Day: March 7, 2024

Lawyers and human rights experts in Myanmar have condemned the junta’s liberal use of the death penalty, including several recent cases where anti-junta activists received multiple death sentences.

Such sentences are meant to terrorize opponents of the junta, which is losing ground to ethnic armies and resistance fighters in a civil war now in its third year, but the absurdity of doing so is turning the judicial system into a farce, rights groups say.

“No one should be sentenced to capital punishment twice,” Kyaw Win, executive director of the Burma Human Rights Network, told Radio Free Asia. “The death penalty for these cases is more than enough, giving twice makes the legal system a joke.”

Since taking control of the government in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup, the military junta has sentenced a total of 164 people to death, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for  Political Prisoners.

On Feb. 29, the military junta sentenced seven people to death – five of them for the second or third time.

The seven – Thura Phyo,  Tun Tun Oo, Kyaw San Oo, Ko Ko Aung, Aung Moe Myint, Win Myat Thein Zaw and  Kaung Si Thu – were convicted of murdering two women from the Ayeyarwady region’s Pyapon township, who they believed were junta informants, sources familiar with the situation told RFA Burmese.

Five of the seven had already been sentenced to death on Oct. 20, along with two other defendants, San Lin San and Wunna Tun, the latter of whom has been sentenced to death twice himself. That case was over the killing of ward administrators in Maubin, Pyapon and Bogale townships.

But four of those five had been involved in an even earlier case, meaning they have now received the death penalty three times.

In addition, the defendants in all three cases received prison sentences ranging from 15 to 45 years.

Imposing multiple sentences is unprecedented in Myanmar’s judicial history, lawyer Kyee Myint told RFA. “Only one [death] sentence must be given,” he said. “Sentences should not be imposed again and again. It is against the law.”  

Thike Tun Oo, a leading committee member of the Political Prisoners Network-Myanmar, said that in addition to the repeated death sentences, long-term prison terms are not the fair punishments for the crime. 

“The death penalty should not be imposed on them at all as they have suffered the same penalty,” he said. “In addition, some were sentenced to 45 years after the death penalty. It is a totally unfair sentence.”

RFA Burmese attempted to contact the family members of the sentences by telephone, but were unable to reach them. 

RFA also attempted to contact Khin Maung Kyi, the minister of social affairs for the Ayeyarwady region, but received no response.  

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.

More than 1,000 civilians are trapped amid heavy clashes between Myanmar’s military and ethnic Pa-O rebels in southern Shan state’s Hsiheng township, which the junta has been trying to retake since Monday, according to residents.

The fighting to recapture Hsihseng comes amid a wider push by Myanmar’s various armed resistance factions that increasingly has the junta on the ropes across the country, including in neighboring Sagaing region, where the People’s Defense Force said it is close to taking over a township near the region’s largest city, Monywa.

The Pa-O National Liberation Army, or PNLA, seized Hsihseng township from a pro-junta militia known as the Pa-O National Organization, or PNO, on Jan. 22.

Beginning on March 3, a joint force of junta troops and soldiers from the Pa-O National Army – the armed wing of the PNO – responded with nearly 100 attacks on Mae Nal Taung district between Hsihseng, Ho Pong and Mong Pun townships using heavy weapons and drones in fighting that has killed 47 civilians and injured around 60 others, according to the PNLA.

Hsihseng’s main market was also set ablaze, and a total of 153 buildings – including some 15 religious structures and a hospital – were destroyed, the rights group Pa-O Youth Organization told RFA Burmese.

A resident of Hsihseng who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, said that fighting was underway Wednesday in the northern part of the township, which lies some 85 kilometers (53 miles) south of Shan state’s capital and largest city, Taunggyi.

“When [junta troops] advanced, the battle resumed,” he said, adding that some houses had been burnt down. “The military is continuously firing artillery shells. Flames can be seen at [nearby] Mya Kan Thar ward from our village.”

The resident said the military had carried out airstrikes on the area and that junta troops in a nearby village had fired around 20 artillery barrages on Hsihseng.

Nang, the spokesperson for the Pa-O Youth Organization, told RFA that “more than 1,000 civilians” from Aung Chan Thar and Thiri wards, and nearby villages in Hsihseng, have been unable to escape the fighting.

“Some residents haven’t fled [the seat of] Hsihseng. The exact number can’t be confirmed, but more than 1,000 people are trapped there,” Nang said. “In the past few days, many residents have fled into the jungle to take shelter from the military’s aerial bombardment.”

Nang said that most of those trapped by the fighting are “common laborers” who were attempting to guard their homes or had returned to the area to check on their belongings before the fighting broke out on Monday.

‘Too dangerous’ for rescue

A volunteer rescue worker told RFA that it was impossible for his group to evacuate those still inside.

“The resistance forces have blocked the roads, so we cannot enter the town to rescue the remaining trapped civilians,” he said. “They won’t let us enter because they said it is too dangerous for us.”

Other rescue workers said Wednesday that some of the trapped civilians were trying to avoid the fighting by gathering in paddy fields in southern Hsihseng township. 

A PNLA information officer confirmed to RFA that the focus of the military’s attacks in Mae Nal Taung district – between Hsihseng, Ho Pong and Mong Pun – is home to “many residents.”

“We are still investigating the extent of losses and damage,” he said. “At least eight houses were destroyed by military artillery shelling, from what we can tell, but a lot of the damage occurred in areas beyond our reach.”

The junta has yet to release any information on the fighting in Hsihseng and attempts by RFA to contact Khun Thein Maung, the junta’s minister of economy and spokesperson for Shan state, went unanswered.

While the PNLA is a signatory to Myanmar’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, or NCA, a schism within the ethnic army and its political wing, the Pa-O National Liberation Organization, has led to clashes with the junta.

The NCA was introduced in 2015 to end years of fighting over minority rights and self-determination. Since then, some 10 ethnic groups have signed the agreement.

Prior to the PNLA takeover, Hsihseng was under junta control as a township self-administered by the PNO. On Jan 21, a day before its capture, the PNO’s armed wing carried out an inspection of a PNLA convoy, seizing weapons and arresting some of the group’s officers.

Fight for Kani township

Meanwhile, in neighboring Sagaing region, the fight for control of Kani township has reached a crescendo since the anti-junta People’s Defense Forces, or PDF – ordinary civilians who have taken up arms against the junta – attacked the township police station, general administrative office, school and several military positions on March 2.

Kani is located a mere 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Monywa, Sagaing’s largest city and the headquarters of the military’s northwestern command. It is along the key Chindwin River waterway, and on Wednesday the junta responded to the attacks with at least eight airstrikes from combat helicopters and fighter jets on the township’s wards and villages, according to the PDF.

Despite the heavy retaliation, PDF member Myat Ko told RFA that “only one military outpost is left to be captured” until his group will assume total control of the township.

Myat Ko said the number of pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia members on the ground in Kani number far greater than junta troops, and that the military had carried out “more than 20 aerial attacks” on the township since the fighting began.

He said the military is now deploying troops to Kani via helicopter, although the exact number is unknown, adding that the PDF had arrested some police officers and nearly 40 junta civil service staff during the six-day battle.

RFA was unable to independently verify the claims.

The Kani PDF said that two of its fighters were killed in the fighting since March 2, while the military “suffered high casualties.” It said nearly 200 junta fighters, including troops, police and Pyu Saw Htee members, were stationed in the township.

At least one civilian – a 70-year-old resident of Min Kone village – was killed in a military aerial attack on March 4, according to residents.

Around 50 civilians who had been trapped inside the town during the fighting were evacuated by the PDF on March 6, they said.

Nearly everyone in town has fled to safer areas, although some elderly people remain, they added.

Attempts to contact Sai Naing Naing Kyaw, the junta’s minister of ethnic affairs and spokesperson for Sagaing region went unanswered Thursday.

Anti-junta forces in Sagaing region have captured Kawlin, Mawlu, Kham Pet and Shwe Pyi Aye townships, although the military retook Kawlin after conducting a major offensive in February.

Tens of thousands displaced

More than 150,000 civilians have fled 15 townships in Sagaing amid military offensives between Jan. 1 and Feb. 15 alone, RFA has learned.

They include 21,000 in Monywa, 7,000 in Myaung, 15,000 in Taze, 3,000 in Maw Laik, 8,000 in Kantbalu, 13,000 in Yinmarbin, more than 3,000 in Butalin, more than 50,000 in Ye-U, 1,000 in Pinlebu, nearly 3,000 in Salingyi, nearly 2,500 in Myinmu, more than 8,000 in Khin-U, more than 3,000 in Homelin, and over 15,000 in Kawlin townships.

Many of the displaced are suffering from shortages of food and clean water, and medical supplies, and are sheltering in poor conditions.

While Sai Naing Naing, the junta’s social affairs minister and spokesperson for Sagaing region, told RFA that junta authorities have provided aid to more than 1,500 displaced in Homelin township.

But aid workers disputed his claims, saying that the junta provides no support to those displaced by conflict.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recently reported that there are nearly 2.7 million displaced people across Myanmar.

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

Chinese-language social media posts claimed that Apple has changed Taiwan’s geographic label in its Maps app from “Taiwan” to “Taiwan Province” – a term which aligns with Beijing’s ideological commitment to “One China.”

While now labeled as “Taiwan Province” in the Chinese version of the app, Taiwan is still called “Taiwan” on the app in other countries. Apple Maps’ Chinese app version uses domestic data in China, differing from global search results.

The claim was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, by the Pro-China Hong Kong media outlet Tong Media on Feb. 28

“Taiwan Province of China! Apple Maps has officially changed its name,” the claim reads in part. 

The claim was shared alongside a nine-second clip that shows what appears to be the Apple Maps app with the Chinese text “Taiwan Province” appearing on the main island of Taiwan.

China considers Taiwan a breakaway province of its sovereign territory, even though the island has been governed independently since 1949. 

Beijing refuses to establish diplomatic relations with countries that recognize Taiwan sovereignty. While only 12 governments still maintain official diplomatic ties with Taipei, its government nevertheless maintains strong unofficial relations with many countries. 

China’s refusal to acknowledge Taiwanese sovereignty extends to events that include state participation and companies that do business internationally. For instance, China boycotted the World Games held in Taipei in 2009 and pressured American airline companies to change their identification of Taiwan to “Taipei” in 2018. 

Internationally, “Taipei” or “Chinese Taipei” are terms used to diplomatically navigate the sensitivities of both Taipei and Beijing. However, in mainland China, terms that clearly identify Taiwan as a province or region under Chinese sovereignty are frequently adopted in official settings.

The claim has been also shared on the popular Chinese social media platforms Weibo here and here.

But it is only partly true.  

Different country, different results

AFCL searched for “Taiwan” on Apple Maps in various countries with different IP addresses and found that “Taiwan Province,” or 台湾省, was only used in China.

In contrast, searches from other nations, such as the United States and Thailand, consistently displayed “Taiwan.”

Sources of data

Since its introduction at the 2012 developer conference, Apple Maps has sourced its navigation data for the Chinese version from Beijing’s AutoNavi, while TomTom, a Dutch company, supplies this data for the app in most other nations.

As of March 6, the logo of AutoNavi can be seen in the bottom left corner of the Chinese version of Apple Maps app.

For the Taiwanese version of the Maps app, Apple utilizes navigation data from various providers, including TomTom, but AutoNavi is not one of the sources.

Apple has not responded to requests for comments as of this writing.

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.

Authorities have transferred a Tibetan Buddhist monastery administrator and a village official – both arrested last month on suspicion of leading protests against the construction of a dam – to a large detention center in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Radio Free Asia.

Tenzin, the senior administrator of Wonto Monastery in Wangbuding township, and a village official named Tamdrin, were transferred from where they were previously detained to the larger Dege County Detention Center Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on March 3, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals by Chinese officials.

The men, who both go by just one name, were among the more than 1,000 Tibetan monks and residents of Dege County who were arrested on Feb. 23 for peacefully appealing to halt the construction of the dam on the Drichu River (Jinsha, in Chinese).

Some of these detainees, including Tenzin and Tamdrin, were severely beaten.

The dam construction is expected to cause the forced resettlement of at least two major villages, Wonto and Shipa, and the destruction of several monasteries with religious and historical significance, including the Wonto and Yena monasteries.

On Feb. 27, Chinese police released around 40 Tibetans, even as they forbade them from communicating with outsiders and imposed strict restrictions on the movement of people to and from the various monasteries and villages on both sides of the river. 

Checking social media feeds

Sources, however, told RFA on Thursday that Chinese authorities are continuing to arrest more people and have cracked down on the people who posted videos of the arrests and protests that took place in February. 

“The police are regularly checking people’s WeChat and TikTok accounts for any evidence of them having shared the videos and for communication with the outside world,” the first source said. “There’s severe restrictions on movement on either side of the river and no internet connection.”

The authorities are carrying out widespread, daily search and interrogations to find the people who posted the videos of black-clad Chinese police restraining the monks, who could be seen kneeling and crying out.

“People who send information out and videos like this face imprisonment and torture,” Maya Wang, interim China director of Human Rights Watch told RFA last month in the wake of the first round of arrests of more than 100 Tibetans that took place on Feb. 22. “Even calling families in the diaspora are reasons for imprisonment.”

“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,” Wang said.

‘Open prison’ in Dege

The police are monitoring the monks and locals very closely, and the situation is like an “open prison as they are exercising extreme control,” said the second source. 

“The monks and local people are very angry that they were arrested and subjected to beatings and torture for making peaceful appeals,” he added. “They say that if the government really forces them to move, there may be violent protests.”

Chinese officials have, however, made clear that the Gangtuo Dam project will continue, two Tibetans with knowledge of the situation told RFA earlier this month.

The Gangtuo Dam is part of a plan that China’s National Development and Reform Commission announced in 2012 to build a massive 13-tier hydropower complex on the Drichu. It would be located at Wontok (Gangtuo, in Chinese) in Dege county, northwest of Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The total planned capacity of the 13 hydropower stations is 13,920 megawatts. 

Over the past two weeks, Tibetans in exile have been holding solidarity rallies in cities in the United States, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia and India.  

Global leaders and Tibetan advocacy groups have condemned China’s actions, calling for the immediate release of those detained. 

Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone has directed the Ministry of Energy and Mines to require mining companies to process raw minerals in Laos before export – a demand aimed at the country’s numerous Chinese-funded mining projects.

Siphandone communicated the new guideline for overseeing mining operations to ministry officials during a visit on March 1 to the headquarters of Electricite du Laos, the state-owned power company in Vientiane.

The order is aimed at providing work for Laotians during a time when the national economy has stagnated and many young people are considering moving to Thailand or elsewhere abroad to find better-paying jobs.

“The prime minister insists that the mining companies process all minerals here in Laos,” said a ministry official, who like other sources in this report requested anonymity for safety reasons.

“More specifically, our government wants all Chinese mining companies to comply with the new guideline as soon as possible,” he told Radio Free Asia. 

Over the last 20 years, the Lao government has given the green light to 1,143 mining projects and 1,336 mineral processing projects covering more than 72,370 square km (27,942 square miles) – more than 3 percent of the country’s total surface area. 

Most of the recently approved projects were for Chinese investors, according to the Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment. 

Some of the larger operations have prompted complaints that not enough local workers are hired, and that local residents are often left without farmland or drinkable water after mining companies move into an area, evict local residents and then dig into the land.

Under the current system, Laos “loses more than it gains,” an official of the Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce told RFA. 

‘Not surprised’

Most of the projects are focused on extracting gold, copper, silver, nickel, coal, iron, potassium or zinc, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mines’ website.

Laotians have spoken frequently about seeing large, mineral-loaded trucks heading north on dirt roads and paved highways toward the Boten border checkpoint with China.

“These trucks are very heavy and they damage our roads,” a Public Works and Transport Department official in northern Phongsaly province told RFA.

The owner of a Lao mining company in Oudomxay province in northern Laos said he watched as all raw minerals were taken to China during his time as a subcontractor for a Chinese mining company.

“I’m not surprised that the Lao government is suspending the export of the raw minerals,” he said. “Besides this company, many other Chinese mining companies have been exporting raw minerals to China too.”

Translated by Max Avary. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

“We should therefore not be surprised when forums such as BRICS start to gain purchase. If one avenue for asserting new realities is impeded, others will take its place,” he said.

BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

“Accordingly, we should not take for granted that Western perspectives on the future world order would be embraced universally. There is growing impatience with how global institutions are failing to reform themselves,” Anwar said.

Chinese official appreciates Anwar’s comments

The Malaysian PM’s recent comments have not gone unnoticed by Chinese officials, with Zheng Xuefang, minister at the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia, expressing his appreciation on Wednesday.

“The development of China is an opportunity for the world rather than a threat to anyone,” Bernama, the Malaysian state-run news agency, quoted him as saying during a visit to its offices in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile in China, Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday emphasized the importance of economic diplomacy.

“China cannot develop without the world, and the world cannot develop without China,” he told reporters after the second session of the 14th National People’s Congress, according to a statement on the foreign ministry website.

“Badmouthing China will definitely backfire on itself, and misjudging China will [lead to] miss opportunities,” he said.