Day: February 7, 2024

The Arakan Army has captured two key military units in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, giving it effective control of Minbya township and putting it in a position to challenge junta control of the state capital, according to an ethnic rebel alliance and sources in the region.

On Tuesday morning, the Arakan Army, or AA, routed Light Infantry Battalions 379 and 541 – the two junta battalions that remained in Minbya after the ethnic rebels captured the 380th battalion on Jan. 28 – the Three Brotherhood Alliance, of which the AA is a member, said in a statement.

“All junta soldiers surrendered to the AA,” said a resident who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. It wasn’t clear how many soldiers this entailed, but the latest estimates by military experts suggest most battalions in the Burmese Army have around 200 men.

The takeover means “the AA now controls Minbya,” he said. People are worried about possible airstrikes by the military and “don’t dare go outside.”

​​The advances are the latest in a series of victories for the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which launched a campaign in October on junta forces in the northern and western parts of the country.

In northern Rakhine and neighboring Chin state, the AA seized arms and ammunition during several attacks on junta positions in January.

On Jan. 16, nearly 300 junta troops surrendered to the AA after it took control of two major military junta encampments in Kyauktaw township. And on Jan. 24, the Three Brotherhood Alliance said in a statement that the AA had won full control of Pauktaw, a port city just 16 miles (25 kilometers) east of the Rakhine capital Sittwe.

The takeovers follow the AA’s occupation of the entirety of western Chin’s Paletwa region – a mere 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the border with Bangladesh – in November, after it ended a ceasefire that had been in place with the junta since the military’s Feb. 1, 2021, coup d’etat.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance claimed in a statement late on Tuesday that the AA has now captured all but two of the 10 light infantry battalions under the aegis of the No. 9 Military Operations Command in Kyauktaw. They include the 379th, 380th and 541th battalions in Minbya; the 374th, 376th and 539th in Kyauktaw; and 378th and 540th in Mrauk-U township – the last two of which were also taken on Tuesday morning, the alliance said.

The two remaining light infantry battalions under the No. 9 Military Operations Command are 377th in Mrauk-U and 375th in Kyautaw, according to the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which added that the AA had also taken control of Artillery Battalion 377 in Kyauktaw.

Central Rakhine offensive

No. 9 Military Operations Command in central Rakhine’s Kyauktaw township is one of three junta command centers in the state, the other two being No. 5 in southern Rakhine’s Toungup township and No. 15 in northern Rakhine’s Buthidaung township.

A Rakhine-based military observer told RFA that the AA is focusing on taking control of No. 9 Military Operations Command so that it can launch offensives from the region against battalions under No. 5 and No. 15.

“If the AA can capture the [Operations Command] in Kyauktaw, then they will control the central area of the state,” the observer said. “This area is important for military offensives, so the AA could use it to launch strategic attacks on the military in other areas.”

The observer noted that the junta is ceding battalions and townships despite its use of the air force, navy and ground troops, suggesting that it no longer has the capacity to counter AA offensives.

He also suggested that if the AA is able to take complete control of Mrauk-U and Kyauktaw, it would likely push on to fight for control of the capital Sittwe and Ann township, where the junta’s Western Military Headquarters is located.

“If the junta loses these towns, it can be assumed that the next phase of battles will occur in Sittwe … and Ann,” he said. “It may then spread further to Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships.”

The AA has yet to issue any statements about the junta battalions they have captured, casualties suffered in the fighting, or the number of military troops who have surrendered.

Rapid gains

Another resident monitoring the military situation in Rakhine told RFA that the AA could assume control of as many as five townships in the north of the state by the end of February, before advancing south.

“We earlier thought that the AA would proceed with attacks in southern Rakhine only in 2025, after first taking control of the north,” he said. “However, they have made significant gains in Ramree and Toungup townships in a short span of time. The junta soldiers have fled [across the borders] to Bangladesh and India, and more soldiers will surrender soon.”

In its statement on Tuesday, the Three Brotherhood Alliance said it also expects that the AA will fully capture the Taung Pyo Let Wei and Taung Pyo Let Yar border outposts north of Rakhine’s Maungdaw township along the border with Bangladesh, days after launching attacks on the two areas.

The alliance claimed that AA fighters had located the bodies of several members of the junta-affiliated Border Guard Forces killed in the fighting and confiscated a large cache of arms and ammunition, adding that “more than 200 junta soldiers fled the area to Bangladesh.”

Meanwhile, fighting remains fierce in Ramree township, where the AA launched attacks on a military outpost in December, residents of the area said. More than 10,000 civilians have fled the clashes and at least 60 homes were destroyed in military airstrikes and artillery attacks, they said.

The junta has yet to release any statements related to the military situation in Rakhine state.

Attempts by RFA to contact junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun and AA spokesman Khaing Thukha went unanswered Wednesday.

In the three months since the AA ended its ceasefire, more than 110 civilians have been killed and at least 250 injured in fighting in Rakhine state, according to data compiled by RFA.

Translated by Aung Naing and Htin Aung Kyaw. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

North Korea is forcing its citizens to buy large decorative photos depicting a recent rocket launch to display in their homes as a sign of patriotism. But the people are pushing back, saying the launches and the photos themselves are a waste of money that could be better spent on feeding the people, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.

“On Jan. 28, each neighborhood-watch unit distributed decorative photos to each household which show scenes from the satellite launch,” a resident of the northeastern province of  North Hamgyong, who requested anonymity for personal safety, told RFA Korean. “Residents who refused to receive the photo were forced to take them, saying it was an order from the Party.”

The vinyl-coated photo placards depict the night-time rocket launch of the country’s first military reconnaissance satellite, the Manrikyong-1, which was successfully launched into orbit in November, after failed launches in May and August, said a resident of the northeastern province of Ryanggang. 

It’s rather large for a photo, 29 centimeters (11 inches) long and 19 centimeters (7.5 inches) wide, and is being sold for 1,500 won (18 US cents), a resident from the northern province of Ryanggang said.  In the past, the government gave away more items for free to its people, but now it is struggling financially.

This is the first time that the government is distributing photos of satellite and missile launches. 

The North Hamgyong resident said that people are complaining that they have seen enough news about the satellite in state-run TV and newspapers, and that posting them in their homes seems excessive. 

“But the head of the neighborhood watch unit threatened the residents, saying ‘If the Party orders you to post them at home, you will follow the order at all costs,’” he said.

The war-like images on the placards also rubbed some residents the wrong way, the resident said.

“They dislike seeing missile launches because they believe that every time a missile or satellite is launched, several years’ worth of food for the people is thrown into the sky,” he said. “Launching missiles or satellites is an action that increases hunger among residents.” 

For some of the poorer residents, the photos are expensive,” the North Hamgyong resident said.

“People would refuse them even if they were offered money to take the placards, but the authorities are going door to door asking us to pay for them,” he said. “Poor residents do not have even 1,000 won (12 cents). Some people are explicitly saying that they would rather receive food than satellite launch photos.”

People are not thinking about rockets, though, the Ryanggang resident said. 

“For residents who urgently need to make a living, the military situation between North and South Korea must take a backseat,” he said.“No matter how much the Party emphasizes the military standoff and instills a warlike atmosphere, most people show no response or interest.”

Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong.

Social media users in China claimed that the United States was on the brink of civil war following a recent standoff between the federal government and the state of Texas over border policy, sharing photos and videos as evidence. 

But the claim is false. The photos and videos are unrelated to that  ongoing dispute. There are no reports in the U.S. media of a brewing conflict between Texas and the American military – which would be huge news. Keyword searches found no credible reports and statements to back the claim. 

The claim was shared on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo on Jan. 29.

“Huge numbers of tanks, artillery headed for Texas! The day before yesterday, the state of Texas issued a draft order for a large number of National Guard troops to move to the border,” the claim reads in part. 

The post was shared alongside four images that showed soldiers shipping and working on tanks.

Tensions escalated following a U.S. Supreme Court decision on Jan. 22 permitting federal agents to temporarily remove razor wire along the Mexican border. In a defiant response, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott subsequently vowed to add more wire along the border.

Other photos and videos have been also shared on Weibo, Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter, trumpeting an “impending civil war.”

But the claim is false. 

Photos of soldiers and tanks

A keyword search on Google found the identical photos published by the Kansas National Guard’s official X account on Jan. 26. 

“TRENDING THIS WEEK:Soldiers ship Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles via rail to Fort Bliss, Texas,” reads the caption of the photos.

The Kansas Adjutant General’s Department said in a statement on the same day that the equipment would only be used for training exercises in Texas before being shipped overseas in support of a U.S. military initiative in Southwest Asia known as Operation Spartan Shield. 

The state of Texas has not responded to AFCL’s inquiries as of press time. 

A video of trucks

A video showing a large number of trucks has been also shared in several social media posts alongside a claim that it shows “volunteers rushing to the border to reinforce efforts to prevent an invasion of illegal immigrants.”

But the video is unrelated to the ongoing border dispute in Texas and in fact shows a news clip of a protest over COVID restrictions organized by American truck drivers in 2022. 

While a trucker convoy heading to Texas named “Take Our Border Back” was actually organized from Jan. 29 to Feb. 3 in response to the ongoing border dispute, the move predates those false social media posts. 

As of Feb. 7, AFCL found no credible media reports or official statements that back the claim about imminent civil war in Texas.

Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Taejun Kang and Malcolm Foster.

Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.

Social media users in China claimed that the United States was on the brink of civil war following a recent standoff between the federal government and the state of Texas over border policy, sharing photos and videos as evidence. 

But the claim is false. The photos and videos are unrelated to that  ongoing dispute. There are no reports in the U.S. media of a brewing conflict between Texas and the American military – which would be huge news. Keyword searches found no credible reports and statements to back the claim. 

The claim was shared on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo on Jan. 29.

“Huge numbers of tanks, artillery headed for Texas! The day before yesterday, the state of Texas issued a draft order for a large number of National Guard troops to move to the border,” the claim reads in part. 

The post was shared alongside four images that showed soldiers shipping and working on tanks.

Tensions escalated following a U.S. Supreme Court decision on Jan. 22 permitting federal agents to temporarily remove razor wire along the Mexican border. In a defiant response, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott subsequently vowed to add more wire along the border.

Other photos and videos have been also shared on Weibo, Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter, trumpeting an “impending civil war.”

But the claim is false. 

Photos of soldiers and tanks

A keyword search on Google found the identical photos published by the Kansas National Guard’s official X account on Jan. 26. 

“TRENDING THIS WEEK:Soldiers ship Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles via rail to Fort Bliss, Texas,” reads the caption of the photos.

The Kansas Adjutant General’s Department said in a statement on the same day that the equipment would only be used for training exercises in Texas before being shipped overseas in support of a U.S. military initiative in Southwest Asia known as Operation Spartan Shield. 

The state of Texas has not responded to AFCL’s inquiries as of press time. 

A video of trucks

A video showing a large number of trucks has been also shared in several social media posts alongside a claim that it shows “volunteers rushing to the border to reinforce efforts to prevent an invasion of illegal immigrants.”

But the video is unrelated to the ongoing border dispute in Texas and in fact shows a news clip of a protest over COVID restrictions organized by American truck drivers in 2022. 

While a trucker convoy heading to Texas named “Take Our Border Back” was actually organized from Jan. 29 to Feb. 3 in response to the ongoing border dispute, the move predates those false social media posts. 

As of Feb. 7, AFCL found no credible media reports or official statements that back the claim about imminent civil war in Texas.

Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Taejun Kang and Malcolm Foster.

Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.

A Tibetan monk who criticized China’s restrictive policies in Tibet and was convicted of “inciting separatism” has been released after four and half years in prison.

Rinchen Tsultrim was released from Mianyang prison in Sichuan province on Feb. 1 after completing his prison term, two sources told Radio Free Asia.

Tsultrim was a monk at the Nangzhig Monastery in Sichuan’s Ngaba county when he was taken into custody in 2019. He was secretly detained for more than a year and sentenced in a closed trial in 2021.

Before his arrest, he had written favorably on the language rights of Tibetans and had praised the previous incarnation of the Panchen Lama, Tibetan Buddhism’s second-most important spiritual leader behind the Dalai Lama.

He posted the writings on his website and had received at least three warnings from Chinese authorities before he was detained. 

Separatism, or “working to split the country,” is an accusation often leveled by Chinese authorities against Tibetans opposing the assimilation of Tibet’s distinctive national and cultural identity into China’s dominant Han culture. 

Scores of monks, writers, educators, and musical performers have been arrested under the charge in recent years.

Particular targets of censors and police are images of the Dalai Lama shared on mobile phones and calls for the preservation of the Tibetan language, now under threat from government orders to establish Chinese as the main language of instruction in Tibetan schools.

While in prison, Tsultrim was refused permission to meet with his family, and contact was restricted to brief phone calls once a month, sources told RFA at the time. 

There were also reports that Tsultrim was subjected to torture, forced labor and political indoctrination while in prison. 

The two sources, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, refused to discuss the current condition of Tsultrim’s health, citing fear of repercussions. They said that he remains under “constant surveillance.”

Edited by Tenzin Pema and Matt Reed.

A Cambodian opposition party official who posted a photo of his spoiled election ballot on Facebook during last year’s general election was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison for incitement.

The Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court also fined Chao Veasna 6 million riel (US$1470) and deprived him of his right to vote and his eligibility to stand for election for five years.

Chao Veasna was detained by Banteay Meanchey provincial authorities on July 25 – two days after the ruling Cambodian People’s Party swept an election that didn’t include any Candlelight Party candidates.

In May, the National Election Committee disqualified the party – the only serious contender to the CPP – because it couldn’t produce its original registration form. In response, many opposition activists urged voters to destroy their ballots as a form of protest.

Then-Prime Minister Hun Sen was angered by the effort and demanded on social media that opposition activists who posted photos of spoiled ballots publicly apologize. Some of the ballots were incorrectly marked or otherwise vandalized, which prevented election workers from using them in their official count.

Private conversation

Wednesday’s verdict was attended by Chao Veasna’s daughter, Chao Rattanak, defense lawyers and an official from the human rights NGO Licadho.

The court announced that he was convicted of incitement to commit a crime and inciting discrimination. But the allegations were based on her father’s involvement in a private chat on the Telegram messaging app, Chao Rattanak told Radio Free Asia.

“To this date, I’ve not seen any court evidence proving that my father spoke in public,” she said, referring to the allegation that he urged people to destroy their ballot.

“There is no law that prevents him from speaking in his private space,” she said. “Each person has the right to speak.”

Chao Veasna was also ordered by the court to pay 80 million riel (US$19,600) in compensation to a civil complainant. It was unclear who the plaintiff was in the civil part of the case.

The family will appeal the sentence, which they believe was politically motivated, Chao Rattanak said.

In October, she told RFA that her father was suffering health issues at the provincial prison.

Previous prison sentence 

Chao Veasna is the former chief of the Candlelight Party’s Poipet office on the Thai border. He was previously sentenced to five years in prison in 2018 for “incitement to violence.” 

That case stemmed from a 2015 protest in which transportation workers – angered over import taxes – hurled rocks at the Poipet Customs Department building.

Chao Veasna maintained that he was only observing the protest and did not incite workers. He was released in 2022.

RFA was unable to contact Chao Veasna’s lawyer, Em Chantha, for comment on Wednesday.

The sentence shows that Prime Minister Hun Manet’s government is just as willing to use the courts to target opposition activists as Hun Sen was, according to Khem Monykosal, the Candlelight Party’s chief for Pailin province who is seeking asylum in Thailand

“The trial of Chao Veasna, my colleague in the Candlelight Party, shows the social injustice under the leadership of Hun Manet government,” he said. “It uses the court as a tool to destroy democrats in Cambodia.”

Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed.