Day: September 27, 2021

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has cut short a 15-day long religious festival after admitting on social media that he was negligent in allowing the festival this year, which resulted in outbreaks of COVID-19 centered on many of the country’s pagodas.

During the Pchum Ben festival, which runs from Sept. 22 and Oct. 6 this year, extended families visit pagodas to make offerings to Buddhist monks and pay respect to seven generations of their ancestors.

Cambodia canceled the festival in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Hun Sen previously said that this year festivals could continue. But after increases in daily infections and deaths, Hun Sen said he was wrong to ease restrictions.

“I was negligent after seeing a slight decrease in COVID-19 infections in allowing celebration of Pchum Ben and allowing people to go to pagodas and make offerings per our tradition,” said Hun Sen in an audio message posted on Facebook Sept. 25.

“In only three days, the infection rate near some pagodas rose, causing the number of daily infections to jump from around 400, 500 or 600 cases per day to over 800, and deaths rose to more than 20 per day,” he said.

“I would be in complete shock if people are still allowed to go to the pagodas today and transmit COVID-19 back their family members at home,” he said. 

According to Cambodia’s National Ad-hoc Commission for COVID-19, the government has vaccinated nearly 13 million of the country’s population of more than 16 million, or about 81 percent—one of the highest percentages in Asia.

Of the 32.6 million doses the country has so far purchased or received from donations, more than 91 percent are from China.

Buddhist monks told RFA Monday that household members are permitted to bring food and offerings to pagodas for Pchum Ben, but public religious gatherings are restricted.

Each pagoda can accept food and offerings from the public through entrance gates, but the public cannot enter, according to the Venerable Khoeum Sorn, head of the secretariat of the Buddhist Supreme Patriarch Office.

“All Buddhist followers should please understand this measure. We all love our lives and our health. So, if you want to perform good merits, just send one person or two people to the pagoda,” he told RFA Monday.

“Buddhist monks will arrange tables at the entry gate of each pagoda for the public to leave their offerings. We cannot allow any long public gatherings during this Pchum Ben festival,” he said.

Other monks were concerned that the restrictions could result in food shortages in some of the country’s pagodas

The Venerable Yee Puthy, a monk at the Stung Meanchy Pagoda in Phnom Penh, said fewer than 20 or 30 people came to Stung Meanchy Pagoda to make offerings before the restrictions, but 277 monks and several more others live there.

“By not allowing the public to enter the pagoda and conduct rituals and turn over their offerings, some days we don’t have enough food,” Yee Puthy told RFA.

The abbot of the Prasat Kaukchork pagoda in the northwestern city of Siem Reap told RFA that he has had to spend money out of the pagoda’s savings to feed the 30 monks living at the pagoda because this year they received fewer donations, as the pagoda is located in a lockdown area.

RFA attempted to contact Seng Somony, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Cults and Religion, but he was unavailable for comment.

The spokesman told local media Sunday that the Ministry of Health collected samples from 975 monks and students living in 150 of Phnom Penh’s 154 pagodas. The ministry found that 141 monks and students contracted COVID-19 in the first four days of Pchum Ben. 

As of Monday, Cambodia has confirmed 109,087 COVID-19 cases and 2,243 deaths, according to statistics from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

Cambodia on Monday announced it will donate to neighboring Laos 200,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccines it purchased from China.

Or Vandin, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, told the pro-government media outlet Fresh News the doses would be delivered Tuesday at the Trapaing Kirel international crossing at Stung Treng province on the border with Laos’ Champassak province.  

Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Eugene Whong. 

A Tibetan monk sentenced to 15 years in prison for protesting Chinese rule in Tibet has been released two years before finishing his sentence, but is reported to be in failing health resulting from harsh treatment behind bars, Tibetan sources say.

Thabgey Gyatso, 46, was released in September after serving 12 years in prison, a Tibetan source living in the region told RFA on Sept. 27.

“But due to harsh treatment in the prison, his vision and overall health have become very weak, so his sudden release from custody is something to be very suspicious of,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“He is someone who is very critical of the Chinese government and he also protested inside the prison, for which he was beaten and physically abused.”

“He has now arrived at his home, but everyone is very worried about his health,” he said.

Gyatso, a resident of Sangchu county in Gansu’s Kanlho (in Chinese, Gannan( Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, was arrested during protests in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in 2008 and was sentenced on May 21, 2009 to a 15 year prison term for leading protesters and contacting India-based groups working to support Tibetan independence.

His whereabouts remained unknown for almost a year after his arrest, but he was later transferred with his cellmate Kelsang Gyatso to a prison in Peyan in Gansu, where they were forced to work at hard labor, sources in the region and in exile said.

Because of poor health, he was hospitalized in the Tenshi Prison hospital in Gansu in 2018, sources said.

Tibetan prisoners suffering ill health are sometimes freed in critical condition before the end of their term, with at least seven reported during the last year to have died, either in prison or after their release, from injuries inflicted under torture, sources say.

A Tibetan writer jailed for three years for criticizing Chinese government policies in Tibet died this month in Sichuan’s capital Chengdu after suffering ill health for eight years following his release, Tibetan sources told RFA in an earlier report.

Ra Tsering Dhondup, who wrote under the pen name Shinglo Marpo, was a monk at the Rongtha monastery in Khyungchu county in Sichuan’s Ngaba (Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and was 34 at the time of his death.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago.

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

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

China strongly condemned Monday the passage of a British frigate through the Taiwan Strait as the U.K. looks to bolster its presence in the Indo-Pacific.

The Royal Navy’s HMS Richmond unusually broadcast its location while sailing through the sensitive strait on its way to Vietnam.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command said in a statement that military units have been dispatched “to follow and monitor the voyage.”

Senior Col. Shi Yi, spokesman of the command, was quoted by the state-run China Daily as saying that the United Kingdom is “carrying out a meaningless display of presence with an insidious intention.”

He added that the action “has damaged peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits and exposed the U.K.’s opportunistic attitude.”

“The theater command will remain on high alert and would adamantly take actions in response to any acts of threats and provocations,” Shi said.

China has been conducting exercises around Taiwan and Chinese military aircraft are making regular incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.

Beijing insists Taiwan is a province of China and has refused to rule out using military force to unify it with the communist mainland. Taiwan, a democracy, operates as a self-governing state.

The HMS Richmond, part of the HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier strike group, announced on Twitter on Monday that it was on its way to visit Vietnam and the Vietnamese Navy “after a busy period working with partners and allies in the East China Sea.”

The publicly announced passage is seen as a deliberate act to confirm that the Taiwan Strait is international waters and part of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The HMS Richmond broadcast a signal from its automatic identification system, which warships usually refrain from doing.

The Carrier Strike Group 21 (CSG21) led by the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier made its first port call in Japan earlier this month following exercises with Japanese and U.S. partners in August.

The Royal Navy has also deployed two patrol vessels to the Indo-Pacific on a five-year mission to bolster Britain’s presence in the region.

Authorities in North Korea are going house to house looking for suspected coronavirus cases after widespread travel last week for Chuseok, the fall harvest holiday, sources in the country told RFA.

During Chuseok – the Korean version of a holiday also celebrated at the autumn equinox in China and Vietnam and often likened to Thanksgiving in the U.S. — Koreans travel to their hometowns to honor their ancestors with their extended families.

Authorities fear that extensive travel during the holiday may have spread the coronavirus.

“After Chuseok, neighborhood watch units were organized with members of the neighborhood watch unit in Songchon county to check for residents with fevers by the order of the county’s quarantine authority,” a resident of South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang told RFA’s Korean Service Sept. 23.

“As residents moved around the county to visit their ancestors’ graves during Chuseok, the authorities are concerned that the coronavirus could have been spread,” said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons.

Prior to Chuseok, the county’s quarantine authorities would walk the streets to crack down on citizens for violations like not wearing masks, but now that the neighborhood watch units are involved, the scope of their mission has changed.

“Early in the morning, the patrols knock on the door of each house, saying they are looking for coronavirus patients, and the residents are getting angry about it.”

Another source, a resident of South Pyongan’s Eunsan county, confirmed to RFA the same day that neighborhood watch units there were searching for suspected coronavirus patients there as well.

“The central government is introducing these quarantine measures, saying that success or failure of the after-Chuseok quarantine depends on local officials taking proactive measures. If suspected cases of COVID-19 occur in their region, local officials will be held responsible,” said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.

“But quarantine officials in the provincial cities are also complaining about orders from the central government for pestering local officials. They say, ‘Is it even possible to completely prevent coronavirus when we don’t’ even have sufficient masks?’”

Inconsistent policy

Though North Korea still maintains outwardly that it has not confirmed a single case of coronavirus, for most of the pandemic it has been operating under state-mandated “emergency quarantine measures,” and the border with China, a vital economic lifeline, has been closed since January, 2020.

So-called “suspected cases” of COVID-19 are isolated, and in cases of death, the bodies are hastily cremated before coronavirus can be listed as the cause of death.

Citizens are becoming resentful of the authorities for continuing to emphasize emergency quarantine measures while also holding large-scale public events like military parades and other mass gatherings.

“It is complete nonsense to emphasize the quarantine project while holding a crowded event where people aren’t even wearing masks. It’s making residents strongly criticize the emergency quarantine guidelines,” a resident of Chongjin in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA.

“Recently the authorities have been giving out quarantine guidelines to companies and neighborhood watch units every day to continue to aggressively push the emergency quarantine project until the global health crisis ends,” the Chongjin source said.

The guidelines are sent nationwide and call upon local governments to implement a quarantine plan laid out by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to the Chongjin source.

Another North Hamgyong resident, from the city of Hoeryong, told RFA the same day, “If you look at how they held a huge military parade for the anniversary of North Korea’s founding on Sept. 9, and how a large number of Pyongyang citizens participated, you can see that their emergency quarantine policy is not realistic.”

“They keep saying that their quarantine measures are infallible, and the moment we loosen control, the country and the people will face severe consequences. But that’s confusing,” said the Hoeryong source.

The residents complain about the seeming contradiction.

“They sarcastically ask if the country is holding parades and mass games in the interest of protecting life and keeping the people safe.”

Reported by Hyemin Son and Jeong Yon Park for RFA’s Korean Service. Translated by Jinha Shin. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Young people disheartened by life in Myanmar following the February military coup are trying in growing numbers to leave the country, hoping to escape army rule and find work to help support their families, sources in the country say.

More people are applying for passports at a recently reopened office in Yankin township in the Yangon region that had been closed amid a new surge of COVID-19 in Myanmar, an agent who helps would-be emigrants obtain travel papers told RFA last week.

The number started climbing following the Feb. 1 military coup that overthrew the democratically elected civilian government of national leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, the official said.

“The number then rose a little more on Sept. 13, by about 30 percent, and now it’s more than ever. There are a lot of people now,” he said.

Most of those trying to leave Myanmar are hoping to go to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, one man applying for a passport said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Many in Myanmar want to stay in the country and join the resistance to military rule, but others have families enduring financial hardship, the man said.

“I’m the oldest of five siblings, and when I get [to Japan] I’ll be able to support my family and make my own future,” he said. “There are always those who want to confront a problem when it arises, but there are others who would prefer to avoid that problem and turn away.”

“As someone who wants to live in peace, I have to admit that I am shying away,” he said.

Another Yangon resident speaking on condition her name not be used said that the future of young people in Myanmar is now uncertain following the coup.

“Young people lost their futures after the coup. If they stay here, they will have to struggle a lot,” she said. “They have to think about their lives, and some of them think that going to school abroad and taking up a job is the best chance they’ll have to improve their lives and work for their future.”

“From a national point of view, this is a loss of talent for the country, though,” she said.

The young woman added that she is currently working part-time to support her family, but has decided to go abroad to work in the face of low wages and rising commodity prices in Myanmar.

“Currently, no one has been officially allowed to leave the country to work,” said Peter Nyunt Maung, vice-chairman of the Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Federation (MOEAF), noting that Myanmar suspended sending workers abroad in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The passport office has just reopened, but no one has been allowed to go to any country yet. People just want to get themselves prepared,” he said, adding that though brokers and agents are now active, young people hoping to leave Myanmar may find themselves disappointed in the end.

The World Bank said in a July 2021 statement that an estimated one million people in Myanmar will be left without work because of the country’s third wave of COVID-19 infections and social and economic disruptions caused by the military coup.

In the nearly eight months since the Feb. 1 coup, security forces have killed 1,136 civilians and arrested at least 6,850, 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 Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Chinese researchers from a military-linked university have completed the first open sea test in the Paracel Islands of a bionic robot that looks and swims like a manta ray, Chinese media reported.

Countries disputing China’s claims in the South China Sea, no doubt, will be watching closely the development of this sophisticated drone.

The state-run China Daily quoted developers from the Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU) in Xi’an as saying that this is the world’s first bionic unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) to accomplish a more than 1,000-meter dive in the open sea, including gliding and flapping wing propulsion. They added that it would “play an important role in marine environmental protection.”

But such innovation would likely be utilized for military purposes, too.

“Most good robotics inventions (since the first robots) have ended up with military uses,” said Noel Sharkey, emeritus professor of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics at University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.

Professor Alexandre Vuving at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), a U.S. Department of Defense institute based in Hawaii, agreed: “China will use these biomimetic robots for military purposes. This is consistent with their military-civil fusion strategy.”

Military-civil fusion is a national strategy aimed at developing the Chinese People’s Liberation Army through encouraging investment and technologies from the private sector and academic institutions.

The NWPU is listed by the U.S. Department of Justice as “a Chinese military university that is heavily involved in military research and works closely with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on the advancement of its military capabilities.”

It is also among seven leading Chinese universities with deep roots in the military and defense industry that a 2019 report compiled by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute dubs the “Seven Sons of National Defense.” The report, based on a database funded by the U.S. State Department, catalogues the collaboration of educational institutes with the PLA and Chinese security agencies. Also among the seven is the Beijing Institute of Technology and Harbin Engineering University.

More than 40 percent of employed 2017 or 2018 NWPU graduates are working in the defense system, the report said. In the State Department-funded database, the NWPU is designated “very high risk” for its defense ties. It is also on a U.S. Commerce Department export blacklist.

The head of the manta ray robot project, Dr. Pan Guang, is the dean of the NWPU’s School of Marine Science and Technology and an author on torpedo mechanics.

‘No difference with the real manta ray’

A video clip published by Xinhua news agency in early September shows researchers releasing a large, bright yellow “manta ray” from a ship into the waters off the Paracel islands in the South China Sea.

Its shape is very life-like, with a flat body, two large wings and a wide head. Sharkey said he has not seen a drone like that before: “It looks quite amazing as a biomimetic robot with a ray propulsion system.”

Details remain sketchy but according to Xinhua, the new 470-kilogram (1,036-pound) bionic soft robot prototype with a three-meter wingspan can dive to a depth of up to 1,025 meters (yards).

Inspired by the manta ray, “one of nature’s most efficient swimmers,” the robot is described by the developers as having “high propulsion efficiency, high maneuverability, high stability, low environmental disturbance, low noise, large load capacity, and soft landing of the seafloor.”

The team from the NWPU has worked on the UUV project since 2016. After developing several prototypes, they claimed they’d already achieved “the flapping, gliding, emergency stop, turning, and other actions of this bionic manta ray; and there is almost no difference with the real manta ray.”

The robot allegedly can work continuously for weeks and is fitted with sensors for visual and sound detection.

A smaller black-and-white prototype launched in 2019 looked even more like the real ray. The ability to blend in with other fish in the ocean, thus becoming almost undetectable, makes it ideal for surveillance and spy works, experts say.

Russian defense analyst Vasily Kashin said the Chinese government has prioritized the development of UUVs for both civilian and military uses.

“They can be used both for observing the environment and hunting submarines,” he said.

Military uses

According to Sharkey from Sheffield University, the manta ray robot “could certainly be used to surveil what is happening in the sea around it and possibly above it and collect intelligence.”

“It would be useful to know if it operates quietly – that would make it extremely useful,” he told RFA.

Vuving from the APCSS elaborated: “Given the robot’s capability, it can be used for intel gathering, and even sabotage purposes.”

Biomimetics, or applying learning about natural systems and robotics to design new vehicles, is a growing trend across the world. The manta ray, for its natural characteristics, has become the subject of imitation in a number of projects such as the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA’s) Manta Ray program, the British Royal Marines’ Raydrive and Singaporean scientists’ MantaDroid.

A DARPA’s spokesman when asked by RFA confirmed that the Manta Ray project was already launched but did not provide any further details.

The DARPA’s program costs $12.3 million while the Raydrive, the purposes of which are to spy on warships and submarines, is being developed with a budget of 100,000 pounds ($135,000), The Times of London reported in July.

It is unclear how much has been spent on the Chinese manta ray UUV but the project seems to have achieved a more advanced stage than its peers.

Xinhua reported the “manta ray” had already been used for observing the ocean environment in a major coral reef in the Paracels — islands that China calls Xisha. The islands are under China’s control but also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.

China claims historic rights to 90 percent of the South China Sea and has been developing military capabilities to assert its claims to disputed features despite protests from neighboring countries. Distant reefs have been transformed into artificial islands with runways that can accommodate jet fighters and large transport aircraft.

Stealthy underwater reconnaissance capability would be a major concern for Vietnam which has the largest submarine fleet in Southeast Asia. Hanoi has repeatedly denounced China’s activities in the area but has yet to respond to the new development.

“The Vietnamese are closely watching what China does in the South China Sea. But I am not sure about what collective conclusion Vietnam will draw from this,” said Vuving.

Another concern raised by AI and robotics experts is the arming of drones with autonomous weapons systems but according to Sharkey, the Chinese “manta ray” hasn’t yet reached that stage.

“I can’t imagine it being armed as it stands,” he said.