Day: April 21, 2023

The former head of Cambodia’s Department of Wildlife and Biodiversity should not be held responsible for illegally smuggling research monkeys because he was acting on orders of his government and not in a personal capacity, his lawyers have argued in a U.S. government case against him.

Moreover, the U.S. case against Masphal Kry is tantamount to an attack on the Cambodian government, his defense lawyers argued, calling the indictment “a full-on assault on a foreign ministry.”

U.S. Justice Department officials said Kry and seven other individuals were running a smuggling operation involving hundreds of long-tail macaques – a primate key for medical studies – poached from the wild in Cambodia and shipped illegally to the U.S.

Kry, who has been under house arrest since he was apprehended at New York’s JFK airport in November 2022, made his first court appearance at an evidentiary hearing in Miami on Friday. 

Officials in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida have accused Kry of taking monkeys from the national parks and other locations in Cambodia and then falsifying permits, making it seem as though the animals had been raised in a breeding facility – the only legal place where the research primates can be sourced from.

The prosecutors accused him of being part of a conspiracy in which monkeys were sold with inaccurate export permits to the U.S. The prosecutors accused Kry and his associates of trying to make it seem as though the monkeys had been bred in captivity, when in fact the monkeys had been caught in the wild.

Prosecutors said that Kry and his associates concocted a scheme to sell the monkeys. He and his associates have each been charged with seven counts of smuggling and one count of conspiracy.

On Friday, a judge, Lisette Reid, considered whether some of the evidence gathered by federal investigators could be admitted at trial. The lawyers argued about the circumstances of Kry’s arrest at Kennedy International Airport in New York in November, and whether information that he provided to an investigator on that day can be admitted.

At the airport, Kry was read his Miranda rights (his right to have a lawyer present and to remain silent). But his lawyers said that he does not speak or understand English well enough to have comprehended the full meaning of his rights. If he was not aware of his rights, then the information he shared cannot be admitted.

The prosecutors said that he was told of his rights, and that he was given a translation of his rights in the Khmer language. Therefore, they said, the evidence can be admitted.
Kry, sitting next to an interpreter, listened intently to their arguments. He wore a dark suit and white socks, with an electronic ankle bracelet – a GPS tracking device – bulging under one of his socks.

Outside the courthouse, animal rights activists, holding signs (“End Monkey Smuggling”) and wearing cardboard monkey faces, stood in a line.

“Hunters in Cambodia are taking mothers away from their babies,” said Amanda Brody, a senior campaigner for an organization, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), referring to the captured animals. “We’re standing here in solidarity with the monkeys.”

Protecting public spaces?

Ahead of Friday’s hearing, Kry’s lawyers sought to have the indictment dismissed, arguing that he was following the Cambodian government’s request to obtain monkeys from “public spaces,” places where monkeys are a nuisance for local residents. 

In fact, Cambodian officials viewed the capture of the monkeys as a service to the people who live in these areas. Local authorities had wanted the monkeys removed, the lawyers claimed.

Kry was fulfilling his duties as a wildlife official and U.S. prosecutors are attempting “to criminalize public acts by a foreign government employee that occurred entirely within that foreign country.”

“These public acts are legal under Cambodian law,” said the defense lawyers.

Experts say the argument has little credibility as the issue is not whether poaching monkeys is legal under Cambodian domestic law, but that Kry and his conspirators faked import documents to pretend that the provenance of the macaques was legitimate. 

This would be illegal under U.S. law and under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which Cambodia has signed.

The defense’s argument “epitomizes the Cambodian government’s way of thinking — it’s not illegal if the government says it’s not,” said Ed Newcomer, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife investigator. “[But] Cambodia is a signatory to CITES and, as such, has to follow CITES rules if they want to export their wildlife.”

Long-tailed macaques, highly intelligent creatures prized in research for their biological similarity to humans, are protected under international trade law, and their handlers need a permit to ship them to the U.S. 

They were added to the endangered species list in 2022 amid increased poaching as demand for the primates surged in the midst of the COVID pandemic.

The biggest market is the U.S. From 2000 to 2018, the U.S. imported between 41.7% and 70.1% of the total annual trade, according to a forthcoming article in the International Federation of Tropical Medicine journal.

Vietnam has ordered media outlets to remove news coverage about the death of literary critic and poet Dang Tien, and not to publish further reports about him because he was a member of a literature organization the government claims is anti-communist, sources in the country told Radio Free Asia.

Dang Tien, best known for his books “Universe of Poetry,” and “Poems, Poetics, Prosody, and Profiles,” died in France at age 83 on April 17. 

After starting his career as a book reviewer while still a college student in Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City, in 1960, he left Vietnam for Paris in 1966 and taught Vietnamese literature at the University of Paris from 1969 to 2005.

Tien was a member of the Independent Literature Association’s Advocacy Committee, or ILAAC, which was established in 2014 and has 60 members. Members say it is often harassed by authorities, and state media have reported that it is an illegal organization set up by hostile forces to oppose the Communist Party and the Vietnamese government.

This is why the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee’s Propaganda and Education Department sent directives to media outlets to remove coverage of Tien’s death from their websites, Hoang Dung, a professor and member of the group told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.

“[It’s] true. I received the info from a journalist friend of mine and I’ve read the directive,” Hoang Dung, a member of the ILAAC told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.

The directive, which Dung forwarded to RFA, was worded as follows:

“In regard to Mr. Dang Tien, who has passed away in France, media organizations are requested not to cover the news (and if they have done so, their stories should be removed immediately) as this person joined an organization against the Party and the Vietnamese government (the Independent Literature Association). Best regards.” 

News reports about Tien’s death are no longer accessible on the online editions of the Ho Chi Minh City’s Youth and Women’s Newspapers, but two other state-owned outlets, VnExpress and the Sports & Culture online newspapers, still had online content on the subject as of Friday afternoon.

The Youth (Tuoi Tre) Newspaper is the mouthpiece of the city’s Communist Youth Union, and the Ho Chi Minh City Women’s Newspaper is the mouthpiece of the city’s party committee.

‘Voluntary’ removal

The Young People (Thanh Nien) Newspaper also removed reports on the subject, even though it is not managed by the party committee and is run by the Vietnam Youth Federation.

Dung said the fear of punishment from the government is so prevalent that staff at Young People would have found it safer to take their stories down.

RFA attempted to contact both Youth and Young People for confirmation, but phone calls went unanswered. RFA also contacted the Ho Chi Minh City Women’s Online Newspaper, but a woman who answered the call said she could not provide a response to inquiries over the phone.

Written inquiries to all three outlets received no response.

According to Dung, censorship of news relating to the ILAAC or its members is only a fraction of the government’s efforts to crack down on the organization.

For instance, the Central Party’s Propaganda and Education department in 2018 sent a dispatch officially requesting that the Ministry of Education and Training remove all works by members of the ILAAC from new literature textbooks.

The dispatch is still in effect, and people who are no longer ILAAC members are still blacklisted, Dung said.

Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster. 

An outspoken China hawk who is seeking the White House is due to become the first 2024 presidential hopeful to visit Taiwan as American political positions toward Beijing harden ahead of next year’s U.S. election.

John Bolton, who served as national security advisor to President Donald Trump from 2018 to 2019 and has launched a bid to become the next Republican nominee for president, will deliver remarks at two pro-Taiwanese independence events in Taipei, his office said Friday.

The first is a keynote speech at The World Taiwanese Congress on April 29, with the theme “Maintaining Long Term Peace and Security in Taiwan.” The other is a keynote address at the Formosan Association for Public Affairs’ 40th Anniversary Banquet on May 1.

The trip comes as U.S. and Chinese officials are facing one of the most explosive moments of their diplomatic relations, with Taiwan at the center of a fierce conflict.

The island considers itself a sovereign state, but Beijing claims it as a part of the People’s Republic of China. The U.S. does not recognize an independent Taiwan, but provides arms for Taiwanese defense. 

Meetings between Taiwanese and U.S. officials perennially inflame relations with Washington, as Beijing claims that these events undermine Beijing’s so-called “One China” policy.

Hard line on China

Bolton – who declared his candidacy for president in January – has long advocated for a hard line on China and U.S. recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign nation.

His bid for the White House is considered a long-shot, but his position on China is politically astute. Austin Wang of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who studies East Asia politics, said that current polls in the United States show that American voters’ unfavorable view towards China is increasing and their support for Taiwan is rising.

“Bolton’s visit to Taiwan as a presidential candidate carries two significant meanings: firstly, it could help him in the primaries of his party, and secondly, it reflects the importance of Taiwan issues for supporters of various political parties,” Wang said.

“This is the most crucial time for the Taiwan issue in the U.S. election, and the first time a presidential candidate has visited Taiwan.”

Tough talk on Taiwan, however, has become a rite of passage for those who are running for office in the U.S., regardless of their political party. 

Republicans have been more aggressive in their stance on Taiwan than the Democrats, but members of both of the political parties agree that a robust defense of Taiwan’s autonomy sends an important message: U.S. leaders are standing up for political freedom — and against the Chinese government on this issue.

But while visits from U.S. politicians can help them burnish an image of being tough on China to American constituents, hard stances like Bolton’s can pose an awkward challenge for hosts in Taiwan, which is due to hold its own election in January 2024. 

Although the candidates have not yet been finalized, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suffered a setback in last year’s local elections. On the other hand, the Kuomintang (KMT), which firmly opposes Taiwan independence and is striving to portray itself as the peacemaker across the Taiwan Strait with friendly relations with Chinese officials, sees a glimmer of hope for regaining power.

A recent official poll conducted in Taiwan in March has shed light on the political sentiments of the population. The results show that almost 90% of respondents favor maintaining the status quo, while a meager 5.3% support hastening independence, and a mere 1.1% back expediting unification.

Desire for stability

These findings underscore the prevailing desire for stability and continuity among Taiwanese citizens, and highlight the importance of maintaining the delicate balance of power in the region.

“If a hawkish U.S. presidential candidate visits Taiwan, the impact may not be significant in terms of the visit itself. What is more important is what is done during the visit or what is said in Taiwan,” said Wang, the University of Nevada expert.

“If the U.S. presidential candidate visits Taiwan and publicly states the need to send troops to defend Taiwan, it will be welcomed by the Taiwanese public but will also create tension,” he said.  

“This could also further polarize the Taiwanese public’s attitude towards the U.S.”

A spokesperson for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington declined to comment on the risks, and possible benefits, of a Bolton visit. “We will continue to promote the deepening of Taiwan-U.S. relations in various fields,” said the spokesperson, “and welcome visitors from all walks of life in the United States to Taiwan.”

Privately, though, Taiwanese officials have spoken of being wary of having to deal with the fallout from even casual remarks made by prominent American visitors during their trips. 

Recently, remarks by another former Trump advisor, Robert O’Brien, floating a hypothetical idea about the value of having an assault rifle in Taiwan was turned into an incendiary local headline: “Former U.S. national security director: Taiwan should educate its people to use AK47s.”

The headline was amplified by Chinese government officials,  who claimed that O’Brien’s remark was a sign that the United States was pushing Taiwan into a military confrontation with China.

But Taiwanese officials may have to brace for further turbulence, as Bolton will not be the only high-profile Republican to visit the island.

Former vice president Mike Pence, also believed to have presidential aspirations, is due to visit in June, according to analysts in Washington. (Pence’s office did not respond to a request for comment).

And just ahead of Bolton’s visit, Virginia Gov. Glen Youngkin – another ambitious Republican – will also be in Taiwan. 

Authorities in Myanmar have arrested a journalist and three celebrities who criticized the junta’s bombing of a village in Sagaing region that killed 200 people, including children, a source with knowledge of the country’s legal system said Friday.

Kyaw Min Swe, a reporter in Yangon, actress May Pa Chi, and vocalists Shwe Yi Thein Tan and May La Than Sin were charged on Thursday with violating Article 505 (a) of Myanmar’s penal code for “inciting public unrest,” a Yangon-based justice lawyer told RFA Burmese. The junta has routinely used Article 505 (a) to prosecute those who oppose its rule in the 26 months since it seized power in a coup d’etat.

“Kyaw Min Swe was handed over to the Sanchaung township police station yesterday,” said the lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing security concerns.

“A complaint was opened against actress May Pa Chi and [vocalist] Shwe Yi Thein Tan under Article 505 (a) at the North Dagon township police station last night, and vocalist May La Than Sin has been charged under the same article … in East Dagon township,” he said, adding that May La Than had been arraigned in court on Thursday.”

The lawyer said that all four had been charged for allegedly inciting the public against the junta by posting messages to their Facebook accounts opposing the junta’s April 11 air raid on the opening ceremony of a public administration building in Kanbalu township’s Pa Zi Gyi village, believed to be one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in Myanmar since the February 2021 coup. The attack has drawn condemnation from across the globe.

He said the four had been arrested by junta security forces on April 11 and 12 and taken to an interrogation center in Yangon, where they were held prior to being charged.

Kyaw Min Swe was the editor-in-chief of The Voice Weekly magazine. He also served as the secretary for the Myanmar News and Media Council.

Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders on Friday condemned the journalist’s arrest and called for his “immediate and unconditional release” in an emailed statement to RFA.

“Kyaw Min Swe’s arrest is yet another confirmation of the absolute terror journalists have to face in Myanmar,” said Daniel Bastard, head of the group’s Asia-Pacific desk, calling it “all the more shocking” that the arrest was related to his reaction to the bombing of Pa Zi Gyi.

“It is a common pattern for war criminals to try and erase any kind of comment regarding their crimes, and this is precisely what the junta is trying to do in shutting down journalists like Kyaw Min Swe,” Bastard said.

According to reports compiled by journalists, the junta has killed three local members of the media and arrested more than 150 since the coup.

UN failure to condemn

Reports of the four arrests came as criticism mounted against the United Nations Security Council for failing to speak out against the April 11 airstrike.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as well as several Western governments and human rights organizations, issued statements condemning the junta’s use of deadly force against civilians. 

Myanmar’s permanent representative to the U.N., Kyaw Moe Tun, who the junta has charged with high treason for accepting his appointment to the world body by the shadow National Unity Government, said on April 13 that it is “painful for the people of Myanmar” to see the Security Council’s inaction on the attack.

On April 15, Zin Mar Aung, the NUG’s minister of foreign affairs, echoed Kyaw Moe Tun’s frustration, telling reporters that the U.N. and the Security Council – particularly member countries with veto power – have an obligation to hold the junta to account for the airstrike and other atrocities.

China and Russia, both of which have maintained close ties with the junta since the coup, make up two-fifths of the council’s permanent members with veto power, along with the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.

Myanmar’s military confirmed in a statement last week that it had carried out a “precision” attack on Pa Zi Gyi on April 11 because members of the armed resistance had gathered there and “committed terrorist acts.”

Junta Deputy Information Minister Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun told the military-controlled broadcast channel MRTV that those killed in the strike were members of the anti-junta People’s Defense Force, not civilians, and that the large number of casualties was the result of a rebel weapons cache exploding during the operation.

But rescue workers have disputed that account. They say the attack on the site was deliberate and thorough, beginning with a jet fighter bombing run and followed by an Mi-35 helicopter strafing the area.

Despite the international blowback, the junta again bombed Pa Zi Gyi on Thursday. Initial reports said no one was injured in the latest bombing, as most of the village’s residents were either killed or still in hiding from last week’s attack. But sources told RFA Burmese that many of the remaining buildings were damaged.

Speaking to RFA on Friday, residents of Pa Zi Gyi urged the international community, and more specifically, the U.N. Security Council, to take immediate action against the junta.

“There will be no civilians left in this country if effective action isn’t taken,” said one resident who lost eight family members in the attack. “We call for a total end to the junta’s use of airstrikes against us.”

“I request that the U.N. and the international community take strong action against the junta as soon as possible because … I don’t want any more people to face the tragedies we’ve faced,” said a second resident.

Onus on the people of Myanmar

Other observers questioned whether the U.N. or other global bodies could have any impact on the situation in Myanmar were they to take a harder tack with the junta.

“If you look at the current crisis in Ukraine or any other issues that happened in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, you can see that the Security Council could never have resolved any of those issues,” said analyst Hla Kyaw Zaw. “I think that the issue of the Pa Zi Gyi village incident or any other problems in Myanmar can only be solved by the people of Myanmar.”

Ye Tun, a former member of parliament for the deposed National League for Democracy, suggested that the international community should assume the role of mediator in Myanmar’s political crisis, with the goal of bringing a lasting peace to the country.

“The best thing is to encourage the two sides of the political spectrum to hold discussions and negotiate politically,” he said. “If countries that have influence over the junta, such as China and India, and superpowers like the U.S. that have influence over the resistance organizations … can work cooperatively to bring the two sides together, I think a solution may be possible.”

Than Soe Naing, another analyst, agreed that the people of Myanmar cannot rely on the U.N. Security Council or other international organizations to solve their problems.

“The U.N. itself is in such an unreliable situation that it has transferred the matter to the hands of ASEAN,” he said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member.

ASEAN faced similar criticism for failing to condemn the airstrike until it finally did so in a statement issued days after the attack.

Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Matt Reed.

In a speech Friday at the Global Buddhist Summit, the Dalai Lama spoke about the importance of compassion and wisdom, and stressed the importance of Buddhist philosophy and values. 

“I can also share with you that by engaging in this kind of inner development and particularly focusing on wisdom and compassion, it can really help increase our courage as well,” the 87-year-old Tibetan Buddhism spiritual leader said through an interpreter.

Dozens of monks in yellow, orange and saffron robes turned out for the two-day conference in New Delhi, India, which drew 500 participants from nearly 30 countries and regions, including Tibet, Mongolia, Nepal, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India and Myanmar. It was hosted by India’s Ministry of Culture and the International Buddhist Confederation

It was the Dalai Lama’s first public appearance since a video of him kissing a boy on the mouth and asking him to “suck” his tongue at a student event in northern India on Feb. 28 went viral on social media. 

The incident disgusted many viewers. However, sticking out one’s tongue is a greeting or a sign of respect or agreement in Tibetan culture, and supporters of the Dalai Lama held demonstrations this week protesting the media’s coverage of the event. 

Nevertheless, the Dalai Lama later apologized to the boy and his family for any misunderstanding. 

The summit was a “good example for the world of people coming from different traditions, cultural backgrounds all meeting together in harmony,” said Jetsun Tenzin Palmo, president of International Buddhist Confederation.

And though the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in Dharamsala, India, did not discuss the recent controversy surrounding the video, he did broach the topic of Tibet’s struggle with China. 

“For example: In the case of my dealing with the current struggle and situation of Tibet, if you think just only about it from a narrow angle, you can lose your hope,” he said. “But if you look at this crisis and look at this current situation from the broader perspective of the courage that cultivation and compassion give you, then you can have a much more resilient mind.”

“So, even in your daily life, there might be problems which may seem enormous and unbearable,” the Dalai Lama said. “Still, if you have the courage, you will be in a much stronger position to turn adversities into opportunities.”

The Dalai Lama has long advocated a Middle Way approach to peacefully resolve the issue of Tibet and to bring about stability and co-existence based on equality and mutual cooperation with China and without discrimination based on one nationality being superior or better than the other. 

Beijing views any sign of Tibetan disobedience, including peaceful protests and self-immolations, as acts of separatism, threatening China’s national security.

There have been no formal talks between the Dalai Lama and Beijing since 2010, and Chinese officials have made unreasonable demands of the Dalai Lama as a condition for further dialogue.

Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

The piece was titled “We Sing the Same Song,” sung by elementary school students in Taiwan for a state-run television special in China over the Lunar New Year.

But the lyrics clearly echoed Beijing’s claims to the democratic island, prompting a public outcry in Taiwan over China’s influence operations.

“We talk to each other on the way to finding our roots,” the choir from Dunhua Elementary School sings in the video performance commissioned by the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian. “Spanning the Taiwan Strait, we have always been one family, our names on the same family tree.”

The work has previously been described as a propaganda song for the Chinese Communist Party’s outreach and influence arm, the United Front Work Department, as it is based on Beijing’s claim that the people of Taiwan are basically Chinese, and all part of the same family, sharing “roots” and a common culture and ancestry.

The piece was called a “United Front song” by Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council in 2022, after its performance by Taiwanese singers Jam Hsiao and Ouyang Nana on Chinese state television sparked a public outcry.

The incident comes just weeks after former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou sparked criticism in Taiwan with his comment that Taiwan’s 23 million people are “ethnically Chinese,” during a recent trip to China.

Beijing has threatened a military invasion if Taiwan refuses its plans for “peaceful unification,” a notion it backs up with the claim that people in Taiwan and China are all from the same “family.”

Recent opinion polls indicate that there is broad political support for continued self-rule, freedom and democracy in Taiwan, where the majority of voters identify as Taiwanese rather than Chinese. While the island is formally known as the Republic of China, it has never formed part of the 73-year-old People’s Republic of China.

‘Administrative errors’

The elementary school’s management had shown “administrative errors” in its implementation of government guidelines on invitations to perform, said Tang Chih-min, who heads the Taipei municipal education bureau. 

Asked if the school had been in direct contact with officials from the Fujian United Front Work Department, Tang said state-run Fujian TV had been in direct contact with Principal Liu Chien-nan regarding the performance, instead of going through his department at the municipal government, which owns and runs the school.

Liu had decided in a staff meeting that the song was “inappropriate” for the school’s choir to perform, but went ahead with the project after the TV station agreed to let them omit part of the lyrics, and will be subjected to a performance review as punishment, Tang said in comments reported by several major media outlets in Taiwan.

“Overall I accept this, and the results of the investigation should be respected,” Liu told Radio Free Asia on Friday.

“But I hope the matter will die down soon, because it doesn’t seem to matter what I say — there are still people who disagree,” he said.

The city authorities began their investigation after two city councilors held a news conference accusing the municipal authorities of allowing China’s “United Front” rhetoric to creep into schools unnoticed.

Deeply resonant

The row has been deeply resonant in Taipei, where ruling Democratic Progressive Party councilors are targeting incoming Mayor Chiang Wan-an, who has deep family ties to Ma Ying-jeou’s opposition Kuomintang, which seeks closer ties with Beijing.

“The Chinese Communist Party has long regarded Taiwan’s youth as a key target of its United Front operations in Taiwan,” the Mainland Affairs Council said of the controversy.

“It has recently stepped up its attempts to promote ‘unification and integration’ [with Taiwan], packaging its United Front aims as cultural and educational exchange,” the council said. “It has already stepped up United Front work among Taiwan’s [university] students, and now it is extending them into primary and secondary schools.”

It called on schools to be more vigilant, so as to “avoid being used for propaganda” by China.

Wu Se-Chih, a researcher at Taiwan’s Cross-Straits Policy Association, said the school had clearly failed to use sufficient political judgment in accepting the invitation to perform.

“Either that or they were overly optimistic about educational exchanges across the Taiwan Strait,” Wu said. “But for the Chinese Communist Party, they were just an instrument.”

“Educational departments should ensure that principals and administrators have greater awareness of and focus on what is going on across the Taiwan Strait, and on China’s United Front operations,” he said.

According to a 2017 report by New Zealand political science professor Anne-Marie Brady, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is leading an accelerated expansion of political influence activities worldwide, much of which rely on overseas community and business groups, under the aegis of the United Front Work Department, the Chinese Communist Party’s outreach and influence arm.

Taiwan’s government under President Tsai Ing-wen has repeatedly warned of “cognitive warfare” and disinformation campaigns being waged on the island by agents and supporters of Beijing, recently launching a probe into a company believed to be operating on behalf of TikTok despite a government ban. 

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.