Day: April 14, 2023

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is hoping to upgrade relations with Vietnam to a strategic partnership from the current comprehensive one during meetings with officials in Hanoi on Friday and Saturday, amid China’s rising regional power and aggression in the South China Sea.

Blinken is scheduled to meet with senior Vietnamese officials to discuss “our shared vision of a connected, prosperous, peaceful, and resilient Indo-Pacific region,” the State Department said in an April 10 statement. Blinken also will break ground on a new U.S. embassy compound in Hanoi.

Blinken’s trip comes about two weeks after a phone call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. July will mark the 10th anniversary of the 2013 U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership.

Vietnam already has “strategic” partnerships with many U.S. allies, but the U.S. itself has remained at the lower “comprehensive” partnership level despite improvements in the bilateral relationship because disaccord over human rights hindered talks.

But political analysts believe Vietnam may agree to boost the relationship this time around.

Ha Hoang Hop, an associate senior fellow specializing in regional strategic studies at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, a research center in Singapore, said he was certain that Vietnam would upgrade its partnership with the U.S. during Blinken’s visit.

“A good and better relationship between Vietnam and the U.S. will certainly contribute to maintaining the stability and security of Southeast Asia, as well as of a broader region,” he told RFA. 

“It will also significantly make Vietnam more proactive, confident, and stronger in ensuring its stability and security given many complexities in the world and in the region.”

Vietnam has comprehensive partnerships with a dozen other countries, strategic partnerships with another 13, and comprehensive strategic partnerships with China, Russia, India and South Korea. 

A boost in relations between the U.S. and Vietnam would prompt China to react across the board in terms of security, economic development, trade and cultural exchange, Hop said. 

“Even now, we all see that China does not want Vietnam to have good relations with other countries,” he said because Beijing believes it would not bode well for its claims in the South China Sea over which it has sparred with Hanoi for decades.

“We all know they have used so-called ‘gray zone tactics’ to disturb, annoy and cause instability,” Hop said. “Then, they gradually encroach and at some point when other countries, including Vietnam, let it go, they will achieve their sovereignty goals.”

Making Hanoi happy

Prominent human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh also waxed positive on the possible upgrading of bilateral ties between the U.S. and Vietnam. 

“This relationship is considered in the context of the U.S.’s strategy in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.

The strategy, issued by the Biden administration in early 2022, outlines the president’s vision for the U.S. to more firmly anchor itself in the Indo-Pacific region in coordination with allies and partners to ensure the region is free and open, connected, prosperous, secure and resilient. 

“Vietnam’s position and role is quite important to the U.S.’s regional strategy, especially in terms of containing China in the South China Sea,” said Dinh, a former vice-president of the Ho Chi Minh Bar Association. “Therefore, the U.S. always tries to find ways to make Hanoi happy and deepen the bilateral relationship.”

He went on to suggest that for the U.S. regional security issues have taken precedence over human rights in Vietnam.

But Dinh cautioned that to avoid upsetting China, the Vietnamese government must take a tactful and smart approach to upgrade bilateral ties with the U.S. and not hastily use the term ‘strategic partnership.’”

“Doing so, in reality, the two sides can work on the issues that a strategic partnership allows us to do, which a comprehensive partnership does not.

China’s state-run Global Times newspaper on April 9 cited Chinese experts who said Blinken’s visit may yield results in maritime security or improvement in economic cooperation, but it would not affect Vietnam’s overall strategy because there are still inherent and structural contradictions – ideological and historical issues – between Vietnam and the U.S.

Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Matt Reed.

As Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos celebrate their annual New Year’s water festivals, RFA asked readers what they hoped for in the year ahead. For many, the wishes are simple – peace and freedom.

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Cambodia

“As a Cambodian, I wish the country and its people would get a leader who pays attention to people’s living standards so they can live in harmony, democracy (and) the rich and poor have equal rights, the same as those who live in the free world. I also wish people would have mutual unity and would restore Cambodia to the prosperity that our ancestors left us.”

Sophie Lok

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“I want RFA to resume its office in this peaceful country. Losing RFA is losing breaking news!”

Mala San

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“I wish Hun Sen would lose the upcoming election.”

Boozz Boy

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“I wish this current regime wouldn’t wage war against its own people.”

Rachana Konpa

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“Hun Sen’s regime changes to a democratic country.”

Phairy Kim

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Myanmar

“We miss the past. We hope for peace.”

Yangon youth

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“We would like to get back the stability and development in Myanmar like under Mother Suu’s administration. We would like to see the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained including Mother Suu and President U Win Myint, and to regain the power by the NLD government, which was elected by the people. I do not want to see people being killed unjustly.”

“I wish for the emergence of a federal state which has been desired by all ethnic minorities. I do not want to see the country’s future leaders sacrifice their lives. May the Spring Revolution be successful as soon as possible!”

Mandalay woman

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“As we mark Myanmar’s New Year, may Myanmar be liberated from military dictatorship and end the wars.”

Aung Naingtun

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“I have a sole New Year wish. It is nothing, but down with the military council! I do not want to wish for other things. I know prayer alone is not enough, so I am doing it pragmatically. If I could travel with ‘Time travel,’ I would like to go back to January 31, 2021 and its previous days. I miss those days ruled by Mother (Suu)… I miss my home. I was forced to leave my motherland but I am eager to return to my family.”

Salmon

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“My hope is that people should be involved [in the movement] and they should provide more assistance to the success of the uprising. May Myanmar people possess better lives in the New Year! May the uprising be successful as soon as possible!”

Win Ko Ko Oo

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“I am from Taze township, Sagaing region. In previous years, I used to return to my village during Thingyan holidays. I am so sad that I cannot return to my home this year because I have no home there. Although festivals are held in cities, I cannot enjoy them. I am so sad because I cannot return to my native village and my parents.”

Maung Aye Min Htet from a village in Taze township, Sagaing region

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Laos

“I wish I had better health, better living conditions and a higher salary. We can’t go on like this in the current condition in which the cost of living is rising, while the income is staying low.”

Grade school teacher in Pakkading district, Borikhamxay province

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“Yesterday, I went grocery shopping and I bought three cat fish for which I paid 90,000 kip ($5.29), up more than 7% a month ago.”

A businesswoman in Vientiane wishes that Laos could get out of the economic and financial troubles sooner than later

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An owner of a small factory in capital Vientiane wants the war between Ukraine and Russia to be over as soon as possible because the war is the main cause of all the economic and financial woes in the world, including Laos.

Ongoing double-digit inflation in Laos has put constraints on Lao New Year celebrations, the first public observance of the holiday in the country after it was put on hold for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Southeast Asian nation has experienced drastic price increases due to inflation of more than 40%, so that ordinary citizens must spend more money on holiday-related food and goods.

The one-party government has been unable to get surging inflation, growing external debt and the devaluation of Laos’ currency under control in the largely impoverished country.

“The New Year rate of inflation has increased due to the rise of the Thai baht because Laos imports goods mainly from Thailand, followed by Vietnam and China,” said an official who declined to give his name so he could speak freely. 

The price of goods from Thailand is higher than the price of goods from Vietnam because of the strong Thai currency, he added.

Pork, a staple meat, now sells for 80,000 kip or U.S. $4.63, per kilogram, up from 70,000 kip, or U.S. $4.05, per kilo before the economic crisis hit, he said.

Authorities patrol streets and markets to control food prices, but when they are not around merchants will sell what they have for what they can get, the official said.

Laotians in the capital Vientiane and other parts of the country told Radio Free Asia that prices of beef, fish and imported consumer goods from neighboring countries have also shot up. 

A Lao merchant who imports goods from Thailand said prices are higher than they were before because of a strong Thai baht.

“We import goods from Thailand where the price is already high, and we sell them in Lao markets where prices are higher than they were before,” she said.

A Lao trade official, who also requested anonymity to be able to speak freely, also said merchants are taking advantage of the holiday to push up prices even more amid the current high inflation.

People eat and drink more during the Lao New Year, and each household buys more food for celebrations with their families and friends when they gather for traditional blessings of each other, he said.

Despite the rise in prices, tourists—mainly Chinese, South Korean and Thai — have flocked to Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site popular for its outdoor night market and ancient Buddhist temples, during the Lao New Year, which runs April 14-16. 

Celebrations there and in other Lao towns include elephant parades, Miss New Year competitions and parades with traditional music, Buddha blessing ceremonies at local temples, song contests, and baci celebrations where strings are tied around participants’ wrists for good luck, prosperity and happiness in the coming year.

Translated by Sidney Khotpanya for RFA Lao. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Matt Reed.

Prime Minister Hun Sen and his youngest son kicked off a lavish Khmer New Year celebration at the Angkor temples complex on Friday as several thousand volunteers set a world record for the largest display of origami hearts.

The arrangement of more than 3.9 million origami hearts at the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Siem Reap province was organized by Hun Many, the chairman of the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia and a parliamentary candidate in the upcoming July general election.

“Cambodia has between 16 and 17 million people. We can make about 4 million hearts, so if China and India can make more hearts then the committee must consider,” the prime minister said, referring to the Guinness World Records officials who determine whether a record has been set. “They must think about the percent of the country’s population.” 

