup that pushed out the civilian government of the National League for Democracy, claiming election irregularities that it has yet to prove. Some of the NLD members fled to Lay Kay Kaw, a town established with the help of the Japanese as a refuge for Karen displaced in the region’s long-simmering conflict. The city, which was known as a “peace town” symbolizing the new detente between the military and rebel forces, became instead a locus where People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) sought training from people like Saw Kaw. “With deep sympathy, I don’t want anyone else to suffer as we have,” he said in an interview from his camp, not far from the front line where rebels are trying to hold off a large collection of government troops. “If people in other places experienced what’s happening in this country, they wouldn’t be able to endure it. It’s truly unbearable.” Cobra Column commander Saw Kaw near the front line in Myawaddy district, Karen state, May 8, 2023. (Courtesy of Saw Kaw) Hunting former NLD members, the military attacked Lay Kay Kaw in December 2021, triggering a return of hostilities with the KNU and its armed units. Fighting escalated throughout 2022 and 2023, spreading to towns and villages in the Myawaddy, Kawkareik and Kyainseikgyi districts. Initially, Saw Kaw said the fledgling PDF units tried to hold off the onslaught with old Tumi guns, flintlock rifles used against the British more than…

Indian border fence cutting off crucial supply route to Myanmar’s Sagaing region

Editor5 days ago08 mins

Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese India is erecting a fence along its border with Myanmar, which residents of Myanmar’s Sagaing region say is cutting off trade routes and driving up the price of goods. More than 1.6 million people have been displaced by conflict in Myanmar since February 2021, when the military seized power in a coup d’etat, according to the United Nations, with more than 50% of them – an estimated 821,000 people – from the Sagaing region. Many of the displaced there rely on cross-border trade from India for goods and medicine. Trade at the Tamu-Moreh border gate connecting India’s Manipur state to Sagaing was suspended in 2021 but area residents have continued to exchange goods through informal routes. India began construction of its border fence in Manipur state in June 2022 amid an influx of refugees from Myanmar, and Indian Union Government Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah said last week that around 30 km (20 miles) of the barrier have since been completed. Meanwhile, the junta has blocked roads leading to the checkpoint on the Myanmar side, and ethnic Chin commentator R. Lakher told RFA Burmese that India’s fence will make it difficult for residents in Sagaing to obtain goods and medicine from across the border. “The price of commodities has already significantly increased [because of the project],” he said. “This border area is relying on India for all its basic commodities and medical treatments. The local populace will surely suffer a lot of difficulties if the border fencing is completed.” A resident of Sagaing region who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, told RFA that those who need to cross the border are already being forced to do so at unfenced areas, where they must pay higher fees for transportation. “If the border fencing is completed … residents who have close relatives on both sides will face various difficulties,” he said. RELATED STORIES Closed borders with India cause food, fuel shortages in western Myanmar Food shortages reported in rebel-controlled areas of Myanmar’s Chin state Jailed Myanmar activists in India in danger of deportation: rights groups India shares a 1,643-km (1,020-mile) border with Myanmar, 398 km (250 miles) of which are located along Manipur state. The Indian government has earmarked US$3.7 billion to build the border fence, which will also cover 520 km (325 miles) in Arunachal Pradesh, 215 km (135 miles) in Nagaland and 510 km (320 miles) in Mizoram. Another resident of Sagaing told RFA that the border fence will impact people on both sides. “Not only the people of Myanmar, but also the people of India will suffer difficulties because people from both sides already have a long history of crossing the border,” he said. Rihkhawdar- Zokhawthar border gate bridge connecting Rihkhawdar town in Chin state and Mizoram state in India on February 10, 2024. (RFA) Salai Dokhar, the co-founder of aid agency India for Myanmar, said that the Manipur government is urgently erecting the fence because Myanmar’s anti-junta forces have gained control over its border areas. “As Myanmar rebel forces are in control of border areas close to India, the Indian government will have to deal with them, which I believe it does not want to do,” he said. Invitation to rebel forces While the Indian government conducts bilateral negotiations with Myanmar’s junta, it made overtures last week to the country’s rebel forces for the first time since the coup, according to a report by Reuters news agency. The report said that India extended invitations to Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, as well as to the China National Front, the Kachin Independence Army and the Arakan Army to attend a seminar by the government-funded Indian Council of World Affairs. A source with knowledge of the issue told RFA that Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar is leading the preparation for the event, the theme of which will be “Constitutionalism and Federalism.” The source said that only the Chin National Front had confirmed their registration to attend the seminar, while the other three groups have yet to respond. Observers welcomed the move, which they called “pragmatic,” given the junta’s weakening grip on power in Myanmar’s border regions. “All the Indian borders [with Myanmar] are close to areas under the control of these [anti-junta] forces, and this shows that India has adopted more pragmatic strategies suitable for the situation on the ground,” said an ethnic affairs analyst, who also declined to be named due to fear of reprisal. Attempts by RFA to reach the Indian Embassy in Yangon and the Myanmar Embassy in New Delhi about the border fence went unanswered Friday, as did attempts to contact junta spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun for comment on India’s invitation to anti-junta groups. Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar told his junta counterpart Than Swe in New Delhi on July 26 that his government is open to engaging with all stakeholders in resolving Myanmar’s crisis. Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. 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