Day: May 5, 2022

Authorities in Myanmar have arrested more than 200 people for incitement and terrorism since late January in connection with posts they made to social media in support of opposition groups the junta has labeled terrorist organizations, according to official statements.

On Jan. 25, the junta announced that anyone posting content in support of the shadow National Unity Government (NUG), Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP), or prodemocracy People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitaries — intentionally or not — would face lengthy prison terms as well as the loss of their homes and other property.

In a statement on Thursday, the junta said that it had arrested 229 users for violating the country’s Anti-Terrorism Law and a section of the Electronic Communications Law that prohibits distribution of anti-junta propaganda online since authorities began to monitor Facebook for such posts on Jan. 27.

Among those arrested was well-known comedian Kaung Kyaw, who was taken into custody on April 19 from his home in Yangon’s Thaketa township.

A source close to Kaung Kyaw, who spoke to RFA’s Myanmar Service on condition of anonymity, questioned why he was arrested.

“Kaung Kyaw just wrote some posts on Facebook, nothing like they accused him of,” he said.

Kay Jay, a close relative to residents of Sagaing region’s Shwebo township who were arrested in the crackdown, told RFA authorities had no right to target people for using social media.

“People were arrested for their online activities — writing or sharing posts and political news or using the NUG logo as their profile pictures. But, when they were taken to court after interrogations, some were also charged with anti-terrorism laws,” he said.

“These people were just writing and campaigning online. As a citizen, I strongly condemn such arrests.”

Others detained in the roundup include celebrities, politicians, businesspeople and doctors from Yangon, Mandalay, Naypyidaw, Lashio, Pakokku, Kawthaung and Hpa-an. Their ages range from 17 to 64. Of the 229 people mentioned by the military, some have been released, while others remain in detention.

When asked about the arrests, junta deputy information minister, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told RFA they had been carried out “in accordance with the law.”

“The NUG, CRPH and PDF groups are committing acts of terrorism in Myanmar,” he said. “We have said previously that they are subject to punishment under the Anti-Terrorism Act. People who support them or help them financially are also in violation of the Terrorism Act.”

Stripped of rights and legal protection

An IT technician from Yangon, who declined to be named for security reasons, said conversations on social media sites are traceable and warned users against posting politically sensitive content.

“A digital footprint is always left on social media,” he said. “If an excerpt from a text you wrote on Facebook or Twitter is searched on Google, your digital footsteps can be tracked, and nothing can be done to prevent it.”

Aung Myo Min, the NUG’s human rights minister, said arrests over online content are in violation of the rights of freedom of expression and access to information.

“It is deplorable that one could be arrested and face long prison terms for writing his or her beliefs on social media. People cannot print newspapers, bulletins or journals like before, and so they rely on social media to write their ideas, and share news and information,” he said. 

“Now, [authorities] are not just repressing the media, but also punishing those who write on social media, and this is a serious violation of fundamental rights.”

In addition to arresting social media users who post content in support of the opposition, the junta is also drafting a cybersecurity law that carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison for anyone using a VPN, or virtual private network, to cloak their IP address and access restricted websites.

A lawyer told RFA on condition of anonymity that the people of Myanmar have been stripped of their rights and legal protections.

“I see this as a very worrying situation in which the rights and freedoms that a citizen deserves are truly gone,” he said. “Citizens now have zero protection under the law.”

People who spoke to RFA said that despite the threat of arrest, netizens in Myanmar are still posting their ideas and sharing information on Facebook and Twitter.

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

A Vietnamese literary critic who won an award from a group of her peers has declined to publicly accept it due to what she said were threats from authorities.

 Vietnam’s communist government has stepped up widespread crackdowns of those it considers its opponents, including independent journalists, bloggers and writers. The country was ranked 174th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2022 World Press Freedom Index.

Nguyen Thi Thinh Thy’s book “Dare to Look Back” won for the category of research-criticism at the 7th Van Viet Literature Awards. Van Viet is a forum created by authors who support free literature and the Vietnam Independent Writers’ Association (VIWA).

Van Viet published a letter from Thy, in which she declined to accept the prize.

“How much longer will we suffer?” Thy wrote. “Is there anyone on earth, throughout the ancient and modern eras, in both eastern and western literature who has had to write a letter like this? One that asks for the award organizer to PLEASE KEEP THE AWARD FOR ME?”

She wrote that she was honored to have won but could not accept the honor due to harassment from security officers. She said they told her, “You should not go and receive the award to avoid undermining public security.”

“If you want to receive the prize, there should be no award presentation ceremony, no filming, and no posts on social media so that you can avoid getting into unnecessary trouble,” she said the authorities told her.

RFA’s Vietnamese Service requested an interview with Thy but she said she had written all what she wanted to say in the letter posted on Van Viet.

It was not the first time that authorities have threatened or assaulted writers over literature awards, Hoang Dung, a member of Van Viet’s judging panel told RFA. 

“Creating pressure to force this person or that person to withdraw their article or refuse to accept an award, or even physical attacks, is nothing new,” Dung said.

Another Van Viet Literature Awards recipient, Thai Hao, was beaten by plainclothes security officers in March while he was on the way to a different award presentation ceremony held by VIWA’s Campaign Committee.

Dung said that the government efforts to ban independent literature shows the weakness within the political system. 

“Please note that Ms. Tinh Thy’s incident is among a series of government reactions to Van Viet in particular and non-mainstream literature in general. They are always afraid,” Hoang Dung said. “They see enemies everywhere.”

The Communist Party has long sought to control what gets written, but intellectuals and writers would persevere despite those efforts, he said.

“I want to let our fellow compatriots know that there are still intellectuals with a conscience who have the courage to deal with government crackdowns. And I wish one day our country would be more open in terms of ideological issues,” Hoang Dung said.

“The most important thing right now is to make people see how things really are and raise their voices and join hands toghether to make our country a better place.”

 The Vietnamese International Writers’ Association was established in 2014 by more than 60 prominent Vietnamese writers who support freedom of literature.

Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Authorities in Kashgar allegedly paid Muslim Uyghur men to dance outside the most famous mosque in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region to celebrate the end of Ramadan, a performance that was filmed and released by state media ahead of an anticipated visit by the United Nations human rights chief later this month.

Kashgar locals told RFA that people were not allowed to pray at Id Kah Mosque but instead were organized to dance on Eid al-Fitr on May 3, as shown in a YouTube video posted by China News Service (Zhongxinwang) on Tuesday. Chinese tourists can been seen observing the dancing and taking photos in the square.

A police officer from the city’s Kumdarwaza police station told RFA that prayers have not been allowed at the Id Kah Mosque since 2016. The dance was organized by residential committees, Chinese Communist Party organizations that oversee neighborhood units in cities and towns across China, he said.

“Several of our colleagues went to the square and met residential committee officials, and they told them that they had brought people to perform Sama,” the officer, who did not provide his name, said.

The Muztagh and Donghu residential committees sent about 500-600 people to perform the Sama, the officer added.

“Several weeks before the festival, the residential committees created a list with the names of those who would attend the Sama,” he said. “On one list, I saw there were four to five people I knew on one floor of our building.”

The U.S. and other countries have accused China of waging a campaign of genocide against the Uyghurs and other Turkic communities in Xinjiang through draconian policies designed to wipe away native cultures and traditions in the region, allegations the Chinese government has angrily disputed.

The filmed dance may be the country’s latest effort to show all is well ahead of the visit from U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet. Uyghur rights groups have pressed Bachelet to visit the region and release an overdue report on well-documented allegations of torture, forced labor and other severe rights abuses against the local population.

The Donghu residential committee paid 120-150 yuan (U.S. $18-23) to those who went to Kashgar to perform the dance because it would take them at least half a day, the police officer said. A typical worker in Kashgar earns about 250-300 yuan a day.

The Muztagh residential committee did not pay the Uyghurs, who comprise 90% of the residents in the community, to dance, he said.

“No one can reject the demands of the residential committees, especially in the communities where Uyghurs live,” the officer said

“I watched the video, and I guess some people missed the Sama dance because they haven’t danced it for six years,” he said. “Some people try to show themselves as being alive and happy — that’s what the residential committees want.

“Moreover, after 2017, people became worried about approaching the mosque,” he added. “There is no such thing as running to Sama now. That’s why they paid them.”

‘Forced to attend’

In 2017, Chinese officials ratcheted up a crackdown on Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities, detaining hundreds of thousands in a network of government-run detention camps that China says are vocational training centers meant to prevent religious extremism and terrorism.

Zumrat Dawut, a former Uyghur internment camp detainee who has said she was forcibly sterilized by government officials, said that if residential committee members sent notices to people via phone to appear at a particular place, they had to go to the site within 20 minutes.

“There is sometimes a payment for those who participate in organized activities when investigators arrive,” said Dawut, who now lives in the U.S. “For example, when my father went to the mosque, he was paid 100 yuan for a day’s stay in the mosque.”

Mamattohti Emin, a Uyghur who lives overseas, said he learned from acquaintances in Xinjiang that some of the Uyghurs who performed the Sama were paid by residential committees.

“Some of them were family members of Uyghurs in captivity,” he said. “They were forced to attend and warned that otherwise they would no longer be able to see their relatives onscreen.”

Ilshat Hassan Kokbore, a Uyghur political observer who lives in the U.S., posted a video clip of mostly men dancing in the square outside the historic mosque. A few women who appear to be Chinese tourists also are dancing.

“Carefully observe a group of young people in uniform French style in front of the camera, not only do they not know how to dance Sama, but they also look around, obviously they are arranged actors!” Kokbore tweeted in Chinese.

“The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has not yet set foot on the land of East Turkestan, the performance of ‘Made in China’ has begun!” the tweet says.

“If the High Commissioner for Human Rights can finally make the trip, they will see a group of Uyghurs dancing with the wind, with tears of happiness, drinking the northwest wind, singing praises, and thanking the party-state!” Kokbore tweeted.

In May 2021, the Xinjiang regional government invited foreign diplomats from more than 15 countries to observe live-streamed Eid al-Fitr festivities at several mosques in Xinjiang, including the Id Kah Mosque, the state-run Global Times reported.

“This is the first time that the Xinjiang regional government held such a reception for Eid al-Fitr and invited foreign diplomats to observe — a move, officials and observers said, that showed the region’s sincerity and openness amid outside slander, as Xinjiang has nothing to hide,” the report said.

Translated by Mamatjan Juma for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Chinese authorities have released Tibetan political prisoner Norzin Wangmo, who was arrested in 2020 and sentenced to three years in prison for sharing information about Tibetans who self-immolated in protest of China’s repressive policies, a Tibetan living in exile told RFA on Thursday.

“Norzin Wangmo was unexpectedly released on May 2 from a prison in Kyegudo, where she was serving a three-year term,” said the Tibetan, who declined to be identified for safety reasons. “Because of severe torture and ill treatment in prison, she can barely stand up on her feet.

“She is currently being treated at her home because she is not allowed to visit hospitals for treatment,” said the source. “She is still closely monitored by the Chinese government.”

Wangmo from Kham Kyegudo in Yushul (in Chinese, Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai province was accused of sharing information about Tenzin Sherab who self-immolated in the prefecture’s Chumarleb, (Qumalai) county in May 2013.

The woman, who is married and has young three children, was sentenced in May 2020 after a secret trial. Her family was not allowed to visit her while she was in prison despite frequent requests to do so.

Due to strict restrictions and harsh policies in Tibet imposed by Chinese government, Wangmo’s case did not reach the Tibetan exile community until 20 months after her arrest.

“Before her arrest, she had been interrogated for about 20 hours by local police,” said another Tibetan who lives in exile and has knowledge of the matter.

“Her hands and feet were both shackled, and her family was allowed to see her only for a few minutes before she was taken into the prison,” the source said. “The clothes and other goods that her family brought for her were also returned.”

Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Workers in North Korea ridiculed their government’s May Day propaganda which touted the superiority of socialism at a time when most of the people are struggling to put enough food on the table, sources in the country told RFA.

May Day, or International Workers’ Day, is an annual celebration of the fight for labor rights and an important holiday in communist countries. The North Korean government held special lectures for factory workers ahead of the holiday, where they emphasized the evils of capitalism to show why North Korean socialism is better.

At one such lecture at the Chongjin Steel Factory in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong, workers were not buying the party official’s argument.

“They gathered workers into conference rooms, pointing out the problems of capitalism for a whole hour, and then rambled on and on about socialism and how it is superior,” a source working in the factory told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

“The workers scoffed at the message, saying that nothing could be further from the truth,” he said.

They even openly objected while the lecturer was speaking.

“When he said that all the workers under the socialist system live happily and receive many benefits from their government, the workers cried out, ‘How can he tell such a lie with a straight face, knowing all the hardships we are facing right now?’” the worker said.

“This kind of propaganda that reinforces the superiority of socialism is offending the workers, and we can remain silent no more,” he said.

In the northern province of Ryanggang, the subject of the lecture was how workers’ independence has been trampled in capitalist countries and they are not treated like people, a worker at a factory there told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

“Most of the workers are well aware that the lecture was unrealistic,” he said.

“These days, we all know about how the capitalist countries are the richest, and we know about the rights that workers have from foreign and South Korean movies and TV shows, and from overseas radio broadcasts,” the second source said.

The workers therefore ignored the lecture completely.

“The reality is that no matter how much the speaker stresses that workers are exploited, pressured, subjugated and repressed under the capitalist system, his words are not being heard,” the second source said.

“In the past, during these kinds of lectures, there would be many who actually agree, but these days we just don’t respond to these empty words that declare this as the ideal society in which our independent rights are guaranteed and we are all equal under the socialist system.

“Most workers feel like they are at a dead end in terms of their livelihoods, and they express their dissatisfaction by agreeing just for appearances sake.”

Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Days after Taiwan confirmed its plan to acquire American-made howitzers has been delayed because of the war in Ukraine, the island’s military is facing another snag in acquiring the U.S. defense equipment – this time because of cost.

Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told a legislative session on Thursday that the asking price for the procurement of anti-submarine helicopters from the United States was “too high and beyond our capability,” local media reported.

The Taiwanese Navy originally set aside a budget of U.S. $1.15 billion to purchase 12 MH-60R Seahawk anti-submarine warfare helicopters made by the aerospace giant Lockheed Martin but the choppers’ price is understood to have increased.

Chiu did not indicate how much more expensive it became but a U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s statement on March 15 said Spain had been cleared to purchase eight MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, plus support and related equipment, for an estimated U.S. $950 million. That means 12 choppers would come with a price tag of at least U.S. $1.425 billion.

Lockheed Martin said the MH-60R is “the most capable naval helicopter available today designed to operate from frigates, destroyers, cruisers and aircraft carriers.” There are currently more than 300 units in operation worldwide.

Missiles delivery’s possible delay

On Monday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry confirmed that the first batch of U.S.-made M109A6 “Paladin” self-propelled howitzers will not be delivered in 2023 as planned as the production capacity of the U.S. arms industry has been affected by the ongoing Ukrainian war.

Taiwan reached a deal last August to buy 40 M109A6 howitzers and related equipment at an estimated cost of U.S. $750 million.

On Tuesday, the ministry said another procurement contract of U.S.- made portable Stinger missile launchers may also be delayed.

Taiwan ordered 250 Stingers, made by Raytheon Technologies, with deliveries to be completed by the end of March 2026 but since Stingers and other hand-held missile systems are now in demand by the Ukrainian military, the completion date seems unlikely.

Although Washington and Taipei do not have formal diplomatic ties, the U.S. is committed by law to help provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Those arms sales have long been an irritant in relations between Washington and Beijing which regards the island as part of China, although Taiwan governs itself.

This week, Taiwan said that Chinese Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft have been put back on maritime patrol near island after one airplane reportedly crashed two months ago in the South China Sea.

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said in a statement that on Tuesday, a Y-8 entered Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ). An ADIZ is an area where foreign aircraft are tracked and identified before further entering into a country’s airspace.

In March, the island’s intelligence agency said a Y-8 military aircraft crashed in the Gulf of Tonkin, prompting the People’s Liberation Army to set up a navigation exclusion zone in the adjacent waters to carry out search-and-rescue, and also military training.

The alleged crash has not been confirmed by China.