Day: May 9, 2022

Myanmar’s four most powerful ethnic armed groups have rejected an olive branch from the junta, saying there can be no peace talks until the military regime allows the country’s shadow government and the paramilitary group that fights on its behalf to take a seat at the table.

On April 22, junta chief, Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, called for negotiations that he promised to personally attend and gave the ethnic armies until Monday to accept the offer. But the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), the Karen National Union (KNU), the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and the Chin National Front (CNF) all rejected the invitation. They said that by not offering all stakeholders the chance to participate, the junta showed it is unwilling to meet halfway.

“We recognize that political issues need to be addressed through a political dialogue,” KIA information officer, Col. Naw Bu, told RFA’s Myanmar Service, when asked about the decision not to register for the talks.

“We are not attending the meeting this time because it’s clear to us that we will not be able to reach a point at which we can discuss real political issues.”

The four ethnic armies are Myanmar’s largest, most experienced and best equipped, and together have accounted for some of the strongest resistance to military rule.

KNU spokesman Padoh Saw Tawney said that in addition to refusing to allow the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and the prodemocracy People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary group to attend talks, the junta had failed to honor commitments it had made to his and other ethnic armies, such as reducing its troop presence in their territories in the country’s remote border regions.

“If the talks are not held in an inclusive environment, the consequences will be indescribable for the country,” he said.

The junta has rejected requests from ethnic leaders and the international community to let the NUG and PDF participate in the talks. Min Aung Hlaing has repeatedly said that the junta will not talk with “terrorists,” and vowed to continue to crack down on the groups.

Padoh Saw Tawney said that if the military has good intentions, it should “leave politics” so that the rest of Myanmar’s stakeholders can form a federal democracy and begin the process of rebuilding the country.

“We cannot go without these preconditions,” he said.

Other ethnic leaders, such as KNPP First Secretary Khu Daniel, told RFA that peace talks without the NUG and PDF would be “meaningless,” and suggested that the junta peace offer was part of a bid to create a schism within the armed opposition.

“The NUG formed political alliances with our ethnic groups,” he said. “The junta intends to separate them from these groups. But without them, there will be no solution to this problem.”

Khu Daniel acknowledged that some ethnic armies had agreed to join in negotiations but noted that they have smaller forces and hadn’t made much headway in fighting against the military.

“Our groups, which are really fighting, are not attending. So, nothing will come out of it,” he said.

Armies that accepted

In addition to the KIA, KNU, KNPP, and CNF, the other ethnic armies to reject the invitation were the All Burma Students Democratic Front and the Lahu Democratic Union — two of the 10 groups that have signed a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the government since 2015.

The United Wa State Party, the Shan State Progressive Party, and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) have said they will attend the peace talks. So have the Arakan State Liberation Party, the Shan State Rehabilitation Council, the Karen National Peace Council, the Democratic Karen Army, the New Mon State Party, and the Pa-O National Liberation Organization — all of which are members of the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) of NCA signatories.

The 10 groups that signed the NCA have suggested that the deal remains in place, despite an already flailing peace process that was all but destroyed by the unpopular junta’s Feb. 1, 2021, coup. Previously, all 10 said they would not pursue talks with the military, which they view as having stolen power from the country’s democratically elected government.

PPST spokesman, Col. Saw Kyaw Nyunt, said his group decided to accept the junta invitation with the hope that it would lead to broader negotiations.

“It’s a start with the aim of finding a way to have inclusive talks,” he said. “We’ll try to determine how to create such an inclusive political environment, even though we have not yet held a political dialogue to build a federal democratic union.”

The three northern alliances — the Kokang National Democratic Alliance, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army — have said they are still negotiating among themselves over Min Aung Hlaing’s offer.

Speaking to RFA at the end of last week, junta deputy information minister, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told RFA that “most” of the ethnic armed groups had accepted the invitation.

On Monday, he said that “a total of nine groups” had confirmed they would attend talks — NCA signatories Democratic Karen Army, Karen National Peace Council, Pa-O National Liberation Organization, New Mon State Party, Arakan State Liberation Party, and Shan State Rehabilitation Council; and non-signatories United Wa State Party, Shan State Progressive Party, and National Democratic Alliance Army.

“Some groups have issued statements saying they will not attend, and we are waiting for others to make their decision,” he said.

Zaw Min Tun said the junta is committed to pushing the peace process forward, adding that it is willing to “openly discuss the establishment of a union based on democracy and federalism.”

‘Effort to buy time’

Naing Htoo Aung, permanent secretary of the NUG’s Defense Ministry, said that 15 months after seizing power, the junta has led Myanmar to ruin, and its rule is in jeopardy. 

“The junta is not doing well militarily, politically, or economically … so, I think they are making a fake peace invitation as an effort to buy time,” he said.

“Unity among the revolutionary forces right now is unprecedented. That’s why [the military] hopes to create misunderstanding between them.”

Political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe called the peace talks a “failure” because the four strongest armed groups declined the junta’s invitation to attend.

“The main reason they did not take the offer was not that because they don’t want to hold talks. What they want is a dialogue that leads to real peace,” he said.

“They are not attending because they don’t believe it is an invitation with a genuine desire for peace. The trust has been shattered.”

The military has made 12 invitations to the country’s armed ethnic groups since the February 2021 coup, but the April offering marked the first time Min Aung Hlaing said he would attend.

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

Local officials in North Korea are forcing office workers into the fields to help water plants due to a shortage of working water pumps, as the government struggles to combat a widespread drought, sources in the country told RFA.

North Korea frequently drafts ordinary citizens whenever it needs manpower for public projects, a practice that has drawn complaints from a population struggling to make ends meet. Forced labor is often used for construction, road maintenance and agriculture. But sources told RFA that mobilizing people to do the work of water pumps was essentially meaningless.

An agricultural source from the city of Chongju in the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA’s Korean Service that city and county irrigation management office managers across the country were told by the Central Committee in Pyongyang to what they had to do to prevent crop damage.

“The Provincial Rural Economic Management Committee gathered the irrigation management office managers from each city and county, and the officials in charge of overall supervision and management of agricultural technology,” said the source, who requested anonymity out of security concerns.

“The authorities emphasized the supply of agricultural water to the irrigation management officials because there was so little snow in the winter and no rain during the spring, and this could cause great damage to crops already planted,” said the source.

But the efforts to mitigate the worst effects of the dry weather have been complicated by a shortage of working water pumps in the country, in part due to the suspension of trade with China in January 2020 due to the pandemic. Rail freight finally resumed almost two years later, but a resurgence of the pandemic in China led officials to close the border again this month.

“Currently, most of the water pumps and electric motors from each working group under the Chongju Irrigation Management Office are broken … and the parts for the machines are not available on the market because the border has been closed due to COVID-19,” the source said.

“The irrigation management officials are pursuing a plan to smuggle used water pumps and electric motors from China in order to carry out the Central Committee’s order,” the source said.

Pumps typically cost between U.S. $800 and $1,000, although used ones can be bought for about half that price, the source said.

Authorities in some areas are trying to solve their pump problems by forcing people to manually water the planted crops, a source in South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

“Officials and clerks, not only from the agricultural sector, but also from organizations in the province and neighboring Pyongyang, and workers from state-owned enterprises are being mobilized,” the South Pyongan source said.

“Nationwide, the temperature in April was more than 2 degrees Celsius higher than usual, and precipitation was less than half of most years, and hot and dry weather is expected to continue in May. In the case of Chungsan county in our province, workers from various central organizations, such as the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Commerce, the Maritime Administration Bureau, and the Literature and Arts Publishing House, provided support for three days in a row,” the South Pyongan source said.

But regardless of how many able bodies are on hand to render assistance, they desperately need water pumps to properly irrigate the crops, the South Pyongan source said.

“The state is unable to provide this, so it recklessly mobilizes large numbers of people,” the South Pyongan source said.

A source in North Pyongan’s Ryongchon county told RFA that the authorities are rushing to save the crops that have already been damaged before the water-intensive rice-planting season.

“The irrigation management office under the Farm Management Committee of Ryongchon county used to operate six water pumps to supply water to every cooperative farm. Due to the frequent power outages last year, only three water pumps are currently in operation following motor failure,” this source said.

“The three water pumps are currently concentrated in wheat fields that are severely damaged by drought, so there are no water pumps to supply water to the rice paddies where rice planting will be carried out. Coil wires and insulation materials are essential to repair the broken water pumps, but there is no support at all from the government,” he said.

Another agricultural source, in the northeastern province of South Hamgyong, reported to RFA that office workers there were also mobilized to water the crops, some of them forced to carry water on their backs.

“I am more concerned about rice planting. There is a lot of work to do, such as bed management, watering the rice fields, and harrowing. You can’t just make the farmers water wheat and barley fields,” the source said.

“If the rice seedlings that have just been sown don’t have enough moisture, they will not germinate properly. Also, without enough water, the wheat and barley yields may drop,” the source said.

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

Laos’ central bank is blaming the depreciation of the country’s kip currency on money exchange businesses colluding to manipulate the market, but a lack of foreign reserves and an import-export imbalance appear to be the true causes, sources in the country told RFA.

According to Asia News Network, the kip depreciated by six percent against the U.S. dollar between Jan. 4 and April 8. At the same time, prices for imported household goods rose by 15-50 percent between April and January, the Vientiane Times reported.

A report from the Bank of Laos (BOL) acknowledged the decline, saying that from February this year, the kip entered a period in which it set records for decreases in valuation relative to the U.S. dollar and the Thai baht.

The central bank claimed that the currency was depreciating as a direct result of manipulation by illegal currency conversion shops, but sources who operate those businesses deny that they are to blame.

“We exchange money based on a free-market mechanism and the banks cannot control anything. … The depreciation of the Lao kip is because imports exceed exports. We import more and more,” a money changer and gold seller in the central province of Borikhamxay told RFA’s Lao Service.

“For example, there are many businesspeople who import all kinds of products ranging from fertilizer, seafood and snacks from Thailand and they need a large amount of baht or U.S. dollars to do this. They cannot get foreign currency at the banks, even though the banks set the exchange rate very low. They have to use our service to get foreign currency to continue their businesses,” the moneychanger said on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Because the moneychangers must buy foreign currency at a high rate, they must also sell it for an even higher rate to remain in business, the moneychanger said.

The economic police from the Ministry of Public Security and officials from the BOL last month raided illegal money exchange shops as part of a broad crackdown, state media reported.

The intent was to stop the kip’s depreciation against the baht and the dollar. It would have worked if there was actual collusion between the moneychangers, rather than the simple result of supply and demand, the Borikhamxay moneychanger said.

Under normal circumstances, business owners would rather deal with the banks, but the banks have few reserves, forcing the owners to go to moneychangers, both legal and illegal.

“We cannot exchange our kip for baht or dollars at any bank. Even if we could, they would limit the amount of money we can have, and this wouldn’t meet our needs,” the moneychanger said.

Another moneychanger told RFA that depreciation feeds on itself. Fewer people want the kip as it falls further in value.

“Many people do not want to hold the kip and it is losing value very fast. Thus, many people are scrambling to get foreign currency in their pockets and wallets,” the second moneychanger said.

A finances and cross-border trade expert in the southern province of Savannakhet, who asked not to be identified, said the fact that Laos imports from Thailand more than it exports has had a destabilizing effect on the kip.

In 2021, Laos recorded a trade surplus of about $1 billion according to the Chinese news outlet Xinhua, but this included a trade deficit of $813 million with Thailand, data from the Lao Trade Portal showed.

The most recent data from trade portal, from March, indicated a $100 million surplus, but with a $162 million deficit with Thailand.

Banks withholding Thai baht forces prices higher and higher.

“Even when people try to withdraw baht from their baht-denominated accounts, they can only get out 200,000 baht, or $6,000 per each account per day. For the big enterprise owners and business people, this policy makes everything difficult. The only thing they can do is to go to the exchange shops and accept their high exchange rates,” the observer said.

Another observer told RFA that a crackdown on illegal moneychangers would do little to stabilize the kip.

“It would be far better to promote the exports to be stronger, and finally the kip will become strong itself under the free market,” he said.

He said Laos’ lack of foreign currency reserves were the main reason why the kip is weak against its trading partners’ currencies.

“Countries like China and Thailand have a much larger amount of foreign exchange reserves that would last several months. If the BOL wants to solve the problem of the depreciation of the kip, it would be better to let the exchange rate be based the free market, … or try to increase the foreign exchange reserves or get more foreign currency to meet the market needs, which is very challenging,” he said.

A BOL official agreed that most banks do not have enough foreign currency to sell to consumers, although there are some that could sell foreign currency on a limited basis.

“Anyone who wishes to exchange kip for foreign currencies has to be a legal entity, for example, a company, enterprise, or organization declaring to make payment in foreign currencies to companies overseas. The exchange will also have limitation and not everyone will get the amount he or she wants,” the official told RFA, on condition of anonymity for privacy reasons.

According to the the Banque pour le Commerce Exterieur Lao Public, the official exchange rate for the kip was 12,666 kip per dollar on May 6. A Vientiane moneychanger told RFA that the free market rate on the same day was 14,050 kip per dollar.

Translated by RFA’s Lao Service. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen met with the detained former leader of a dissolved opposition party on Sunday, weeks before local elections are to be held in the Southeast Asian nation.

Few details were released about what the two men discussed, but one Cambodian political analyst said that the meeting was unlikely to lead to any significant changes in the political climate of the country, where opposition candidates continue to face harassment.

Kem Sokha, who led the now-banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), faces up to 30 years in jail on treason charges over an alleged plot purportedly backed by the United States to overthrow Hun Sen and his government. Kem Sokha and the prime minister met in Kampong Cham province during the funeral of Hun Neng, Hun Sen’s 72-year-old brother, who died on May 5.

For about four hours, the two discussed national policy issues, including measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the status of the vaccination campaign and post-crisis economic recovery, Muth Chantha, a close aide to Kem Sokha, told news website Cambodianess.

It was not disclosed whether Kem Sokha, whose trial resumed in January after two years of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, asked Hun Sen to help resolve his case.

“Today, I and my colleagues went to pay homage to the soul of Samdach Oudom Tepnhan [honorific] Hun Neng at his home in Kampong Cham. On that occasion, I and Samdach Techo Hun Sen, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, discussed many issues, especially the country’s issues. And the Khmer people too,” Kem Sokha said on his Facebook page on Sunday.

The funeral meeting comes days before Hun Sen begins a rare visit to Washington for a summit hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden for leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The U.S. has been critical of the rapid shift to authoritarian rule in Cambodia that began with the arrest of Sokha in September 2017 and the banning of the CNRP two months later.

Exiled political analyst Kim Sok said while the meeting was unexpected, he does not believe that it will lead to Hun Sen allowing Kem Sokha to participate in local commune elections on June 5.

“It may be just a slight relaxation, for example, to allow Kem Sokha to meet his supporters without such restrictions,” he told RFA. “But will there be a political solution to release Kem Sokha so he can lead the CNRP again or launch a new party to engage in politics to his full potential?

“This is not the time for Hun Sen to be thinking that he should give in to Kem Sokha, or else he should wait until he [Sokha] is no longer a rival to him and his son,” Kim Sok said, referring to Lt. Gen. Hun Manet, an army commander expected eventually to succeed his long-ruling father.

Since being charged with treason, Kem Sokha has met with Hun Sen one other time. The two talked for almost an hour at Hun Sen’s residence on May 5, 2020, when Sokha paid his respects to the prime minister’s deceased mother-in-law.

Harassment of Candlelight Party activists

Sunday’s meeting came two days after the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the Cambodian government to stop persecuting political opponents ahead of the local elections next month and a national election in 2023.

But there is no indication that the two are related, and Thach Setha, vice president of the Candlelight Party, a small opposition party that has itself been gaining support, told RFA on Monday that officials from Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) continue to harass candidates and activists from his party.

Khem Monikosal, president of the Candlelight Party in Pailin province, was called by a local prosecutor to appear in court for second time on May 11 to face incitement and discrimination charges in connection with a Facebook post criticizing government health care workers for not performing their duties in a COVID-19 quarantine center in 2021.

Khem Monikosal, a former health officer, told RFA that the summons was meant to intimidate him after authorities fired him from his post in 2021.

“We are busy with political activities, organizing work, but the court summoned me twice, causing a lot of trouble,” he said. “This is an oppression of political party activists, and especially of me because I represent the Candlelight Party in Pailin.”

Chea Sa, deputy prosecutor of the Pailin Provincial Court, told RFA that he could not comment on the matter.

The Koh Kong Provincial Court meanwhile issued a summons for Pal Kep, a Candlelight Party member running to be Stung Veng commune chief, in response to a complaint filed by CPP lawyers. The complaint accuses Pal Kep of forgery, falsifying public documents to endanger national security, public defamation and illegal election campaign activity.

Pal Kep said he applied for an adjournment with the provincial court on Monday. He said the summons is an effort to intimidate him.

“The accusation against me is very cruel, but I will use my legal rights to protect me and to confront this,” he said.

Wai Phirum, deputy governor of the Koh Kong Provincial Court, denied that the case was politically motivated, in an interview with RFA.

RFA could not reach the CCP’s Koh Kong lawyers for comment.

Ny Sokha, president of the rights group Adhoc, said that the cases against the Candlelight Party members was meant as a political threat.

“We think that in order to create a pre-election atmosphere in which political parties can compete in a free and fearless [arena], the court system should not be used to charge or detain or intimidate for political motivation purposes,” he said.

Translated by Sum Sok Ry for RFA’s Khmer Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Qedriye Ghopur, a young Uyghur fashion designer who lives in Norway, is trying to spread Uyghur culture through a fashion brand called Føniks (Phoenix) that features etles-style clothing and jewelry. Etles, a Central Asian fabric and design that is known in English as ikat, became popular globally about a decade ago, but not without criticism of cultural appropriation. Traditionally made by Uyghurs, Uzbeks and Tajiks, the silk fabric is used in both women’s and men’s clothing. More recently, its various patterns have been applied to soft furnishings and accessories.

RFA previously interviewed Ghopur in her capacity as an activist sharing the story of her mother, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison after spending nearly two years in an internment camp in northwestern’s China’s Xinjiang region. This time, she spoke with reporter Gulchehra Hoja from RFA’s Uyghur Service in her role as a designer who is introducing Uyghur patterns to the world of fashion. The interview has been edited for length.

RFA: When did you first become interested in fashion design?

Ghopur: I first began thinking about going abroad to study fashion design when I was 15 or 16 years old. I was born in Toksu [in Chinese, Xinhe] county, Aksu [Akesu] prefecture. I graduated from high school when I was 19 and began studies in oil painting at the Xinjiang Arts Institute. When I was studying at the Arts Institute, though, I never quite felt complete. Although oils were a part of my life, and part of my studies, they weren’t everything to me. But fabrics brought me a whole other kind of thrill.

RFA: Do you sense that your educational background has provided you with a different kind of inspiration in your field than other people might have?

Ghopur: I do sense that. For example, people in Europe use a lot of pale and muted colors. They don’t really like color, or particularly bright colors. But if you look at Uyghur etles, for example, there are a minimum of seven or eight colors in etles designs, and the colors are matched to one another very well. I’ve sensed that Uyghurs have a relatively high-level color sensibility compared to that of people from other cultural backgrounds.

RFA: What do you feel when you look at etles?

Ghopur: Etles gives me hope. When I look at it, when I wear it or dress other people in it, I remember the homeland [where] I would go to the fabric markets whenever I was sad. I would get so much enjoyment from just holding and touching the fabrics, and looking at the styles, colors and designs.

RFA: Tell us about your fashion label.

Ghopur: I’ve already done all the formal paperwork to apply for a patent in Norway. The label is called Føniks, or Phoenix. In the Uyghur language it refers to the enqa, the mythical bird. The enqa is a bird of legend. It has a long life. When it is time to die, the enqa flies close to the sun and sets itself on fire, after which it is reborn. The bird represents hope and rising from the ashes, which is the kind of spirit I want to have in my own life and work. I’ve gone through difficulties, and I’ve fallen down, but I’ve gotten myself back up and am continuing to walk forward. This is also my mother’s dream for me. My mother gave her life for me, so I want to make her dreams a reality. My dreams are my mother’s.

RFA: Are your designs using etles an expression of longing for the Uyghur homeland?

Ghopur: We can say that, yes. When I first began studying in this field, I primarily learned about European and Turkish culture and fashion. I was exposed to many European ideas about color. I began my studies in fashion design at a school in Turkey, a rather well-known school. In the process of my studies, I learned fashion design as well as collection preparation, which is separate from design. In collection preparation, I learned things like how to put clothing on models, how to create the environment for an entire collection, and so forth. In addition to this, I also studied color theory and styling. In three or four years I finished my studies at the school, having earned a number of certificates, and I later came to Norway.

RFA: As a Uyghur artist, have the difficulties and suffering you have faced inspired your designs?

Ghopur: It’s only natural that they have influenced me. Initially, I had no plans to work with etles. I had no plans to design, make or sell any such clothing. I started to become political after I began advocating for my mother’s cause. I went on different programs and gave interviews to media outlets. I did everything I could to advocate for my mother, but it wasn’t enough, so I asked myself what else I could do. I’d already made something of a name for myself in fashion design, so I decided that I could do activism through my work in this field. The real reason behind my use of etles has to do with the Uyghur cause. I’m currently planning to put together a collection with a minimum of 50 designs using etles, which I want to show in Norway. In the event that I’m ultimately unable to do this, I might do a photography exhibit instead. I want to use our fabrics and sense of color to show people that Uyghurs are not just people who escaped from China — instead, we’re a people with a developed and beautiful culture. I would be delighted to make even a small impact in this way.

RFA: Etles has become more popular in recent years. The Chinese government is now using etles in clothing design, not a representation of Uyghur fashion and culture, but instead promoting it as a component of Chinese culture. Some famous American and European brands have paid for the rights to use etles designs of some Uzbek brands. Are you feeling any competition as a result?

Ghopur: Naturally, I do feel some competition, because I only recently began this work. Uzbek designers and brands have a much longer history working with etles than I do. But when they use etles, they call it “Uzbek etles.” I call mine “Uyghur etles.” They use Uzbek etles, but I’m using genuine Uyghur etles. Etles was born in our homeland, specifically in Hotan [Hetian], and later spread along the Silk Road. Etles gives me great spiritual nourishment, encouragement, and strength.

Not many people know much about fashion design. It’s now 2022. What’s going to be popular in 2023? What colors should we put on the market? What styles are going to sell? We have to think about politics, economics, current lifestyles, global development. Fashion design is at once art, economics, politics, and life. It’s not just about popular brands and styles. I want to make my brand known first in Norway, then in Europe, and eventually around the globe. God willing, that’s my plan.

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

Cultural authorities in Hanoi have shelved an exhibition commemorating the watershed 1954 Vietnamese Communist military victory over France at Dien Bien Phu because a painting of a scrawny soldier with a ragged flag was deemed offensive.

“The reason for the suspension is that there were a number of opinions that the main painting of the Dien Bien Phu Exhibition had such a tattered national flag and a soldier that was not handsome and not anatomically correct,” Nguyen Do Bao of the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism was quoted by state media as saying.

The exhibition by painter Mai Duy Minh was suspended before it was slated to open on May 7, the 68th anniversary of the fall of the French fortress in northwestern Vietnam that marked the end of 70 years of colonial rule by France. Forces of the Viet Minh led by Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap routed the French, killing nearly 2,300 soldiers in action and capturing 11,000 troops in a bloody 57-day battle.

Artist Minh’s depiction of a gap-toothed Vietnamese soldier with a twisted torso holding a frayed Communist flag angered some readers commenting on the Facebook page of RFA’s Vietnamese Service.

The artist “should break his paintbrush and throw his pen in the trash bin,” wrote Nhung Nguyễn, who said his country’s revolutionary troops must be shown with “bravery, majesty and a victorious glow in their eyes.”

Some readers used the flap as an opportunity to take an ironic jab at the censorship-minded Commuist Party.

The soldiers who prevailed at Dien Bien Phu “must be in beautiful uniforms like the British ones guarding Buckingham Palace,” wrote Charlie Nguyen.

Minh’s painting of a scrawny fighter with broken teeth makes him look like a “poor peasant or a robber,” he added, saying the flag should be “repainted straightened.”

One reader, Jenna Hoang, accused the critics of favoring a “fabricated” image of “superheroes” and ignoring the realities of wartime life in Vietnam.

“Poverty during that time in the North defines the [soldier’s] skeleton, forehead and mouth,” she wrote.