Day: June 29, 2022

Taiwanese NGO worker Lee Ming-Cheh was released from Chishan Prison in the central Chinese province of Hunan on April 15 after serving nearly five years for “attempting to subvert state power.”  Lee, a course director at Taiwan’s Wenshan Community College, was a lifelong activist for Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which Beijing vilifies as a separatist group that rejects China’s claim over the democratic island. Among the accusations he faced at Hunan’s Yueyang Intermediate People’s Court was that he set up social media chat groups to “vilify China.”  Lee has been invited to Washington, D.C. to testify before the U.S. Congress and other institutions about human rights conditions in Chinese prisons, the role of international pressure in helping him get slightly better treatment while in jail, and Beijing’s expansion of repressive tactics to Taiwan and around the world. He was unable to enter the U.S., however, because the Chinese-made COVID vaccines that he received while he was in prison are not recognized and approved by the World Health Organization and therefore do not meet Centers for Disease Control regulation for entry. He spoke to Hsia Hsiao-hwa and Paul Tuan of RFA Mandarin about his prison experience, which he describes as “field research” into China’s human rights situation. Lee stressed to RFA that constant activism on his behalf by his wife, American and Taiwanese supporters and U.S. and European Union government entities helped him during his incarceration.

On his trial:

“Since Xi Jinping took office, mine was the only ‘subversion of state power’ case that was tried in public. There is an upside of an open trial. The prosecutor must lay out the evidence clearly. They cannot smear me as a spy, nor can they claim that I went to China for prostitution. None of the incriminating evidence that China has presented in court was about what I actually did in China. The public trial turned out to be a display of evidence that China has violated freedom of speech globally. China provided self-incriminating evidence.

“In political cases, there would be a rehearsal before the trial. The attorneys and the prosecutors rehearsed the entire process of a trial. Even the defense lawyer (who was the then-Hunan delegate to the NPC) that the Chinese government has hired for Peng Yuhua, the co-defendant of the case, questioned how the national security agency can list social media app chat groups as formal organizations and fabricated stories about these groups having solid structures and specific job assignments.“

On isolation under observation:

“The prison guards would not let you have any contact with the outside world. There was no formal arrest. There was no lawyer representation. You were not allowed access to any books, magazines, televisions. You were just under full arrest. Twenty-four hours a day, you were being watched by a two-person team, even when you went to the bathroom or took a shower. It caused tremendous psychological stress. Many political prisoners in China suffer from mental health issues because they were severely restricted in terms of their residence locations and conditions of their living quarters. I am very fortunate. Under pressure from the international society, (the situation) only lasted for two months. The damage inflicted on one’s mind and body fits what the United Nations considers as psychological torture.”

On prison food and water that left him with polyps in his gall bladder when he was released:

“The doctor said what I ate and drank over the past few years had been too dirty. In Chishan Prison, we drank water from the Dongting Lake. There was a lot of sediment in the boiled water. Even the prison guards would not drink it. Many prisoners who served longer terms have suffered from diseases such as urethral stones and kidney stones because of the poor living conditions.”

On a letter-writing campaign for Lee led by NGOs in Taiwan:

“In China’s domestic propaganda, these people (activists) were cooperating with the US imperialism power and mobilizing color-scheme revolutions to destroy peace in China. If the police officers did not know me, they might have really believed that I was a vicious villain who would become violent when interacting with someone. Yet if you write letters to prisons, the police would know that many people care about this prisoner and that they should not treat him with excessive force. A saying in China goes like this, ‘there is no unconditional love’; ‘there is no unconditional hatred.’ The fact that so many strangers are writing to this person who they do not know would make the prison guard and the warden think again: This person may not be as vicious as they’d thought he would be.”

On regular visits from his wife, Lee Ching-yu, until the COVID-19 pandemic halted them:

 “Many families of Chinese political prisoners were deprived of the visitation rights to meet with their loved ones. My wife’s visits helped me physically and mentally. I am able to disclose the obsolete practices in the Chinese prisons. The visitations also allowed me to be more than just an inmate but someone who advocates for human rights and conducts field research on human rights.”

On China’s creeping extension of repressive policies and censorship to self-ruled Taiwan and beyond:

“China is acting to extend its jurisdiction beyond its borders to Taiwan, over which China has never ruled. China also used comments collected on the Internet as its evidence to find me guilty of ‘subversion of state power’. China clamps down on freedom of speech and on the use of Internet. It extends its jurisdiction to anyone in the world who uses Chinese social media apps.”

On China’s crackdown against human rights lawyers, NGO activists and other rights defenders:

“Ever since Xi Jinping took office, many were found guilty of ‘subverting state power’ and sent to prison. Specifically, if you look at these NGO activists, none of them were against the CCP. None of them were trying to overthrow the rule of the CCP. They just told the people in power to follow their own rules and run the country in accordance with the law. They told the people that they could use the law as their weapon to safeguard their legal rights. They were only trying to build a civil society to fully practice ‘in accordance with the law.’ However, they were charged with such serious crimes. This indicates that the Chinese government is afraid of its citizens’ demand to govern the country in accordance with the law. This clearly proves that the Chinese Communist Party regime fundamentally suppresses the people’s demands. There is no way that it will run the country in accordance with the law.”

Translated by Min Eu.

Citizens in Laos are calling for accountability after learning that gasoline smugglers and enablers in the government are defrauding the country out of taxes on 700 million liters (about 185 million US liquid gallons) of gasoline per year, sources told RFA.

Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh revealed the extent of gas smuggling in an address to the National Assembly last week.

Laos is mired in perhaps its worst gasoline shortage in its history, exacerbated by rising prices, a lack of foreign currency and a rapid depreciation of Laos’ currency, the kip.

“According to our internal report, around 1.2 billion liters of gasoline is imported to our country [each year]. However, when we check with the exporters of both Thailand and Vietnam, they are sending us around 1.9 billion liters of gasoline,” Phankham Viphavanh said.

“Where are those 700 million liters?” he asked, accusing state officials and companies of corruption.

Members of the government who allow smugglers to get out of paying taxes should be punished, said Laotian sources, all of whom requested anonymity for safety reasons.

“This is an act of corruption. Those who want money will do whatever they can to get it and this will lead to a leak in government revenue,” a citizen of the capital Vientiane told RFA Lao.

“If the government can prevent this kind of problem, it will be better for the country. If they can find out the government officials and whoever else is involved, they should all be fined and fired,” the source said.

Another source told RFA that the country’s lax law enforcement allows corruption to flourish.

“There is no strong punishment for corrupt government officials in Laos. They just transfer them to other offices somewhere else. I am not sure if there will ever be a strong punishment for them,” the second source said.

“They are too flexible over this matter in Laos. If the government is serious about curbing corruption, they can do it and it will be good for our country. We have laws, but at this moment the laws can do nothing.”

A Lao analyst told RFA that Laos needs to set up an investigative committee to go after corrupt officials and expose them to the public.

“There is no accountable investigation and punishment from the relevant authorities,” the analyst said. “It is common to hear leaked information that the government found some people involved with revenue collection, but there is no punishment.

“This is why nobody is afraid of the law and the corrupt officials will just get more money.”

A proposal to immediately punish corrupt officials instead of reeducating them is under consideration at the National Assembly after it was introduced last week by Assemblywoman Valy Vetsaphong, who is also the deputy president of the Lao National Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

A Lao official who declined to be named said that the gasoline smuggling issue is under investigation.

“They are finding ways to solve this problem. The gasoline shortage still continues and it is a big headache for the government,” the official said. “We have already negotiated with our Thai trade partners to bring in more gasoline, but it will take time to return to normal.”

According to a May 2022 report from Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Laos imports around 100 million to 120 million liters of fuel a month on average. Thus, it costs around $600 million to $700 million to import enough fuel for one year.

However, prices are actually double in Laos due to the increasing price of oil on the world market.

Closed for price gouging

Gas stations in Laos that allegedly attempted to capitalize on the gasoline shortage by increasing prices have been closed for cheating their customers, sources told RFA.

“The authorities inspected all the gas stations in this province and found that three of them had been overcharging,” an official of the Industry and Trade Department of the northern province of Luang Namtha told RFA.

“They were selling gas at about 2,000-3,000 kip [$0.13-0.20] higher than the government price per liter. Our province has rules that control gas prices so we suspended those three gas stations,” he said.

There are however many gas stations that can only get fuel by buying it from abroad, and to do that, they need dollars or Thai baht. Due to a shortage of foreign currency, businesses cannot get as much as they need at the official rate from banks, so they must pay more for foreign currency from other sources. This, in turn, forces them to raise gas prices.

“We understand that the pumps get foreign currency from other sources and at higher rates but we have rules to abide by too,” the official said. “The owners of the three pumps will be fined 5 million kip [$333].”

A gas station owner in the town of Luang Namtha linked higher gas prices with higher exchange rates.

“We can’t get foreign currency from the banks, so we get foreign currencies … from private money exchange outlets at much higher rates. We can’t sell gas at the prices set by the government, we’ll lose a lot of money,” he said.

The gas shortage has forced small gas stations to close in Vientiane, leaving only the big companies in business, a motorist in the city told RFA.

“Only the large ones like Petroleum of Thailand and the Lao state fuel enterprise are able to be open,” the motorist said.

Authorities of the Industry and Trade Department of Champassak Province in southern Laos also inspected all gas stations in the province between June 21 and 28 and found seven gas stations were selling gasoline at higher prices.

According to the newspaper of Champassak Province, the authorities put locks on each gas pump, booked and fined the owners and sent them for reeducation.

According to the GlobalPetrolPrices.com website, the average price of gas in Laos was 28,070 kip per liter, or $7.13 per gallon as of June 27.

Translated by Phouvong. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

A court in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh warned opposition leader Kem Sokha not to engage in any further political activities after the prosecution played a recorded conversation he held with supporters ahead of recent local elections, the latest wrinkle in his trial that started more than two years ago on unsubstantiated charges of treason.

The deputy court prosecutor demanded Kem Sokha’s arrest after alleging that he had met with allies in the northwestern province of Siem Reap prior to the June 5 vote for commune council seats and discussed politics.

Kem Sokha was released from pre-trial detention to house arrest in September 2018 and granted bail in November 2019 by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, the terms of which allowed him to travel within Cambodia but restricted him from taking part in any political activities.

An undercover investigator recorded one of the conversations, which was used as evidence in Wednesday’s proceedings.

Kem Sokha was allowed to return home when the court session ended at 2 p.m.

His lawyer, Pheng Heng, told RFA’s Khmer Service that Kem Sokha would be more careful about interactions in order to avoid new charges as the trial unfolds.

“He didn’t make any political speech,” said Pheng Heng. He said that Kem Sokha has participated in public gatherings, like weddings, Buddhist ceremonies and a feast, none of which were political.

“The deputy prosecutor thought it was political activity, but the defense thinks otherwise,” Phen Heng said.

Kem Sokha is not part of any political party recognized by the Ministry of Interior. The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) — which he co-founded with Sam Rainsy, who is living in self-exile in France — was dissolved by Cambodia’s Supreme Court in November 2017, two months after he was arrested over an alleged plot backed by the United States to overthrow the government of Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than 35 years.

Kem Sokha therefore could not have been engaging in politics, his lawyer argued.

Wednesday’s hearing was the 46^th session of the trial that started prior to the coronavirus pandemic. While the trial was delayed by the court’s closure during the height of the pandemic, critics believe that since then the authorities have been stalling in an attempt to keep Kem Sokha out of the public sphere to curb his political influence.

During the 46^th session, the court did not address the underlying charges against Kem Sokha, but focused instead on his recent activities.

The case against Kem Sokha is clearly politically motivated, Yi Sok San, a senior monitor for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc), told RFA.

“I urge the government to differentiate between politics and law,” he said, adding that it was not fair to raise the new allegation against Kem Sokha without informing the defense.

CPP spokesperson Chhim Phall Vorun told RFA that the government’s case is not politically motivated.

Experts condemn mass trial

U.N. human rights experts on Wednesday requested a review of a June 14 mass trial where 43 defendants with connections to the CNRP were convicted on charges of plotting and incitement, receiving sentences of up to eight years.

U.N. officials Vitit Muntarbhorn, who monitors human rights concerns in Cambodia, Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, who tracks freedom of peaceful assembly issues, and Diego Garcia-Sayan, who promotes the independence of judges and lawyers, signed the statement.

“The outcome of this first instance trial reinforces a troubling pattern of political trials peppered with judicial flaws,” the experts said in a statement. “We urge the government to urgently review and remedy the process to ensure the defendants’ access to justice.”

Among the convicted activists is Cambodian American lawyer Theary Seng, who was recently moved from a prison in Phnom Penh to a more remote location, which the experts said makes family or consular visits more difficult.

“On these grounds, the government is urged to review these convictions — and all pending similar cases — and to ensure future judicial proceedings adhere to international obligations,” the experts said.

“This is critical to ensure the trend of shrinking civic and democratic space in Cambodia, aggravated by these trials, is reversed. A hindered access to justice not only infringes the rights of the victims, but has an overall chilling effect on society, discourages participation in assemblies and associations, and contributes to the dangerous trend of closing of civic space,” they said.

Cambodia’s mission to the U.N. rejected the assessment of the trial as “misleading news.”

The mission asserted that the trial was not politically motivated and said calling it as such was “unfounded and prejudicial.” It said that the experts’ narrative “one-sided and biased.”

Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Special Envoy to Myanmar Prak Sokhonn kicked off his second trip to Myanmar Wednesday to mediate the country’s political crisis despite being denied access to key stakeholders, prompting observers to question the value of his visit.

On Tuesday, junta deputy minister of information, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told the media that the envoy will be permitted to meet with regime chairman, Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, during his five-day visit, as well as other members of the military regime, ethnic armed groups and individuals from “some political parties.”

The junta has said that Prak Sokhonn will hold a meeting on Friday with the 10 ethnic armed groups that recently met for peace talks with Min Aung Hlaing — seven of which have signed a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the government since 2015, and three that have not. The talks were boycotted by Myanmar’s major ethnic armies for a perceived lack of inclusivity.

On Wednesday, Karen Peace Council (KNLA-PC) spokesman, Col. Saw Kyaw Nyunt, whose group is among those will meet with Prak Sokhonn later this week, suggested that the envoy must meet with more than just those who have been approved by the junta if he hopes to resolve the country’s political stalemate.

“I’d urge him to meet, as a special envoy, with all those involved in the political crisis in Myanmar,” he said.

“We’ll also [push to] find out what ASEAN could do to bring about a political dialogue inclusive of all stakeholders. And then, as a next step, what ASEAN could do to bring about nationwide peace talks. We have all these in mind.”

Prior to the trip, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen — whose nation holds the rotating chair of ASEAN — and Prak Sokhonn had requested permission for the envoy to meet with the head of the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) Aung San Suu Kyi and the party’s president, Win Myint, but were refused by the junta. The pair are among several NLD officials who were arrested in the immediate aftermath of the military’s Feb. 1, 2021, coup and face multiple charges widely viewed as politically motivated.

During an emergency meeting on the situation in Myanmar in April 2021, Min Aung Hlaing had agreed to a so-called Five-Point Consensus to end violence in the country, which included meeting with all stakeholders to resolve the political crisis but has failed to keep that promise. Observers say that peace cannot be achieved without including the NLD leadership and other powerbrokers in the process – concerns that were echoed by Col. Saw Kyaw Nyunt in his interview with RFA.

Multiple attempts by RFA to contact Zaw Min Tun for comment on Prak Sokhonn’s visit went unanswered Wednesday.

Earlier this week, the junta spokesman said that “those facing trials” will not be allowed to meet with the ASEAN envoy, adding that the military regime is “working with certain groups” to end the conflict in Myanmar, which has claimed the lives of 2,039 civilians since the coup, according to Bangkok-based NGO Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

“The main point of the agreement is that we are discussing with practical organizations to reduce the tensions of the armed conflict,” Zaw Min Tun said at the time, referring to the 10 ethnic armed groups that met with Min Aung Hlaing for peace talks.

“Basic agreements have been reached in the negotiations. More discussions will be held later. We have paved the way [for Prak Sokhonn] to meet with the right people, except those who are still being prosecuted and those who are still facing legal action.”

The military has said it plans to allow the envoy meet with “some NLD members” during his visit but has not specified who they are.

When asked who will hold talks with Prak Sokhonn, NLD central working committee member Kyaw Htwe said he could not comment on the matter.

‘Not optimistic’

Kyaw Zaw, a spokesman for the office of Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) president, Duwa Lashi La, told RFA he is “not optimistic” about the outcome of Prak Sokhonn’s trip if the envoy fails to meet with the country’s key stakeholders.

“It’s impossible for the ASEAN special representative’s efforts to be successful if he is only holding discussions with the junta and is refused a chance to meet with important stakeholders during his visit,” he said.

“I don’t expect there will be any benefit for the people of Myanmar.”

Kyaw Zaw reiterated calls for Prak Sokhonn to meet with “all those involved in the conflict” during his visit, “not just with those who are chosen by the military.”

Myanmar-based political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe also dismissed the likelihood of a solution to the country’s political crisis being reached if the opposition is denied a seat at the negotiating table.

“The kind of result that people want will not come if things go on like this. It’s a one-sided approach to find a political solution [only] through dialogue with pro-military groups and those who are close to the military,” he said.

“The desires and the perspectives of the people on the other side of the issue are being ignored. That’s why I don’t think the solution that people hope for will come out of the visit.”

According to a statement issued by Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, Prak Sokhonn will discuss the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus, the provision of humanitarian assistance, and ways to facilitate a political dialogue after holding talks with all stakeholders.

The ASEAN special envoy visited Myanmar for the first time in March but was criticized for failing to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint, and for failing to make significant progress in his mission to Myanmar.

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

Hong Kongers mark 25 years of Chinese rule on July 1 with little to celebrate and no way to safely complain, as the Chinese Communist Party’s promises that the territory could run its own affairs under “one country, two systems,” with the city’s freedoms preserved for at least 50 years, have all been broken. Just 25 years after the 1997 handover, Hong Kong has plummeted in global press freedom rankings, filled jails with peaceful dissenters, censored school textbooks, and taken other steps that have made the former British colony look more like the Communist mainland.