Day: March 10, 2023

North Korea has introduced mandatory military service for women increased the service time for all soldiers by three years in an effort to confront a farm labor shortage, sources there told Radio Free Asia.

The changes, which go into effect from April, mean that men will again have to serve 10 or 11 years, reversing a 2021 decision that shortened their service time to seven or eight years. For women, instead of voluntarily serving five years, they will all now have to serve eight.

The additional years will not be spent firing rifles or marching long distances in preparation for war. Instead, the soldiers will pick up shovels and hoes to help farmers grow and harvest food.

“Under the revised regulations, soldiers are recognized as completing military service only after going to the rural area and working on farms for three years before being discharged,” a resident of the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The majority of military service is already spent doing hard labor. 

The North Korean government routinely uses soldiers for free labor on farms, in coal mines or on construction sites. Life as a soldier is harsh; living quarters are barren and food rations meager.

“The reality of the Korean People’s Army these days is that young people avoid enlisting and there are many deserters due to poor diet and bad living conditions,” the source said. “Also they already thought the service time was too long.”

RFA was not able to confirm if soldiers who entered the service after the 2021 change and before April will have to extend their service time, or if women who elected not to serve will now have to enlist. But soldiers who were set to be discharged this year will instead be made to do an additional three years.

Giving up one’s youth

Young people are furious over the decision because it means they will have to spend most of their 20s in uniform doing hard labor, the source said.

“During their golden years of youth, men have to sacrifice 10 or 11 years and women for eight years, so those who are enlisting and their parents are angry, saying ‘Where else in the world is there this kind of slavery?’” the source said.

North Korea’s mandatory military service time is already much longer than in other nations. In neighboring South Korea, men must serve 18 months.

More young people are expected to do whatever they can to avoid enlisting, a resident of the northern province of Ryanggang told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

There are several ways to get out of serving. Generally people are exempt if they have unusual medical issues, family problems or are deemed security risks because they are related to people who have escaped the country. 

College is another way out, but the authorities are trying to close that loophole.

“They took measures to restrict the number of people recommended for university admission, except from those who went to gifted high schools,” the second source said.

The gifted schools are for students who excel in their studies. Because they are considered to be on the college track they are exempt from serving.

In addition to working on farms, the extension of service might be an attempt to repopulate the rural parts of the country, the second source speculated.

”Young soldiers in their late 20s will go out to the farms and will likely meet local women. Then they will likely start a family and stay in the rural areas,” she said. “This can help increase the number of farmers.” 

Translated by Leejin J. Chung and Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

Exiled Cambodian opposition figure Sam Rainsy has thrown his support behind the current defense minister’s son to become prime minister four months ahead of July’s general elections.

The announcement followed a report about a shakeup and power struggle within the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, or CPP, over the selection of a new leader to succeed Hun Sun, who has ruled the country since 1985.

Sam Rainsy, acting president of the disbanded opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, posted a statement Friday on Facebook backing Tea Seiha, governor of Siem Reap province and the son of Defense Minister Tea Banh, as a prime ministerial candidate for the 2023-28 term.

The Cambodia National Rescue Party was the previous main opposition party before Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved it in 2017. Sam Rainsy, a party co-founder, has been living in self-exile in France since 2015, when he fled a series of charges his supporters say are politically motivated.

“The Cambodian people who want freedom and justice must unite around Tea Seiha, Tea Banh and Tea Vinh in order to bring about a democratic change in the country’s leadership through peaceful and nonviolent means, meaning free and fair elections,” he wrote.

 

Admiral Tea Vinh is the brother of Tea Banh and commander of the Royal Cambodian Navy. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Tea Vinh in late 2021 for corruption concerning China’s involvement in the redevelopment of Ream Naval Base in Sihanoukville province, which could give Chinese forces a stronghold in the contested South China Sea. 

In Transparency International’s 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, Cambodia scored only 24 out of 100, and was ranked at 150 out of 180 countries. 

“Such a change will promote a new leadership which is not made up of murderers, desperately corrupt people and traitors to the nation such as Hun Sen and his family,” Sam Rainsy wrote, referring to the authoritarian prime minister who has ruled Cambodia for 38 years.

July elections

The move comes as Cambodia prepares to elect members of the National Assembly, now fully controlled by the CPP under Hun Sen, who also serves as the party’s president. Opposition figures, including Sam Rainsy, want the prime minister and his party out of power.

In the run-up to the election, Hun Sen has repeatedly attacked members of the Candlelight Party — the current main challenger to the ruling party — in public forums, while CPP authorities have sued Candlelight members on what many observers see as politically motivated charges.  

Tea Banh, who has served as defense minister since the late 1980s, dismissed San Rainsy’s support for his son in a Facebook statement of his own, and stated his backing of Hun Sen’s oldest son, Hun Manet, as the future prime minister.

Hun Manet, 45, is commander of Cambodia’s army, deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and leader of the CPP’s central youth wing. Hun Sen has groomed him to be his successor.

Sam Rainsy’s statement “aims at breaking national unity,” Tea Banh wrote. “My family and I still have a stand to support Hun Manet to be the next prime ministerial candidate.

He added that the military will work against any foreign interference in an attempt to topple the legal government.  

Following the statement, many senior military officials also denounced Sam Rainsy’s backing of Tea Seiha, who is widely expected to succeed his father as defense minister when Tea Bahn retires.

After Hun Sen said in December 2022 that Hun Manet would succeed him, some leaders in his government, including Tea Bahn and Interior Minister Sar Kheng, did not immediately endorse the move, though they eventually expressed support for the plan.

Internal rifts?

Political analyst Kim Sok said the matter is indicative of internal rifts in the CPP over prime ministerial candidates, suggesting that a faction led by Sar Kheng and Tea Banh still may not be pleased with Hun Sen’s intention to transfer power to his son.

He also said Hun Sen’s concern about a possible revolution sweeping through Cambodia might not come from members of the public and young people displeased with chronic corruption within the government and growing authoritarianism, but from within the CPP itself.

“Hun Sen has said that he will be the CPP president when his son is the prime minister; this means there is an internal rift,” said Kim Sok. “This is a sign of a color revolution within the party.”

Hun Sen recently warned Cambodians not to attempt to stage any color revolutions — popular anti-regime protest movements and accompanying changes of government — using human rights as a pretext, but rather to protect his so-called hard-earned peace.

Translated by Samean Yun for RFA Khmer. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

No one has returned to the once-picturesque hilltop resort town of Thanduang in southern Myanmar.

Six weeks after junta troops shelled the town in Kayin state, the more than 8,000 residents who fled are too scared to return to their homes for fear of further attacks by the military, they have told Radio Free Asia. Junta forces are still firing shells into the town.

The ghost town is just one of scores across the country where people have fled fighting that has engulfed the country since the military coup d’etat two years ago. 

It has plunged the country into a humanitarian disaster. In Kayin state alone, more than 100,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, part of the 1.35 million people across the country who have been displaced, according to U.N. figures.

An aid worker said that many of the refugees are staying within an hour’s distance to Thandaung and monitoring the situation while receiving assistance from civil society groups. 

They are sheltering in nearby Pyar Sa Khan village, Bago region’s Taungoo city – approximately 21 kilometers (13 miles) to the southwest – and several other villages in the vicinity, said the worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. “Others are taking refuge in the homes of friends and relatives in Taungoo.”

Trigger

Fighting broke out on Jan. 27 after snipers from an unidentified armed group fired on a military base camp located on a nearby hill, killing at least one soldier, and has continued since, said a resident of Thandaung who fled the area and declined to be named for security reasons. 

The area has typically been under the control of the Karen National Liberation Army, although it was unclear whether the group was responsible for the attack on the military camp.

“In fact, there was no major fighting here before, but someone in the military was shot and killed by an unidentified person or group,” the resident said. “After that, the military continuously fired [shells] into civilian neighborhoods in the city for three days. The residents were too scared to stay and fled their homes.”

In one attack on Jan. 28, the military fired two 40 millimeter shells into the city, despite there being no fighting at the time, causing damage to the Shin Mar Ku Temple in ward No. 2.

The shelling has shattered the peace in the once tranquil town of more than 18,000 mostly ethnic Karen people, which was developed as a hill station during the British colonial era of 1885-1948.

The resident said it is still not safe enough to return home, although he has since visited the area briefly to feed his livestock.

A resident of Thandaung using the pseudonym Saw Khwar Doe who had been arrested by junta forces on Dec. 16 while traveling to an area rubber plantation told RFA that although he had since been released, the tenuous situation in the city had forced him to leave his home and farm and move to Taungoo.

“I pray that the military junta falls – only then will we be able to mind our work in our own homes with our families together peacefully,” he said.

Other residents of the area said that although the township administration, military forces and religious organizations are in discussions to facilitate a return of the displaced, it is still impossible to begin the process because of the junta’s frequent firing of artillery and burning of civilian homes.

“Our local organizations met and held discussions with the commander of the military troops to allow the safe return of the refugees. We requested that he help us,” another resident of Thandaung said.

“We hope to return if there is no more fighting. But since there have been more attacks, the residents have lost faith in the negotiations and still can’t go back to their homes.”

Houses burned

Since the initial fighting, the military has burned down the homes of Thandaung Karen National Union Chairman Tun Ke and a KNLA schoolteacher in January, and eight homes in ward No. 1 on Feb. 21. On March 4, the military also torched six houses in ward No. 2 and three others in ward No. 3 – most of which belonged to local schoolteachers and Christian religious leaders, residents said.

But a source with close ties to the junta’s Thandaung city administrator told RFA that the houses caught fire after members of an unidentified armed group fired on the military, prompting clashes.

“Those [unidentified people] fired with sniper rifles and other guns, so the military responded and they exchanged fire,” he said.

“There are some residents who remain in the city … and want to live peacefully. That’s why they report to the military, frankly speaking. When they reported the shooters’ whereabouts, the military started chasing after them and they exchanged fire. That’s how the houses caught fire.”

A week prior to the exchange on Jan. 27, more than 10,000 civilians fled their homes in Kayin state’s Kyondoe city and nearby villages amid intensified fighting between junta troops and combined Karen National Liberation Army forces.

Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress, nodded through approval for a third presidential term for ruling Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping on Friday, paving the way for him to wield power in the country’s top jobs indefinitely.

Some 3,000 unelected delegates to the congress voted unanimously for Xi, 69, to continue in post as president, a widely expected outcome that will likely mean tougher policies at home and rising tensions with the international community, analysts told Radio Free Asia on Friday.

He was voted in for a third term as Communist Party general secretary, his most important post, at the 20th party congress last October, in a move that broke with an unwritten rule in operation since the death of late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping that national leaders step down after two terms in office.

Friday’s “vote” came five years after the National People’s Congress approved amendments to the Chinese constitution removing term limits for the party general secretary and largely ceremonial state presidency. 

Xi also remains as commander-in-chief of the two-million-strong People’s Liberation Army, after being reapproved as chairman of the Central Military Commission on Friday.

Xi was sworn in on a copy of the Chinese Constitution, alongside former anti-corruption czar Zhao Leji as head of the National People’s Congress and former Shanghai party chief Han Zheng as vice president, a largely ceremonial post.

Zhao and Han are both key Xi loyalists, with the former presiding over Xi’s anti-corruption purges as head of the party’s disciplinary arm.

Party ideologue Wang Huning was named head of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which works with the party’s United Front Work Department to promote loyalty to Xi outside of party ranks and to spread his personal brand of political ideology beyond China’s borders.

Li Qiang, who implemented Xi’s zero-COVID policies in the form of the brutal 2022 Shanghai lockdown, is widely expected to take over from Li Keqiang as premier in a weekend vote.

In charge of everything

Japan-based China scholar Hong Xiangan said the outcome came as no surprise.

“They were just going through the motions,” Hong said. “He’s already the supreme leader of the country.”

“The Communist Party hasn’t had such a supreme leader in charge of everything since Mao Zedong, who was the first-generation Communist Party leader to conquer the nation,” he said.

He said Mao likely had cannier political skills than Xi, however.

“Mao never got rid of [his premier] Zhou Enlai, who lasted [in power] his whole life,” Hong said.

By contrast, Li Qiang will be taking over from Li Keqiang at the head of the administration, while Xi ally Ding Xuexiang will be in charge of the day-to-day running of the party, he said.

But he said Xi’s insistence on being in charge of everything could backfire.

“Mao Zedong knew very well the difference between the emperor and his prime minister,” Hong said. “[He believed] that each should get on and do their job.”

“Now, he’s acting as an all-in-one leader,” Hong said of Xi, suggesting that his reliance on political allies over technocrats could make it harder to face current challenges, which include a flagging economy in the wake of the zero-COVID policy.

“Are there any capable ministers?” he said. “Looking at these people’s resumes … it doesn’t look as if any of them have any idea about running the country.”

But he said Xi likely has no way back from his current path.

“There’s no way for him to make a U-turn,” Hong said. “There’s no going back now, and the opportunity won’t arise again until the next generation of leaders comes along.”

‘Even more draconian’

None of the 2,952 delegates in the Great Hall of the People on Friday voted against the motion to approve Xi, which came after a motion approving a government restructuring plan.

Feng Chongyi, a professor of political science at the University of Technology Sydney, said Xi has now succeeded in removing any significant potential opponents from the highest echelons of Chinese politics, and has a clear path to rule indefinitely.

“All kinds of policies will now become even more draconian,” Feng said. “[Xi] will get more arrogant, unscrupulous and intensify [his campaigns].”

“The Chinese people will suffer more as a result, as will domestic and foreign affairs, international relations and people will suffer more hardship,” he said.

Feng said there is still no way to be sure when Xi will move to annex democratic Taiwan by force, but he said the risk of that military conflict is directly linked to the solidity of the Chinese leader’s grip on power.

“His power is unlimited, so if he wants to go crazy, he could decide to totally disregard life and property in the service of his personal power or achievements,” he said. “He only thinks about himself, so he won’t hesitate, even if it brings down disaster on … the international order.”

Current affairs commentator Johnny Lau said Xi sees the threat of instability everywhere, both domestically and internationally.

“External forces [influencing Chinese politics] is their long-term nightmare,” Lau said. “As the economic situation gets worse, we will see a lot of issues with people’s livelihood surfacing.”

Expanded party control

And the party-state now lacks even the meager checks and balances that it once had, according to current affairs commentator Wang Zheng.

“When a single voice emerges and there are no voices of opposition, the country will be done for,” Wang said. 

He said widespread censorship and fear of political reprisals now make it very hard to hear any kind of dissent in China at all.

“If [state broadcaster] CCTV takes to the streets to interview passers-by about what they think of their president, the vast majority of people are going to say that they support him,” Wang said.

“If it’s a foreign media organization, then a lot of people would be scared to answer at all,” he said.

Keyword searches for “Xi Jinping” on China’s Twitter-like Weibo appeared blocked, while comments on the official Xinhua News Agency report on Xi were hidden, RFA reporters found.

But some netizens turned to foreign social media sites to decry Xi’s long-expected third term.

“After Mao Zedong, another life long dictator has come to power. Although I knew it would happen, I still feel disgusted when I see this news officially,” said one comment.

“Unanimous approval, nobody votes no, no abstentions, 100% support rate! This is the Whole Process Democracy? This is the largest democratic election in the world? This is the real national humiliation!” said another.

The National People’s Congress is also expected to nod through planned structural reforms bringing government security and intelligence branches under the direct control of the party, rather than the country’s cabinet, suggesting a further bid to consolidate political power in the hands of Xi, analysts told RFA in recent interviews.

The government announced plans on Wednesday to set up a central data bureau to tighten control over “big data” intelligence on its 1.4 billion citizens, as well as implementing tighter party control over the banking system and financial markets.

Xi’s third term will likely also see ongoing friction with Washington, after newly appointed foreign minister Qin Gang warned that the United States and China are destined for conflict if Washington refuses to “hit the brakes” as it “speed[s] down the wrong path” of engagement with Beijing.

Qin spoke on the sidelines of the “two sessions” annual meeting of China’s National People’s Congress, which kicked off on Sunday, dismissing calls by the Biden administration for “guardrails” to prevent increasingly sour U.S.-China relations from deteriorating into full-blown hostility.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie.

Tibetans living in northern India’s Ladakh region marked the first month of the Tibetan New Year with a mass prostration ritual, in which devotees pray and bow with their foreheads touching the ground.

The event celebrates what Tibetan Buddhists believe was the Buddha’s revealing of miraculous powers on the first 15 days of that month. Many Tibetan Buddhists believe that prayers, meditations and good deeds done during their period give significantly higher benefits. 

Sonam Dorjee, who organized the event, called “Gochak,” said it has been going on for more than 40 years.

“The first month of the Tibetan lunar calendar is a very holy month and therefore our organization started organizing mass prostration for the whole month and not just a few days,” Dorjee said.

“When I was young, I remember the prostration used to take place for only two days – Now, we have people from all age groups,” he said. “The oldest person this year to take part in the prostration is 77 years old and the youngest is 13”.

Another organizer, Rinchen Tsering, told RFA that in recent years many more women have joined the ceremonies, and that the numbers of attendees have also grown. 

Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Edited by Nawar Nemeh. 

Authorities in Vietnam Friday arrested two provincial medical officials for their alleged role in the high-profile Viet A test-kit scandal, state media reported.

Duong Ba Than Dan, the director of the Department of Medical Supplies at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, in the southeastern province of Ninh Thuan, and Nguyen Dang Duc, part of his staff, were accused of colluding with the medical supplier to increase the prices of COVID-19 test-kits, causing a significant loss to the state budget.

The two officials are the latest to be implicated in the scandal, which involved the company’s chief executive officer bribing officials the equivalent of U.S.$34 million to win contracts to sell substandard kits to hospitals at a 45% markup, earning his company U.S.$172 million in profits.

State media did not disclose how much of the state budget Dan and Duc are accused of misusing.

The scandal was uncovered in December 2021 when the Ministry of Public Security prosecuted and arrested Viet A’s CEO Phan Quoc Viet, four staff, and the director and chief accountant at the CDC office in the northern province of Hai Duong. 

 The Ministry of Public Security has arrested and prosecuted many high-ranking officials for their involvement in the case, including then Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Cong Tac, and Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh. Dozens of CDC leaders and officers from various cities and provinces were also arrested. 

Former Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc was forced to step down in January this year and was removed from the Politburo to take responsibility for corruption cases that happened during his term in office. Despite his denial, rumors still connect his wife to the Viet A scandal. 

On February 2, 2023, the Ministry of Public Security’s spokesperson, Lieutenant General To An Xo said that as of that day, investigation police agencies at all levels had prosecuted 104 people involved in the case and had frozen assets worth around 1.7 trillion dong (US$74.5 million). 

Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong.