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TAIPEI, Taiwan – Cambodia deported Taiwanese fraud suspects to China, the island’s foreign ministry said, urging Cambodian authorities to provide a complete list of the deportees, who may number in the dozens.
About 180 Taiwanese were arrested together with seven alleged Chinese coconspirators on March 31, during raids on an online fraud center in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh.
After receiving notification of the arrests on April 1, Taiwan’s representative office in Ho Chi Minh City began negotiating with the Cambodian government, said the ministry. Cambodia deported nearly 190 suspects to China in three groups on Sunday night and early Monday morning but hadn’t provided nationality information, the ministry said.
Taiwan and Cambodia do not maintain official diplomatic relations as the Southeast Asian country, like most other nations, recognizes Beijing and backs its position that Taiwan is part of China’s territory.
The representative office had requested that Cambodian authorities provide a complete list of names of the Taiwanese suspects and deport them to Taiwan to face legal consequences in accordance with international norms, according to the ministry.
Despite these requests, the Cambodian government has yet to provide a complete list or specific number of suspects, the ministry said.
“Cambodia, under pressure from China, did not provide a list of our country’s nationals or the total number deported, and the ministry not only continues to urge Cambodia to provide the list as soon as possible, but also expresses its serious concern and protest,” said the ministry.
The ministry also urged Taiwanese not to engage in illegal activities overseas such as telecom fraud.
Cambodia has become a regional hub for scam operations involving human trafficking and forced labour.
The scam operations are largely run by Chinese criminal syndicates based in guarded compounds in cities such as Sihanoukville, according to media reports. Victims – many from Taiwan, Myanmar and other Asian countries – are lured with fake job offers, only to be coerced into perpetrating online scams.
Taiwan has previously complained about countries deporting its nationals to China after being arrested on suspicion of involvement in telecom fraud, including Cambodia, Kenya and Spain.
According to Taiwan’s estimation, more than 600 Taiwanese people arrested overseas for their alleged involvement in online fraud were deported to China between 2016 and May 2024.
Neither the Cambodian nor Chinese foreign ministries immediately commented.
In recent years, Cambodia and China have significantly deepened their relationship across economic, political and military spheres.
China has become Cambodia’s largest investor and trading partner, with bilateral trade surpassing US$15 billion in 2024. Major infrastructure projects, such as the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway and a US$1.7 billion canal plan, have been developed under China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Politically, Cambodia has consistently supported China’s positions in international forums, including on contentious issues such as the South China Sea.
The two nations have also strengthened military ties, including the Chinese-funded expansion of the Ream Naval Base, which has raised concerns in the region about a potential Chinese military presence in the Gulf of Thailand.
Edited by Stephen Wright.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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New York, April 11, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the immediate release of political commentator Sonia Dahmani after the Tunis Court of Appeals reclassified charges against her as a felony, a move that could lead to a 10-year prison sentence over Dahmani’s critique of prison conditions.
“The reclassification of imprisoned commentator Sonia Dahmani’s charges as a felony is yet another alarming escalation in the Tunisian government’s use of cybercrime Decree Law 54 to intimidate and punish critical voices,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna. “Tunisian authorities must immediately release Dahmani, drop all charges against her, and put an end to the ongoing judicial harassment against journalists and commentators in the country.”
Dahmani, a lawyer and political commentator on IFM radio and Carthage Plus TV, was arrested in May 2024 and is currently serving a 32-month prison sentence on charges in connection with televised remarks about the state of Tunisia’s prisons. The case was filed by the General Directorate of Prisons under Article 24 of the cybercrime Decree-Law 54 on spreading false news charges.
On Thursday, April 10, the Tunis Court of Appeals upheld felony charges against Dahmani and referred her case to the criminal court, ignoring a February 3 Court of Cassation ruling that found the cybercrime law should only apply to crimes committed via digital systems and not to opinions expressed through traditional media.
Dahmani faces five charges for her media commentary; four are classified as misdemeanors.
According to CPJ’s December 1, 2024, prison census, at least five journalists were behind bars in Tunisia, the highest number recorded since 1992. The crackdown has intensified since President Kais Saied’s 2021 power grab—when he dissolved parliament, took control of the judiciary, and gave himself powers to rule by decree.
CPJ’s email requesting comment on Dahmani’s prosecution from the Tunisian presidency did not receive any response.
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BANGKOK – The U.S. and Vietnam have agreed to start talks on a trade deal, the Vietnamese government said Thursday, a possible sign of breathing space for some developing Asian countries as President Donald Trump escalates a trade war with China.
Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met in Washington late Wednesday, the day that 46% U.S. tariffs on Vietnamese exports came into force along with higher tariffs on many other countries.
Hours later, President Donald Trump announced he was cutting duties for countries that were willing to negotiate to 10% for three months, but continued measures against China, which now faces a 125% tariff on its exports.
“Though the U.S. has decided to delay the imposition of tariff for 90 days, the two countries should start negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement,” Phoc said, according to the Vietnamese government website.
An agreement would “create a long-term framework to promote stable and mutually beneficial economic and trade relations in line with the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries,” Phoc said.
Talks on a technical level would start immediately, the statement said. There was no immediate comment by the U.S.
The two countries elevated their relations to the highest level, a comprehensive strategic partnership, during a 2023 visit to Hanoi by then-President Joe Biden.
On April 4, Communist Party General Secretary To Lam offered to cut tariffs on U.S. goods to zero in a phone conversation with President Trump and urged the U.S. to follow suit.
Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro dismissed the proposal as meaningless because it wouldn’t narrow a massive trade surplus. Navarro also accused Vietnam of “non-tariff cheating,” in an interview on CNBC, citing shipments of Chinese goods being routed through Vietnam as one example.
Trump’s announcement that he was cutting tariffs for more than 75 countries to 10% for 90 days helped ease concern that a global trade war would trigger a recession. Asian stocks surged on the back of strong gains on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped nearly 9% in the morning and South Korea’s KOSPI index headed more than 5% higher.
The partial reversal on tariffs is a signal that the U.S. will reward countries that don’t retaliate.
Japan and South Korea are among the countries that “want to come to the table rather than escalate,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, The Associated Press reported.
He said the U.S. is planning “bespoke” negotiations with governments that are prepared to make concessions in return for a tariff reduction.
Edited by Stephen Wright.
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Cambodia has formally re-opened a naval base on its southwestern coast after a substantial upgrade supported by China, but denies it will allow any foreign country to establish a base on its soil.
Prime Minister Hun Manet on Saturday officiated the re-opening of Ream Naval Base. The Chinese ambassador to Cambodia and a member from China’s Central Military Commission attended the ceremony.
“The royal government of Cambodia, led by the Cambodian People’s Party, in the past, now and in the future will not violate its own constitution to allow any single foreign country to put a military base in the country,” Hun Manet said at the ceremony.
The re-opening comes about two weeks before a planned state visit to Cambodia by China’s President Xi Jinping. Cambodia is one China’s staunchest allies in Southeast Asia.
“We have nothing to hide”, Hun Manet said at the ceremony. He welcomed “all friends” to participate in joint military drills at the base.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet at the re-opening of Ream naval base in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, April 5, 2025. (Reuters)Last August, when visiting Ream, an RFA reporter witnessed the fast pace of development and was told that 100 Chinese naval personnel were “working day and night” on it.
The U.S. has repeatedly expressed concerns over the lack of transparency in the Ream base’s development while Cambodia’s neighbors worry that a foothold at Ream would give China better control over the Indochina peninsula and the South China Sea.
Cambodia’s constitution does not allow foreign bases in the country but analysts say that China, having invested a large sum of money in the project, would have preferential access to Ream.
On Sunday, China and Cambodia held joint military exercises at Ream. Warships from both countries conducted drills including formation maneuvring. China’s state-run Global Times said that the two countries will likely conduct more joint drills using the base in the future.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Cambodia has formally re-opened a naval base on its southwestern coast after a substantial upgrade supported by China, but denies it will allow any foreign country to establish a base on its soil.
Prime Minister Hun Manet on Saturday officiated the re-opening of Ream Naval Base. The Chinese ambassador to Cambodia and a member from China’s Central Military Commission attended the ceremony.
“The royal government of Cambodia, led by the Cambodian People’s Party, in the past, now and in the future will not violate its own constitution to allow any single foreign country to put a military base in the country,” Hun Manet said at the ceremony.
The re-opening comes about two weeks before a planned state visit to Cambodia by China’s President Xi Jinping. Cambodia is one China’s staunchest allies in Southeast Asia.
“We have nothing to hide”, Hun Manet said at the ceremony. He welcomed “all friends” to participate in joint military drills at the base.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet at the re-opening of Ream naval base in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, April 5, 2025. (Reuters)Last August, when visiting Ream, an RFA reporter witnessed the fast pace of development and was told that 100 Chinese naval personnel were “working day and night” on it.
The U.S. has repeatedly expressed concerns over the lack of transparency in the Ream base’s development while Cambodia’s neighbors worry that a foothold at Ream would give China better control over the Indochina peninsula and the South China Sea.
Cambodia’s constitution does not allow foreign bases in the country but analysts say that China, having invested a large sum of money in the project, would have preferential access to Ream.
On Sunday, China and Cambodia held joint military exercises at Ream. Warships from both countries conducted drills including formation maneuvring. China’s state-run Global Times said that the two countries will likely conduct more joint drills using the base in the future.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Israel has been targeting journalists in the occupied Palestinian territory with more intensity since October 7, 2023, says Australian journalist and author Antony Lowenstein.
Pointing to studies that tracked the number of media workers killed in conflicts, he told Al Jazeera: “The number of journalists killed in Gaza is greater than that of all conflicts in the last 100 years combined.”
Lowenstein, author of the landmark book The Palestine Laboratory, which has been translated into several languages and was the basis of a recent two-part documentary series, cited a study by Brown University’s Cost of War project.
- READ MORE: The graver Israel’s atrocities in Gaza, the quieter the BBC grows
- NZ protesters honour killed Gaza journalists – ‘targeted’ say press freedom groups
- Other Gaza media freedom reports
Australian author Antony Loewenstein . . . “The lack of international outrage speaks volumes about how suddenly the press have a hierarchy of who is important.” Image: AJ screenshot APR He added that the figures pointed to a “deliberate targeting of journalists”.
Among Western countries, “there is far more interest if China, Russia and Iran target journalists but far less if Israel does”, Lowenstein said.
“The lack of international outrage speaks volumes about how suddenly the press have a hierarchy of who is important, and Palestinians are not top of that list.”
Israel’s war on Gaza ‘worst ever conflict for reporters’
An Israeli attack that killed two people, including a journalist, in Khan Younis comes days after the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University said Israel’s war on Gaza was the “deadliest” for media workers ever recorded.The US-based think tank, in a report published on April 1, said Israeli forces had killed 232 journalists since October 7, 2023.
That averages 13 a week.
It means that more journalists have been killed in Gaza than in both world wars, the Vietnam War, the wars in Yugoslavia and the US war in Afghanistan combined.
Since the report’s publication, at least two more journalists have been killed.
They are Helmi al-Faqawi, who was killed yesterday, and Islam Maqdad, who was killed on Sunday along with her husband and their child.
BREAKING: More journalists have died in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023 than in both World Wars and other major wars, combined.
Our new report outlines the costs of war to journalists – and the journalism we all rely on. [THREAD, 1/8] https://t.co/oeeqPqw5i2 pic.twitter.com/gSXWYjtXSl
— The Costs of War Project (@CostsOfWar) April 1, 2025
“Press silence = violence”, says a New Zealand solidarity for Gazan journalists poster at a rally last week. Image: JFP Meanwhile, the Gaza Government Media Office said that the number of media personnel killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 2023 had risen to 210 after the killing of al-Faqawi.
Al-Faqawi was among at least two people killed when Israeli warplanes bombed a tent for journalists near a hospital in Khan Younis.
At least seven people were wounded in the attack.
In a report published on April 1, the Watson Institute’s report said Israeli forces had killed 232 journalists since October 7, 2023.
This figure apparently included the West Bank and Lebanon as well as Gaza.
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BANGKOK – China is imposing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods a day after President Donald Trump announced sweeping taxes on trade with most countries – the latest escalation of a trade war that could stunt economic growth worldwide.
China’s State Council Tariff Commission said an additional 34% tariff on imports from the U.S. will be imposed from April 10 – matching the new U.S. tariff on China.
“This practice of the U.S. is not in line with international trade rules, seriously undermines China’s legitimate rights and interests, and is a typical unilateral bullying practice,” the commission said in a statement announcing its retaliatory tariffs.
China, the world’s second-largest economy after the U.S., was already subject to a 20% tariff the U.S. imposed earlier this year when Trump demanded the country buy more U.S. goods and stop the flow of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl.
Stock markets have cratered worldwide after Trump’s tariff announcement, indicating fears of a global recession. U.S. stock futures predicted markets would fall further Friday following China’s announcement.
Southeast Asian nations were some of the hardest hit by the new U.S. tariffs, at nearly 50% in some cases.
Some corporations moved production to Southeast Asian nations such as Vietnam and Thailand from China after the first Trump administration, from 2016 to 2020, imposed tariffs on its global rival.
When he announced the latest tariffs at a White House event, Trump singled out China as one of the “nations that treat us badly,” according to news agency reports.
The U.S. has a higher trade deficit with China than with any other country – US$295.4 billion last year.
Trump’s tariff shock therapy is aimed at encouraging a revival of American manufacturing, which fell as a share of the economy and employment over several decades of global free trade and competition from production in lower-cost countries.
Any changes could take years as many U.S. corporations have made substantial investments in overseas production. Manufacturing in the U.S., like elsewhere, also is reliant on components produced in other countries.
Edited by Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Stephen Wright for RFA.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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New York, April 2, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) filed three amicus briefs on Friday, March 28, responding to the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and freeze congressionally-appropriated funds to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America (VOA).
The amicus briefs assert that allowing the Trump administration’s March 14 executive order to take effect would destroy RFE/RL and VOA’s editorial independence, with grave implications for these organizations’ mission and the safety of their journalists. Under U.S. law, the editorial operations of USAGM entities are protected from political interference to ensure editorial independence.
“For generations, VOA and RFE/RL have delivered reporting that broke the stranglehold of propaganda in closed societies. In doing so, their journalists have empowered millions of people across the world with the facts,” said CPJ Chief Global Affairs Officer Gypsy Guillén Kaiser. “By dismantling USAGM, the U.S. government is weakening the critical role of a free media and causing greater risk to journalists who have already paid a high price for reporting the facts.”
CPJ’s research shows that RFE/RL and VOA journalists often put themselves at risk by reporting in highly censored countries.
CPJ has documented at least nine journalists and media workers who worked for or contributed to VOA or its regional outlets who have been killed in connection with their work since 2003.
Another nine have been imprisoned over the same period, with two currently in prison: Sithu Aung Myint, a freelancer serving a prison term in Myanmar for sedition, and Pham Chi Dung, the founding chairman of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam and a freelance contributor to VOA.
CPJ reporting found that at least 13 journalists and media workers who worked for or contributed to RFE/RL or its regional outlets have been killed in connection with their work since 2000.
At present, four journalists who work for or contribute to RFE/RL or its regional outlets are in prison. Over the last 20 years, 18 journalists and media workers who worked for or contributed to RFE/RL or its regional outlets have been imprisoned, including CPJ 2024 International Press Freedom Awardee Alsu Kurmasheva.
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About the Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.
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TAIPEI, Taiwan – The collapse of a China-built skyscraper in Bangkok has reignited long-standing concerns over construction safety and Beijing’s ability to police quality standards in its overseas projects. Yet in China, those conversations were quickly silenced.
A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar and neighboring countries, including Thailand, on Friday. Among the damage was a 32-story office tower in Bangkok that crumbled entirely. The building was being constructed by the China Railway No. 10 Engineering Group, a subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned enterprise, as part of a joint venture.
News of the collapse spread rapidly on Chinese social media, where users began questioning the structural integrity of Chinese-led projects abroad. But the discussion didn’t last long. Posts were deleted, search results filtered, and even official news reports quietly removed.
One article titled “Under-construction audit building collapses in quake, Thai contractor faces liquidity crisis” published by Chinese outlet Sina Finance, for instance, was removed from the platform’s website after a short-lived stay.
Chinese state-run outlets such as People’s Daily and CCTV both published reports on the collapse on the same day, but the links to the reports are no longer accessible.
Searches for collapse-related keywords on Chinese social media platforms also yielded no results, suggesting that relevant content has been removed or suppressed.
Keyword searches found no result related to China’s construction of the Bangkok audit office building on Chinese social platform Weibo. (Weibo)‘Tofu-dreg project’
Construction of the new premises for Thailand’s state audit agency was overseen by state-owned China Railway No. 10 Engineering Group, which secured the building contract in 2020 as part of a consortium, according to Seatao, a Chinese site that reports on Beijing’s Belt & Road global infrastructure plan.
It said the 32-story tower was the largest building project undertaken by the group. The consortium included the Thai construction company, Italian-Thai Development Company.
On Sunday, Thailand’s Industry Minister Akanat Promphan, who inspected the scene, said the cause of the building collapse could stem from flawed materials, poor design or bad construction. An investigation is underway.
Wang Kuo-Chen, assistant research fellow at Taiwan’s Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, shares a similar view.
“None of the surrounding buildings in Bangkok collapsed – only that one did,” he said. “Moreover, the way it collapsed was extremely dramatic; it was pulverized rather than tilting to one side. This is a classic sign of substandard construction and cost-cutting,” Wang said, using the term “tofu-dreg project.”
Derived from “tofu dregs” – a soft, crumbly food – the phrase refers to poorly built structures that are weak and prone to collapse.
In the summer of 1998, China experienced severe flooding, and during his inspection of the breached levees in Jiujiang, former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji angrily criticized the collapsed floodwall as a “tofu-dreg project.”
Since then, the term has been widely adopted in Chinese media to describe substandard construction, often associated with corruption and regulatory failures.
“In recent years, the so-called high-speed rail miracle and China’s advancements in high technology have gradually overshadowed the impression of tofu-dreg projects,” Wang said. “However, the collapse of this audit building has reminded people that the high-tech reputation might just be inflated hype.”
The Chinese embassy in Thailand has not responded to Radio Free Asia’s request for comments.
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Long-standing censorship
But insights, including Wang’s, find no place to thrive in China. Beijing has a long-standing pattern of tightly controlling public discourse after major accidents, especially those involving construction quality and public safety.
In the wake of deadly incidents, online discussions are often swiftly censored, with keywords blocked, social media posts deleted, and news coverage heavily restricted.
After a 2021 gas explosion in Shiyan, Hubei Province, which killed 25 people, posts demanding accountability were quickly taken down, and online discussions were muted.
Similarly, when a hotel being used as a COVID-19 quarantine site collapsed in Quanzhou in 2020, killing 29, authorities removed posts questioning construction practices and safety oversight.
A 2015 landslide in Shenzhen, triggered by a pile of construction waste, and the 2009 collapse of a newly built 13-story apartment building in Shanghai, also saw online censorship of posts highlighting regulatory failures.
One of the most prominent examples remains the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, where the collapse of poorly constructed school buildings sparked public outrage. Parents who demanded answers were silenced, and independent reporting was swiftly curtailed.
Tzeng Wei-Feng, an associate researcher with Taiwan’s National Chengchi University Institute of International Relations, said the widespread media coverage of the collapse of the Bangkok skyscraper is likely to deal a major blow to China’s reputation in Southeast Asian infrastructure development.
In recent years, China has significantly expanded its infrastructure and construction investments across Southeast Asia, primarily through its Belt and Road Initiative, also known as BRI, that is intended to advance China’s economic interests globally.
“Southeast Asian nations might reassess their collaborations with Chinese firms, scrutinizing project details more carefully,” Tzeng said.
Edited by Taejun Kang and Stephen Wright.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alan Lu for RFA.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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BANGKOK – Rescuers in Myanmar and Thailand continued their search for survivors Monday, saying signs of life were still being detected following the 7.7 magnitude quake that rocked both countries three days earlier.
Aftershocks were still being felt in the Burmese cities of Mandalay and Naypyidaw as well as the Thai capital Bangkok, although no additional damage was reported.
In Myanmar at least 1,700 people were confirmed dead, the junta announced on Monday, with more than 300 missing. Around 3,400 people were also injured, according to junta spokesman Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun.
Independent Myanmar media outlet Democratic Voice of Burma put the death toll at 2,928 as of Sunday night.
In Myanmar’s second largest city, Mandalay, close to the epicenter of the quake, three people, including a pregnant woman and a five-year old child were pulled from the rubble of the Sky Villa condominium in the early hours of Monday morning by a Chinese rescue team, the country’s embassy said on Facebook. A woman was also found alive after 60 hours in the wreckage of the Great Wall hotel by Chinese and Russian rescuers.
Signs of life after Bangkok building collapse
In Bangkok, multinational rescuers, including the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, used K-9 dogs and electronic sensors to detect signs of life in the rubble of a 30-story building.
According to the rescue center at the site of the collapsed state audit office near Chatuchak Park, as of 8 a.m. on Monday, 76 people remained missing, 11 were confirmed dead with nine injured.
The search was continuing beyond the conventional 72-hour window for finding survivors, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said, saying signs of life had been detected Monday morning.
Rescuers from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command walk to the site of a collapsed building in Bangkok, March 31, 2025. (Phetsiam Promngoy/RFA Lao)On Sunday, Thailand’s industry minister Akanat Promphan inspected the scene and collected samples of reinforced steel beams to check the quality of the girders that failed to support the building when the quake struck early Friday afternoon.
Akanat said he would not jump to conclusions but was “stunned” by what he saw.
“I saw something wrong,” Akanat told reporters. “Only one building collapsed. I guess the public can tell the reason why.”
He added the majority of the steel was from a single manufacturer and samples had been sent to a laboratory at the Iron and Steel Institute of Thailand for testing.
The cause of the building collapse could stem from flawed materials, poor design or bad construction, the minister said.
A K-9 dog takes a break during the search and rescue operation at a collapsed government building in Bangkok, March 31, 2025. (Phetsiam Promngoy/RFA Lao)The contractor was a Thai-Chinese joint venture between Bangkok-based Italian Thai Development PCL and China Railway Number 10 (Thailand) Co., Ltd., according to a document seen by Radio Free Asia.
Over the weekend the police arrested four Chinese staff members who were trying to remove documents from the office. Bangkok’s governor had declared a state of disaster on Friday, and Thailand’s disaster laws prohibit the removal of evidence.
Thailand’s meteorological department said six aftershocks were felt across Thailand on Monday, ranging from 2.5 to 3.7 magnitude. The national government ordered some offices in Bangkok to evacuate, with staff told to work from home.
Aftershocks hit Myanmar as airstrikes continue
Aftershocks continued to hit areas in Myanmar already rocked by last week’s quake, according to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management of the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG.
It said a 5.1 magnitude shock was felt in Myanmar’s administrative capital of Naypyidaw at noon on Sunday, one of 4.1 magnitude hit Shwebo township in Sagaing region earlier in the day. A third of 5.1 magnitude hit Sagaing town, the capital of Sagaing region, on Monday morning.
The junta, which overthrew Myanmar’s democratically elected government in February 2021 has declared a state of emergency in all affected areas of the country following the earthquake.
But people living in affected areas posted on social media that junta troops delayed rescue operations, prohibiting residents and volunteers from searching for those trapped under rubble after 10 p.m.
“Low profile emergency relief and response” are urgently needed for fear of volunteers being arrested by junta troops, the NUG said, adding that drinking water, food, shelter and skilled expertise in rescue operations and infrastructure were urgently needed.
A general view of a building that collapsed, in the aftermath of a strong earthquake, in Mandalay, Myanmar, March 30, 2025. (Stringer/Reuters)Airstrikes on the heavily-impacted Sagaing region and other parts of the country have also slowed rescue operations, according to opposition groups in impacted areas.
The NUG estimated major damage to over 13,000 homes and 200 religious buildings, with over 1,550 injuries.
Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Pimuk Rakkanam for RFA, RFA Lao and RFA Burmese.
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BANGKOK – Hnin Nu Yee, a migrant worker from Myanmar, was on the ground floor of a high-rise office in Bangkok tending to construction trash when shock waves from an earthquake, hundreds of kilometers away in her home country, shook the building.
As the unfinished 32-story tower swayed, people around her started running. Hnin fled too, escaping what in seconds became an apocalyptic mound of crumpled steel and concrete.
Her friends working on higher floors were entombed in the rubble.
“I didn’t even realize the earthquake had happened. People were running, so I ran too,” Hnin told Radio Free Asia.
“I was doing sanitation work, throwing out garbage bags,” she said. “I escaped because I had a chance to run. Others from the upper floors could not run.”
Hnin Nu Yee, a construction worker who escaped a high rise collapse in Bangkok caused by a powerful earthquake in Myanmar, is pictured in this image from video speaking to a reporter in Bangkok, Thailand, Mar. 29, 2025. (RFA Staff/RFA)The magnitude 7.7 earthquake Friday near Myanmar’s second-largest city, Mandalay, killed at least 1,600 people in the Southeast Asian country, which was already riven by a protracted civil war, and destroyed temples, homes, roads and bridges.
It caused panic 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) away in Bangkok as tens of thousands of people poured in to the streets from office towers and skyscraper condos.
Yet most of the presumed victims of the Bangkok building collapse are from Myanmar and other countries in the region. Thai police said 13 people are confirmed dead and 118 are missing as the search of the rubble enters its third day.
“I don’t know how many were trapped,” Hnin said. “I can’t say how many because so many Burmese were working here.”
Millions of migrants work in Thailand
Wealthier than most of its neighbors, Thailand and especially its capital Bangkok is kept ticking by millions of migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos who often labor in the riskiest industries with limited legal protections.
Trucks crammed with workers transport them from makeshift corrugated iron dormitories to condo, office and mall construction projects around the sprawling city. Tourists ordering spicy prawn soup at a restaurant are more likely to be served by a waiter from Myanmar than Thailand.
Myanmar’s civil war has added to the influx of workers. Economic hardship and fear of conscription have been pushing as many as 22,000 Myanmar citizens into Thailand every month, according to a 2024 study by the International Organization for Migration. Up to 7 million Myanmar migrants are now believed to be living in Thailand.
‘I am grieving’
Hnin, from Myanaung in Myanmar’s Ayeyawady region, said she returned to the construction site on Saturday in case any her of friends were there.
“I felt sad for those who were working with me. Even though we weren’t family, I felt sorry for those I was working with,” she said.
“I want to say I am grieving with their families.”
People stand at the site of a collapsed building in Bangkok after a strong earthquake struck central Myanmar, March 28, 2025. (Ann Wang/Reuters)In sweltering heat and air laden with dust, hundreds of police and rescue workers have swarmed around the unstable mountain of rubble in the painstaking search for any survivors.
“We Thais are working our hardest to try to rescue them,” said Suchatvee Suwansawat, part of a team of engineers involved in the rescue operation.
“We will see how many survivors we can find, but it is very hard. This is something we have never faced before,” he told RFA.
He said it’s not yet known why the nearly completed building imploded. Dozens of other tall Bangkok buildings swayed during the quake, as earthquake proofing designs them to do, without collapsing.
Construction of the new premises for Thailand’s state audit agency was overseen by state-owned China Railway 10th Bureau, which secured the building contract in 2020 as part of a consortium, according to Seatao, a Chinese site that reports on Beijing’s Belt & Road global infrastructure plan.
It said the 32-story tower was the largest building project undertaken by China Railway 10th Bureau. The consortium included Thai construction company Italian-Thai.
A man from the Bago region in Myanmar, who didn’t give his name, said he earned about 500 baht (US$15) a day as a construction worker on the building.
“We were working on about the third floor and when my whole body started feeling shaky and dizzy, I realized the earthquake was happening,” he said. “I jumped down and ran as fast as I could.”
Only four people out of the 11 people in his team have been found, he said.
“I’ve never experienced something like this,” he said. “I’m just scared.”
Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Phetsiam Promngoy, Apichart Sopapong and Stephen Wright for RFA.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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New York, March 28, 2025—Ukrainian authorities should swiftly investigate a recent attack in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on a journalist apparently targeted because of his outlet’s online investigation that found a funeral company mishandled corpses, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
“CPJ condemns the assault on a journalist in Kryvyi Rih, and calls on Ukrainian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and hold the perpetrators to account,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “Ukrainian authorities must ensure that journalists can work safely. No journalist should be subjected to violence for reporting matters of public interest.”
On March 24, two unidentified men approached and threatened Serhiy, a correspondent with local online media outlet SVOI.Kryvyi Rih, as he entered a store with his family, according to his outlet, media reports, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, a local advocacy and trade group, and the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), a press freedom group.
SVOI.Kryvyi Rih founder Oleksiy Taymurzin spoke to CPJ about the incident. The journalist’s name was withheld due to fear of reprisals.
“You are all f–ed. You, and your family, and your entire editorial staff. Watch your backs. You messed with the wrong undertakers,” the individuals reportedly said, according to those sources.
The pair then beat the journalist when he came out of the store to try to talk to them away from his family.
Taymurzin believed the attack to be connected with the outlet’s March 18 report on the mishandling of corpses by a local funeral company. He said the attackers recognized Serhiy in the store. “In the city … you can’t hide anything … and there’s no problem finding out who [is who] and where” they are, he told CPJ.
Serhiy suffered a broken nose, a bruised retina, bruised ribs, and a concussion, Taymurzin told CPJ, and as of March 26, was home in an unstable state, with severe headaches and temporary loss of consciousness.
As of March 26, authorities had identified one of the suspects, charged him with “intended bodily injury of medium gravity,” and put him under house arrest pending investigation, Taymurzin said, adding that the other perpetrator was still at large.
CPJ emailed Kryvyi Rih police for comment but did not immediately receive a response. CPJ called the funeral company, but the person who answered hang up after being asked to comment on the journalist’s beating.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.