Day: September 23, 2021

Vietnam protested against a Chinese military transport mission in the disputed South China Sea last week, calling it a violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty, a spokesperson said on Thursday.

Chinese state media reported that on Sept. 16, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) deployed a number of Y-20 large transport aircraft to return troops from three outposts in the Spratly Islands – which China calls Nansha — to the mainland.

This was the first time the PLA confirmed that this new type of aircraft had been operating on islands and reefs in the South China Sea, according to the Global Times, part of the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily.

Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a regular press briefing in Hanoi on Thursday that Vietnam demands that China respect its sovereignty over the Paracel archipelago – which Vietnam calls Hoang Sa — and Spratlys (Truong Sa), and immediately stop and not repeat similar activities.

Hang added that China should respect international law as well as the “common understanding shared by Vietnamese and Chinese leaders of remaining issues at sea”.

The Global Times quoted the PLA South Sea Fleet as saying that several Y-20 transport aircraft of the PLA Air Force took off from airfields on Fiery Cross Reef, Subi Reef and Mischief Reef last Thursday, “carrying veterans who were garrisoned there to the Chinese mainland.” Previously, such missions were done by ships, it noted.

The three reefs are controlled by China but also claimed by Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines. China, which claims most of the South China Sea, has extensively developed the three features with military facilities and airstrips despite the unresolved territorial disputes.

The Chinese newspaper quoted an unnamed military expert who said that the latest mission meant that “the PLA airfields in the South China Sea can host large transport aircraft, which can transport a relatively large number of troops and numerous pieces of equipment between the islands and reefs and the mainland very fast.”

‘Suspicious activities’

Foreign media reported that a Y-20 cargo plane was spotted landing on Fiery Cross Reef in December last year but it was not confirmed until now.

Malaysia in June accused China of breaching its airspace after detecting “suspicious activity” by 16 Chinese military aircraft including Il-76 and Y-20 transporters over disputed waters off its state of Sarawak.

Malaysia dispatched fighter jets to intercept the Chinese planes, calling the maneuver a “serious threat to national sovereignty” and threatened to summon the Chinese ambassador in a diplomatic protest.

China insisted that the Chinese air force “strictly abided by international law without entering the airspace of other countries.”

The Xi’an Y-20 is China’s first indigenously developed heavy military transport aircraft. It has a payload capacity of over 60 tons and can carry up to 300 troops. The PLA Air Force is believed to have 20 such aircraft in service.

In another development, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said on Twitter that 24 Chinese air force aircraft entered the island’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Thursday. Beijing has yet to comment on this.

This is the second-highest number of daily incursions by Chinese military airplanes into Taiwan’s ADIZ. The highest was 28 on June 15.

A court in Hong Kong on Thursday denied bail to a 19-year-old activist, the fourth person to be arrested in connection with the group Student Politicism under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by Beijing.

Wong Yuen-lam’s arrest on Wednesday came as the West Kowloon Court denied bail to group convenor Wong Yat-chin, 20, its secretary general Chan Chi-sum, 20, and former member Jessica Chu, 19.

Both Chu and Wong had previously acted as spokeperson for the group.

Like the other three arrestees, Wong Yuen-lam is being held on suspicion of “conspiracy to incite subversion,” with police warning that investigations are still ongoing, and that more arrests could follow.

Senior superintendent Steve Li of the national security police has accused Student Politicism of a range of “subversive acts,” including encouraging people not to use the government’s voluntary LeaveHomeSafe pandemic app, and using street booths to “incite hatred of the government.”

The group was also accused of trying to “recruit” prisoners by sending them gifts of chocolate and hand cream.

The investigation into the campus-based political group came as Hong Kong’s Democratic Party contemplated dissolution, faced with a new electoral system that is unlikely to approve any of its candidates, and amid warnings by a pro-CCP figure that not running could be seen as a breach of the city’s constitution, the Basic Law, and call the party’s allegiance into question.

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Fred Li said that while he believes the party should try to field candidates even if they face disqualification, it should dissolve if it can’t represent the people of Hong Kong.

“If a political party wants to run in elections, it also has to get seats,” Li said. “If it continues to run for elections but never gets any seats in the Legislative Council [LegCo], then how representative is it?”

“What kind of public recognition would it have, and … how can it supervise the work of the government?” he said. “If it fails on all those counts, it would be better for that party to disband.”

Li was speaking ahead of a secret ballot on Sunday in which party members will vote on whether to boycott the LegCo election in December, the first to be held under a system designed to exclude genuine political opposition or dissenting voices.

Further loss of power seen

Former Democratic Party member Tik Chi-yuen, a centrist who became the only person to win a seat on the Beijing-approved Election Committee in last weekend’s elections who isn’t wholeheartedly supportive of the government and the CCP, said a boycott would likely lead to the demise of the Democratic Party.

“If a powerful political party decides to boycott and abandon these elections, this will shrink any power the democrats may have still further,” Tik said.

“If the Democratic Party wants to continue to serve our society and promote democracy, and if it cares about people’s lives, it should run for LegCo on that platform,” he said. “Without a presence in the legislature, it will shrink further.”

The party’s dilemma came after an opinion article in the Ming Pao newspaper penned by pro-CCP figure Lo Man-tuen warned that the party’s leadership risks breaching the Basic Law if they decide to boycott the elections.

Lo, who is vice chairman of the CCP-backed All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, said the loyalty of the party’s members would then be called into question.

Joseph Cheng, former politics lecturer at Hong Kong’s City University, said the party may not be able to field candidates even if it decides to take part, however, as it needs to secure a certain number of nominations from a pro-CCP vetting system in order to do so.

“I hope the environment will improve in the future, and that I will be able to take part in a free election,” Cheng said. “Pro-democracy parties are considering restructuring … and waiting until political conditions improve.”

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Survivors of an earthquake earlier this year in a Tibetan-populated county in northwestern China’s Qinghai say they fear that homes and monasteries demolished in the quake will be rebuilt by authorities in a Chinese style, destroying their traditional Tibetan appearance, sources say.

The 7.3 magnitude quake struck Qinghai’s Matoe (in Chinese, Maduo) county on May 22, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 300, local sources told RFA in earlier reports.

Chinese authorities moved quickly to block information flows from the region, preventing independent confirmation of casualty figures.

Local authorities began in July to rebuild affected areas, demolishing houses and monasteries, a Tibetan living in the region told RFA’s Tibetan Service this week.

“But they are taking down not just the structures that were affected in the earthquake but also those that were not affected,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“And without consulting the wishes of the laypeople or the monks, they are demolishing their homes and living quarters and replacing them with steel-framed houses.”

“It is of huge concern now that the government may soon reconstruct the whole area with houses that present only Chinese characteristics,” he said.

Even though severe damage was left behind by the earthquake in May, “there is no reason to simply tear everything down,” the source said, adding that Chinese authorities are promising the new structures will be strong enough to withstand earthquakes in the future, and that other houses will eventually be built.

“However, all this new construction complies only with the government’s agenda, and Tibetans are concerned that there will be no Tibetan characteristics left in these newly built houses,” the source said.

Tibetan residents of Matoe were barred by authorities from posting reports concerning damage from the May 22 quake, which followed a 6.4 magnitude quake earlier that same day in southwestern China’s Yunnan province that left at least three dead and 32 injured, according to state media reports.

On April 14, 2010, an earthquake in Qinghai’s Yushul (Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture largely destroyed the town of Kyegudo, displacing thousands of residents and killing almost 3,000 by official count.

Chinese security forces later moved to evict Tibetan families from the new homes built for them after occupants said they could not pay the government back for the costs of additional construction.

The Jan. 2015 action by authorities in Kyegudo followed official demands for payment and saw hundreds of police deployed into government-built housing projects, sources said.

Tibetans living in Tibet and Tibetan areas of China frequently complain of political, economic, and religious discrimination as well as human rights abuses and say they fear Beijing is pursuing ever more intensive assimilation policies toward the six million Tibetans.

Reported by Sangyal Kunchok for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Authorities in Hong Kong have effectively banned any celebration of democratic Taiwan’s Oct. 10 National Day, a custom with a strong minority following in the city, according to a media interview with its security chief.

Secretary for security Chris Tang told the pro-ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Singtao Daily News that Hong Kong would be marking National Day celebrations on the same day as the rest of China, on Oct. 1, and said the festival “shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

The “Double Tenth” anniversary marks the beginning of the revolution led by nationalist leader Sun Yat-sen that toppled the last Qing dynasty (1644-1911) emperor, and is marked as National Day on the democratic island of Taiwan.

Official celebrations in mainland China are typically more muted, with Oct. 1 celebrated as National Day marking the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China by Mao Zedong in 1949.

“The National Security Law lists four types of crimes, including splitting the country, subverting state power, organizing and carrying out terrorist activities, colluding with foreign countries or foreign forces to endanger national security, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment,” Singtao Daily News reported, citing an interview with Tang.

It said Tang had warned in the interview of possible “serious violations” of the law if Hongkongers celebrate Taiwan’s National Day on Oct. 10, which marks the 1911 founding of the Republic of China formed after the fall of the Qing dynasty by Sun Yat-sen.

“We will absolutely take decisive action to enforce the law if anyone tries to separate Taiwan from China,” Tang said, in a reference to Beijing’s claim on the democratic island, which has never been ruled by the CCP, nor formed part of the People’s Republic of China.

“I urge people not to do this, as it is a very serious crime.”

While the CCP itself marks the anniversary of the 1911 revolution when it finds it politically appropriate to do so, it takes a dim view of popular celebrations of the Oct. 10 revolution anniversary, which it sees as support for Taiwan separatism.

‘We have no alternative’

Pro-KMT figure Mak Yip-sing, who served as vice chairman of the Yuen Long District Council, and who has organized Double Tenth events in Hong Kong for years, said the celebrations of the revolution would be canceled this year.

“Chris Tang has made the same statement again today, so we have no alternative,” Mak told RFA. “It seems the 1911 Revolution never happened, and we are still in the Qing dynasty.”

Hong Kong has long been home to a community of supporters of the Kuomintang, which is currently Taiwan’s opposition party, but which founded the 1911 Republic of China and took it to Taiwan after losing the civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists in China.

Conflict between KMT supporters and Hong Kong communists led to the Double Tenth Riots of 1956 in Tsuen Wan and Kowloon, in which dozens of people were killed.

Politically, the pro-KMT faction in Hong Kong has supported fully democratic elections, but opposed “Taiwan independence.”

Taiwan operates as a self-governing state using the Republic of China name, celebrating National Day on Oct. 10. Its 23 million people have no wish to be forced to “unify” with China under the CCP.

Asked if the Republic of China flag would now be banned in Hong Kong, Tang said the authorities would deal with it on a case-by-case basis.

“Anyone thinking about doing this should ask themselves what their true intention is in celebrating [the Oct. 10 National Day],” he told the paper.

“It would depend on whether there was writing on the flag, what the writing says, who is nearby, what they are saying, and what sort of reaction their behavior causes in others.”

Everything to do with Hong Kong

Current affairs commentator Johnny Lau said the move has more to do with ensuring the total suppression of any political opposition in Hong Kong than with support for Taiwan’s independence.

“[Tang] didn’t elaborate on pro-Taiwan independence in Hong Kong, but this is a form of political pressure that is permeating the whole of Hong Kong, and suppressing any dissenting opinions or opposition groups,” he said.

“This has very little to do with relations across the Taiwan Strait and everything to do with Hong Kong, which has never been home to supporters or activism in favor of Taiwan independence,” Lau said.

Last year, a restaurant in Mong Kok district pulled out of a planned gathering on Oct. 10, citing coronavirus restrictions, although Mak said at the time he suspected it was more closely linked to the national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the CCP from July 1, 2020.

A ceremony to raise the KMT flag — which is also the current flag of Taiwan — at the Red House in Tuen Mun, which once formed a base for anti-Qing activities in Hong Kong, on Oct. 10, 2020, was also canceled after security guards refused to allow anyone into the public gardens, citing maintenance work.

The 1911 revolution was sparked by an armed uprising in the central city of Wuchang, part of present-day Wuhan, on Oct. 10, resulting in the fall of the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) the following year.

It has also become a symbolic date for mainland China’s army of petitioners, ordinary people who seek redress for long-running complaints against officials and government departments, often to no avail and at the cost of beatings, detention, and official harassment.

During the centenary year in 2011, Beijing sponsored a series of events to mark the anniversary, including the launch in June of a blockbuster movie celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, “The Beginning of the Great Revival.”

The movie, starring some of the biggest names in Chinese movies, including Chow Yun-fat and Andy Lau, tells a story based on the 1911 revolution and the founding of the Chinese Communist Party on July 31, 1921.

‘Purely political’

Dissidents and independent commentators say Beijing’s celebrations are purely political, and aimed at shoring up its version of history and thereby its hold on power.

China’s Kuomintang (KMT) nationalist government under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek relocated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists on the mainland.

The island began a transition to democracy following the death of Chiang’s son, President Chiang Ching-kuo, in January 1988, starting with direct elections to the legislature in the early 1990s and culminating in the first direct election of a president, Lee Teng-hui, in 1996.

Recent opinion polls indicate that there is broad political support for continued self-rule in Taiwan, where the majority of voters identify as Taiwanese rather than Chinese.

Beijing has threatened to invade if Taiwan seeks formal statehood.

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Chinese writer Gu Xiao fully expects her son, the veteran pro-democracy activist Guo Quan, recently stood trial for “subversion,” to go to prison, but told RFA in a recent interview that she enjoyed watching him defend himself in court.

A former ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda official in the Jiangsu provincial government, Gu graduated from Nanjing Normal University, where Guo later lectured, in the 1960s.

As a writer, Gu has remained firmly a part of the CCP establishment. A member of the Jiangsu Provincial Writers’ Association, she once netted a “Golden Eagle” award for a television screenplay.

Her loyalty to the system she was raised in means she feels scant sympathy for Guo, a former judge, as he stood trial on Sept. 9, 2021 by video call at the Xuzhou Intermediate People’s Court, pleading not guilty and defending himself vigorously in terms of free speech protections enshrined in the Chinese constitution.

“Of course I don’t have much empathy … I think it would have been better if my son had never done these things, and had just been an ordinary person like me,” Gu said. “I’m not the kind of person who likes to get involved in politics.”

Nonetheless, Gu said she enjoyed watching her son’s defense by video link from Nanjing’s Jiangning District Detention Center, and was proud of his eloquence.

“I was happy seeing him there on the screen, talking and arguing in his own defense,” she said. “You could tell that he used to be a university professor.”

In a trial that lasted more than five hours, Guo, now 53, addressed the court for nearly two hours, engaging in a systematic legal defense of the articles he published online that were submitted in evidence by the state prosecutor’s office, his attorney said.

‘He has ruined my old age’

He told the court that he wasn’t guilty, but understood that the court could decide to convict him anyway. Gu said she agreed with him.

“I watched it for two hours, and actually I really got the impression that my son hadn’t committed any crime,” she said. “My friends were saying that my son would be home with me in no time, but I told them they’d got it wrong.”

“I have no hope of that. We all have our fate, and I think mine is to spend my old age alone,” she said.

Gu said she stopped short of feelings of pride for Guo.

“I’m not proud of him; he has brought me too much suffering,” she said. “He has ruined my old age; what is there to be proud of?”

Gu said she is lonely sometimes, but also relishes the peace that solitude brings.

“I watch TV or read the newspaper here on my own at home,” she said. “It’s nice and peaceful.”

“Solitude has its advantages. It’s nice not to be disturbed,” Gu said. “That way, I can forget everything, listen to my music, watch my shows, and it all suddenly fades into oblivion.”

“I live alone all year round. I have a domestic helper who comes in the mornings; the food I ate today [for Mid-Autumn Festival] was made by her the day before,” she said.

Critic of Wuhan response

“So I’m alone. I’ve gotten used to it,” she said. “I don’t feel lonely on my own at home, and I’m not scared of anything.”

“Sometimes I feel that solitude is something to enjoy, though it’s fashionable to talk about loneliness,” she said. “Wherever he is, in prison or wherever, my son will probably be thinking about his mom at home all by herself.”

“But I’ve also had enough of living on my own. I have to keep going for my son,” she said.

Guo was detained by Nanjing police on Jan. 31, 2020 and held at the Nanjing No. 2 Detention Center on charges that were unknown at the time.

He had been writing online about the COVID-19 outbreak in China and had criticized the government’s response, according to the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network.

His family were informed on Feb. 26, 2020 of his formal arrest for “incitement to subvert state power.”

Held incommunicado for much of his pretrial detention, Guo finally received a visit from defense attorney Si Weijiang in the Nanjing No. 2 Detention Center on Oct. 12, 2020, CHRD said.

A former associate professor at Nanjing Normal University, Guo had previously served a 10-year jail term from 2009 on the same charge after he set up the China New People’s Party in 2007.

Gu said it was a struggle to get through that decade.

“I made it through those 10 years — I had to be my own hero,” she said. “I just lived for his return, and then, after just over a year, he was detained again.

“Imagine what that felt like, as his mother, for him to be away for so long, and then be suddenly taken away again after such a short time,” Gu said.

“But most people don’t know how things are going for me. The lady who comes to take care of me can’t tell how I’m feeling; she just thinks about my physical health,” she said.

The trial ended with a verdict and sentencing to be announced “at a later date.”

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.