The Angkor Sangkran 2023 celebration near Angkor Wat temple – Cambodia’s top tourist attraction – has been decorated with lights, souvenir shops, food stalls, concerts and floating boats. Volunteers from the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia, which is made up of supporters of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, did much of the work for the event.

But the festival hasn’t done anything to promote the country’s culture, political analyst Kim Sok told Radio Free Asia. Money was spent out of the national budget and civil servants were put to work just to make people happy ahead of the election, he said.

“Hun Sen doesn’t think about the country and its people. He organized the event for his face and for his family,” he said.

Hun Many is currently a lawmaker from Kampong Speu province. Hun Sen’s eldest son, Hun Manet, has also been named a parliamentary candidate. He is currently the deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and is expected to eventually succeed his father as prime minister. 

Another Guinness record attempt

A member of the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia, Kean Savong, told RFA that another world record will be attempted at the festival on Saturday, when thousands of people will gather to do the Madison line dance. 

“People are volunteers so we don’t spend much money,” he said. 

A villager from Siem Reap province, Siem Vann, said Angkor Sangkran will make people happy for a short time but won’t really do anything to help the country when so many people are facing financial difficulties, are indebted to banks or are considering moving abroad to find work. 

He urged the government to think about increasing local markets for farmers and resolving political conflict.

“The government should use the budget to appropriately help the poor and restore democracy so that people will have freedom,” he said. 

Siem Reap authorities wouldn’t elaborate on how much the event will cost, but the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia said private donations from rich businessmen known by the honorific “Okhna” will cover most of the expenses.  

Translated by Samean Yun. Edited by Matt Reed.

North Korea on Friday said it had successfully launched a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, representing a significant upgrade to its arsenal that experts told Radio Free Asia would, once perfected, allow it to fire missiles with shorter wait times.

The country’s leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test launch on Thursday, and said that the new missile would reform North Korea’s strategic deterrence components and enable Pyongyang to more effectively respond with a nuclear counterattack, the state-run Korea Central News Agency reported. Kim said the technology would make a potential offensive military strategy more practical.

The new missile “constantly strikes extreme uneasiness and horror into [the enemy] by taking fatal and offensive counter-actions until they abandon their senseless thinking and reckless acts, thus making them feel regret and despair for their wrong choice by surely exposing them to an irresistible threat,” the report said.

Fired from a launch site near the capital Pyongyang, the new Hwasong-18 missile flew about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers), landing in waters east of the Korean peninsula, Reuters reported.

Experts told RFA’s Korean Service that although a solid-fuel rocket takes less time to prepare for launch, North Korea needs further testing to perfect the technology.

Pyongyang has been moving towards a solid-fuel missile propulsion system, with Kim Jong Un saying it was a goal for this year to have operational solid-fuel ICBMs, Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told RFA’s Korean Service.

“If successfully developed, solid-propellant ICBMs would complicate wartime planning for the U.S.-South Korea alliance as these missiles would be much more responsive in a crisis,” he said. “Unlike liquid-propellant missiles, solid-fuel missiles do not need fueling immediately prior to use. North Korea will continue its developmental missile testing and exercises as the year continues.”

The effectiveness of an ICBM is dependent on its survivability, said Joseph Dempsey, Research Associate for Defence and Military Analysis at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“Solid-fuel missiles are typically only more survivable than liquid-fuel counterparts in that they require less preparation to launch,” he said. “This means there is less time and visual indicators for an opposing force to react.” 

He said that regardless of fuel type, the ability of a warhead to withstand reentry into Earth’s atmosphere was most important.

“To date all North Korea ICBM tests have been conducted at lofted trajectories. If launched at a more maximum range trajectory, the stresses and strains of reentry at a shallow angle over a longer period could pose additional challenges,” he said. “This is not to say it would not survive, just that that technical hurdle has not been physically demonstrated with a test launch.”

Increasing missile capability is a priority for the North Korean government, but not necessarily for attacks on South Korea or the U.S., said Patrick Cronin, Asia-Pacific security chair at the Washington-based Hudson Institute.

“A space launch is still expected and a nuclear test remains possible, but thus far North Korea has simply poured its limited resources into firing missiles that land in the sea,” he said. While this theoretically improves its ability to puncture allied air and missile defenses in a war, any aggressive use of missiles to destroy or kill poses an existential threat to the Kim regime.” 

He said that the U.S, and its allies prefer peace through deterrence, but North Korea prefers military symbols over economic development.

Former acting U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Rob Rapson told RFA that if Thursday’s missile test indeed involved solid fuel, it’s another significant improvement in Pyongyang’s strategic capabilities. 

“Whether or not it’s a game-changer technology with respect to defeating ROK and U.S. missile defenses is uncertain, but it certainly complicates the mission,” he said, adding that North Korea is likely to conduct additional tests ahead of the U.S.-ROK Summit in Washington on April 26 and the G7 Summit in mid-May.

“It still remains unclear as to whether North Korea will conduct its long-forecasted 7th nuclear test,” he said. “It’s been six years since the last one.”

In a phone call with RFA, Shin Jong-woo, a senior analyst at the Korean Defense Security Forum, said of Thursday’s launch that North Korea took steps to prevent the missile from inadvertently falling on Japan.

“This first test had a low altitude and a unique launch method, a normal launch for the first stage, and a high-angle launch for the second and third stages, which is believed to have been intended for range control, he said.

He also said that instead of launching the missile from the usual launch site in Sunan, where Pyongyang’s airport is located, the North Korean government chose a launch site in the outskirts of Pyongyang, in case things did not go as planned.

North Korea is preparing for Day of the Sun, a major holiday on Saturday that celebrates the birth of the nation’s founder Kim Il Sung, and a publicly known failure so close to the holiday would reflect badly on the government.

Further tests will likely try to fire the missile at a higher angle and an altitude of about 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) to showcase the missile’s maximum capabilities, he said.

“I think there is a high possibility that they will conduct a second launch ahead of the South Korea-U.S. summit.”

Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Police in Hong Kong have arrested two men for firing water guns at police officers and TV crew from a pro-Beijing news organization at a popular street festival in Kowloon.

Officers with the serious crime squad are now investigating the case following the arrests of two men, aged 25 and 26, police told journalists.

“The two arrested men and four other men kept using water guns and bottles to shoot water at police officers and media workers … at very close range, in an attempt to disrupt social order,” chief inspector Cheung Lok-chuen told reporters on Thursday. “The whole incident lasted for three minutes.”

“Later, they added inflammatory speech into a video and posted it to an online platform,” Cheung said. “We do not rule out that this was a premeditated action, and more arrests could follow.”

Cheung was referring to a video posted by YouTuber @Bravedogdog, who shared a video titled “The Jedi Strikes Back” from the incident at the Songkran Festival in Kowloon, which takes its inspiration from the Thai water splashing festival.

In the video, a group of men approach the police officers and reporters from the pro-China Television Broadcasts (TVB) station, shouting, cursing and shooting water at them at close range, while the theme song from a Hong Kong movie “Young and Dangerous” plays under the footage.

The arrests came after pro-China columnist Chris Wat hit out at the men for “pretending to splash water, but really looking for trouble” and pointing to fears of a resurgence of the 2019 protest movement.

A similar report appeared in the Chinese Communist Party-backed Wenhui Takung news site.

Taking a harder line

Current affairs commentator Sang Pu, who is a lawyer by training, said even firing a water gun can be regarded as a matter of “national security” amid an ongoing crackdown on public dissent under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party from July 2020, criminalizing public dissent and peaceful political opposition.

“Hong Kong isn’t what it used to be,” Sang said. “They might have thought they were safe, but others might think they had the intention of attacking [the police].”

“As long as those in power and those enforcing the law believe that you did have such an intention, they can charge you with a crime,” he said.

The incident wasn’t the first time police have had water or powder thrown at them during the festival, but now appear to be taking a harder line, according to retired police superintendent Lai Ka Chi.

“While the police were expecting to get wet, they were surrounded and drenched, which must have made them think they should do something,” Lai said. “It usually depends very much on the attitudes of both the police and the civilians at such events [whether action is taken].”

“It could be that some people in the crowd thought it was too much, and that was the triggering factor [for the arrests].”

The men were arrested on suspicion of “incitement to cause a breach of the peace,” leading to speculation that even water guns are now regarded as weapons under the national security law.

Changing attitudes towards police

“It’s inevitable that people will have their doubts about what the police motivations were, or their attitude, given that the general public’s attitude to the police has changed … since 2019,” Lai said in a reference to the police crackdown on the 2019 protest movement, which was widely criticized by the international community.

The mass, peaceful protests of 2019 grew into pitched street battles between protesters armed with bricks, Molotov cocktails, catapults and other makeshift weapons against riot police who fired tear gas, rubber bullets and occasionally live ammunition at protesters and journalists.

Rights groups and protesters alike criticized the unsafe and indiscriminate use of tear gas and other forms of police violence during the months-long protest movement, as well as rampant abuses of police power and abuse of detainees.

Police violence against young and unarmed protesters early in the movement brought millions onto the city’s streets and prompted the occupation of its international airport.

In other incidents, unarmed train passengers were attacked by both armed riot police at Prince Edward station and by white-clad mobsters at Yuen Long, who laid into passengers and protesters with rods and poles while police took 39 minutes to answer hundreds of distress calls from the scene.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie.