Day: September 20, 2021

Detained ex-State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will not stand in the way of an armed rebellion against Myanmar’s junta, her legal team said Monday, as her trial on nearly a dozen charges resumed in the capital Naypyidaw.

The former head of state, whose National League for Democracy (NUG) government was deposed by the military in a Feb. 1 coup d’état, declared that she “will never oppose the will of the people” when asked about a declaration of war against the junta made by the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) earlier this month, lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said in a statement.

“The team told her about the rumours of her expressing dissent on some current deeds of the people and she said she never turns against the wishes of the people,” the statement said.

Khin Maung Zaw and his team had met with Aung San Suu Kyi for around half an hour before her trial hearing at the Special Court in Naypyidaw’s Zambuthiri township and asked her about reports since Sept. 17 that she did not approve of the armed resistance by NUG, People’s Defense Force (PDF) militia groups and Parliament’s Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Committee of Representatives (CRPH).

On Sept. 7, Duwa Lashi La, interim president of the five-month-old NUG, declared a nationwide state of emergency and called for open rebellion against junta rule, prompting an escalation of attacks on military targets by various allied pro-democracy militias and ethnic armed groups.

He called on the numerous branches of the PDF militias and armed ethnic groups to “target the military and their support pillars to take control of their regions,” while also urging “all levels of local administrators to stop working immediately.”

PDF militias have destroyed dozens of towers operated by military-run telecom Mytel Telecommunications Co. in a bid to decrease company revenue they say the regime will use to buy weapons to wield against the population, while several bombings have taken place across the country.

Agence France-Presse reported Monday that Aung San Suu Kyi had denied the rumors of her disapproval and refused to comment on the NUG’s announcement.

Repeated attempts by RFA’s Myanmar Service to reach her lawyers for clarification went unanswered Monday, but Khin Maung Zaw wrote via text message that he had not refused to comment to the media about the subject.

“Daw Suu told us that she would never say things that could damped the people’s spirit,” he added, using an honorific for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who led the country from 2016 until she was deposed and detained, along with Myanmar President Win Myint, by the military in February.

Multitude of charges

In the more than seven months since the coup, security forces have killed 1,114 civilians and arrested at least 6,637, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)—mostly during crackdowns on anti-junta protests.

The junta says it had to unseat Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD government because the party engineered a landslide victory in Myanmar’s November 2020 election through widespread voter fraud. It has yet to present evidence of its claims and public unrest is at an all-time high.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial in a junta court on charges widely regarded as politically motivated was suspended for two months amid an outbreak in the country of COVID-19 and was set to resume on Sept. 13, but was postponed when she complained of dizzy spells. She attended court the following day and hearings in her trial are now held weekly on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 76, had been in good health during the last two months, and had experienced difficulties only on Monday, her lawyers told RFA. She had previously been under the care of a family doctor, but after being taken into custody was assigned a doctor by the junta.

Aung San Suu Kyi now faces up to 11 different charges filed by the military against her, and if found guilty in all cases could face a maximum sentence of more than 100 years in prison.

The Mandalay Region High Court will begin hearing four corruption cases against her in a special court in Naypyidaw on Oct. 1 and proceedings are expected to take place weekly on Fridays.

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

A Baptist group in western Myanmar’s Chin state has condemned the killing of a local pastor by government troops during a clash between Myanmar’s military and local defense forces over the weekend in a conflict that has seen thousands driven from their homes.

Pastor Cung Biak Hum, 31, was shot and killed when he and several others ran to put out fires set by government soldiers during an attack on their position in Chin state’s Thantlang town, the scene of recent fighting with civilian militias that oppose the February military takeover of the country, a local witness told RFA.

“The pastor and four or five young people came to the scene on their motorbikes to help, and when the soldiers fired on them, he was shot and died on the spot,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

“Because of the constant gunfire and shelling by artillery, no one could retrieve his body, but when volunteers later cleaned his body at his mother’s home it was found that his ring finger had been cut off and his wedding ring stolen,” he said.

Pastor of the Thantlan Century Baptist Church, Cung Biak Hum is survived by two sons and his pregnant wife, sources said.

Speaking to RFA, Lod Harlinrel—secretary of the Chin Baptist Convention—called the actions of Myanmar troops fighting local defense forces in Chin state barbaric and unacceptable and likely to produce a wider conflict.

“When firing their guns, the military should carefully distinguish between their enemies and civilians. They should not just randomly fire their weapons,” he said. “Besides that, the military’s reckless and barbaric actions we have seen in the towns and urban areas should all have been avoided.”

“If they continue this way, this fighting could grow into a larger ethno-religious conflict. That’s why we condemn these actions strongly,” he said.

Hkalam Samson, president of the Kachin Baptist Convention in northern Myanmar’s Kachin state, said his group supported the statement issued on Sunday by the Baptist Convention in Chin, which condemned the killing of the pastor, the stationing of Myanmar troops in Christian churches, the destruction of Bibles and other religious texts, and the firing of artillery at church buildings.

“As the servants of God, we have to stand with the people. This could lead to opposition to our rulers, but we will stand with justice, no matter what,” Hkalam Samson said.

Pastor Cung Biak Hum’s killing should not lead to religious conflict in Myanmar, as the country’s military does not discriminate between Christians and Buddhists, said Ashin Magawa, a Buddhist monk living in Chin state’s Mindat township.

“They would destroy both Christian churches and Buddhist monasteries as they see fit, if they see them as their enemies,” he said. “I want our Christian brothers to understand this, and I urge us all not to see each other as enemies divided by race or religion.”

“This was a very bad action by the [junta] army,” he said.

Army retaliates against civilians

Combined forces of the Chin National Front (CNF) and Chin Defense Force (CDF) launched an assault on Myanmar troop positions in Thantlang town on Sept. 18, but withdrew when government troops lashed out with heavy artillery in retaliation against local civilians, a CNF spokesperson said.

At least 18 houses and a hotel were burned down in the barrage, said Salai Htet Ni, an information officer for the Chin National Front, a nationalist political organization that advocates for Myanmar’s Chin ethnic minority.

“We heard they lost 15 soldiers, but we retreated because they were harming civilian lives and property,” Salai Htet Ni said.

Fighting alongside the CNF, the Chin Defense Force (CDF) was formed by citizens who took up arms following the Feb. 1 military coup that ousted the democratically elected government of Myanmar’s national leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy.

Only around a thousand people still live in Thantlan town, as most of the town’s more than 10,000 former residents have fled their homes for shelter in Mizoram in India, or in Chin state’s capital Hakha, sources said.

Between the Feb. 1 coup that overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and early July, troops loyal to the junta killed 81 ethnic Chins, including two infants and a 15-year-old rape victim, the Institute of Chin Affairs said in a survey at the time.

Requests for comment from Major General Zaw Min Htun, spokesperson for Myanmar’s ruling Military Council, received no reply.

In the seven months since the Feb. 1 coup, security forces have killed 1,114 civilians and arrested at least 6,637 according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)—many during crackdowns on anti-junta protests.

Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Vietnam will purchase 10 million doses of a Cuban coronavirus vaccine amid a scarcity of doses in the Southeast Asian country as it weathers its worst outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic, state media reported.

Vietnam’s President Nguyen Xuan Phuc over the weekend traveled to Cuba on an official visit, where he met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported that Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh approved the proposal to buy the 10 million doses of the Abdala vaccine.

Cuba’s Abdala vaccine joins seven others approved for use in Vietnam. They are the British-Swedish AstraZeneca, the Russian Sputnik V, the Chinese-made Vero Cell and Hayat-Vax, and the U.S.-made Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

As of Monday, Vietnam has received 50 million vaccine doses through imports, the World Health Organization’s COVAX program, and direct donations by other countries. Of these, 35 million doses have been administered to Vietnam’s population of 98 million.

Homegrown holdup

The rollout of Vietnam’s homegrown Nanocovax coronavirus vaccine has been held up due to a lack of data regarding its efficacy, health authorities reported.

The National Ethics Committee in Biomedical Research under the Ministry of Health said the conclusion was made Saturday at a meeting to discuss mid-term results of the vaccine’s third-phase clinical trial, which ended Sept. 2.

The Committee said the vaccine been deemed safe for use, but the research group must keep working to provide the sufficient data on its efficacy.

Nanocovax, produced by Nanogen, is one of four Vietnamese domestically developed COVID-19 vaccines and the first to have reached phase 3 clinical trials. Around 13,000 people have participated in phase 3.

Given the high demand for vaccines and their relative scarcity, many expected that the Nanocovax vaccine would soon be approved by the government for local use. 

Videos of Buddhist Monk praying for Nanocovax’ early approval went viral on social media last week.

