Day: February 18, 2022

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Friday announced the postponement of elections for the city’s top job after ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping told her government to throw all of its resources at pursuing a “zero-COVID” strategy, as a wave of the omicron variant of COVID-19 infections started to take its toll.

Nominations had been slated to begin on Feb. 20 for the March 27 election, which has now been postponed to May 8, to enable her administration to “focus on the epidemic,” Lam said in comments reported by government broadcaster RTHK.

“[Our attention] cannot be diverted and we cannot afford to lose,” she said, citing Xi’s “important directive” earlier this week ordering her government to prioritize Beijing’s zero-COVID policy and get the current wave of infections under control.

In 2020, Lam also postponed elections to the Legislative Council (LegCo), after which 47 opposition politicians and activists were arrested under a draconian national security law that has targeted peaceful critics of the CCP and the Hong Kong authorities.

According to the pro-China Sing Tao Daily newspaper, Lam’s administration is now gearing up for compulsory mass COVID-19 testing of the city’s seven million inhabitants, who will face fines of up to HK$10,000 for non-compliance, and some test samples sent across the border to laboratories in Shenzhen, a move that will likely spark fears that Beijing wants to hold DNA samples of Hongkongers in the same way it holds DNA samples of Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in Xinjiang.

The government has invited a team of CCP experts to advise it how to proceed, Lam said on Thursday.

“The … government is now working closely with the relevant ministries and commissions of the central authorities, as well as the Guangdong provincial government,” she said. “[On Feb. 16], we welcomed the arrival of a number of epidemiological experts, two mobile testing vehicles and a number of testing technical personnel from the mainland to support us.”

“We will certainly take the fight against the epidemic as the overriding task, as requested by President Xi,” Lam said. “A territory-wide virus test is something we are considering, and we are still planning the specifics.”

“The scale and pace of the community outbreak have outgrown the capacities of our anti-epidemic operations,” she said.

Current affairs commentator Johnny Lau said Xi will be seeking to establish total political control over Hong Kong ahead of the CCP’s 20th Party Congress later this year, when he will be seeking an unprecedented third term in office.

“The habit of total political control runs so deep that it’s impossible for [Xi] to not intervene, and stop micro-managing the daily running of Hong Kong,” Lau said.

“Their top priority is to consolidate Xi Jinping’s image as a core leader ahead of the 20th Party Congress,” he said, adding that Hong Kong will likely foot the bill for the massive testing, isolation and control operation that will likely soon follow.

Lam has said she is opposed to mass compulsory testing as suggested by pro-Beijing voices on several occasions, so Xi’s intervention — despite its use of “cordial” language — is tantamount to a stinging rebuke.

She told a news conference on Nov. 25, 2020: “I can only imagine they mean tested the entire population in as short a space of time as possible, then removing those infected for isolation and treatment.”

“It would require locking up everyone who tests positive … and to test seven million would take four weeks,” she said. “Can the people of Hong Kong, its companies and financial services industry put up with staying home for four weeks, without going out.”

“Even if they could, I’m not sure how we would manage [to get supplies to everyone] to support their daily needs, so I think this idea of mandatory testing for all is just a slogan,” she said at the time.

Lam and her executive councilors reiterated their opposition to mass compulsory testing on Jan. 18, Jan. 22 and Feb. 4, calling it “not feasible” and citing limited resources and a lack of support from epidemiologists for the idea.

Hong Kong reported a further 3,629 confirmed COVID-19 cases and another 10 deaths on Friday, with a further 7,600 preliminary positive cases. The city’s Hospital Authority vowing to bring all patients currently outside in parking lots indoors by the end of the day, RTHK reported.

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

U.S.-born Eileen Ailing Gu, competing for her mother’s native China at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, became the first woman to win three freestyle skiing medals in a single Games. The 18-year-old was lionized by Chinese state media and nationalistic netizens as a symbol of national glory and showered with lucrative advertising deals. In the U.S., some voices questioned her loyalties and her unwillingness to discuss China’s human rights situation. Analysts say Gu will have to tread a careful path in the face of government pressure to show loyalty to China, excitable online fans, and a media that, if directed, could turn on her abruptly over miscues or mild criticism. Gu’s balancing act plays out while China-U.S. relations are at their worst in decades.

The investigation into the unauthorized leak of an official video showing the crash of a F-35C fighter jet in the South China Sea last month has concluded with five navy personnel facing charges, the U.S. Navy said.

Cmdr. Zach Harrell, spokesperson for the commander of Naval Air Forces, confirmed to the RFA on Friday that “one U.S. navy ensign, one senior chief petty officer, and three chief petty officers have been charged under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”

A navy ensign is the lowest rank of junior officer while chief petty officer and senior chief petty officer are senior enlisted ranks.

The video of the so-called “ramp strike” by the fighter jet on the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier emerged earlier this month and was shared widely on social media.

The Pentagon afterwards confirmed that the shipboard video of the Jan. 24 crash was authentic. It shows footage, apparently originating from the pilot’s landing aid television (PLAT) and taken from two angles as the jet comes into land.

From the first one, the plane hits the deck then rotates and skids in flames. In the second, it crashes onto the deck before sliding off the flight deck and into the sea.

PLAT is installed on the carrier to assist pilots in making accurate landings.

In the video, yelling can be heard for the pilot to abort the landing attempt but within five seconds the F-35C drops into the South China Sea. The pilot safely ejected, the U.S. Navy said.

Another video clip and a photo circulating on social media shows the F-35C hitting the water. Nobody has been charged in connection with those as they are deemed personal recordings and not government property, according to an anonymous spokesman cited by USNI News.

Cmdr. Harrell did not disclose identities of the four senior enlisted sailors and the junior officer facing charges, adding that “there is an ongoing investigation into the crash.”

‘Non-judicial punishment’

Carl Schuster, a retired U.S. Navy captain, predicted the five personnel will likely receive a “captain’s mast,” also known as an Article 15.

A captain’s mast is a non-judicial disciplinary hearing into minor offenses of the crew.

“The senior chief and chief petty officers are looking at a reduction in rank and forfeiture of pay. The ensign would receive a letter of reprimand, which will prevent him from being promoted, ensuring he is out of the Navy in 18 months,” Schuster said.

“They are on sea duty so they can’t refuse a captain’s mast but they can request court martial. However, a special court martial can inflict very severe punishment,” he added.

Meanwhile the spokesperson, Cmdr. Harrell, said the recovery from the crash took place swiftly and did not cause too much disruption to the carrier’s operations.

“We remain grateful to the highly trained sailors aboard USS Carl Vinson who immediately responded to ensure that the pilot was recovered from the water, all injured personnel were cared for, and flight deck was cleared and re-set for operations,” he told RFA.

“After a short pause in accordance with safety procedures, the rapid response from the crew enabled flight operations to resume with minimal impact to mission requirements.”

Still pending is the task of recovering the sunken jet from the depths of the South China Sea.

The U.S. Navy said in late January that it was “making recovery operations arrangements for the F-35C aircraft” but did not give further details. The Japanese coastguard also issued a navigation warning for mariners to beware of salvage operations in an area in the northern part of the South China Sea. The warning remains in effect.

A top Chinese official in Tibet visited monasteries in and near the Tibetan capital Lhasa this week to warn monks against behavior considered disloyal to the ruling Chinese Communist Party, state media sources said.

Wang Junzheng, party secretary in the Tibet Autonomous Region, went on Thursday to the Ramoche temple in Lhasa and to Gaden monastery outside the capital, reminding monks to be “patriotic and law-abiding” citizens and remain loyal to the party, according to media accounts.

Wang also instructed monastery management committees in both places to enforce rules against assertions of Tibetan cultural and national identity deemed “separatist” by Chinese authorities.

China regularly tightens security in Tibet’s regional capital Lhasa and in other Tibetan areas of China during important political events in Beijing and in March, a month of politically sensitive anniversaries.

On March 10, 1959, Tibetans in Lhasa rose up in protest of Beijing’s tightening political and military control of the formerly independent Tibet, sparking a rebellion in which thousands were killed.

And on March 14, 2008, a riot in Lhasa followed the suppression by Chinese police of four days of peaceful Tibetan protests and led to the destruction of Han Chinese shops in the city and deadly attacks on Han Chinese residents.

The riot sparked a wave of mostly peaceful demonstrations against Chinese rule that spread into Tibetan-populated regions of western Chinese provinces, and hundreds of Tibetans were detained, beaten or shot as Chinese security forces quelled the protests.

China’s approach to control and surveillance over Tibetan monks and nuns has intensified in recent years, said Pema Gyal, a researcher at London-based Tibet Watch.

“And with the March 10 Uprising Day commemoration approaching soon, the Chinese government is even more vigilant in watching over Tibetan monasteries to avoid any kind of unrest.

“The establishment of management committees in these monasteries is aimed at closely monitoring the monks, and we have also seen political reeducation campaigns recently stepped up in the monasteries,” Gyal said.

“This is the Chinese Communist Party’s strategy for consolidating their power and ‘Sinicizing’ Tibetan Buddhism.”

Wang Junzheng’s recent visit to Tibetan monasteries signals further restrictions ahead of the March 10 anniversary, agreed Tenzin Tsetan, a researcher at the Dharamsala, India-based Tibet Policy Institute.

“It is also meant to help construct a politically stable atmosphere in the region as China’s 20^th Party Congress kicks off in the second half of 2022,” Tsetan said.

Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago, and Tibetans living in Tibet frequently complain of discrimination and human rights abuses by Chinese authorities and policies they say are aimed at eradicating their national and cultural identity.

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

Taiwan on Friday welcomed the passage of a foreign policy report through the European Parliament hitting out at China’s military “saber-rattling” near the democratic island and its support for the will of its 23 million citizens.

“Taiwan and the EU are friendly partners who share universal values such as democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law,” Taiwanese foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou told reporters in Taipei.

“As a responsible member of the Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan will actively cooperate with the EU, member states and partners with similar ideas in the region to safeguard the Taiwan Strait and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” she said.

The EU policy document strongly advocates for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations, something that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has opposed for years, as well as a bilateral investment agreement.

“[This parliament] notes with serious concern the recent display of force and escalating tensions in regional hotspots such as the South and East China Seas and the Taiwan Strait,” the report said.

“[It] expresses grave concern over China’s continued military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait, including those aimed at Taiwan or taking place in Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone [and] calls on the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to stop this military saber-rattling which poses serious threats to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” it said.

“Any change to cross-strait relations must not be made against the will of Taiwan’s citizens,” it said.

The report was passed by a strong majority the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday, and came after the body passed a total of 13 resolutions in 2021 containing language supportive of Taiwan, which has never been ruled by the CCP, nor formed part of the People’s Republic of China.

“The content of the two resolutions underscores the European Parliament’s deep concern and alarm over China’s increasingly assertive and coercive actions …  and its emphasis on Taiwan’s key position in global geopolitics and economic and trade supply chains,” Ou told reporters.

Reactions to policy

Li Ta-chung, an associate professor at the Institute of Strategy at Tamkang University, said the parliament only makes recommendations for member states’ foreign policy, and whether the policies are implemented will depend on member states’ individual governments.

China hit out at the policy in a statement on the website of its mission to the EU.

“The … reports adopted by the European Parliament make irresponsible comments on China’s internal affairs, attack and discredit China’s human rights situation, and deny China’s legitimate right to safeguard its sovereignty and security,” the statement said.

“We express our strong disapproval of and firm opposition to them.”

The policy reports also took aim at the CCP’s rights violations in Hong Kong and called on the EU Council to adopt targeted sanctions including travel bans and asset freezes, as well as on member states to suspend any extradition treaties with Hong Kong and China, sparking an angry response from the city’s government.

“The [Hong Kong] government strongly objects to the unfounded remarks about Hong Kong in the report on the implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy for 2021 adopted by the European Parliament,” it said in a statement on Friday. “Such repeated attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of our country … are futile and disgusting.”

“[We] will continue to firmly oppose and guard against foreign forces interfering in the internal affairs of Hong Kong,” it said.

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

After the Feb. 1, 2021 Myanmar coup that deposed the democratically elected government, Buddhist monk Shin Sarita took part in anti-junta protests. But when people across the country began joining People’s Defense Force militias, he decided to leave the monkhood after 14 years and join a PDF unit.

Along with a new life, the former monk has adopted a new name – Phoenix. He said being in the militia has been very challenging after having lived most of his life as a monk, but that he believes the resistance will prevail.

Photos by Kaung Zaw Hein, Myanmar Pressphoto Agency