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This content originally appeared on Laura Flanders & Friends and was authored by Laura Flanders & Friends.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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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!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Read original story in Tibetan
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.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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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.
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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.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.
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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.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on The Grayzone and was authored by The Grayzone.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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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.”
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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.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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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.
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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.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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One year after renewed fighting in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, the rebel Arakan Army controls some 80 percent of the state while the military junta’s airstrikes and its blockade of trade routes have left residents worried about their safety and food shortages.
The ethnic Arakan Army, or AA, began its offensive on Nov. 13, 2023, and has since captured 10 out of the state’s 17 townships, as well as one township in neighboring Chin state.
The group is battling for self-determination for the mostly Buddhist Rakhine people. It would be the first Myanmar rebel group to take over a state if it seizes – as it has vowed to do – all territory under military control in Rakhine state.
Myanmar’s military, which took control of the country in a 2021 coup, has been battling various rebel armies and militias across the country, and has faced some of its biggest setbacks in Rakhine.
The AA’s battlefield successes over the last year has been unprecedented since the fall of the Arakan Kingdom to the Burmese in 1784, according to Pe Than, a former member of parliament from Rakhine state.
“Our Arakan people lost our sovereignty about 240 years ago,” he told Radio Free Asia. “Throughout this period, the successive generations in Rakhine have engaged in revolutionary efforts, yet we did not achieve victory.
“Now, during the era of the AA, we have found success,” he said. “It is believed that the national dignity of the Rakhine people can be restored along with that of the AA, as it has been a great achievement.”
Arakan Army leaders gather with other rebel leaders and representatives at a conference in Mai Ja Yang in Myanmar’s northern Kachin state on July 26, 2016. The AA has repeatedly vowed to capture Sittwe, the state capital and one of the last important military holdings in Rakhine. Last month, AA fighters advanced on the junta’s Western Command headquarters in Ann township, about 120 km (75 miles) southwest of Sittwe.
Additionally, there have been heated battles for control of Maungdaw township near the Bangladesh border since July.
Junta air attacks
In the townships where it has won control, the AA and its political wing, the United League of Arakan, have been operating civilian administration, judicial and development sectors, AA spokesperson Khaing Thu Kha said during an online news conference on June 8.
“We will diligently follow our roadmap to build a society prevailed with justice, peace and human dignity for the Arakan people,” he said. “We are also committed to establishing a future that guarantees equality and rights for all communities residing in Arakan state.”
But the threat of junta airstrikes remains a significant concern for locals, and many towns and homes have yet to be rebuilt because of financial constraints and difficulties obtaining supplies, he said.
Additionally, the fighting has severely hindered children’s ability to get an education, he said. The junta had already closed many of Rakhine state’s schools, and in some areas children aren’t allowed to walk to school that remain open because of the threat of air strikes, which often target civilian buildings.
“Parents are hiring private teachers for their children,” Khaing Thu Kha said. “It has been a form of self-reliant education.”
People flee from a village after fighting between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army in Pauktaw township in western Rakhine state on Nov. 19, 2023. Junta air attacks and artillery targeted at Rakhine state’s civilian populations have left 486 people dead and 1,043 injured over the last year, according to the records of the AA and the statements from residents.
“Over the past year, the military junta has carried out excessive airstrikes, destroying religious buildings, hospitals, clinics, residential areas, villages and refugee camps,” said Wai Hin Aung, a volunteer helping war displaced persons in Rakhine.
Rakhine civil society organizations have estimated that more than 600,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to the fierce fighting between the junta and the AA.
RFA was unable to reach junta spokesperson Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun on Wednesday to ask about the current situation in Rakhine state.
Refugees eye return
Across the border in Bangladesh, where some 1 million stateless Rohingya refugees live in tightly packed border camps – including more than 50,000 who have fled the fighting in Rakhine this year – there is some hope that refugees can return once the AA gains full control of Rakhine.
Groups of Rohingya Muslims cross the Naf River on the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh, near Palong Khali, Bangladesh, Nov. 1, 2017. “The AA has a visionary approach, and I believe their governance would not mirror the harsh policies of the military council,” one refugee who has been living in Bangladesh since 2017 told RFA.
“If the AA succeeds in capturing Maungdaw and gains international recognition, I believe they would engage in dialogue with the Rohingya,” he said.
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Another refugee who identified himself as Kairo thought that international recognition of the AA as a legitimate government was unlikely.
“I believe our chance of returning to Rakhine state will be very slim if the AA takes control now,” Kairo said. “I don’t think UNHCR will hand us over to an unrecognized organization,” referring to the U.N refugee agency.
“Even if they gain control of 17 townships, it could take at least two to three years for them to achieve international recognition.”
Translated by Aung Naing and Kalyar Lwin. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Read more on this topic in Cantonese.
Hong Kong’s main opposition Democratic Party held its 30th anniversary dinner on the weekend but only after a last-minute scramble to book a venue, reflecting what one senior party loyalist said was the shrinking political space in the city.
The party, one of the last pro-democracy political organizations operating in the former British colony after a sweeping crackdown on dissent by pro-Beijing authorities, celebrated the anniversary of its founding in 1994 on Saturday evening.
The restaurant in the Tsim Sha Tsui district where party members gathered was their third choice.
The first restaurant the party booked canceled the reservation on Nov. 1, saying a deposit had not been paid.
But a former chairwoman of the party, Emily Lau, said the establishment had not asked for a payment to secure the booking, the South China Morning Post reported.
A second venue canceled the booking the night before the banquet saying two of its chefs got into a fight.
Then during the dinner, which party members said was smaller than previous such dinners, several policemen arrived at the restaurant saying they were responding to a complaint but they made no arrests and left.
Lau said it was a pity so many hurdles had been encountered “for various reasons” in trying to organize a simple party dinner.
Lau added the party used to hold annual banquets on a much larger scale and the obstacles it now faced reflected the shrinking political space in the city.
The party has run into similar problems in the past with events being canceled, due to what members have attributed to the fears that many people have of being associated with it.
Political activity has been severely curtailed since Beijing imposed a national security law in the Asian financial hub in 2020 in response to huge pro-democracy protests the previous year.
Hundreds of pro-democracy politicians and activists have been jailed or have gone into exile, and many media outlets and civil society groups have been shut down.
Critics say China has broken a promise made when Britain handed the city back in 1997, that it would retain its autonomy under a “one country, two systems” formula.
Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed government rejects accusations from its domestic critics and Western countries, including the United States and Britain, that it has smothered freedoms in the once-vibrant society.
The city government and Beijing say stability must be ensured and what they see as foreign interference must be stopped to protect the city’s economic success.
The party’s current chairman, Lo Kin-hei, and vice chairman Bonnie Ng attended the dinner but there were several notable no-shows including former party chairman Martin Lee and former legislative councilor James To.
The Democratic Party was formed in 1990 with a platform of supporting China’s sovereignty over Hong Kong while calling for the protection of the rule of law, personal freedom, and human rights.
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Following the 2019 protests, candidates representing a coalition of pro-democracy parties won the largest percentage of votes in that year’s city election.
However, subsequent measures taken by Beijing effectively curbed pro-democracy parties’ ability to run in regular elections.
Legislation in 2023 reduced the number of directly elected seats in the city’s legislature and local elections, while also requiring candidates to pass national security background checks and get nominations from committees that support the government.
The Democratic Party did not contest the city’s 2021 Legislative Council elections or district council elections last year and holds no seats in either.
Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Wei Sze for RFA Cantonese.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.
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The FBI is investigating a spate of racist text messages targeting Black Americans in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory last week. The texts were reported in states including Alabama, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia, addressing recipients as young as 13 by name and telling them they were “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation” and other messages referencing slavery. For more, we speak with Robert Greene II, a history professor at Claflin University, South Carolina’s first and oldest historically Black university in Orangeburg, where many students were targeted. “Initially when I heard about the texts, I thought it was a bit of a hoax, but … it quickly became clear that this wasn’t just a Claflin problem, it was a national issue, as well,” says Greene. We also speak with Wisdom Cole, senior national director of advocacy for the NAACP, who says “this is only the beginning,” with a second Trump administration expected to attack civil rights and embolden hate groups.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese.
A former minister in Aung San Suu Kyi’s ousted government has died shortly after being released from prison, family friends and party colleagues told Radio Free Asia, the latest jailed member of Myanmar’s last elected government to die.
Win Khaing, 74, was minister of electricity and energy in the government formed by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, or NLD, which was overthrown on Feb. 1, 2021, when the generals ended a decade of tentative reform and reimposed hardline military rule.
“The respected Win Khaing joined hands with the NLD to make it the best. He was involved in both management and policy reforms and was capable of carrying them out,” said NLD colleague Bo Bo Oo, the party’s deputy chairperson for the Sanchaung township in the main city of Yangon.
“The loss of our distinguished Win Khaing is a loss for all Myanmar citizens, the whole country’s loss,” Bo Bo Oo told Radio Free Asia from an undisclosed location.
Family friends said Win Khaing died of heart disease and diabetes in hospital late on Friday. He had been released from the infamous Obo Prison in Mandalay on Oct. 28 due to deteriorating health and taken to Mandalay General Hospital.
Win Khaing was arrested shortly after the 2021 coup and later jailed for 28 years on corruption charges related to a hydro-power project.
Almost all NLD leaders, including Suu Kyi, have been jailed on various charges that they have dismissed as politically motivated.
Calls to Myanmar military spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, went unanswered. Military-run media did not report Win Khaing’s death but the news spread quickly in Myanmar’s second-biggest city.
‘Military is responsible’
Some residents drew parallels with the death last month of Zaw Myint Maung, another top NLD member who died of cancer days after being released on medical grounds from a lengthy sentence in the same prison.
“Of course, they only give amnesty to a person when they know they’re going to die,” said one resident who declined to be identified for security reasons.
“People in Mandalay knew he had been released a week before he passed away.”
The civilian shadow administration in exile, National Unity Government, or NUG, formed by former NLD members, has criticized the junta officials for failing to provide prisoners with adequate medical treatment.
A spokesperson for the NUG, Nay Phone Latt, denounced the “ illegal capture and jailing” of pro-democracy politicians.
“The military is completely responsible for this,” Nay Phone Latt said.
The death of elderly NLD members raises concerns for the fate of Myanmar’s most popular politician, Suu Kyi.
The 79-year-old daughter of the hero of Myanmar’s campaign for independence from colonial rule was also arrested after the 2021 coup. She was sentenced on various charges, that she dismissed as trumped up, and jailed for 33 years though her sentence was reduced to 27 years.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is believed to be in solitary confinement in prison in the capital, Naypyidaw, but her exact whereabouts are unknown.
About 2,000 other NLD members have been jailed by the military regime since the coup along with thousands of other democracy campaigners.
Among those to have died in custody was Nyan Win, a top NLD adviser to Suu Kyi, who died of COVID-19 in 2021. A year later, the junta executed former NLD lawmaker Phyo Zayar Taw, for treason and terrorism charges.
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Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA staff.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Ralph and the team invite cofounder of RootsAction, Norman Solomon, to autopsy the carcass of the Democratic Party after Donald Trump’s decisive defeat of Kamala Harris in the presidential election. They dissect what happened on November 5th and report what needs to be done about it.
Norman Solomon is co-founder of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of War Made Easy, Made Love, Got War, and his newest book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine.
The Democrats couldn’t even get their base vote out that they got out in 2020. And what are they looking at? Are they looking at themselves in the mirror for introspection? Are they cleaning house? Do they have any plan whatsoever— other than collect more and more money from corporate PACS? This is a spectacular decline.
Ralph Nader
We kept being told that party loyalty über alles, we had to stay in line with Biden. And…that lost precious months, even a year or a year and a half, when there could have been a sorting out in vigorous primaries. We were told that, “Oh, it would be terrible to have an inside-the-party primary system.” Well, in 2020, there were 17 candidates, so there wasn’t space on one stage on one night to hold them all—the debates would have to be in half. Well, it didn’t really debilitate the party. Debate is a good thing. But what happened was this party loyalty, this obsequious kissing-the-presidential-feet dynamic allowed Biden to amble along until it became incontrovertible that he wasn’t capable.
Norman Solomon
A lot of people on that committee—and of course, running the DNC—they and their pals had this pass-through of literally millions of dollars of consultant fees. Win, lose, or draw. It’s like General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman, they never lose a war. And so, these corporate donors, they never lose a presidential race. They didn’t lose what happened with Harris and Trump. They cashed in, they made out like the corporate bandits that they are.
Norman Solomon
One reality as an activist that I’ve come to the conclusion on in the last couple of decades is that progressives tend to be way too nice to Democrats in Congress, especially those that they consider to be allies. Because they like what some of the Democrats do…and so they give too many benefits of the doubt. It’s like grading them on a curve. We can’t afford to grade them on a curve.
Norman Solomon
In Case You Haven’t Heard with Francesco DeSantisNews 11/6/24
1. As of now, Donald Trump is projected to win the 2024 presidential election by a greater margin than 2016. In addition to winning back Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona, Trump also appears to have flipped Nevada – which went for both Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. Most shocking of all, Trump has won the national popular vote, something he failed to do in 2016 and 2020 and which no Republican has done in 20 years. Democrats also faced a bloodbath in the Senate elections, with Republicans on track to win a 54 seat majority in the upper chamber.
2. Bucking tremendous party pressure, Representative Rashida Tlaib declined to endorse Kamala Harris at a United Autoworkers rally in Michigan just days before the election, POLITICO reports. Tlaib urged attendees to turn out but “kept her speech focused on down-ballot races.” Tlaib is the only member of “the Squad” to withhold her support for Harris and the only Palestinian member of Congress. She has been a staunch critic of the Biden Administration’s blind support for Israel’s campaign of genocide in Palestine and voted Uncommitted in the Michigan Democratic primary.
3. Along similar lines, the Uncommitted Movement issued a fiery statement on the eve of the election. According to the group, “Middle East Eye ran a story…[which] contains unfounded and absurd claims, suggesting that Uncommitted made a secret agreement with the Democratic Party to not endorse a third-party candidate.” The statement goes on to say that “this baseless story…is misguided at best and a dishonest malicious attack at worst.” Uncommitted maintains that “leaders and delegates are voting in different ways, yet remain untied in their mission to stop the endless flow of American weapons fueling Israel’s militarism.” In September, Uncommitted publicly stated that they would not endorse Kamala Harris, citing her continued support for the Biden Administration policy toward Israel, but urged supporters to vote against Donald Trump.
4. Progressive International reports that over 50 sovereign nations have called for an immediate arms embargo on Israel, calling it “a legal, humanitarian and moral imperative to put an end to grave human suffering.” This letter cites the “staggering toll of civilian casualties, the majority of them children and women, due to ongoing breaches of international law by Israel, the occupying Power,” and warns of “regional destabilization that risks the outbreak of an all-out war in the region.” Signatories on this letter include Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Norway, Mexico, South Africa, Brazil, Cuba, Bolivia, and China among many others.
5. Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush have sent a letter to President Biden accusing him of illegally involving the American armed forces in Israel’s war without proper Congressional authorization. Per the accompanying statement, “The Biden administration has deepened U.S. involvement in the Israeli government’s devastating regional war through comprehensive intelligence sharing and operational coordination, and now even the direct deployment of U.S. servicemembers to Israel. Not only do these actions encourage further escalation and violence, but they are unauthorized by Congress, in violation of Article I of the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution of 1973.” The letter concludes “The Executive Branch cannot continue to ignore the law…In the absence of an immediate ceasefire and end of hostilities, Congress retains the right and ability to exercise its Constitutional authority to direct the removal of any and all unauthorized Armed Forces from the region pursuant to Section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution.” This letter was endorsed by an array of groups ranging from the Quincy Institute to Jewish Voice for Peace to the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches, and signed by other pro-Palestine members of Congress including Ilhan Omar, Summer Lee, and André Carson – though notably not AOC.
6. In a story that touches on both the election and labor issues, the New York Times Tech Guild voted to go on strike Monday morning. The Times Tech Guild, which represents “workers like software developers and data analysts,” at the Times negotiated until late Sunday night, particularly regarding “whether the workers could get a ‘just cause’ provision in their contract…pay increases and pay equity; and return-to-office policies,” per the New York Times. The Guardian reports “The Tech Guild’s roughly 600 members are in charge of operating the back-end systems that power the paper’s…[coverage of] the presidential election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump – but also the hundreds of House and dozens of Senate races across the US that will determine who will secure control of Washington in 2025.” Kathy Zhang, the guild’s unit chair, said in a statement “[The Times] have left us no choice but to demonstrate the power of our labor on the picket line…we stand ready to bargain and get this contract across the finish line.”
7. In more labor news, AP reports the striking Boeing machinists have “voted to accept a contract offer and end their strike after more than seven weeks, clearing the way for the aerospace giant to resume production.” The deal reportedly includes “a 38% wage increase over four years, [as well as] ratification and productivity bonuses.” That said, Boeing apparently “refused to meet strikers’ demand to restore a company pension plan that was frozen nearly a decade ago.” According to a Bank of America analysis, Boeing was losing approximately $50 million per day during the strike, a startling number by any measure. The union’s District 751 President Jon Holden told members “You stood strong and you stood tall and you won,” yet calibration specialist Eep Bolaño said the outcome was “most certainly not a victory…We were threatened by a company that was crippled, dying, bleeding on the ground, and us as one of the biggest unions in the country couldn’t even extract two-thirds of our demands from them. This is humiliating.”
8. Huffington Post Labor Reporter Dave Jamieson reports “The [National Labor Relations Board] has filed a complaint against Grindr alleging the dating app used a new return-to-office policy to fire dozens of workers who were organizing.” He further reports that NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo is seeking a “Cemex order” which would “force the company to bargain with the [Communications Workers of America].” In a statement, CWA wrote “We hope this NLRB filing sends a clear message to Grindr that…we are committed to negotiating fair working conditions in good faith. As we continue to build and expand worker power at Grindr, this win…is a positive step toward ensuring that Grindr remains a safe, inclusive, and thriving place for users and workers alike.”
9. In further positive news from federal regulators, NBC’s Today reports “On Oct. 25, the United States Copyright Office granted a copyright exemption that gives restaurants like McDonald’s the “right to repair” broken machines by circumventing digital locks that prevent them from being fixed by anyone other than its manufacturer.” As this piece explains, all of McDonald’s ice cream machines – which have become a punchline for how frequently they are out of service – are owned and operated by the Taylor Company since 1956. Moreover “The…company holds a copyright on its machines…[meaning] if one broke, only [Taylor Company] repair people were legally allowed to fix it…due to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act…a 1998 law that criminalizes making or using technology, devices or services that circumvent the control access of copyrighted works.” This move from the Copyright Office reflects a larger pattern of regulators recognizing the issues with giving companies like Taylor monopolistic free reign over sectors of the economy and blocking consumers – in this case fast food franchisees – from repairing machines themselves. With backing from public interest groups like U.S. PIRG, the Right to Repair movement continues to pick up steam. We hope Congress will realize that this is a political slam dunk.
10. Finally, in an astounding story of vindication, Michael and Robert Meeropol – sons of Ethel Rosenberg, who was convicted of and executed for passing secrets to the Soviet Union – claim that long-sought records have definitively cleared their mother’s name. Per Bloomberg, “A few months ago, the National Security Agency sent the Meeropols a box of records the spy agency declassified…Inside was a seven-page handwritten memo…The relevant passage…is just eight words: ‘she did not engage in the work herself.’” Put simply, Rosenberg was wrongfully convicted and put to death for a crime she did not commit. The article paints the picture of the men uncovering this key piece of evidence. “After he read it, Robert said his eyes welled up. “Michael and I looked at it and our reaction was, ‘We did it.’”
This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.
Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe
This content originally appeared on Ralph Nader Radio Hour and was authored by Ralph Nader.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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New Delhi, November 8, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is highly concerned after Indian investigative journalist Rana Ayyub’s personal number was leaked online and, separately, local intelligence personnel followed and repeatedly questioned her throughout a four-day reporting trip in the northeastern state of Manipur in early October, according to three people familiar with the situation who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing fear of official retaliation.
“The relentless targeting of Rana Ayyub, one of India’s most prominent journalists, is shameful,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Indian authorities must swiftly investigate the doxxing of Ayyub and hold the perpetrators accountable. Using surveillance and intimidation to deter journalists from reporting effectively has no place in a country that prides itself on being the mother of democracy.”
Security personnel stopped and questioned Ayyub, a global opinion writer at the Washington Post, at checkpoints during her trip, according to those sources and CPJ’s review of video and audio recordings.
Officers asked Ayyub about who she was meeting and what she was reporting on. They said they followed her for her “safety,” and the measure was ordered by “higher office.”
Ayyub said on Friday, November 8, that a right-wing account on social media X shared her personal phone number and asked followers to harass the journalist. She told CPJ she received at least 200 phone and video calls and explicit WhatsApp messages throughout the night, including repeated one-time password requests from various online commerce platforms.
Ayyub filed a complaint with the cybercrime police in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, on Friday.
CPJ’s separate emails requesting comment about the surveillance and harassment complaint from the Manipur police and the Mumbai cybercrime police did not immediately receive a response.
Ayyub’s reporting has previously led to online trolling and official intimidation. She previously faced criminal investigations, received rape and death threats, and is currently fighting a money laundering case in court.
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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Sulaymaniyah, November 8, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for full accountability in the attack on journalist Wrya Abdulkhaliq by two men, who stabbed him 21 times and hit him in the head with the butt of a gun, in his home near Iraqi Kurdistan’s Sulaymaniyah city.
“We are appalled by the brutal attack on journalist Wrya Abdulkhaliq, which left him with severe injuries to his abdomen and head,” said Yeganeh Rezaian, CPJ’s interim MENA program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “The Kurdistan Regional Government and its Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs must deliver justice for this vicious assault.”
The attack took place on November 4, hours after Abdulkhaliq, a reporter for the online outlet Bwar Media, published a report on allegations that an official had blocked the implementation of a local electricity and water project, according to multiple news outlets and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ. The report said the unnamed official was part of the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs, which is the defense ministry in Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern region of Kurdistan.
Abdulkhaliq told CPJ and a news conference that he was in his orchard when the official’s nephew and bodyguard approached, and the bodyguard aimed a gun at him.
“I quickly grabbed his hand and pushed him back to prevent him from shooting. The nephew tried to shoot but misfired,” Abdulkhaliq told CPJ. “The nephew stabbed me deeply in the abdomen with a combat knife. Then the bodyguard prepared to shoot again but he [the nephew] stopped him, saying, ‘Let’s not shoot him; he’s already wounded and will die.’”
Bwar Media’s editor-in-chief Ibrahim Ali told CPJ that the assailants also punctured Abdulkhaliq’s tires. He said doctors told him that the journalist was stable after receiving 21 stitches in the hospital.
“Two assailants along with a military official have been arrested. We are committed to ensuring that justice is served,” Ramak Ramazan, mayor of Chamchamal District where the incident took place, told CPJ via phone, without providing further details.
CPJ’s calls to request comment from Deputy Peshmerga Minister Sarbast Lazgin were not answered.
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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When Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to Donald Trump on his election victory this week, he warned that both countries stand to “lose from confrontation,” amid growing concerns that a Trump administration could be further bad news for China’s flagging economy.
“Xi Jinping noted that history tells us that both countries stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website, citing Xi.
“A China-U.S. relationship with stable, healthy and sustainable development serves the common interests of the two countries and meets the expectations of the international community,” it paraphrased Xi as saying.
“It is hoped that the two sides will, in the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, enhance dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and find the right way for China and the United States to get along with each other in the new era to the benefit of the two countries and the world,” the statement said.
It said China’s Vice President Han Zheng sent a congratulatory message to J.D. Vance on his election as U.S. vice president on the same day.
Trump’s victory has sparked concern in China, where many expect the next president to be tougher on China than his predecessor, particularly on trade and economic issues, with repercussions for an already struggling economy.
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“Trump’s re-election as U.S. president won’t improve relations with China, but will continue sanctions and the trade war by increasing tariffs,” veteran political journalist Gao Yu said, citing a sharp fall in Chinese stock markets on the news of Trump’s victory.
“The sharp fall in Chinese markets were part of a psychological reaction from the people,” Gao said. “China may talk a good fight, but actually it’s very worried about a Trump presidency.”
Tariffs
Rana Mitter, director of the University of Oxford China Centre, said the Sino-U.S. relationship will likely go through a turbulent period if Trump follows through on his pledge to impose 60% tariffs on Chinese imports.
“This is obviously a very, very high level of tariff or import tax to place on goods,” Mitter told Radio Free Asia a recent interview. “And since it’s coming at a moment when China’s economy is vulnerable, it’s likely to be regarded as the first stage in an extremely detailed and probably quite rigorous negotiation between the two sides about resetting the trade relationship.”
A man walks past a screen showing Chinese stock market movements in Beijing, Nov. 7, 2024. “China … is also keen to try and make sure that its currently rather sluggish economy which is not currently operating at full strength, is not further made vulnerable,” he said.
But he said negotiations with China would likely come as part of the Trump administration’s attempt to rework its trade relations with much of the rest of the world, including the European Union and other economies.
Mitter dismissed recent speculation that the Chinese government would alter its expected fiscal stimulus package in response to the U.S. election result, however.
“The primary motivation I think for the fiscal stimulus within China is domestic,” he said. “The fear that consumer demand simply isn’t picking up enough to actually play the role that it needs to in revitalizing the economy.”
But he added: “Policies which create economic uncertainty within China, for instance tariffs, might make that situation more delicate and vulnerable.”
‘Anti-Chinese Communist Party flavor’
A Chinese researcher who gave only the surname Jia for fear of reprisals said Trump’s re-election will definitely have a negative impact on the Chinese economy.
“Trump’s China policy has a clear anti-Chinese Communist Party flavor, which will exacerbate economic and political chaos in China,” Jia said. “The Chinese economy is already sluggish, and the re-intensification of the trade war will further hit exporters, and could lead to more bankruptcies and unemployment.”
People walk through a quiet shopping mall in Beijing, Nov. 3, 2024. A retired Chinese official who gave only the surname Tang for fear of reprisals said Trump is seen by many Chinese people as different from traditional politicians, and acts more like a “trader.”
“The ultimate goal is to see who will bring the most benefits to the country, and to the world,” Tang said. “That’s what the American people expect.”
He said Trump’s victory was unlikely to make the Sino-U.S. relationship any worse, however.
“Sino-U.S. relations have never really eased,” Tang said. “The conflict is rooted in the different ideologies of the two countries, which won’t change with the arrival of a new president.”
He said the less confrontational approach taken in the era of late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping wasn’t genuine detente, only a matter of the Chinese Communist Party biding its time.
“It’s impossible for there to be detente, because the problems are bone-deep,” he said.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Roseanne Gerin.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Qian Lang and Lucie Lo for RFA Mandarin.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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A former adviser to Senate President Hun Sen who was arrested at Phnom Penh International Airport in a multimillion dollar fraud case has been removed from his position as secretary of state at the Office of the Council of Ministers.
A royal decree from King Norodom Sihamoni on Wednesday stated that Duong Dara has been dismissed from his role at the government’s Cabinet.
Earlier this year, he was named in a complaint filed by villagers in southern Svay Rieng province that accused the Phnom Penh-based Phum Khmer Group of scamming them out of investments that ranged between US$40,000 and US$120,000.
The company promised that its duck farms, animal feed factories, restaurants and real estate holdings would generate a monthly 4% payment for investors, according to the complaint. One investor told Radio Free Asia that he never received any interest or dividend payments.
Duong Dara, who was arrested on Oct. 14 and charged with fraud after returning from a business trip to China, is believed to be a close friend of Phum Khmer’s chief executive, Som Sothea.
In addition to his position at the Council of Ministers, Duong Dara has also worked as a personal assistant and as an adviser to Hun Sen. He’s credited with creating and overseeing Hun Sen’s popular Facebook account, where the former prime minister continues to post statements and personal observations, as well as video clips from public appearances.
His arrest last month came just days after another adviser to Hun Sen, Ly Sameth, was publicly accused by Hun Sen of defrauding several Cambodians in a separate case.
Ly Sameth was arrested on Monday and transferred to Prey Sar prison on the outskirts of Phnom Penh on Tuesday.
Duong Dara has been in custody at Phnom Penh Municipal Prison, also known as PJ Prison, since his arrest.
Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Khmer.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Chinese rights lawyer Wang Yu has been hospitalized after her health deteriorated following a nine-day hunger strike, which she began in protest during her detention following an Oct. 23 altercation with police outside a court building in the northern province of Hebei.
Wang was released from Weicheng County Detention Center on Nov. 1 after a brief administrative detention for “disrupting public order” following the fracas, and was taken straight to hospital by her husband and fellow rights attorney Bao Longjun, Bao told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview.
When she got out, Wang was “completely hunched over and unable to walk” on her release from the detention center, and he carried her on his back, shocked at how little she weighed.
“It felt like carrying a sack of cotton wool; she was so light, weighing maybe just 30 kilograms” (70 pounds), he said.
Scans at the Wei County People’s Hospital revealed a “shadow” on Wang’s liver, so Bao had her transferred to the highly regarded Handan Central Hospital where she was placed on a drip and gradually started to eat solid food again, he said.
Targeting rights lawyers
Bao and Wang, who were among the first to be targeted in the July 2015 arrests, detention and harassment of more than 300 rights lawyers, public interest law firm staff and rights activists across China, are now staying in a hotel while they plan further medical treatment, he told RFA Mandarin on Nov. 1.
Police detained Wang along with fellow rights attorney Jiang Tianyong after they showed up to defend their client Liu Meixiang against corruption charges at the Wei County People’s Court.
A scuffle ensued after police snatched away the camera of a family member who tried to take photos of them, according to a lawyer at the scene who declined to be named for fear of reprisals.
Bao submitted a legal opinion through legal channels out of concern for his wife’s health on day 7 of her hunger strike, but nobody would accept the document, he said.
“I asked them to send Wang Yu to the hospital, and I went to the detention center and rang on the doorbell, saying that I wanted to meet with Wang Yu to get her to eat and drink,” Bao said.
“They lied to me, saying there was no need for that, and that she had eaten something the night before, but she hadn’t eaten anything at all, actually,” he said.
Wang‘s hunger strike was in protest at the authorities’ refusal to allow her to meet with her lawyer or family members, as well as their refusal to provide adequate medical treatment and to let her take a shower, among other things.
Bao said he plans to take Wang to seek further medical opinions in Beijing and Tianjin.
He also plans to appeal her administrative sentence as a form of public protest at her treatment.
“There’s no rule of law in this country, so all we can do now is to use it to speak out on our own behalf,” Bao said.
‘Heartbreaking’
U.S.-based rights lawyer Yu Pinjian said he had seen a photo of Bao Longjun carrying Wang Yu to hospital, which he described as “heartbreaking.”
“Human rights lawyers should be allowed to fight their cases using evidence and the law to defend their clients in court, but now they’re forced to go on hunger strike to defend their own human rights,” Yu told RFA Mandarin. “This shows that the legal system that human rights lawyers depend on for their survival has collapsed.”
Wang’s hunger strike came as authorities in the southwestern region of Guangxi released rights attorney Qin Yongpei at the end of a five-year prison sentence for “incitement to subvert state power,” people familiar with the case told RFA Mandarin.
Guangxi-based rights lawyer Qin Yongpei is seen in an undated photo. Qin returned to his home in Nanning city following his release on Oct. 31, but his wife declined to comment when contacted by RFA Mandarin, saying it was “inconvenient,” a phrase often used to indicate pressure from the authorities.
Qin Yongpei was detained in November 2021 by the Nanning municipal police department during a raid on his Baijuying legal consultancy company.
His wife has previously said that Qin had spoken out many times about misconduct and injustices perpetrated by police and local judicial officials, and had likely angered many within the local law enforcement community.
U.S.-based rights lawyer Wu Shaoping said Qin hadn’t broken any laws with his consultancy activities, despite having been stripped of his lawyer’s license.
U.S.-based rights lawyer Wu Shaoping. “He was accused of inciting subversion of state power only because he posted a lot of his personal opinions on the internet,” Wu said. “Everything he did was in compliance with the law and human justice in any normal country.”
“So he was wrongly convicted,” Wu said, calling on the authorities to restore his legal career and allow him to make a living.
“The most worrying thing is his physical condition,” he said, adding that the authorities typically continue to “stalk and harass” people on their surveillance blacklist even after their release from prison.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Zhu Liye and Chen Zifei for RFA Mandarin.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by The Real News Network.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by ProPublica.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Read more on this topic in Vietnamese
Two political prisoners in Vietnam have ended their hunger strike after authorities agreed to improve conditions, the sister of one of them told Radio Free Asia.
Trinh Ba Tu, 35, called his family on Wednesday, telling them he and Bui Van Thuan, 43, were eating again after 21 days drinking only water. He said they had both lost about 11 kilograms (24 pounds) in weight but had achieved their goal of opening the “tiger cage” used to hold political prisoners in solitary confinement in the facility in Nghe An province.
“The ‘tiger cage’ has been open for a week,” Tu’s sister Trinh Thi Thao told RFA Vietnamese.
“The ‘brothers’ in the four cells were allowed to go out into the common yard to play sports, play chess and talk for two hours on Friday morning, Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon.”
The tiger cage is a cube made of iron bars which separates four cells housing single prisoners from the exercise yard with a space of about one meter (3.3 feet) to move around in, according to Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, who was in the same camp as the hunger strikers – Prison No. 6 – and was released late last month.
Prisoners have not been able to leave their cells to exercise in the yard or grow vegetables in the garden since April, when Deputy Warden Thai Van Thuy ordered the “tiger cage” locked, Thuc told RFA.
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Reporters were unable to contact Prison No. 6 via its listed phone number to ask about the situation of prisoners and the detention regime.
Tu and Thuan are both serving eight-year prison sentences for “anti-state propaganda.” They began their hunger strike with Dang Dinh Bach, former director of the Center for Law and Policy Research for Sustainable Development, who was sentenced to five years in prison for “tax evasion.”
Bach, 46, had to abandon the protest after 10 days because his health was suffering but he recovered after he began eating.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Vietnamese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by The Intercept.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Mexico City, October 30, 2024—Unidentified assaults shot and killed journalist Mauricio Cruz Solís at around 10 p.m. on Tuesday, October 29, in Urupan, a city in the southwestern state of Michoacán, moments after he interviewed Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo about a recent local market fire.
“The brutal and brazen killing of journalist Mauricio Cruz Solís is the first such deadly attack during the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum and underscores the ongoing violence and impunity the Mexican press faces every day,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico Representative. “Mexican authorities must immediately conduct a credible investigation into this killing. If Mexican authorities allow this crime to go unpunished, it will be a sad reminder that a change of government has not brought safety for the nation’s press.”
The Michoacán state prosecutor’s office (FGE) posted a Tuesday statement on the social media site X saying they have launched an investigation.
Cruz, 25, was a news anchor for broadcaster Radiorama Michoacán and founder of news website Minuto x Minuto. He reported on general news, including politics and security, according to his friend and colleague, Julio César Aguirre, who spoke with CPJ. Aguirre said he was unaware of any threats to Cruz’s life.
An official for the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, a federal agency, told CPJ via messaging app on October 29 that the agency had not registered any threats against Cruz or assigned him any security measures. They spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, as they are not allowed to speak publicly on the matter.
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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Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese.
Victims of military airstrikes in Myanmar protested against Europe’s largest aerospace group, Airbus, saying it and neighboring China were supporting the junta in its war against pro-democracy forces in which their village was destroyed and dozens of people killed.
Myanmar had been in bloody turmoil since the military overthrew an elected government in early 2021 with pro-democracy activists taking up arms in alliance with ethnic minority guerrillas in a battle to end military rule.
Anti-junta forces have made unprecedented gains in fighting over the past year but the military has responded with sustained airstrikes on the insurgents and civilians in areas they have captured.
“We are protesting to ask companies to stop supporting the junta’s airstrikes and warfare, like the Chinese government and the aircraft company Airbus,” said a leader of the protest in Hseng Taung village in northern Myanmar Kachin state.
“We’re demonstrating here specifically because we want to show Hseng Taung’s destroyed houses, caused by the shooting and the bombs,” said the protest leader who declined to be identified given the military’s crackdown on dissent.
Hseng Taung was devastated during a month of battle between the military and anti-junta forces, residents said. More than 30 people were killed and about 400 homes were destroyed in airstrikes and shelling in the battle that ended on Oct. 8, they said.
About 50 people took part in the Tuesday protest with some of them holding banners saying: “Airbus – stop investing in war crimes.”
The activist group Justice for Myanmar outlined the sale of a combat aircraft and missiles to the Myanmar air force by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, or AVIC, as well as continued “maintenance, repair, and overhaul services for Chinese fixed-wing aircraft in use by the junta.”
Airbus is an investor in AVIC’s Hong Kong-listed holding company and strategic partner, AviChina Industry and Technology Co. Ltd.
An Airbus spokesperson, in response to a report by RFA Burmese on Sept. 16 about the links, said the company was in compliance with all relevant sanctions against Myanmar and had not supplied defense products to Myanmar or its armed forces.
“Airbus’ relationship with Chinese companies, including AVIC, is fully compliant with all European and international laws and regulations, notably with regards to the existing arms embargo on China,” the company said.
“Airbus’ industrial and technology partnerships in China are exclusively focused on civil aerospace and services.”
Similar protests against the supply of weapons to the military were held this week in the Sagaing region, one of the areas of Myanmar most impacted by the junta airstrikes and shelling.
RFA contacted the junta’s main spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, for comment but he did not respond by the time of publication.
Similarly, China‘s embassy in Myanmar did not respond to enquiries from RFA about the protesters’ demands, by time of publication. China is one of the junta’s main foreign supporters.
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Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.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.