Social media users were critical of the Venerable Master Thich Nhat Tu, Abbot of Giac Ngo Pagoda, who performed the early approval prayer. They said vaccine research and development should be based on science, rather than faith.  

Vietnam had been among the most effective countries in tackling COVID-19, reporting no deaths through late July 2020—a record that was attributed to effective contact tracing, strict quarantines, and early testing.

After successfully weathering three separate waves of the virus with confirmed cases numbering in the low thousands, a fourth wave arrived in April 2021. As of Monday, Vietnam has confirmed 687,063 cases of COVID-19 and 17,090 deaths according to data from Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.

During the fourth wave, the country locked down its largest cities and forbade residents from leaving their houses except to procure food, a move that has led to widespread unemployment and loss of income.

But even as the harsh measures dragged on, reported cases continued to climb.

Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Hong Kong police on Monday arrested three members of the Student Politicism group on subversion charges under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), accusing its members of trying to bring down the regime.

Among the arrestees were convenor Wong Yat-chin and secretary general Chan Chi-sum, the group said in a brief statement on its Facebook page.

The Hong Kong Baptist University student union editorial board named the third arrestee as Jessica Chu, a former spokesperson for Student Politicism who is no longer a member of the group, according to a screenshot posted to Twitter by Agence France-Presse correspondent Xinqi Su.

Police confirmed they had arrested three suspects aged between 18 and 20 for carrying out “subversive acts” including warning people not to use the government’s LeaveHomeSafe COVID-19 tracking app, and “inciting hatred of the government” via street booths.

Wong was shown in media footage posted by the Oriental Daily news website, being led away in handcuffs from the group’s headquarters in Kwai Chung district, and being taken away in an unmarked grey people carrier.

National security police raided the premises, seizing boxes of goods intended for prison inmates, including chocolates, sanitary products, and crackers, Hong Kong-based translator KTse852 said via their Twitter account.

Senior police superintendent Steve Li told reporters that the group had been imposing its political beliefs on others, and inciting them to overthrow the governments of Hong Kong and mainland China.

Li said the group’s goal in sending goods to inmates was to enlist them to aid these efforts, and accused him of exhorting followers to “practice martial arts for when the revolution comes.”

“That … is clearly resistance aimed at the Hong Kong authorities and the CCP government,” Li said, accusing the group of intensifying its political activism with street booths in Mong Kok.

The national security law, which has ushered in a city-wide crackdown on peaceful protest and political opposition since it took effect on July 1, 2020, criminalizes contact with and funding from overseas politicians and foundations, public criticism of the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities, as well as opposition activism, which is deemed a bid to overthrow the existing political order.

Forty-seven former democratic lawmakers and activists are currently awaiting trial on “subversion” charges under the national security law after taking part in a democratic primary in 2020 that was designed to maximize the number of LegCo seats won by the opposition.

The targeting of Student Politicism comes after prisoner support group Wall-fare announced it would disband after secretary for security and former police chief Chris Tang accused “certain groups” of endangering national security” in prisons by writing to inmates and “soliciting followers” with gifts of chocolates, hairpins, and other items, making them “hate the government.”

It was the latest in a line of civil society groups to disband following public denunciation by officials or by CCP-backed media.

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Three Australian naval ships arrived in Cam Ranh port in central Vietnam on Monday as part of Canberra’s push to engage with partners in Southeast Asia, Vietnamese state media reported.

The deployment came as Australia’s foreign ministry sought to reassure the region that a new security pact with the United Kingdom and the United States, unveiled last week, would not sideline the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and would not fuel the spread of nuclear weapons.

The Australian maritime task group arrived in the Vietnamese port for a four-day stopover after visiting Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. It comprised the amphibious assault vessel HMAS Canberra, the frigate HMSA Anzac, and the replenishment ship HMAS Sirius.

According to the Vietnamese People’s Army mouthpiece Quan Doi Nhan Dan, the Australian ships together with Vietnamese partners will “conduct activities to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two navies.” It is unclear which activities will be held.

Vietnam is currently suffering from a surge of COVID-19 infections and a welcome ceremony by the Vietnamese Naval Zone 4 for the Australian ships was held virtually.

Just a few days earlier, the Australian government announced that the country’s navy would acquire at least eight nuclear-powered submarines under the new trilateral security partnership with the U.K. and the U.S., called AUKUS.

The pact is widely seen as a deterrent to China’s growing military influence in the Indo-Pacific region, especially in the South China Sea where China’s sweeping claims are disputed by neighboring countries including Vietnam.

China has denounced the pact. Southeast Asian nations have reacted cautiously and a little warily. Malaysia and Indonesia have voiced concerns it might stoke an arms race in the region.

Australia’s ambassador to ASEAN, Will Nankervis, pushed back against those concerns on Monday.

“While these submarines will be nuclear powered, they will not carry nuclear weapons. Australia does not and will not seek such weapons. Nor do we seek to establish a civil nuclear capability,” he said in a statement.

Nankeris said Australia “is a strong proponent of a rules-based maritime order.”

“We support all countries being able to exercise their rights and freedoms consistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” he said. The statement also described Australia as “a committed supporter of ASEAN centrality.”

The Australian Navy’s current swing through the region, dubbed Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2021, kicked off in late August to “provide an opportunity for Australia to engage with Southeast Asian partners beyond traditional military activities,” according to the Australian Department of Defence.

Commencing in 2017, Indo-Pacific Endeavour (IPE) is an annual event to “strengthen Australia’s engagement and partnerships with regional security forces” but it did not occur in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.

Last week, the two Australian naval ships also conducted a three-day joint exercise in the South China Sea with U.S. coastguard vessel the USCG Cutter Munro. The joint engagement included “joint operations, professional exchanges, and multi-unit maneuvering at sea”, according to the U.S. Coast Guard force.

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

Five Lao Christian families evicted from their villages by local authorities are still waiting for new homes promised to them by higher government officials, who have ordered that new homes be built for them to replace the old ones demolished when they left, Lao sources say.

The 21 residents of Pasing-Kang village and Pateum village in the Ta-Oey district of Saravan province in southern Laos were evicted last year and early this year for refusing to renounce their faith, with one group then living rough for a time in the forest, but were later allowed to return.

All are still homeless, said one of the 14 Christian villagers evicted from Pateum on Jan. 31, 2021, speaking to RFA’s Lao Service this week.

“My family and I are still living in small huts in our rice field near the forest. We’re still homeless,” the villager said, speaking like other sources on condition of anonymity for reasons of security.

“According to the agreement allowing us to return, the village authorities are supposed to build us a new home, but they haven’t done anything they’re supposed to do,” he said. “The village authorities now say they have to wait for the district authorities to take action.”

A member of the Ta-Oey district’s Evangelical Church told RFA that church members have spoken to village authorities about building new homes for the five returned families. “But they told us to go talk to the district authorities instead,” he said.

“So we went and talked to the district, but they told us to go back and talk to the village chief. We also went to provincial headquarters, and they said to go back to the district and the villages. It’s going nowhere.”

“Authorities at all levels are just ignoring this problem and have no intention of helping these Christians at all. So they just have to continue to wait for their new homes to be built,” he said.

“According to the agreement, the village authorities have to build new homes for the Christians, but they wouldn’t do that,” another church member in the province confirmed. “Nobody is doing anything, so those Christians remain homeless.”

Another Christian in southern Laos said that authorities often demand that they renounce their Christian faith.

“Those who renounce their faith will be left alone, but those who refuse will have to leave their villages, and their homes will be destroyed. That was the reason for these evictions,” he said. “The authorities just hate God.”

Speaking to RFA earlier this month, a Ta-Oey district official said the district won’t build new homes for the Christians on its own. “But we will push the villages to do so. We will monitor them closely, and we won’t allow [the Christians] to be harassed again.”

Seven Christians from two families evicted on Oct. 10, 2020 from Pasing-Kang village are also waiting for new homes to be built after they were allowed to return after a month spent living in huts in the forest near their fields, sources said.

The group had also refused to renounce their faith, and local authorities had torn down their homes after expelling them from the village.

Lao Christians are allowed by the country’s Law on the Evangelical Church, approved and signed in Laos on Dec. 19, 2019, to conduct services and preach throughout the country and to maintain contacts with believers in other countries.

But in practice, the law appears to apply only in the capital Vientiane and in other large cities, while Christians in the rural areas remain subject to disrespect by the general public and discrimination at the hands of local authorities, sources say.

Though improvements in religious freedom conditions were observed in Laos in 2019, cases of abuse were still seen in remote rural areas, the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a report released in May 2020.

Reported and translated for RFA’s Lao Service by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney.