Day: February 23, 2024

Police on Friday arrested more than 1,000 Tibetans, including monks from at least two local monasteries, in southwestern China’s Sichuan province after they protested the construction of a dam expected to destroy six monasteries and force the relocation of two villages, two sources from inside Tibet told Radio Free Asia.

The arrested individuals – both monks and local residents – are being held in various places throughout Dege county in Kardze Tibetan Prefecture because the police do not have a single place to detain them, said the sources who requested anonymity for safety reasons.

Those arrested have been forced to bring their own bedding and tsampa – a staple food for Tibetans that can be used to sustain themselves for long periods of time, the sources said.

“That police are asking Tibetans to bring their own tsampa and bedding is a sign that they will not be released anytime soon,” one of the sources said.

On Thursday, Feb. 22, Chinese authorities deployed specially trained armed police in Kardze’s Upper Wonto village region to arrest more than 100 Tibetan monks from Wonto and Yena monasteries along with local residents, many of whom were beaten and injured, and later admitted to Dege County Hospital for medical treatment, sources said.

Citizen videos from Thursday, shared exclusively with RFA, show Chinese officials in black uniforms forcibly restraining monks, who can be heard crying out to stop the dam construction. 

Following news of the mass arrests, many Tibetans from Upper Wonto village who work in other parts of the country returned to their hometown and visited the detention centers to call for the release of the arrested Tibetans, sources said. They, too, were arrested. 

The Dege County Hospital did not immediately return RFA’s requests for comment.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn’t commented on the arrests other than in a statement issued Thursday that said the country respects the rule of law.

“China protects the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals in accordance with the law,” the statement said.

Massive dam project

The arrests followed days of protests and appeals by local Tibetans since Feb. 14 for China to stop the construction of the Gangtuo hydropower station.

RFA reported on Feb. 15 that at least 300 Tibetans gathered outside Dege County Town Hall to protest the building of the Gangtuo dam, which is part of a massive 13-tier hydropower complex on the Drichu River with a total planned capacity 13,920 megawatts. 

The dam project is on the Drichu River, called Jinsha in Chinese, which is located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze, one of China’s most important waterways. 

Local Tibetans have been particularly distraught that the construction of the hydropower station will result in the forced resettlement of two villages – Upper Wonto and Shipa villages – and six key monasteries in the area  – Yena, Wonto, and Khardho in Wangbuding township in Dege county, and Rabten, Gonsar and Tashi in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, sources told RFA.

Sources on Friday also confirmed that some of the arrested monks with poor health conditions were allowed to return to their monasteries. 

However, the monasteries – which include Wonto Monastery, known for its ancient murals dating back to the 13th century – remained desolate on the eve of Chotrul Duchen, or the Day of Miracles, which is commemorated on the 15th day of the first month of the Tibetan New Year, or Losar, and marks the celebration of a series of miracles performed by the Buddha.

“In the past, monks of Wonto Monastery would traditionally preside over large prayer gatherings and carry out all the religious activities,” said one of the sources. “This time, the monasteries are quiet and empty. … It’s very sad to see such monasteries of historical importance being prepared for destruction. The situation is the same at Yena Monastery.” 

Protests elsewhere

Tibetans in exile have been holding mass demonstrations in various parts of the world, including in Dharamsala, India, home to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. 

In the past week, Tibetans have demonstrated before the Chinese embassies, including those in New York and Switzerland, with more such protests and solidarity campaigns planned in Canada and other countries. 

“The events in Derge are an example of Beijing’s destructive policies in Tibet,” said Kai Müller, managing director of the International Campaign for Tibet, in a statement on Friday. “The Chinese regime tramples on the rights of Tibetans and ruthlessly and irretrievably destroys valuable Tibetan cultural assets.”

“Beijing’s development and infrastructure projects are not only a threat to Tibetans, but also to regional security, especially when it comes to water supplies to affected Asian countries,” he added.

Human Rights Watch told RFA that it is monitoring the development but that information from inside Tibet is extremely rare given China’s tight surveillance and restrictions imposed on information flow. 

“People who send information out and videos like this face imprisonment and torture,” said Maya Wang, the group’s interim China director. 

“Even calling families in the diaspora are reasons for imprisonment,” she said. “What we do see now are actually … typical scenes of repression in Tibet, but we don’t often get to see [what] repression looks like in Tibet anymore.”

Additional reporting by Pelbar, Yeshi Dawa, Tashi Wangchuk, Palden Gyal and Sonam Lhamo for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

Authorities in Myanmar’s largest cities Yangon and Mandalay have ramped up housing checks in the two weeks since the junta enacted the country’s military conscription law and are arresting any guests who have failed to register, residents said Friday.

The military has suffered heavy losses on the battlefield in recent months – most notably in western Rakhine state, where the ethnic Arakan Army ended a ceasefire in November and has since gone on to capture six townships.

On Feb. 10, the junta enacted the People’s Military Service Law, sending draft-eligible civilians fleeing from Myanmar’s cities. They say they would rather leave the country or join anti-junta forces in remote border areas than fight for the military, which seized power in a 2021 coup d’etat.

RFA Burmese has since received reports of recruitment roundups and arrests of young people, despite pledges from authorities that the law will not be enforced until April.

Residents said that in the past two weeks, authorities in Yangon and Mandalay have been strictly enforcing the Guest List Law, which mandates either seven days’ imprisonment or a fine of 10,000 kyats (US$5) for those who fail to register.

On Feb. 17, junta security personnel arrested three men in their 20s who were living in Yangon to assist in the care of patients at a hospital in Kayan township, according to a close friend who, like others interviewed for this report, declined to be named due to security concerns.

“Family members asked the township police station [what happened to them], but [the police] said that they did not arrest them, and that the arrest was made by the army,” the friend said. 

“Then, the families went to the [township] gymnasium where the army was temporarily stationed, but they were not allowed to enter,” he said. “They’ve been unable to contact them.”

The friend did not disclose the identities of the young men who were arrested in order to protect their families from reprisal.

But he said the arrest was part of a pattern emerging in Yangon, as authorities have stepped up inspections on people from out of town since the Feb. 10 announcement.

Male dormitories targeted

One area of Yangon that has come under scrutiny for guest list checks is Kamaryut township, where many students are living in hostels, a resident said.

“Male dormitories undergo more frequent inspections,” he said, adding that the guest registration process has become more rigorous. “Now, in addition to providing guest details, you must also include a picture of the guest. Many residents of the neighborhood are attaching passport-sized photos to the guest list.”

According to township “scout groups” formed to spy on the activities of junta troops and police, there were at least 10 arrests of individuals not registered on guest lists in Kamaryut from Feb. 12-22.

But members of the groups said they were unable to confirm whether those arrested had since been released or remain in custody.

Based on information compiled by RFA, authorities in the Yangon townships of Sanchaung, Ahlone, Botahtaung, Hlaing, Tamwe, Pazundaung, and Thaketa have carried out guest list inspections at least 12 times from Feb. 13-22.

The number of inspections is likely higher than what RFA was able to document, but there have been no reported arrests.

Mandalay checks

RFA has also received reports of authorities arresting out-of-towners in Mandalay.

On Feb. 13, junta troops arrested four students from Kan Htu Ma village, in Sagaing region’s Taze township, during an inspection at the Tada-U checkpoint in Mandalay, according to a source with ties to their families.

Zaw Zaw Aung, 23, Kaung Htet Soe, 24, Thwin Soe Tun, 23, and Tin Htut Win, 24, had recently completed courses in the city in preparation for travel to South Korea, the source said.

“Their parents are overwhelmed with sadness. They never anticipated being confronted with such a situation,” the source said. “While returning to the village after their exams, this happened … and no one has been able to contact them. The reason [for their arrest] remains unknown.”

A resident of Mandalay told RFA that guest lists are checked “nearly every day” in areas with “a high concentration of grassroots communities,” including the townships of Aung Myay Thar Zan, Maha Aung Myay, Pyi Gyi Tagon, and Patheingyi.

“There are constant checks there,” he said. “They involve police, soldiers, firefighters, administrators, and officials from immigration as well.”

As a result of the increased scrutiny, businesses regularly close early and “no one ventures out after 8 pm,” other residents said.

Attempts by RFA to contact junta spokesman Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on the increase in guest list checks went unanswered Friday, but in a statement carried by state media on Feb. 16, he characterized the inspections as part of “public safety measures.”

“Those without a guest list or household list, or cannot produce them … are subject to legal action,” he said, adding that authorities will release anyone detained “if there is a valid reason,” although he did not elaborate on what would qualify as “valid.”

Thailand arrests

Enactment of the conscription law has had a spillover effect on neighboring Thailand, where Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin warned in a statement on Monday that people entering the country illegally would be prosecuted and that security agencies had been alerted to Myanmar nationals fleeing conscription.

Thar Gyi, the managing director of the migrant workers monitoring group K.T.G. Helping Hands, told RFA on Friday that “around 300” Myanmar nationals have been arrested in Thailand’s Tak province over the past two weeks.

“Illegal migration has continuously occurred at the border these days,” he said, adding that “more than 20” illegal migrants were arrested in the Thai border town of Mae Sot on Thursday night alone. “Verification for travel documents has been suspended in Mae Sot … and more and more people are being arrested as they try to enter Thailand illegally.”

Those who have crossed into Thailand legally have also faced close inspection by Thai police, a 21-year old Burmese who arrived in Mae Sot on Feb. 21 told RFA.

A resident of Myanmar’s Myawaddy region who had traveled across the border into Tak province since the enactment of the Military Service Law said that Thai authorities are allowing legal visitors to stay in Mae Sot for one week, after which they are deemed “illegal residents” and forcibly returned. Visitors are also required to have a “guarantor” to ensure that they don’t overstay their time in Thailand.

Homeowners in Tak have also been instructed to “report a mandatory guest list” within 24 hours of a guest’s arrival to Thai immigration authorities, said Moe Gyo, the chairman of the Joint Action Committee on Myanmar People’s Affairs.

“It seems that Myanmar’s military regime and Thailand’s quasi-military government are working closely and harmoniously,” he said. “The practices of Myanmar’s authorities have likely spread to their neighbors.”

Moe Gyo said that in his 20 years of experience working in Tak, there had never been a mandatory guest report for any of the province’s nine townships.

Those who fail to report a guest list face imprisonment for up to one month or a cash fine of 5,000-10,000 baht (US$140-280), he said.

Attempts by RFA to contact the Thai Embassy in Yangon via email received no response by the time of publishing.

Translated by Kalyar Lwin and Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

Cambodia is set to hold elections for its Senate on Sunday that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party will almost certainly win, which would make former Prime Minister Hun Sen president of the body, allowing him to serve as acting head of state when King Norodom Sihamoni is unavailable. 

As Senate president, Hun Sen, 71, would replace Say Chhum, who is expected to retire. Hun Sen was prime minister from 1985 until last August, when he stepped down in a long-planned move that allowed for his eldest son, Hun Manet, to be appointed to the position. 

In theory, the Senate is meant to act as a check on the National Assembly, but in practice in Cambodia – where the CPP is so dominant – it is essentially a rubber stamp body.

The election is being held under a party-list proportional representation system in which parties submit lists of candidates. The National Election Committee, or NEC, will determine from vote totals how many seats in each constituency region are distributed to each party.

Cambodia’s Constitution allows the king to nominate two senators and the National Assembly to nominate another two, with voters choosing the remaining 58 seats, for a total of 62 seats. 

On Friday, the four parties contesting the election wrapped up a 14-day campaign period. The law requires that campaign activities for the Senate election end 24 hours before election day.

The other three parties competing are the Khmer Will Party, the royalist Funcinpec Party and the newly formed National Power Party.

The CPP held meetings and broadcast speeches through public address systems at party offices in all of the eight constituency regions during the campaign period.

CPP Vice President Sar Kheng told a crowd in Prey Veng province that the Senate election is important to rebuild the country.

“I appeal to his excellency [lawmakers] and commune councils across Prey Veng to go to vote Feb. 25, for the CPP for the sake of the country’s fate, people and yourself,” he said.

Bridge to future elections

Khmer Will Party President Sok Hach told supporters in Battambang province that a good result in Sunday’s Senate election will help the party build toward the next local commune elections in three years and the 2028 general election. 

“Our goal is the 2027 and 2028 elections. This is a bridge to that,” he said.

About 500 supporters of the National Power Party marched along National Route 6 in Kampong Thom province on Friday. The party’s president, Sun Chanthy, asked supporters to vote for the party to restore democracy.

“Only the National Power Party can revive democratic process in Cambodia for the sake of the 2027 and 2028 elections. I appeal to people to support the party,” he said.

“The ruling party, Funcinpec, National Power Party and Khmer Will Party conducted election campaigns respectfully. Security and order was good,” NEC spokesman Hang Puthea said.

“There is good cooperation between the NEC, parties and authorities,” he said.

Voting is set to take place on Sunday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 33 polling stations in the eight regions. 

Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

Shanghai authorities are moving ahead to prosecute a filmmaker who created a documentary about the nationwide ”white paper movement,” a series of protests against three years of rolling lockdowns and compulsory testing under China’s zero-COVID policy.

The 77-minute film titled “Urumqi Road” is compiled from on-the-ground footage of thousands of mostly young people who spilled out onto the streets of Shanghai and other major Chinese cities in late November 2022 to mourn the deaths of a Uyghur family in an apartment fire in Xinjiang’s regional capital of Urumqi. 

The tragedy served as a catalyst for the protests, which unleashed years of pent-up frustration and stress. Thousands called for an end to pandemic restrictions, and some even called for President Xi Jinping to resign. 

Many held up blank sheets of paper to represent what they wished they could say but could not due to China’s censorship. In the film, some say that “what happened in Urumqi could have happened anywhere in China.”

The documentary – which carries the English title “Not the Foreign Forces” in reference to “hostile foreign forces” who are frequently blamed by Beijing for instigating protests – was uploaded to YouTube by at least one account in early December 2023, and credited to “Plato.”

It garnered thousands of views, but less than a week after it appeared, Plato’s Twitter account was deleted and his YouTube channel went private.

‘Catch-all crime’

RFA Cantonese has learned that Plato’s real name is Chen Pinlin, and that he was detained soon after the film was posted on suspicion of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the government.

Chen, being held in Shanghai’s Baoshan District Detention Center, was formally arrested for the same charge on Jan. 5, 2024. His case was transferred to the local prosecutor’s office on Feb. 18, a person close to the case said.

A woman who helped Chen to produce the film has been released on bail, the person said.

A Chinese activist based in Germany who gave only the nickname Frank said the charge against Chen is a well-known “catch-all crime.”

“The case of Chen Pinlin is evidence that the Chinese government continues to abuse the charge of ‘picking quarrels and stirring up trouble’ to infringe on artistic freedom and freedom of speech,” Frank said. “Anyone who cares about social justice or who criticizes human rights violations gets harshly suppressed by the government.”

“We call on the international community, particularly cultural and artistic creators around the world, to pay attention to Plato’s situation,” he said. “We can’t turn a blind eye and just watch as these tragedies keep on happening.”

‘We want freedom!’

According to the film’s introduction, Chen was among the mostly young protesters who converged on Shanghai’s Urumqi Road to protest the deaths of the Uyghur family on Nov. 26, 2022, and that the protest was the first time he had taken part in any kind of political event.

Intercut with footage of young people chanting, “We want freedom!” and “Xi Jinping step down!” Chen said the government’s claim that the nationwide protests were the work of “foreign forces” was untrue.

He also called on people to continue to resist government propaganda and censorship, and remember not just the zero-COVID years, but also the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution and the 1958-1960 Great Famine of the Mao era.

“Remember the ugliness,” Chen says in the film. “Only those with an optimistic outlook can hope that China will usher in brighter times soon.”

A former “white paper” protester who gave only the nickname Rick for fear of reprisals said Beijing is trying to rewrite the history of the zero-COVID years, and that Chen and other protesters are trying to defend historical truth.

“The Chinese Communist Party won’t let people talk about the White Paper movement, which is an attempt to modify the collective memory of the three years of zero-COVID among the Chinese people,” Rick said.

“The documentary directed by Chen Pinlin is an attempt to break the Chinese Communist Party’s blockade of historical truth.”

He said Chen had taken huge risks in making a film about popular protest in China.

“I admire director Chen Pinlin’s courage and sense of social responsibility,” Rick said. “Recording the historical truth is not a crime.”

Shattered illusions

He said the zero-COVID restrictions had made young people in China realize that they could be deprived of even their most basic rights at any time, forced into starvation or death from illness in their own homes, or even burned to death in fires.

“Their illusions shattered, young people bravely went out onto the streets and shouted their protest,” he said.

Many who took part in the movement were detained, while others have fled overseas, where they have continued their support for political change in China.

But even overseas activists are also being increasingly harassed by state security police, with some reporting threats to their families back home, as China pushes ahead with the “long-arm” enforcement of its laws overseas.

“[In] the summer of 2023, there was a wave of harassment targeting Chinese students living in the Washington area,” former White Paper Movement protester and Georgetown law student Zhang Jinrui told a recent seminar on Beijing’s transnational repression.

He said some students had been detained for their activism after traveling back to China for the summer break, while others had been subjected to long-distance harassment and intimidation by the authorities.

“I think that’s basically their main tactic with a lot of Chinese students, but a lot of the time more severe measures will also be taken,” Zhang said. “For example, threatening to confiscate your parents’ money.”

“It’s a tactic to try to wear you down,” he said, “to try to harass your family more and more until they can’t take it any more.”

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

North Korea is using factories and equipment in the shuttered inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex to develop a new industrial base in the city, independent of South Korea, government officials in the North told Radio Free Asia.

The de-facto nationalization of the complex is yet another move by the North Korean leadership to distance itself from Seoul. Since the new year, Pyongyang has officially redefined the South as its main enemy, ended all economic cooperation, and begun scrubbing all references to reunification.

“The Central Committee has given an order to develop a new industrial base at the Kaesong Industrial Complex,” an official from Pyongyang told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Located just north of the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean peninsula, the complex opened in 2004, marrying South Korean capital and technology with cheap North Korean labor. 

But it was shuttered in 2016, shortly after North Korea’s fourth nuclear test, and cannot be reopened until the U.S. and UN lift sanctions on the North.

Since the closure, North Korean companies have secretly used factories and equipment left behind by South Korean companies in Kaesong on several occasions, but now they are being ordered to do so as part of an official policy.

Not all of the industry will stay in Kaesong; officials confirmed that authorities have approved the relocation of facilities that produce tires, rice cookers and shoes to nearby counties. 

North Korea is pushing ahead with its newly adopted “20×10 plan” to revitalize the economy in 20 counties per year over the next 10 years. Assuming control of the complex will significantly reduce costs associated with the plan, but is a clear violation of the Kaesong Industrial Zone Act.

“[North Korea] has secretly made use of some facilities in the Kaesong Industrial Complex without South Korea’s approval,” the official said. “Now, [we will] move the facilities in each factory of the Kaesong Industrial Complex to a newly renovated local industrial base and operate officially.”

Authorities demolished a small garment factory and are scaling up a larger factory that will be placed under the jurisdiction of the Kaesong City Local Industrial Bureau, he said. 

The reorganization is bad news for business owners who were hoping to use the equipment in Kaesong for themselves this year, an official in the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

“Before the pandemic, powerful trading companies received orders from China and planned to use sewing machines and cutting equipment left behind by South Korea in the Kaesong Industrial Complex under the pretext of earning foreign currency for the government,” he said. “But now, they won’t be able to do so.”

The organization of the new industrial base in Kaesong should be complete within the year, the North Pyongan official said. 

“The Central Party renovated and expanded the clothing and footwear factories in the Kaesong Industrial Complex to develop them into a light industrial base,” he said. “This measure appears aimed at eliminating the complex, which is South Korea’s property, and intentionally redeveloping it as our own, as we have now defined South Korea as our primary enemy.”

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