Day: July 8, 2021

Chinese authorities in Tibet last year sentenced four Tibetan monks to long prison terms following a violent raid by police on their monastery in Tingri county, a New York-based rights group said in a report released this week.

The raid followed the discovery in September 2019 of a cell phone containing messages sent to monks living outside Tibet and records of financial contributions made to a monastery in Nepal damaged in a 2015 earthquake, Human Rights Watch said in its July 6 report, “Prosecute Them With Awesome Power.”

The discovery of the phone owned by Choegyal Wangpo, a monk at Tingri’s Tengdro monastery,  prompted his arrest and beating under interrogation, and was followed by a raid by armed police who assaulted the monastery and 20 private homes in Dranak, a village nearby, HRW said, citing sources in the region.

Police carrying out the raid beat resident monks and seized religious texts and photographs of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, the rights group said, adding that Chinese authorities then launched a program of daily political indoctrination the monks were forced to attend.

On Sept. 7, a Tengdro monk named Lobsang Zoepa took his own life, apparently in protest at the crackdown by authorities, and internet service to and from Dranak was immediately cut off, Human Rights Watch said.

Most of the monks detained in the raid were held for several months without trial and then released, HRW said, but four senior monks—Choegyal Wangpo, Lobsang Jinpa, Norbu Dondrub, and Ngawang Yeshe—were tried in secret by a court in Shigatse (Chinese, Rikaze) prefecture in October 2020 and handed prison terms of 20, 19, 17, and five years respectively.

Details of the charges made against the four were not available because of Chinese clampdowns on communications in the area, but Chinese laws do not currently forbid cross-border communications by phone or text message or the sending of funds abroad, HRW said.

‘Shocking miscarriage of justice’

“Chinese courts usually impose extreme sentences only for recidivism, or for involvement in activities such as organizing protests, illegal organizations, espionage, acts of violence, or, increasingly, spreading unofficial news,” HRW said.

“Yet, there is no suggestion that any of the Tengdro monks had previous convictions or had taken part in such activities,” the rights group added.

In a July 6 statement, Sophie Richardson—China director at Human Rights Watch—described the imposed prison terms as “unprecedented.”

“The Chinese government’s assumption that Tibetan monks and nuns are potential subversives, the heightened border security, and increased restrictions on online communications and religious donations all combined to create a shocking miscarriage of justice,” Richardson said.

“The horrific treatment of the Tengdro monks points to the Chinese government’s pressure on officials in Tibet to find and punish cases of political subversion—even if the alleged subversion is a figment of their imagination.”

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago, following which Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers fled into exile in India and other countries around the world. The Dalai Lama turned 86 in Dharamsala, India this week.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the Tibetan region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Families of the victims of a brutal crackdown on anti-junta protests in Myanmar are calling on the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute those responsible for the death or dismemberment of their loved ones.

On Feb. 1, the military overthrew Myanmar’s democratically elected government, claiming voter fraud had led to a landslide victory for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party in the country’s November 2020 election. The junta has yet to provide evidence of its claims and has violently suppressed nationwide demonstrations calling for a return to civilian rule, killing nearly 900 people over the past five months.

In recent days, the family members of those killed or maimed by junta soldiers have urged the ICC to hold the military’s leadership to account for its actions, which they say fall under the court’s jurisdiction according to its founding treaty, the Rome Statute.

Under the statute, the ICC can accept cases related to four main crimes—genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression. The actions by the junta would most likely fall under crimes against humanity—which include murder, rape, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, and torture as part of a large-scale attack against any civilian population.

Before the ICC will investigate a case, the Office of the Prosecutor must determine whether there is sufficient evidence of crimes of sufficient gravity falling within the ICC’s jurisdiction, whether there are genuine national proceedings, and whether opening an investigation would serve the interests of justice and of the victims.

After gathering evidence and identifying a suspect, the prosecution requests that the ICC judges issue an arrest warrant or summons against a suspect and—based on summations presented by the prosecution, the Defense, and the Legal representative of victims—the judges decide if there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial.

Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) is currently gathering evidence of crimes perpetrated by the junta that it plans to present to the ICC, although the country is not a signatory to the Rome Statute or a member of the court.

Speaking to RFA’s Myanmar Service, a family member of Kyaw Min Latt, who was shot dead by the military on March 27 in Tanintharyi region’s Dawei township, said the military should be prosecuted for the extrajudicial killings of innocent civilians. A video of the killing recorded on a nearby CCTV camera has since been widely circulated on social media.

“I’m calling for action … [the junta] would surely arrest me if I tried to take action myself,” the family member said. “They are killing us as easily as if they were shooting a chicken or a bird on the road.”

Htoo Myat Win, 13, was also killed on March 27 when a bullet fired by the military entered his home in Sagaing region’s Shwebo township.

“I am sure my son was shot from the roof of a nearby building, but it is not possible at this time to find out who the real killer was,” his father told RFA.

“The army is fully responsible for these crimes. [My son’s death] didn’t make any sense at all. If action is taken against them, I’ll be happy. It can be done.”

\‘Above the law’

A family member of Lyan Phyo Aung, a civil engineering student at Magway Technological University who had his right arm amputated and can no longer see out of one eye after being wounded during a military crackdown, told RFA that if action is not taken against the junta, the country will continue to lose functioning members of its critical younger generation.

“It is imperative that action is taken against them for destroying the lives and property of the citizens,” the family member said. “The later the action, the more losses people will suffer.”

Lyan Phyo Aung was arrested on March 27 during an anti-coup protest in central Magwe region. He was charged under Section 505 (a) for “incitement” and remains in detention.

The cases of Htoo Myat Win, Kyaw Min Latt and Lyan Phyo Aung are among some 200 the NUG hopes to bring to the attention of the ICC.

On June 25, Dr. Sasa, the NUG Minister for International Relations, told reporters that the shadow government had received more than 400,000 complaints from across Myanmar over the previous three months and said more than 200 cases that meet international standards would be selected and presented to the ICC.

“Without a functioning democracy, we cannot punish [military chief] Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing—he is currently above the law. That’s why we’ll have to send him to the ICC,” he said.

“We need solid evidence to sue him at the ICC, so we are currently collecting such evidence and building the case.”

The ICC has heard 30 cases since it was founded on July 1, 2002.

Civilian deaths in custody

In addition to the killing and wounding of civilian protesters, at least 30 people have been tortured to death by the authorities during interrogations in detention since the coup d’état, according to investigations by RFA—the latest of whom were two men from the country’s Bago and Mandalay regions.

On June 28, security forces in Bago’s Shwedaung township arrested 22-year-old Aung Aung Lwin for defaming Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing based on a video provided by an informant, according to a relative, who said three days later, police informed his family that he had died due to “extreme stomach acidity” and his body was at the local cemetery. When family members went to the cemetery to retrieve the body, authorities told them it had already been cremated.

Soe San, the 44-year-old NLD chairman of Tair-zu village in Mandalay’s Wundwin township, was arrested on July 29 when he and a friend went to a local police station after learning that authorities had been looking for him a day earlier, according to a source who is close to his family.

A day later, relatives were informed of his death, but were not permitted to examine his body or take photos when they went to see his body at a local cemetery.

Veteran lawyer Kyee Myint told RFA that whenever a person dies during interrogation, the case should be treated as murder, with the victim’s family granted the right to sue authorities in accordance with the law.

“They have the right to do so by law,” he said. “However, when it comes to litigation against the government, we only have a 10 percent chance. The other 90 percent is up to the whims of the police and the judge. That’s the situation in Myanmar.”

Last month, Phil Robertson, deputy director of New York-based Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, condemned the arbitrary detention and torture of dissidents and called for an investigation into deaths in custody.

“The problem, of course, is that Myanmar’s military is trying to cover everything up,” he said at the time.

Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

Chinese coast guard ships since early June have been putting pressure on and harassing new Malaysian oil and gas projects in the South China Sea off Sarawak state on Borneo Island, a U.S.-based think-tank said in a report released this week.

Malaysian state-run oil company Petronas, which runs such off-shore operations, meanwhile announced on Wednesday that it signed a 10-year, U.S. $7 billion deal to provide liquid natural gas to a subsidiary of the China National Offshore Oil Corp.

That same day, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative issued a report alleging that ships from the China Coast Guard (CCG) have been “contesting” new Malaysian oil and gas development in waters off the coast of Sarawak.

“This is at least the third time since last spring that the CCG has harassed Malaysian energy exploration,” AMTI, a subsidiary of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said in the report titled “Contest at Kasawari: Another Malaysian Gas Project Faces Pressure.”

“It demonstrates again Beijing’s persistence in challenging its neighbors’ oil and gas activities within their own exclusive economic zones. And the air patrol, which was likely not a coincidence, suggests Beijing’s willingness to engage in parallel escalation to pressure other claimants to back down,” the report said.

Greg Poling, senior fellow for Southeast Asia at CSIS, said he expected Malaysia’s government was taking action to protect Malaysian rights in the South China Sea. Beijing claims nearly all of the waterway as its own.

“They do it out of the public eye,” he told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

China and Malaysia are among six Asian countries that have contending territorial claims in the South China Sea. Beijing claims nearly all of the waterway as its own.

In a news release announcing the new deal, Petronas said it was building upon its more than decade-long relations with the state-owned Chinese corporation.

“The deal also further strengthens the ongoing relationship established since 2006 and reflects Petronas’ commitment in supporting the endeavor of CNOOC and its associated companies to meet the fast-growing demand for cleaner energy and support China’s national aspiration of peak emissions and carbon neutrality,” the release said.

The Petronas news release said the agreement calls for LNG Canada to supply product once a facility begins operation by the “middle of this decade.”

An LNG Canada spokesman said it did not comment on joint ventures.

LNG Canada is a joint venture involving Royal Dutch Shell plc, through its affiliate Shell Canada Energy, Petronas through its wholly owned entity North Montney LNG Limited Partnership, PetroChina Co. Limited through its subsidiary PetroChina Canada Ltd. and Japanese and Korean companies. It is building a liquefied natural gas export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada.

AMTI said tensions between Malaysia and China revolve around the development in the Kasawari gas field, about 4.3 nautical miles (8 km) from another Malaysian gas field, NC3, which came online in 2016.

The Malaysian government alerted mariners in advance of Petronas transporting materials on May 19 to 24 to be used to construct a wellhead platform at the site. AMTI said the alert also tipped China to the project.

The report said 16 Chinese military aircraft “flying in tactical formation,” approached within 60 nautical miles (111 km) of the Sarawak coast on June 1, leading Malaysia to scramble fighter jets.

BenarNews reported that the incident occurred on May 31 and was made public the next day.

After that incident, Malaysia’s government summoned the Chinese ambassador and vowed to launch a diplomatic protest. However on Thursday, it remained unclear what action Kuala Lumpur has since taken on the reported intrusion by Chinese air-force planes.

On June 2, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman responded to a question about the incident.

“To my knowledge, it was a routine training conducted by China’s air force over waters to the south of Nansha Islands. It doesn’t target any country,” spokesman Wang Wenbin said during a daily press briefing then.

“During the training, China’s air force strictly complied with international law and didn’t enter the air space of any other country. The Chinese side has communicated with the Malaysian side over this,” he said.

Since then, Chinese ships have remained in the region, AMTI reported.

“CCG vessels regularly operate around nearby Luconia Shoals, staying there for months and often making passes by Malaysian offshore energy operations,” the report said.

Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said Beijing’s actions are not new.

“The Chinese have been exerting such pressure on Malaysia through visible displays of its coast guard and at times, military capability. The use of the coast guard in this instance is somewhat expected, though for the most part these vessels tend to keep a respectable safe distance from the Malaysian-chartered platforms,” Koh told BenarNews.

“So far, based on my understanding, the Chinese have yet to actively interfere with activities such as blocking the passages of offshore support vessels, or attempted boarding and seizure for example,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ramli Dollah, a regional security analyst and professor at the University of Malaysia Sabah, said he expected Chinese ships to continue to harass their Malaysian counterparts.

“As we all know, China claims the entire South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters. Therefore the presence of China in this area is an imminent threat to Malaysia sovereignty,” he told BenarNews.

“The intrusion by 16 Chinese military aircraft over the disputed area in the South China Sea shows that these incidents will continue in the future.”

Ramli said Malaysia must develop its military capabilities even as it attempts diplomacy with China.

“There are also other options for Malaysia, particularly in establishing good relations and cooperation with other powers, especially the United States and those who have interest in South China Sea such as Japan and Australia,” he said.

Chinese ship spotted

As of the time of the report’s publication, a China Coast Guard ship remained at Kasawari along with two Malaysian barges, Sapura 2000 and Sapura 3000, used to construct the wellhead, AMTI said, noting it had not observed Malaysian military or law enforcement activities at the site.

“While the current tensions are likely to subside once installation of the wellhead is complete, a second phase of work at Kasawari slated for 2022 suggests that friction between Chinese law enforcement and Malaysian offshore energy operations off Sarawak is almost guaranteed to continue,” the report concluded.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

A five-year-old girl whose father helped organize protests against Myanmar’s junta was forced to endure stress positions during more than two weeks in detention, according to her father, making her what observers say was the country’s youngest known political prisoner under the military regime that seized power in February.

On June 13, security forces in Mandalay region raided the home of Soe Htay, a local activist who had led demonstrations in Mogok city against the junta following its Feb. 1 takeover of Myanmar’s democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government.

Soe Htay had already gone into hiding with his two sons, and when authorities failed to locate him, they arrested his wife Nan Kyi Kyi Khine and their daughters Theint Sandi Soe, a 17-year-old third-year law student, and Su Htet Waing, a five-year-old girl. Arresting relatives of wanted protesters has been a common practice.

The protests Soe Htay had organized in Mogok were part of a nationwide backlash against the military following its coup, which it said was necessary because the NLD’s landslide victory in the country’s November 2020 elections was the result of widespread voter fraud. Regime leaders have yet to produce any evidence of their claims, while soldiers have violently cracked down on the demonstrations.

According to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), the military has killed 898 people and arrested 5,127 in connection with the anti-junta protests. Of those, 2,269—including Su Htet Waing—were freed from prisons across the country as part of a general amnesty on June 30, although observers say the release was little more than a stunt by the military to gain international recognition.

Soe Htay, who was reunited with Su Htet Waing and remains in hiding, recently told RFA’s Myanmar Service that his daughter was left “traumatized” because of the poor treatment she was subjected to during her 18 days in detention.

He said Su Htet Waing told him that she and others were regularly forced to assume the “ponzan” posture—a half-sitting, half-standing stress position—during roll call, and that she “hated the people” who ordered her to do it.

Su Htet Waing “knows nothing about politics” and had only called for the release of NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained along with several other party officials shortly after the military takeover, Soe Htay said.

“She doesn’t understand the politics we were discussing,” the NLD member and leader of the Mogok Township Peace and Open Society told RFA.

Soe Htay said he recently learned from staff at the Mogok Prison that his older daughter is enduring “serious health problems” while she remains in detention. He said that he has had no direct contact with his family members since the day of their arrest.

“My eldest daughter was on medication, suffering from rheumatism when she was arrested. On the day of her arrest, she was taken away with the only clothing she had on, and she didn’t have any of her medicine,” he said.

“She had to kneel down, handcuffed, on the concrete floor for two or three hours during questioning … and now she is in critical condition, according to what a friend in the prison told me.”

Attempts by RFA to contact junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun for comment on the arrest of Soe Htay’s family members went unanswered Friday.

‘Illegal’ detention

Speaking to RFA this week, lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said arresting a five-year-old is “illegal.”

“Even if children under the age of 18 commit crimes, they are not allowed to go to jail. They are not allowed to be held behind bars,” he said.

“Arresting a five-year-old is totally unlawful. It’s a violation of human rights, too. There is nothing this military regime wouldn’t hesitate to do if their hold on power was threatened. Not even children will be spared.”

Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe, Minister for Women, Youth and Children for Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG), said Su Htet Waing will be recorded as the youngest political prisoner under the military regime.

“Such arrests constitute war crimes and those responsible must be held accountable,” she said.

“This arrest and detention are a violation of childrens’ rights and the law. The child is too young and can be left deeply traumatized. We are working with professional counselors.”

Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe also condemned what she called “hostage-taking” by the junta, adding that by NUG’s count there are around 80 minors currently in detention.

Soe Htay told RFA he is determined to fight to the end against the military, even though his family has been arrested.

“I am determined to root out this dictatorship,” he said.

“I see the suffering of my daughters and wife as a sacrifice to this revolution. It is from these feelings that I get the strength to fight for a speedy end to the revolution.”

Reported by Soe San Aung for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

The number of COVID-19 infections is on the rise across continental Southeast Asia, with Vietnamese officials on Thursday imposing lockdowns and other restrictions in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus amid a spike in confirmed cases.

On Thursday, Vietnam’s Ministry of Health reported a total of 23,385 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 314 new ones, and 105 deaths, including three new ones, since announcing its first virus case in January 2020.

Most of the cases are in Ho Chi Minh City, followed by the northern provinces of Bac Giang and Bac Ninh, as well as Binh Duong province in the south.

The People’s Committee in Ho Chi Minh City, the equivalent of city hall in Vietnam’s largest city, announced the imposition of social-distancing measures and the suspension of food take-out services, street lottery ticket sales, traditional and motorbike taxi services, and passenger transportation, including some daily flights, for 15 days starting on Saturday, according to state-run media.

Municipal officials have asked residents to stay at home and only go outside for essential trips such as buying food and medicine or getting emergency care. Delivery services for essential goods are allowed.

The city’s department of trade and industry has been ordered to carry out a market stabilization program to ensure the sufficient provision of goods with stable prices for locals, state media reports said.

Department director Bui Ta Hoang Vu said on Wednesday that his office had triple the supply of essential goods during normal conditions, and that supermarkets, traditional markets, and convenience stores would remain open.

Also on Thursday, the People’s Committee in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital with a population of nearly 4.9 million people, suspended public transportation services to and from 14 provinces and cities with COVID-19 outbreaks. They have banned outdoor sports and physical exercise activities and have asked residents to only leave their homes when necessary.

Following on the heels of the moves, organizers of the 2021 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, decided to cancel to the event scheduled for Nov. 21-Dec. 2 in Hanoi due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters news agency reported. The biennial event features 40 sports and athletes from 11 countries in the region.

“Definitely, the 31st SEA Games will not [be hosted] this year as scheduled in November,” Reuters quoted Varin Tansuphasiri, a Games Council member and deputy secretary of the Thai Olympic Committee, as saying.

Vietnam wants to postpone the Games until next April or May, he said.

Scramble for vaccines

In the meantime, Vietnam is scrambling to obtain and administer COVID-19 vaccines to its nearly 99 million people. As of Thursday, authorities had given close to 4 million vaccine doses across the country to its nearly 99 million people, according to Suc Khoe Doi Song, the official newspaper of the Health Ministry.

The government has confirmed a commitment to administer 500,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses donated by China to Chinese citizens working in the country as requested by the government in Beijing, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang told reporters at the weekly news briefing in Hanoi on Thursday.

On June 24, the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam posted a statement on the Chinese social network Weibo, accusing the Vietnamese government of not consulting with China on the distribution of 500,000 donated Sinopharm doses. The embassy later said that Hanoi had promised to arrange the vaccinations for Chinese citizens.

Vietnam also has received 4.4 million AstraZeneca doses of the vaccine, 2,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, and 97,110 Pfizer doses, Le Thi Thu Hang said. Under the World Health Organization’s COVAX sharing scheme, priority distribution has been given to Vietnam, which will receive 2 million doses of the Moderna vaccine this week.

In an interview with the Voice of Vietnam on Wednesday, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Minh Vu said the country would continue implementing its vaccine diplomacy strategy to secure sufficient doses for local use.

Officials have been engaged in lobbying efforts to get more vaccines, reaching agreements to secure 30 million doses for 70 percent of its population, he said.

Ho Chi Minh City police issued a notice on Thursday, warning local residents about vaccine and other related scams amid the growing demand for the doses, state media reported.

Fraudsters in protective medical suits have gone to residents’ homes, asking to disinfect the houses in exchange for a fee. Others who have pretended to be medical staff or representatives from vaccine manufacturers have asked people to deposit money in an account to get a vaccine, the reports said.

Scammers also have posted fake information on social networks about patients in need to fraudulently collect donations and have called people on COVID quarantine lists, requesting their personal information or getting them to access web links containing malicious computer code to steal data, state media report said.

‘New wave of the outbreak’

Neighboring Cambodia recorded 58,057 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 954 new cases as of Thursday, according to the Ministry of Health on Thursday. The country has had a total of 825 related deaths, including 27 new ones.

About 4.8 million doses of mainly Chinese COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across the country, with 3.5 million people now fully vaccinated. This amounts to just under 48 percent of the total target of 10 million people to be vaccinated.

Nevertheless, Cambodians have raised questions about the efficacy of the Chinese vaccines, especially as infection rates continue to soar, as there have been no studies on their effectiveness.

The number of confirmed virus cases spiked in early April, about two months after vaccines began to be administered in the country.

In landlocked Laos, the government decided earlier this week to extend an ongoing pandemic lockdown for another 15 days until July 19 with certain relaxations, according to a notice issued by the Prime Minister’s Office on July 4.

The previous lockdown imposed on June 19 was due to expire on July 4.

“[S]ome of our neighboring countries are facing new wave of the outbreak, with daily increase[s] of infections and deaths,” said the notice posted on the website of Lao’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The notice also cited reports of the new, more contagious Delta variant of the virus and the detection in the country of new imported cases of it.

“Against this backdrop, our country is still at risk as some of our neighboring countries are still facing community transmission and took preventive measures by closing businesses in some provinces, leading to the increase number of Lao labors to return back to the country,” the notice said.

The document listed the continuation of measures such as the closing of entertainment venues, prohibiting sports that involve physical contact, closing of schools in the capital Vientiane and in provinces that have community transmission cases, and forbidding of social events and gatherings.

But the government also relaxed some policies, allowing the opening of shopping malls, stores, markets, and dine-in restaurants as long as they impose social-distancing protocols and sanitary measures, and check the body temperatures of patrons.

On Thursday, the Lao Health Ministry reported a total 2,469 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 29 new cases, while the death rate held steady at three.

As of mid-June, more than 1.1 million vaccine doses had been administered to the country’s population of nearly 7.4 million people, according to the most recent information issued by World Health Organization (WHO).

Case numbers hit new highs

Myanmar health officials reported a total of 180,055 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 4,132 new ones, as of Thursday. Of the country’s total 3,621 related deaths, there were 51 new cases.

The rising number of cases prompted China on Wednesday to shut down nonessential businesses and public offices and require residents to remain at home in the city of Ruili bordering the Myanmar trading town Muse in northern Shan state amid a new breakout of the virus on the China side.

The same day, Myanmar health authorities announced stay-at-home measures in parts of commercial capital Yangon, as case numbers hit new highs.

As of June 5, a total of 3,368,042 vaccine doses have been administered in the country of 54 million, according to the WHO, as Myanmar tries to obtain more does from China and Russia.

Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese and Khmer Services. Translated by Anna Vu and Nareth Muong. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

An ongoing China-backed high-speed railway project in Indonesia has worsened air quality, clogged canals, and damaged homes of many people who live along the 89-mile stretch of the future line, residents told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project’s cost has shot up as well – from an estimated U.S. $6 billion to as much as $7.9 billion, according to a government official.

Some of those residents affected by the project said they had been threatened for airing their concerns, but a consortium of Chinese and Indonesian companies building the rail line denied any intimidation or environmental damage. The consortium noted it had appointed consultants to comply with construction regulations.

Sri Rama Aryadhana, who lives in a gated neighborhood in Bandung, said his house developed cracks because of the construction project.

“In November, they started piling and drilling, using heavy equipment. Since then, there has been damage not only to my house, but also other residents’ houses in this neighborhood,” Rama, 44, told BenarNews.

Residents’ attempts to hold a dialogue with the company had been unsuccessful, Rama said.

“At the beginning of the project, they even sent security forces, who said anyone who obstructed the project would be dealt with,” he said.

Rama and his neighbors then complained to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), which has summoned the management of PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC), the consortium building the railway, to appear for questioning later this month.

Since construction began in 2017, the Jakarta-Bandung rail project, the country’s first high-speed rail, has been dogged by criticism about its impacts on surrounding areas, as well as concerns about rising costs.

Launched by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2016, the rail line is expected to shorten the travel time between the Indonesian capital and Bandung to 40 minutes from three hours, officials said. But it has seen cost overruns of as much as $1.9 billion, according to Deputy State-Owned Enterprises Minister Kartika Wirjoatmodjo.

The company has blamed the overrun on unexpected expenditure including land acquisition.

Agung Budi Waskito, the chief executive of PT Wijaya Karya, which leads the consortium of local companies that holds a 60 percent stake in the rail project, said in April it was negotiating for China to increase its stake in the project, because of the cost increase.

It is the flagship Indonesia project of China’s One Belt, One Road, Beijing’s estimated U.S. $1 trillion-plus infrastructure program to build a network of railways, ports and bridges across 70 countries.

‘Government’s response has been slow’

Meiki Paendong, executive director of the environmental group Walhi in West Java province, said residents complained about how the project had created social and environmental harm.

Complaints from residents in areas affected by the project include clogged sewers, water and air pollution, flooding during the rainy season, and excessive noise.

“Their neighborhoods were flooded because drainage channels were blocked by backfill and the company did not build alternative drainage,” Meiki told BenarNews.

In addition to flooding, a 25-acre rice field in West Bandung regency was damaged because the irrigation canal had been clogged, Meiki said.

In Cimahi town near Bandung, residents are worried about threats of landslides after soil there developed cracks because of blasting method used in tunnel construction, said Meiki.

In February 2020, the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) ordered the contractor to suspend construction on the entire project for two weeks to allow the company to address safety and environmental issues.

The suspension came after huge traffic disruptions on the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road caused by floods.

But Meiki said the problems affecting residents remained unresolved.

“The government is only concerned about the impact on the toll road, but not on the residents. Because up to this day, there has never been a fair solution for the residents,” said Meiki.

Many affected residents don’t make formal complaints, he said

“There is skepticism [among the residents] because the government’s response has been slow, and they were subjected to intimidation,” said Meiki.

Cracks are seen on the floor of Sri Rama Aryadhana’s house, which he said has been damaged by construction work on the Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Railway project in Bandung city, Indonesia. [Photo courtesy Sri Rama Aryadhana]

‘Either we move, or they move’

Komnas HAM said it had summoned the chief executive of KCIC to appear before the commission on July 22.

“This summons is related to the masterplan for the construction of the high-speed train, the environmental impact analysis and their measures to prevent violations of human rights,” Komnas HAM Commissioner Beka Ulung Hapsara told BenarNews.

Bandung city’s Rama said complaints had also been lodged with other institutions, but there had been no resolution.

A meeting with representatives of KCIC facilitated by the West Java Environmental Agency did not yield any results, he said.

“The impacts [of the construction] are real and there’s evidence. What we want is for them to acknowledge that we have suffered from the impacts, take responsibility, and buy our land,” Rama said.

“It’s either we move, or they move.”

KCIC will answer the summons and is ready to hold dialogue with the residents, company spokeswoman Mirza Soraya said.

“PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China is cooperating and ready to sit down with residents to discuss environmental impact-related complaints submitted by the community,” Mirza said in a statement to BenarNews.

Mirza said the cause of damage to houses could not yet be established and that residents in the Bandung neighborhood rejected a survey requested by the company before the project started.

“KCIC and contractors did not obtain comparative data on the conditions of the buildings before and after the work was carried out,” said Mirza.

Mirza also claimed noise that residents complained about was not from the rail project work alone.

“Noise has increased because the project location is adjacent to a toll road. However, noise levels gradually decrease as construction progresses,” she said.

Mirza also denied accusations that the company had resorted to intimidation.

“The presence of security personnel from the military and police at the construction site is not intended to intimidate residents, but part of standard security procedures involving national strategic projects.”

Project progress

The 143-km (88.8-mile) Jakarta-Bandung rail line was scheduled to start operations this year, according to a report in The Jakarta Post in April 2020.

But it is 74 percent finished and is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, Deputy State-Owned Enterprises Minister Kartika said.

Jodi Mahardi, spokesman for the coordinating ministry of maritime affairs and investment, said the government was committed to completing the project by next year.

“We will see to it that the critical paths and targets can be achieved so that the goal to begin operations in December 2022 can be realized,” Jodi told BenarNews.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.