Asean Tribune

Two Tibetan monks arrested by authorities in western China’s Sichuan province are incommunicado five months after being taken into custody, with family members increasingly worried about their well-being, RFA has learned.

Tenzin Norbu and Wangchen Nyima, who are brothers, were arrested on Aug. 15, 2021, and are being held in a prison in Tawu (in Chinese, Daofu) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, a Tibetan living in exile in New York said.

“It has been five months since their arrests, but the reasons for their arrests and their current situation are still unknown,” RFA’s source said, citing contacts in the region and speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The two monks are nephews of Tulku Choekyi Nyima, abbot of Nenang Monastery in Sichuan’s Drago (Luhuo) county, where Chinese authorities at another monastery recently demolished two large statues revered by Tibetan Buddhists. Tibetans who objected to the demolition were arrested and beaten.

“The situation in Drago county is very sensitive at the moment,” RFA’s source said, adding that sources in the region had at first held back from reporting the two monks’ arrest for fear of exposing them to further trouble from authorities.

“But the family members of the two arrested monks are still not allowed to meet with them and have received no information about their well-being at all,” he said.

Wangchen Nyima, a well-known advocate for Tibetans’ education and health, had been arrested once before, a second source in exile told RFA in a written message. “This was in 2015, when the Chinese government forcibly shut down schools in his monastery. His brother Orgyan Choedrak was also arrested then,” he said.

“On Aug. 18, three days after their arrest, the assembly hall of their monastery caught fire, and Khenpo Thubten — a graduate of Sichuan’s Larung Gar Buddhist Academy — died in the blaze. A monk named Bukyo was also burned in the fire and died on his way to the hospital next day,” he said.

Local Tibetans believe that the fire at Nenang, which lies on the road connecting Tawu and Drago, was started by Chinese authorities, he said.

Monks’ quarters destroyed

Following the demolition of the statues in Drago — one a 99-foot-tall statue of the Buddha and the other a three-story statue of Maitreya, the Buddha of a future age — Chinese authorities have begun to destroy monks’ quarters at the county’s Gaden Namgyal Ling monastery, RFA’s source in New York said.

“The authorities are saying that these dwellings were removed to make way for roads allowing firefighting vehicles to pass easily in case of emergencies,” the source said. “One phase of the demolition is already under way, with the other phase set to begin soon.”

The orders for destruction have already targeted places and objects of “serious religious significance” to Tibetans, the source said.

A large Chinese military compound built in 2012 in Nyikhok, around 4 kilometers away from the large Buddha statue destroyed in Drago, is meanwhile being used as a labor camp for Tibetans, RFA’s source said.

“Around 12 Tibetans are being held there at the moment, including Khenpo Pagha, a monk named Nyima, and a few Tibetan women,” he said.

Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Japan has been conducting its own “freedom of navigation operations” in the South China Sea “to warn China” but in a cautious manner, Japan’s largest newspaper reported.

The Yomiuri Shimbun quoted unnamed government sources as saying that Japanese naval ships “sailed through waters near the artificial islands and reefs claimed by China in the South China Sea” on at least two occasions, in March and August last year.

“The Maritime Self-Defense Force (Japanese Navy) operations started in March 2021 under the administration of then-Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga,” it said. Suga stood down in October.

A senior Defense Ministry official told the paper that the operations were “meant to warn China, which is distorting international law, to protect freedom of navigation, and the law and order of the sea.”

However, despite being similar to the freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) conducted by the U.S. Navy, the Japanese ships were only sailing in the international waters and did not enter China’s territorial waters, the Yomiuri reported, adding that these operations were conducted “on such occasions as traveling to or from joint drills with other navies, or deployment to the Middle East.”

“Territorial waters” are the sea areas that lie within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) from a country’s coast and China demands that foreign warships ask for permission for so-called “innocent passage.”

Japan is a treaty ally of the U.S., which retains more than 50,000 troops on Japanese soil. But Mark Valencia, adjunct senior scholar at China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies (NISCSS), said: “These are not FONOPs à la the U.S.”

“They do not challenge China’s territorial sea regime nor its sovereignty claims to low-tide features like Mischief Reef like the U.S. FONOPs do,” he said.

“They are an exercise of freedom of the high seas that is not opposed by China.”

Mischief Reef is one of the South China Sea features that China has developed into artificial islands in recent years despite protests from some other claimants including the Philippines and Vietnam.

Beijing also claims territorial waters around those artificial islands though these claims have no basis in international law.

Commitment to an open sea

Australian Rear Adm. (retd) James Goldrick, a prominent maritime affairs analyst, said many U.S. FONOPs in the South China Sea were about warship passage rights without prior notification within self-claimed territorial waters, not only by China but also Vietnam and the Philippines.

But the Japanese effort was “about freedom of naval/maritime operations rather than freedom of navigation” or supporting the U.S. FONOPs, he said.

“The South China Sea is not and should not become a closed sea,” Goldrick said.

Alessio Palatano, Professor at King’s College London and an expert in Japanese naval history and strategy, said recent operations show “Japan has been exercising its compliance to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea in a way that previously it was very careful to avoid.”

“This is a step up which brings Japanese behavior much closer to other major maritime powers. Britain and France regularly sail in ways in which at times challenge excessive forms of maritime claims,” Palatano told RFA.

“It’s clear political signaling that shows that Japan is becoming proficient in using its naval capabilities to create a wide-ranging set of signaling options in communicating its political disagreements with Chinese behavior.”

“So long as the Japanese continue on such a nuanced approach, this is very welcome,” he said.

Meanwhile Valencia from the Chinese state think tank NISCSS warned that even though the Japanese operations did not raise alarm, “if they actually did challenge China’s territorial sea regime or sovereignty claims by entering its claimed territorial waters or violating the innocent passage regime, then China might well retaliate.”

Concerns remain about the safety and liberty of Chinese women’ tennis star Peng Shuai, as the country gears up to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in February.

The Olympics follows a decision late last year by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which has repeatedly called for a full investigation of Peng’s short-lived allegations of sexual assault at the hands of former vice premier Zhang Gaoli, to suspend all of its tennis tournaments in China.

‘French tennis player Alize Cornet started the new year by telling journalists she is still worried about Peng, a former world doubles No. 1, and that she wants more clarity.

“I’m still a little bit worried about her,” Cornet said after a match against Naomi Osaka, who has also spoken out on Peng’s behalf, in Melbourne on Jan. 4.

“I have to say that this situation still makes me feel uncomfortable, and I don’t know how she’s doing,” Cornet said. “I really don’t know what to think about it anymore. I don’t know where is the truth and where are the lies.”

The confusion comes from the cranking up of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s propaganda machine in the immediate aftermath of Peng’s now-deleted Nov. 2, 2021 social media post detailing being “forced” into a sexual relationship with Zhang, in one of the highest-profile cases to emerge from China’s #MeToo movement.

Peng was soon seen in fresh photos on social media, posing in front of a stash of stuffed animals, and speaking to International Olympics Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach in a video call.

She later “gave an interview” to the pro-CCP, Singapore-based Lianhe Zaobao newspaper. However, a BBC report later revealed that the interviewer wasn’t even a journalist at the paper, but was based in Shanghai in a sales role.

Cornet said she was surprised by the strength of international concern on Twitter after she showed her support for Peng using the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai.

“I’m really happy that all these people followed me and the turn it took was really unexpected, like the reaction of (WTA chief executive) Steve Simon and everything that followed was really, really huge,” Cornet said in comments reported by Reuters.

“I’m not sure that it changes something [for Peng],” she added. “It’s tough to know what the effect was on her situation. It’s not very clear.”

Veteran Chinese journalist Wang Jian told RFA that Cornet’s fears are likely well-founded.

“All of the information we have had on Peng Shuai since Nov. 2 has been released through official channels linked to the Chinese government, not from Peng posting something on Twitter or Weibo,” Wang told RFA in a recent interview.

“We have had [photos and video] from [state broadcaster] CGTN and [CCP-backed] Global Times editor Hu Xijin,” he said. “This shows us that it’s all part of the public relations operation … trying to show that Peng Shuai is free and safe.”

“But all it does is to prove that Peng is under the control of the Chinese government,” he said. “She is not free, and she’s probably not safe.”

‘Very, very damaging’

Leta Hong Fincher, author of Betraying Big Brother – The Awakening Chinese Feminist Movement, said Peng’s initial accusation against a former member of the Politburo standing committee was “very, very damaging” for the CCP.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Peng Shuai herself, you know, may be detained by security agents,” Hong Fincher said. “We may not hear from her for quite a long time.”

“What she did was extraordinarily brave … I’m sure she’ll pay a heavy price for that.”

She said Peng had become a target for future smear campaigns when she made her post.

“If you’re a victim, coming forward with a public accusation particularly against somebody who’s very well known and in power, you’re going to be blamed as the victim, you’re going to be smeared and there is a very heavy price to pay in coming forward,” Hong Fincher said.

“It is particularly damaging and particularly risky for a victim to come forward and go public in a country like China, which is the world’s largest, most powerful authoritarian regime,” she said.

Chinese feminist Lu Pin said it would be naive to imagine that Peng’s high profile could protect her.

“The power gap [between Peng and the CCP] is huge,” Lu told RFA. “Peng’s social and political capital and status are insignificant compared to someone like Zhang Gaoli.”

She said it was important to remember that Peng hadn’t brought her experiences on herself.

“Peng was hunted and then abused [by this man],” Lu said. “This isn’t an extramarital affair. This isn’t a scandal; this isn’t about man messing around on the side, or about a woman behaving badly.”

“That’s not what this is. This is an incident of sexual violence and abuse, and it’s about control, and abuse of power,” she said.

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

North Korea test launched a ballistic missile Tuesday capable of speeds exceeding Mach-10, displaying an apparent technological advance in its second hypersonic test of 2022, South Korea’s military said.

The launch came less than a week after Pyongyang tested another hypersonic missile, but Tuesday’s was likely more advanced. If so, the test would seem to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s Day promise to increase military capabilities through advanced technology as talks with South Korea and the U.S. have stalled.

But analysts said it was too soon to determine how big of a technological advancement Tuesday’s test represented.

Early findings estimate that the missile travelled eastward from the northern province of Chagang into waters east of the peninsula, about 770 km (435 miles) away, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The missile reached a maximum height of 60 kilometers (37 miles), with a speed of up to 10 times the speed of sound.

“We assess that this is more advanced than the missile North Korea fired on Jan. 5, though South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are conducting detailed analysis,” the JCS said.

That missile was also claimed by North Korea to be hypersonic–fast enough to thwart defenses–but the South Korean defense ministry said this exaggerated the capabilities, and the missile was merely a slight upgrade over a ballistic missile. A U.S. weapons expert also said the focus on speed was misplaced.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told RFA’s Korean Service the test was a “violation of multiple U.N. Security Council Resolutions and poses a threat to [North Korea’s] neighbors and the international community.”

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that although the launch did not “pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch highlights the destabilizing impact of the DPRK’s illicit weapons program.”

U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, through a spokesperson, expressed concern over the launch, and reiterated that diplomatic engagement was the only way to reach a solution to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Several experts, both in South Korea and the U.S. said they expected that North Korea will continue to test weapons systems.

“The reason why North Korea conducts these tests every few days is to complete the development of strategic weapons and nuclear weapons to an irreversible level,” Hong Min, director of the North Korea Research Division at the Seoul-based Korea Institute for National Unification, told RFA.

“It seems to be a series of actions in the beginning of the process to make sure that it is a matter of sovereignty at the level of self-defense as the international community continues to raise issues,” Hong said.

The two launches appear to be efforts to perfect a hypersonic vehicle, Robert Manning of the Washington-based Atlantic Council told RFA.

“You have to keep in mind, the only way to know if missiles work as intended is to test them,” he said. “Expect more. One troubling thing is that when you look at the whole set of nuclear and missile capabilities that Kim Jong Un is building, they appear more than what would be needed to deter the U.S.

Manning said the testing could affect South Korea’s ongoing presidential race.

Nam Seong-wook of Korea University told RFA that the launch could be an effort to distract North Koreans from the economic difficulties they face due to the COVID-19 pandemic and continued sanctions over their country’s nuclear program.

But the launch hints at the possibility of a preemptive nuclear strike against the South, Cha Du Hyeogn of the Seoul-based Asan Institute said in a video released Tuesday.

“No matter how much sanctions are imposed, North Korea’s weapons are advancing. In particular, its nuclear capabilities will continue to advance,” he said.

Soo Kim of the RAND Corporation told RFA that Kim Jong Un will likely continue to test missiles without a firm declaration from the U.S. of the consequences of doing so.

“Kim likely assesses that the demonstration of weapons capabilities helps him maintain the upper hand in any future dealings with the U.S. Plus, it perpetuates the regime’s looming presence over its neighbor, South Korea,” Soo Kim said.

Two launches within a week served to bolster North Korea as a potential threat to the international community, she said.

The timing of the launch was meant to coincide with a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday over North Korea’s launch last week, David Maxwell of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies told RFA.

He also noted that South Korea went from “being skeptical as to whether the 6 January launch was a hypersonic missile to reporting on the 11 January launch being Mach 10.”

But Joshua Pollack, senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California, said the significance of the most recent test was not clear.

“The problem with the term ‘hypersonic’ is that all ballistic missiles of more than a relatively short range meet the usual definition. So, strictly speaking, both North and South Korea have had hypersonic missiles for years, even for decades,” Pollack said.

The term can be applied both to cruise missiles and ballistic missiles that travel faster than Mach 5. Hypersonic usually refers only to the “boost speed” of a missile — that is the speed that it reaches powered by its fuel. Two identical ballistic missiles that boost at different speeds will glide back to earth at the same speed once the rocket burns out.

“All of this emphasis on speed and Mach numbers can be very confusing and is perhaps pointless. … If speed is what matters, then I simply cannot explain what the big deal about Mach 10 is. The Hwasong-15 ICBM burns out at roughly Mach 20,” he said, referring to a missile North Korea first test launched in 2017.

Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.