As Syrians celebrate the fall of the Assad regime after more than five decades of iron rule, many are grappling with the enormity of what has happened to their country, with nearly 14 years of war leaving much of the country in ruins, killing over 350,000 people and displacing 14 million more. Meanwhile, foreign powers, including Israel, Turkey and the United States, have carried out strikes across parts of the country, and Israel has invaded and occupied additional land in the Golan Heights. For more on the monumental changes underway, we speak with Syrian American political economist Omar Dahi, the director of the Security in Context research network, who has been involved in several peace-building initiatives since the start of the conflict in 2011. He says many Syrians have “mixed emotions” about this moment, celebrating the end of Assad while mourning the immense human cost of the war and confronting the difficult road ahead to rebuild the country. “Politics is finally possible,” Dahi says.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
Ethnic Kokang rebels in northern Myanmar have executed six people following a public trial in front of hundreds of people that was filmed and posted on social media, including murder, the group confirmed Friday.
The six were among 14 individuals tried on Thursday by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, which had been fighting the junta since a military coup in early 2021, until agreeing to a ceasefire earlier this week.
In the video, which appeared to be professionally produced — including a militaristic soundtrack and drone shots — the convicted individuals in blue jumpsuits are held by guards as authorities in uniforms read out their crimes in Mandarin Chinese, the Kokang’s main language.
As the crimes are read out, MNDAA soldiers draw red X’s over signs displaying their names and that they were convicted criminals.
One of the accused, a woman, was convicted of murdering her husband, sources close to the MNDAA said via their social media accounts.
The other male suspects were charged with the murder of a female driver, the killing of a friend, and plotting to kill the owners of a construction and natural gas company.
Eight other individuals, accused of other crimes, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years.
The event took place Thursday in northern Shan state’s Laukkai township.
On Friday, the MNDAA’s Kokang Information Network confirmed that the group had executed the six in a post to its social media page.
People sentenced by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army are put on stage in front of a crowd in Laukkai town, northern Shan State, Dec. 5, 2024.
The video concludes with the six being paraded around the township in the back of pickup trucks as they are driven to what appears to be an execution site, before being led off by soldiers.
“After the public trial, police officers from the judicial branch escorted the criminals, who had been sentenced according to the law, through the streets for a public display,” the post said. “Then, the convicts were brought to the execution ground to be executed.”
It was not immediately clear how the six were executed.
Attempts by RFA to contact MNDAA officials for comment on the sentences went unanswered Friday.
The MNDAA has executed individuals it convicted of crimes in staged trials before. In April, another similar video showed several convicted people being publicly condemned for crimes, including three to death.
On May 2, 2023, the MNDAA executed four individuals for their involvement in murders, robberies, and 25 kidnappings in northern Shan’s Lashio township.
People sentenced by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army are put on stage in front of a crowd in Laukkai town, northern Shan State, Dec. 5, 2024.
‘No way consistent’
Legal experts have expressed concerns over the MNDAA’s actions, noting that the practice of public executions, which occurred during Myanmar’s British colonial era, has long been abolished.
RFA spoke with a lawyer who noted that the Kokang, who speak Mandarin Chinese and share ethnic characteristics with their northern neighbors, “follow the Chinese legal system, as they are subordinate to China and must adhere to its directives.”
The lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous due to security concerns, said that denying the six an appeal of their conviction and publicly executing them, “is in no way consistent with or acceptable under Myanmar’s current legal system.”
“In Myanmar, there are only two ways the death penalty can be carried out: if a civilian court issues a death sentence, the execution takes place in prison, while if a military court issues a death sentence, it is carried out by prison authorities within the prison, or by relevant military commanders,” he said. “There is no provision in our laws that mandates public executions.”
Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.
France has been plunged into political chaos after lawmakers from across the political spectrum voted to oust Prime Minister Michel Barnier in a no-confidence vote Wednesday, a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron, who had hand-picked the conservative lawmaker to lead the National Assembly. Macron called a snap election earlier this year to counter the rise of the racist National Rally party of Marine Le Pen, but he then refused to work with the leftist New Popular Front that won the most seats, opting for an establishment pick instead. With the government’s collapse, Macron has vowed to name a new prime minister and stay on to finish his own term, which ends in 2027, despite his growing unpopularity. “We’re in this unprecedented situation of turmoil,” says journalist Cole Stangler in Marseilles. He says Macron’s decision to call early elections was “a self-inflicted wound” that ended up empowering the far right and making it virtually impossible for any faction to lead. “We have a mathematical problem. France needs to have a government, and you have three pretty evenly split blocs,” says Stangler.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
BANGKOK – Myanmar has released four Thai fishermen nearly a week after a Myanmar navy boat opened fire on them and detained them for what Myanmar said was an intrusion into its waters in the Andaman Sea.
One fisherman drowned after he jumped into the sea and two were injured when a Myanmar boat opened fire in waters near the neighbors’ border on Nov. 30.
“The Myanmar side has released all four Thai nationals who were then taken to the immigration checkpoint at Kawthoung-Ranong for processing,” Thai foreign ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura said late on Thursday.
Thailand and Myanmar have several areas of dispute on their long land border as well as on their maritime border in the Andaman Sea, off the southern tip of Myanmar and southwest Thailand, and disagreements occasionally flare up.
Thailand summoned the Myanmar ambassador on Monday to protest against what it said was an excessive use of force against the fishermen and to demand the release of the four Thais. Myanmar nationals working on the Thai boat were also detained but their fate was not known.
The detained fishermen were on one of three Thai boats that the Myanmar navy fired at in the early hours of Nov. 30. The other two boats escaped.
The skipper of one of the boats that escaped said the Myanmar navy had fired at them “indiscriminately.”
The four fishermen were released in the southern Myanmar town of Kawthoung and were due to cross over a border inlet there to Thailand’s Ranong, the Thai foreign ministry said.
Earlier, officials at the Third Naval Command reported that their Myanmar counterparts said the Thai boats had intruded up to 9 kilometers (5.7 miles) into Myanmar waters. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said the facts had to be determined.
An injured fisherman on a stretcher at Ranong in Thailand near the Myanmar border, taken on Nov. 30 and released on Dec. 2, 2024.
A spokesman for the Myanmar military, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, defended the navy’s action saying Myanmar forces were wary of insurgent infiltration.
It was not immediately clear if Myanmar would also release the boat it seized, the Sor Charoenchai 8.
It was not the first incident in the contested area in recent years.
In 2020, Myanmar detained a Thai fishing boat carrying 20 Thai and Chinese tourists, saying it had entered Myanmar waters illegally. Myanmar held the tourists for a month before their release following negotiations.
Edited by Taejun Kang.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Nontarat Phaicharoen for BenarNews and Pimuk Rakkanam for RFA.
A claim has been circulated in Chinese-language social media that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office dropped the case against President-elect Donald Trump in which he was convicted of 34 felony counts involving falsifying business records, following his presidential election victory.
But the claim is false. Documents released by the court on Nov. 19 show that the prosecution intends to proceed with post-trial sentencing and denies Trump’s impending presidency is sufficient grounds to dismiss the case.
“Donald Trump’s sentencing for 34 criminal charges in the state of New York abruptly adjourned by Judge Merchan without explanation. All charges have been dropped,” the claim reads.
Chinese influencers claim that 34 felony counts against Trump have been or soon will be dropped.
Former President Trump secured a second, non-consecutive term by defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.
In March 2023, a Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The indictment accused Trump of orchestrating hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to suppress information about a sexual encounter that she says they had aiming to influence the 2016 presidential election. Trump denies any sexual encounter with Daniels.
The payments were purportedly disguised in business records as legal expenses to conceal their true purpose.
The claim that the felony accounts against Trump were dropped following the election is incorrect.
Charge vs account
Chinese social media users appear to have confused the terms “charges” and “counts.”
A “charge” refers to a specific crime someone is accused of committing, while a “count” indicates the number of times the person is accused of committing that crime.
In Trump’s case, he was accused of one crime – falsifying business records – but was charged with committing it 34 separate times.
To be proceeded
The Manhattan district attorney offices’ charge against Trump has not been dropped.
Documents released by the court on November 19 show that the prosecution intends to proceed with post-trial sentencing and denies Trump’s impending presidency is sufficient grounds to dismiss the felony counts against him.
However, the prosecution noted that it will consider a stay of proceedings, which would pause sentencing until after Trump leaves office after his second term ends in four years.
It stated this would allow the court “to balance competing constitutional interests.”
Uncertainties
On Nov. 22, the presiding judge Juan Merchan postponed sentencing to receive more arguments from both sides.
Trump’s lawyers were ordered to file their arguments for dismissal by Dec. 2, while the prosecutors were given until Dec. 9 to submit their arguments for proceeding with the conviction.
Given the unique situation of a president-elect awaiting criminal sentencing, the exact outcome of the case is still unclear.
While the prosecution has signaled its plans to continue forward with sentencing at some point in the future, Trump’s lawyers are still attempting to have the case dismissed.
U.S. constitutional law expert Robert Mcwhirter said in an interview with the American broadcaster CBS that any sentencing against Trump would likely be enforced after leaving his second term in office.
However, Mcwhirter noted there is “a slim chance” that he could impose a short prison sentence on Trump before his inauguration in January 2025 or probationary measures during his time in office.
Other cases
In addition to the Manhattan court case, one other state-level criminal case in Georgia and two federal criminal cases have been brought against Trump.
Following Trump’s election victory, the Department of Justice dismissed the two federal cases against him on Nov. 25.
The case in Georgia is stalled in pretrial procedures and its progress is unclear.
A Supreme Court decision from July 2024 ruled that Trump was ineligible to be prosecuted for acts that fall under the president’s “core constitutional powers.”
The president’s “unofficial acts” share no such immunity.
Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Shen Ke and 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.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alan Lu for Asia Fact Check Lab.
Nearly two months after Israel invaded Lebanon, a “fragile” ceasefire has been reached between Israel and Lebanon. Under the deal, Israel says it will withdraw troops from Lebanon’s south over a 60-day period, though Lebanese writer Lina Mounzer says “this is already being contradicted by the behavior and the directives of the Israeli army,” which continued to bomb Lebanese civilian areas through the waning hours of official hostilities. Thousands of displaced Lebanese are now returning to southern Lebanon, hoping that their homes are still standing. Many are mourning the nearly 3,800 Lebanese killed by U.S. weapons and Israeli warfare. While there is “relief” in the country, “people are finding it very difficult to celebrate,” says Mounzer. “The grieving process begins now.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
New York, November 26, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for an immediate international investigation into a deadly Israeli strike in Lebanon that legal experts believe could be a war crime as it likely deliberately targeted civilians, killing three members of the media.
“Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “Israel must be held accountable for its actions and the international community must act to ensure that journalist murders are not allowed to go unpunished.”
On November 25, investigations by Human Rights Watch and Britain’s The Guardian newspaper revealed that Israel’s October 25 airstrike in south Lebanon was carried out using an air-dropped bomb equipped with a U.S.-produced bomb guidance kit.
Two journalists and a media worker — Ghassan Najjar, Mohammed Reda, and Wissam Kassem — were killed and three more journalists were injured by the 3 a.m. strike on a compound in the southern town of Hasbaya where more than a dozen journalists had been staying for several weeks.
The investigations, which included site visits, interviews with survivors and legal experts, and analysis of munitions remnants, video, photo, and satellite images, found no evidence of military activity, forces, or infrastructure in the area. Human Rights Watch concluded that the Israeli military “knew or should have known that journalists were staying in the area and in the targeted building.”
The New York-based rights group further said that U.S. officials “may be complicit in war crimes” because of U.S. weapons transfers to Israel whose military has carried out “repeated, unlawful attacks on civilians.”
Last month, a CPJ report called for accountability for Israel’s killing of Lebanese journalist Issam Abdallah and wounding of six other journalists in an October 13, 2023, tank strike on a hillside in south Lebanon.
Prior to the Israel-Gaza war, in May 2023, CPJ’s “Deadly Pattern” report found that Israel had never held its military to account for 20 journalist killings over 22 years.
Immediately after the October 25 strike, Israel’s military said it had struck a “Hezbollah military structure” and that “terrorists were located inside the structure.” A few hours later, the army said the incident was “under review.”
CPJ did not immediately receive a response to its email to the Israel Defense Forces’ North America Media Desk asking whether they’d reviewed the circumstances of the strike, whether they knew there were journalists in the targeted location, and if they were targeted for being journalists.
At a November 25 press briefing, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said he was aware of the Human Rights Watch report and department officials “generally do take these reports very seriously,” but said he did not have any “further assessment, either to the type of weapon that was used or to the nature of the strike itself.”
An ethnic minority insurgent force in Myanmar has said it is ready to talk to the junta, while acknowledging China’s efforts to end hostilities, in what an analyst said was the latest sign that Chinese pressure on Myanmar’s rivals to end their war was paying off.
China has extensive economic interests in its southern neighbour including energy pipelines and mining projects and is keen to see an end to the violent turmoil that has engulfed Myanmar since the military overthrew an elected government in early 2021.
China backs the military but also maintains contacts with rebel forces, particularly those based on its border. It has been calling on all sides to talk while pressuring the insurgents by closing the border and cutting off essential supplies such as fuel.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, based in Shan state, announced in a statement on Monday that it was ready to engage in talks with the military.
The group was positive about China’s mediation and said it was committed to cooperate until favorable conditions were achieved. It highlighted its belief in a federal union that ensures the right to self-determination for all ethnic groups.
Radio Free Asia was awaiting further details from the TNLA’s spokesperson on the possibility of talks with the military.
One analyst said Chinese pressure was working.
“It appears that China is exerting pressure on both sides,” said Hla Kyaw Zaw, a China-based analyst on Myanmar affairs.
“The TNLA is also taking into account the impact of the conflict on civilians in its region.”
The TNLA is a member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance of rebel groups who went on the offensive on Oct. 27 last year, and made stunning gains, putting the military under the most pressure it has faced since shortly after independence from Britain in 1948.
Offers of talks
The junta chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has recently made several offers of talks to the insurgents, including once while in China this month, on his first visit there since the 2021 coup.
In his latest call for peace, in a message for National Day on Monday, Min Aung Hlaing said political issues had to be resolved through political means not through armed struggle, and if not, Myanmar risked disintegration and the loss of solidarity and sovereignty. The military has long seen itself as the only institution capable of holding the diverse country together.
While calling for talks, the junta has also been stepping up airstrikes on rebel zones, with a rising toll on civilians, U.N. rights officials say.
Insurgents groups, including the TNLA, have asked China not just to press them to make peace but to also tell the junta to stop its airstrikes on civilians. They say China has not responded.
The rebels dismissed Min Aung Hlaing’s first offer of talks as window-dressing for a foreign audience, made at China’s insistence.
Then in September, a Shan-state-based ally of the TNLA in the three-party alliance, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, said it would stop attacking big towns and cities and would no longer cooperate with the National Unity Government, or NUG, which was set up by pro-democracy politicians after the 2021 coup.
The MNDAA announcement came days after it said China had warned it to stop fighting and had closed off the border. China gave the TNLA the same warning in late August.
Analysts say China regards the NUG as under the influence of Western governments and wants it isolated.
For its part, the NUG, which commands the loyalty of militia forces set up by pro-democracy activists, has been skeptical of the junta’s calls for talks.
It said in its National Day comments that the population was united in the effort to overthrow the military dictatorship and begin a new chapter.
The NUG stresses the need for concerted international pressure on the junta, including cutting off supplies of jet fuel for the air force.
“If regional countries stop the flow of money to the military regime, it will suffer,” said NUG spokesman Kyaw Zaw. “Sanctions should target companies that supply jet fuel and shipping lines which transport jet fuel for the junta.”
Political analyst Than Soe Naing was also not optimistic about the prospects for talks given the bad blood between the two sides.
“Only when the people have some weapons and power in their hands can they begin to talk about peace,” he told RFA. “As long as the people are oppressed and killed, peace talks will be impossible.”
Myanmar affairs analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe said there was nothing any other powers could do about China’s intervention in Myanmar and its support for the junta: “Neither the U.N. nor the United States has the capacity to stop it. ASEAN has also failed to implement effective measures.”
China’s intervention on behalf of a deeply unpopular junta looks bound to inflame public anger. A small bomb recently went off outside the Chinese consulate in Mandalay city.
“China is actively interfering in Myanmar’s internal affairs,” said a Myanmar citizen in the South Korean capital, among a couple of hundred people protesting outside the Chinese embassy.
“We, as members of the diaspora, are opposing China for recognizing the military council.”
Edited by Taejun Kang and Mike Firn.
Translated by Aung Naing, Kalyar Lwin.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.
A young Australian woman has died after drinking alcohol laced with methanol in Laos, her father said on Friday, the sixth victim of what should have been a fun night out in a tourist town on the Southeast Asian backpacker trail.
Shaun Bowles, said in a statement his “beautiful girl Holly is now at peace” after dying in a hospital in Bangkok, where she was taken last week after falling ill in neighboring Laos.
Her friend, Bianca Jones, died on Thursday in a hospital in the northeastern Thai town of Udon Thani, where she had been sent for treatment. They were both 19.
A British woman, two young Danish women and an American man have also died, and several more people are reported to be sick, after going out for drinks last week in the riverside town of Vang Vieng, which has for years been a laid-back stop for young Western travelers.
Media identified the British woman as Simone White, 28, a lawyer.
“We are supporting the family of a British woman who has died in Laos, and we are in contact with the local authorities,” Britain’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office said on Thursday.
It is believed White had been sent for treatment in the Lao capital, Vientiane, after falling ill last week. A member of staff at the Kasemrad International Hospital there told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday a British national was being treated in its intensive care unit. The hospital declined to comment on Friday.
The exterior of Bangkok Hospital, in Bangkok, Thailand, Nov. 21, 2024.
An official from the Lao Ministry of Public Security told RFA on Friday that at least seven foreign tourists have been sent from Vang Vieng to Kasemrad for treatment.
The Lao government has not confirmed the cause of the deaths but on Friday it cited Australian media as saying the victims had consumed drinks laced with methanol.
“The case is under extensive investigation now,” the ministry official said. “I think it will take sometimes to conclude the case, but I am not sure about the timeline.”
Thai authorities said an autopsy on Jones showed she died from brain swelling caused by methanol. The British, Australian and New Zealand embassies have issued updated travel advisories on the danger of methanol in Laos.
Methanol is a clear, tasteless liquid that can be used to boost the alcohol content of drinks, often with fatal consequences.
Some 1,200 people have fallen ill from drinking methanol-laced drinks in the past year, according to Doctors Without Borders, which said 394 people had died worldwide, many of them in Asia.
‘Severe condition’
Earlier on Friday, the Ministry of Public Security identified the two Danish women who died as Anne-Sofie Coyman, 20, and Freja Sorensen, 21, and the American man as James Hutson, 57. All three had been staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel in Vang Vieng, it said.
The ministry said no autopsies had been carried out so it couldn’t confirm the cause of death.
“On Nov. 12, Coyman and Sorensen went out drinking at bars in Vang Vieng before coming back at midnight,” the ministry said in a statement.
“At 6 p.m. on Nov. 13, a staff member at Nana Backpacker found them lying unconscious in their rooms so they carried them to Vang Vieng Hospital. They were in a coma and relied on a respirator due to their severe condition. They were transferred to the No. 103 Military Hospital at 8 p.m. but they died at 3:30 in the morning.
“The doctors concluded death was due to sudden heart failure.”
The ministry said hostel staff found Hutson on his bed just after 9 p.m. on Nov. 13 and took him to Vang Vieng Hospital but he was dead on arrival.
The U.S. State Department earlier confirmed the death of the U.S. citizen, while the Danish government confirmed two of its nationals had died in Laos.
‘Don’t accept free drinks’
Details of how the tourists came to drink tainted alcohol in Vang Vieng are sketchy and it is not clear if they were all drinking at the same bar. Residents told RFA no Lao people had fallen ill over the past week but cases of tainted alcohol were common in Vang Vieng.
A town police officer who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the case, said anyone found selling tainted drinks would face serious consequences.
“Methanol is basically prohibited to mix with alcohol for sales as it is listed as a life-harming chemical,” he told Radio Free Asia. “It is only allowed to be used for industrial purposes.”
A Lao tourism official told RFA that officers had checked all bars and entertainment venues in Vang Vieng but added he could not give details of their findings.
Bar staff and venue managers in the town said they only offered reputable brands of drinks, though one of them warned that customers should always be careful.
“The only thing that can prevent this kind of incident is to not accept any free drink offered by someone you don’t know in a bar,” said the man, who declined to be identified.
An official from the Vang Vieng tourism office told RFA that it is widely understood that the deaths could have “negative impacts” on Laos’ tourism industry.
Police in Vang Vieng have detained but not charged several people in connection with their investigation, the AP reported. Staff at Nana Backpacker told the agency the hostel’s owner and manager had been taken away for questioning.
Duong Duc Toan, the manager of Nana Backpacker Hostel sits in the hostel’s bar in Vang Vieng, Laos, Nov. 19, 2024.
The British Foreign Office in its updated advisory said methanol was been used in the manufacture of counterfeit replicas of well-known alcohol brands or illegal local spirits, like vodka.
“You should take care if offered, particularly for free, or when buying spirit-based drinks. If labels, smell or taste seem wrong then do not drink,” it said
Translated by Phouvong. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
This story has been updated to add comments from two Lao officials.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Lao.
Donald Trump has tapped a new loyalist to head the Department of Justice, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who served on his defense team during his first impeachment trial and now works at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute. Bondi previously dropped a probe into Trump University in 2013 after Trump’s family foundation donated $25,000 to her campaign. This comes after Trump’s first pick, former Florida Congressmember Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration Thursday amid a firestorm over allegations of sex trafficking involving a 17-year-old girl. “In Pam Bondi, Donald Trump has just the person he really wants: someone who will be a lapdog when it comes to wrongdoing by those people he likes and wants to insulate and protect, and a vicious attack dog for anybody Donald Trump wants to seek revenge against,” says Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston, who has covered Trump for decades.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
A prominent Tibetan art collector and environmental activist who was sentenced to prison in 2010 has been released after serving nearly 15 years amid deteriorating health and is expected to remain under strict surveillance, three sources told Radio Free Asia.
Karma Samdrub, 56, was arrested by Chinese authorities in January 2010 and sentenced by the Yangi County Court in Xinjiang later that year on trumped up charges of excavating ancient tombs and robbing cultural artifacts, despite having been cleared of all charges in a 1998 investigation.
He was released from prison in Xinjiang’s Shaya County on Monday, according to the three sources, who spoke to RFA on the condition of anonymity for security reasons.
In photos taken just after his release, the once well-built Tibetan businessman is seen needing the support of at least two to aid in his walking.
“He is now suffering from spinal and back-related health issues and needs assistance to even walk due to prolonged mistreatment, torture and prison labor in the past 15 years,” one of the sources told RFA.
Karma Samdrub, center, is supported by two men to aid in his walking on Nov. 18, 2024. (Citizen Photo)
Samdrub comes from a family of prominent Tibetans. He was the founder of the award-winning Three Rivers Environmental Protection Group and was profiled by a Chinese state media organization as its Philanthropist of the Year in 2006.
He and his brothers also won international awards for their conservation activities, including one from Ford Motors and a grant from the Jet Li One Foundation.
Brothers also arrested
At the time of his detention, Karma Samdrup was in the process of setting up a museum of Tibetan culture, and was judged by other Tibetans to own the largest private collection in the world of Tibetan art and artifacts.
His 2010 arrest is widely believed to have been in retaliation to his efforts to secure the release of his two environmentalist brothers, Rinchen Samdrup and Chime Namgyal, both of whom were detained in August 2009.
Rinchen Samdrup was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of subversion and “splitting the motherland” after posting an article about the Dalai Lama on a website. Family members, however, said he was detained after he accused local officials of hunting endangered animals.
Karma Samdrub, center, reunites with family and friends following his release from prison on Nov. 18, 2024. (Citizen Photo)
Chime Namgyal received a two-year sentence on charges related to his conservationist work with Rinchen Samdrup.
One of the three sources who spoke to RFA said that the two brothers were among the family members, friends and acquaintances who welcomed Karma Samdrup home this week.
As part of his 2010 sentence, Samdrub will be deprived of all political rights for the next five years. This means that his civil and political freedoms will be restricted, including the right to the freedom of assembly and speech, as well as the right to hold a position in various organizations.
Additional reporting by Tsering Namgyal. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Edited by Tenzin Pema, Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Choegyi and Yangdon for RFA Tibetan.
China is reeling in the wake of a number of attacks on members of the public in recent weeks, including a fatal car attack at a stadium in the southern port city of Zhuhai this month that left 35 people dead and dozens more injured.
Since then, further violence has been making the headlines, including stabbings on two college campuses at the weekend and a car attack on students at a primary school in Hunan province.
Several schoolchildren were injured on Tuesday after being struck by a car as they arrived to start their day at the Yong’an Primary School in Hunan’s Changde city, state media reported.
A video clip uploaded to social media showed people lying on the ground in the immediate aftermath of the attack, as media reports said a man had been arrested in connection with the incident.
Injured school children lay on the ground after being hit by a car at the Yong’an Primary School in Dingcheng District, Changde City, Hunan Provence, China. (Citizen Photo)
The attack came after police arrested a 21-year-old man in connection with a stabbing attack at the Wuxi Yixing Arts and Crafts Vocational and Technical College on Nov. 16 that left eight people dead and 17 injured, while a stabbing incident was also reported at the Guangdong Institute of Technology on Nov. 17, according to social media posts with photos from the scene.
Analysts who spoke to RFA Mandarin in recent interviews pointed to a “pressure-cooker” effect on ordinary people of a flagging economy and growing social inequality, prompting attacks that are widely seen as a form of “revenge” on society.
An online commentator from the eastern province of Shandong who gave only the surname Lu for fear of reprisals said people in China are struggling, and the cracks are beginning to show.
“Some people are starting to feel that life is meaningless,” Lu said. “This is a very unjust society, and people are starting to hate the system, leading to a string of tragedies.”
“The domestic economy is doing badly, and it’s getting harder and harder to get by, what with growing pressure from unemployment and the cost of housing,” Lu said, adding that ruling Chinese Communist Party policies don’t appear to be alleviating the burden on ordinary people.
“The party is creating that pressure rather than solving the problem and relieving it,” he said.
‘Pressure-cooker with no release valve’
Economic pressures are leading to strained family relationships and break-ups, while a culture of extreme overwork for those who do have a job often leads to mental health problems and sudden deaths, commentators said.
The intersection of economic pressures and institutional problems is gradually tearing apart the fabric of Chinese society, according to writer Ye Fu.
“These are troubled times,” Ye said. “Livelihoods are under pressure, and the middle and lower classes are getting desperate, so there’s bound to be a rise in violence.”
“The whole of society is like a pressure-cooker, which will eventually explode if it is suppressed with no release valve,” he said.
A commentator from the central province of Hunan who gave only the surname Yu for fear of reprisals said that violent attacks are likely to continue until the government takes action to alleviate the pressures on ordinary people.
“If the government refuses to address such social conflicts at their source, and from the perspective of social justice, and keeps repressing them, then people will continue to take such retaliatory action against society as a whole,” Yu said.
“They can’t get fair treatment … the authorities won’t accept petitions, so they retaliate in some other way against society,” he said, adding that the suppression is largely the result of China’s nationwide system of “stability maintenance,” which aims to suppress and silence government critics before they can take action, including through legal channels.
Floral tributes are placed near an entrance to the Wuxi Vocational College of Arts and Technology following a knife attack, in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, China Nov. 17, 2024. (Reuters/Brenda Goh)
A resident of Shandong who gave only the surname Zhang for fear of reprisals said such attacks are also likely to spawn copycat incidents in future.
“Some people feel stressed or angry, but have nowhere to express that,” Zhang said. “So when they see that someone drove a car into some people, they imitate those actions.”
“The main issue is that it’s getting too hard to survive, and a lot of people switch into an alternative kind of survival mode,” he said.
Prioritizing the economy
Scholar Wang Qun blamed the government’s insistence on the economy as the main solution to inequality.
“Prioritizing economic growth over social equity leads to the neglect of individual happiness, and the uneven distribution of public resources like education, medical care and housing,” Wang said. “It means that it’s very hard for ordinary people to enjoy equal opportunities.”
A man, left, holds a bouquet of flowers outside Shenzhen Japanese School, following the death of a 10-year-old child after being stabbed by an assailant on the way to the school, in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China Sept. 19, 2024. (Reuters/David Kirton)
And the economic pressures are taking place in a political climate of extreme censorship and restriction, he said.
“Critical voices on social issues are often suppressed, and the fact that many of their channels of expression have been closed off has exacerbated young people’s sense of powerlessness,” Wang said.
Public health scholar Lu Jun agreed with the “pressure-cooker” metaphor.
“In a normal society, people have some kind of outlet for their emotions, and some kind of chance at justice, or at the very least a channel through which to speak out, via the judicial system,” Lu said.
“But it’s becoming increasingly unlikely that anyone will get justice in China through legal means.”
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Joshua Lipes.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Qian Lang for RFA Mandarin.
BANGKOK – One British and two Australians tourists are seriously ill after drinking alcohol suspected of being tainted with poisonous methanol in a tourist town in Laos, after two young Danish women died, hospital sources told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday.
The British tourist is in intensive care in a hospital in the Lao capital, Vientiane, while the two Australians are in hospital in neighboring Thailand, the sources said. As many as nine other tourists were ill, media reported.
All of them were believed to have been in the Lao town of Vang Vieng, a favorite destination for backpackers in Southeast Asia.
The Lao government said it had not identified what killed the two Danish women and made the others sick.
“We acknowledged the incident but we do not have the autopsy and investigation results yet,” said an official at the Ministry of Public Security who declined to be identified, given the sensitivity of the matter.
RFA previously reported that tourists got sick after a late-night drinking session on Nov. 12, according to sources in Laos who declined to be identified.
A member of staff at the Kasemrad International Hospital Vientiane, said a tourist was admitted to the hospital last week.
“The British national is in ICU,” the female staff member told RFA, referring to the hospital’s intensive care unit. She declined to give further details about the condition or gender of the patient.
Two Australians, Holly Bowles and her friend, Bianca Jones, both 19, were in serious condition in Thailand – one in hospital in Bangkok and the other in the town of Udon Thani, near the border with Laos, Australian media reported.
A member of staff at the Bangkok hospital did not deny it was treating one of the tourists but declined to identify her or give details of her condition.
Australia’s 9News quoted Bowles’ father, Shaun, as saying his daughter was still fighting for her life.
“Our daughter remains in the intensive care unit, in a critical condition. She’s on life support,” he said.
Jones’ family said in a statement carried by Australian networks on Wednesday that she remained in intensive care in Udon Thani and they had received no update on her condition.
“This is every parent’s nightmare and we want to ensure no other family is forced to endure the anguish we are going through,” the family said.
The two best friends had been on a “dream getaway,” the family said in an earlier statement.
Nana Backpacker Hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, Nov. 19, 2024.
‘Profit over lives’
An official at the No. 103 Military Hospital in Vientiane told RFA on Wednesday the two unidentified Danish women had died of severe poisoning.
“The [first] woman passed away on the first day she was transferred from Vang Vieng, having breathing difficulties,” the official said. “The second woman was able to travel by herself in a car but finally succumbed.”
She said many other patients were referred to hospital elsewhere.
Most of the sick tourists – who included Danish and Swedish nationals – had been staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel in the town, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, reported.
RFA spoke to Duong Van Huan, an owner of the hostel, who said that the poisoning did not occur at his bar.
“I don’t know much of what happened,” he said “They went to the bar and came back … I only sent them to the hospital … I don’t know which bar they went to – Vang Vieng has lots of them.”
A foreign businessman in Vang Vieng told RFA he thought there needed to be an international inquiry.
“From my opinion, this needs a lot of investigation by local and foreign officials,” he said. “The ones who are accountable will get what they deserve and send a very clear message to all bars and hostels that they should never make a small extra profit over lives.”
Police told RFA Lao they are investigating whether the source of the illness was methanol, a clear liquid that is often illegally added to alcohol as a cheaper alternative to ethanol. Even a small amount of methanol can be fatal.
A tourist took to a Laos Backpacker group on Facebook to post a warning.
“Urgent – please avoid all local spirits,” the tourist said. “Our group stayed in Vang Vieng and we drank free shots offered by one of the bars. Just avoid them as so not worth it. 6 of us who drank from the same place are in hospital currently with methanol poisoning.”
An official at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok declined to comment.
Edited by Mike Firn
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Lao.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan plans to spend NT$70.6 billion (US$2.2 billion) on U.S. weapons next year, confirming recent speculation that it would make big new purchases to signal its commitment to President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion that it pay more for U.S. “protection”.
Democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims to have sovereignty over, heavily relies on U.S. support to counter Beijing’s growing military pressure, although it lacks formal diplomatic ties with the United States, which adheres to a “one China” policy.
“Taipei has signed contracts with the U.S. for 21 procurement projects, totalling NT$716.6 billion, with final payments scheduled to be made in 2031,” said the island’s defense ministry on Monday.
“Of this total, approximately NT$373.1 billion has already been paid, while NT$343.5 billion remains unpaid and will be disbursed according to the payment schedule,” the ministry added.
Next year’s NT$70.6 billion budget will be spent on weapons including portable short-range air defense missiles and radar system upgrades, according to the ministry.
Soldiers stand next to M1167 TOW carrier vehicle at the Fangshan training grounds in Pingtung, Taiwan, Aug. 26, 2024.
A partnership between Washington and Taipei grew significantly during Trump’s first term and further deepened under President Joe Biden amid intensifying U.S.-China rivalry.
Former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen made history with a landmark phone call to Trump following his 2016 election victory, sparking a strong backlash from Beijing.
Trump also bolstered ties by ramping up arms sales and increasing diplomatic engagement, with Taiwan purchasing US$18 billion in U.S. weapons during his first term – US$4 billion more than the two terms of the Obama administration.
However, during this year’s campaign, Trump adopted what media called “bluntly transactional diplomacy” and criticized Taiwan’s insufficient military spending and its semiconductor dominance, arguing it was “stupid” for the U.S. to provide free protection.
The president-elect also signaled doubt as to how quickly and effectively the U.S. could help defend the island against a Chinese invasion.
This sparked speculation in Taiwan that it may make significant new arms deals early under the next U.S. administration to demonstrate its commitment to addressing Trump’s concerns, with media reporting that Taiwan had approached Trump’s team regarding a possible US$15 billion weapons package.
The island’s defense minister, Wellington Koo, dismissed the report last week but said: “Communication and proposals for necessary weaponry would continue under the existing military exchange mechanisms with the future Trump administration.”
His ministry said on Monday that Taiwan’s arms purchases from the U.S. were based on assessments of enemy threats and informed by experience from recent global conflicts, such as the war in Ukraine.
“Budget allocations are determined based on annual defense funding availability, the progress of individual projects, and delivery schedules,” the ministry added.
In response to criticism from lawmakers about delayed deliveries of U.S. arms, the ministry said there had been disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but noted manufacturing had gradually resumed post-pandemic, with delivery timelines accelerating.
A report by the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think tank, shows that as of August 2024, the cumulative value of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan that have yet to be delivered had reached $20.53 billion.
Shu Hsiao-Huang, an associate research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said some items requested by U.S. allies might not align with the current needs of the American army, which led to delays in production.
“Some new equipment faced integration issues, which requires system adjustments to meet customer demands,” said Shu, adding that certain weapons, such as Stinger missiles, had also become difficult to obtain due to high demand globally.
A recent proposal submitted to Taiwan’s legislature for review shows Taiwan’s weapon purchases from the U.S. included 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks, 66 F-16V fighter jets, 29 HIMARS rocket systems, and 100 Harpoon land-based missile systems.
Edited by Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alan Lu for RFA.
Prominent Tibetan language rights advocate Tashi Wangchuk was detained for 15 days on charges of ‘disrupting social order’ and allegedly spreading false information on social media and is now under strict surveillance, RFA Tibetan has learned.
Wangchuk’s detention comes as China intensifies its policies to suppress — or even eradicate — Tibetan and other ethnic languages and cultures and replace them with Mandarin and Han Chinese customs.
According to a release notice issued by the Yulshul (in Chinese, Yushu) City Detention Center obtained by RFA, Wangchuk, 39, was arrested by the Internet Police Unit in China’s Qinghai province on Oct. 20. After an investigation, he was detained for 15 days in the Yulshul Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture until his release on Nov. 4.
The document, dated Nov. 4, said Wangchuk — a former political prisoner — was accused of posting “false information” on social media platforms since June, for “repeatedly insulting and ridiculing government departments” and “negatively impacting the online environment and public order in society” by allegedly distorting and rejecting government policies.
Despite his release, Wangchuk remains under strict surveillance and is being subjected to ongoing interrogation, said a source familiar with his situation, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
A shopkeeper from the Yulshul township of Jyekundo, also called Gyegu, said Wangchuk was released from prison in January 2021 after he completed a five-year term for discussing language restrictions with Western media, but rights groups had continued to express concerns about his health and safety amid ongoing controls on his freedom.
‘Forced assimilation’
Maya Wang, associate China director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, said Wangchuk’s case reflects the Chinese government’s broader efforts toward assimilation.
“Tibetans who have pushed back for Tibetan language rights – notably Tashi Wangchuk – and for their rights to express themselves, practice religion and culture in the way they prefer, have been imprisoned and harassed for doing so,” Wang told RFA.
“This is all part of the Chinese government‘s efforts to forcibly assimilate what they consider to be ’ethnic minorities’ and subsume them into what [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping] considers to be a rising Han Chinese nation,” she said.
Wang noted that the Chinese government has systematically replaced the Tibetan language with Mandarin as the medium of instruction in primary, middle and secondary schools, except for classes studying Tibetan as a language – treating it akin to a foreign language.
A man walks past a banner in Dharmsala, India, Jan. 27, 2017, demanding the release of Tibetan rights activist Tashi Wangchuk after his arrest in 2016.
While China claims to uphold the rights of all minorities to access a “bilingual education,” Tibetan-language schools have been forced to shut down and kindergarten-aged children regularly only receive instruction in Mandarin Chinese.
Observers say such policies are aimed at eliminating the next generation of Tibetan speakers and part of a broader effort by the government to destroy Tibetans’ cultural identity. Similar policies are deployed against Mongolians in Inner Mongolia and Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
Earlier prison term
Since 2015, Wangchuk has been advocating against China‘s policies undermining the Tibetan language, calling for language protection as guaranteed in laws governing the country’s autonomous regions.
Wangchuk rose to prominence that same year through an interview with The New York Times about his efforts to sue local authorities in eastern Tibet after Tibetan language classes were canceled.
After the release of The New York Times documentary featuring his interview, Wangchuk was arrested in 2016 and tortured by Chinese authorities.
Since his release in from prison in 2021 Wangchuk has traveled throughout Tibet raising awareness of Chinese authorities’ suppression of the Tibetan language in schools, as well as petitioning government officials to defend and preserve Tibetan language and culture.
Activists and his lawyer say that Wangchuk has been under continued surveillance since his release.
In July 2023, human rights lawyer Lin Qilei said in a post to the social media platform X that he had met Wangchuk in Yushu, but their meeting and time together was cut short due to restrictions on their communication and local police pressure.
“Tashi Wangchuk’s case makes the harassment and scrutiny that former political prisoners face even more evident,” said Tenzin Khunkhen, researcher at the Central Tibetan Administration’s Human Rights desk.
Khunkhen also raised concerns about Wangchuk’s well-being, stating that his arrest and detention reflects the Chinese government’s ongoing crackdown on political prisoners in Tibet.
Translated by Dawa Dolma and Tenzin Pema. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Tenzin Dickyi and Dickey Kundol for RFA Tibetan.
