DRULAP

TAIPEI/BEIJING — China’s military held “shooting training” on Wednesday off Taiwan’s southwest coast in a move Taipei described as provocative and dangerous, while a senior Chinese leader vowed unswerving efforts to bring the island under Beijing’s control.

Democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has repeatedly complained of Chinese military activities, including several rounds of full-scale war games over the past three years.

From shortly before 9 a.m. local time, Taiwan’s defense ministry said in a statement, it had detected 32 Chinese military aircraft carrying out a “joint combat readiness drill” with Chinese warships in the Taiwan Strait area.

“During this period it even blatantly violated international practice by setting up a drills area in waters about 40 nautical miles (74 km) off the coast … without prior warning, claiming that it would carry out ‘shooting training,'” it added.

Taiwan’s major southwestern population centers of Kaohsiung and Pingtung that figured in the ministry’s statement are both home to important naval and air bases.

The exercises endanger the safety of international flights and shipping and is a “blatant provocation” to regional peace and stability, the ministry said in a statement, adding that it had dispatched its own forces to keep watch.

There was no immediate confirmation from China that it was carrying out new drills around Taiwan and its defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

China’s other recent military activity in the region, such as that off Australia’s coast, gave “proof that China is the only, and the greatest, threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific,” Taiwan’s ministry said.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its rule, and has denounced both President Lai Ching-te, who took office last year, as a “separatist,” and the United States for its support for Taiwan.

Earlier on Wednesday, China’s official Xinhua news agency said the ruling Communist Party’s fourth ranked leader, Wang Huning, had called this week for greater effort in the cause of Chinese reunification.

China must “firmly grasp the right to dominate and take the initiative in cross-strait relations, and unswervingly push forward the cause of reunification of the motherland,” it quoted Wang as telling an annual meeting on work related to Taiwan.

Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
…

WASHINGTON — A sweeping crackdown led by authorities from Thailand, China and Myanmar has dismantled scam centers along the Thai-Myanmar border and freed thousands from nearly 30 countries, but helping them return home remains a big challenge, says the spokesperson for the Karen Border Guard Force, or BGF.

Over a week ago, BGF, an ally of Myanmar’s military junta, played a key role in evacuating more than 6,000 people from scam centers in Myanmar’s Shwe Kokko fraud hub, near the border with Thailand.

Although many have been freed, the spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Naing Maung Zaw, told VOA’s Burmese Service the repatriation process is complex and will remain slow.

“Originally, we planned to send 1,000 people a day, but now we are only able to send a few hundred at a time,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “So far, 673 people have been transferred to Thailand.”

Getting those rescued from scam centers to where they can be processed is part of the challenge, he said.

The BGF operates in a region where local militia groups control large swaths of territory. These groups have historically maintained uneasy alliances with the Myanmar military while engaging in illicit economic activities, including human trafficking and scam operations.

According to the United Nations, criminal gangs have trafficked hundreds of thousands of people, forcing them to work in Southeast Asian scam centers such as the ones in Myanmar.

Thousands of the recently freed remain in temporary shelters in Myanmar, awaiting processing by Myanmar’s military authorities.

“We have evacuated more than 6,000 people, but overcrowding is an issue,” spokesperson Naing Maung Zaw said. “About 500 people are crammed into warehouses, increasing risks of disease and escape attempts.”

The repatriation process involves coordinating with multiple countries, as individuals from nearly 30 nations have been found in the scam centers.

“We are prioritizing the return of those who have been rescued,” he said. “After China, the largest number of people are from Indonesia, followed by Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Pakistan, India, Uganda, Ethiopia, Nepal, Thailand, Rwanda, Kenya, Cambodia, and Ghana — making a total of 15 countries. According to our special forces on the ground, people from other countries are also among those affected, bringing the total to nearly 30 countries.”

The Thai government said it is “working closely with Myanmar and other countries to ensure the safe return of victims. Over 7,000 rescued individuals are currently in the process of being transferred.”

Raids on scam centers continue, but operations will pause at the end of February, Naing Maung Zaw said.

“It’s estimated that tens of thousands are still trapped in these scam centers. It will take months to repatriate everyone,” he said.

The crackdown is a response to growing international pressure, particularly from China.

On Thursday, China’s Ministry of Public Security announced the repatriation of 200 nationals rescued from Myanmar’s scam hubs, with more expected to follow. However, according to Xinhua, these individuals are being referred to as “suspects in call center fraud,” suggesting that China views them as potential criminals rather than victims.

The operation is being overseen by Liu Zhongyi, China’s assistant minister of public security, who has been coordinating efforts with Thai and Myanmar officials to dismantle the criminal networks.

Liu emphasized that shutting down these operations is critical not only for ensuring the safety of Chinese citizens but also for curbing organized crime across the region.

China’s role in cybercrime crackdown

China has taken a leading role in dismantling cyber scam networks operating along the Thailand-Myanmar border, leveraging diplomatic pressure and regional cooperation with both countries. The crackdown intensified, with Thai authorities cutting gas and oil supplies to Myanmar earlier this month and deploying military units to weaken criminal syndicates.

On Feb. 5, the Thai authorities cut electricity, fuel, and internet supplies to several Myanmar border towns known to host scam operations. This action aimed to disrupt the infrastructure supporting these illicit activities. Additionally, Thai military units were deployed to the border area to further weaken the criminal syndicates operating there. 

China’s Ministry of Public Security confirmed the repatriation of 200 Chinese nationals from Myanmar, labeling them as suspects in telecom fraud. The ministry stated that over 800 more would be repatriated soon as part of a joint effort with Myanmar and Thailand to combat transnational cybercrime.

Jason Tower, the Myanmar country director for the U.S. Institute of Peace, has been monitoring transnational cybercrime for nearly a decade. He told VOA in an interview Monday that “the campaign is the most aggressive crackdown seen along the Thailand–Myanmar border.”

Previous short-term disruptions, such as power and internet cuts, that once lasted only a few weeks, have now been replaced with sustained pressure, he said.

“The Thai military’s presence and comprehensive cuts on electricity, internet, gas and oil have created significant challenges for these criminal networks,” he said.

China has played a crucial role in coordinating regional efforts, pushing for tougher actions against cybercrime syndicates.

“A surge in social media outcry over high-profile trafficking cases has given Beijing the political capital to demand cross-border cooperation,” Tower said.

While repatriation efforts continue, Tower said, dismantling the infrastructure linked to organized crime is equally critical.

“Without sustained pressure and intelligence-sharing, these criminal networks will continue to adapt and thrive,” he warned.

Meanwhile, China has taken legal action against key figures over their alleged involvement in transnational cybercrime.

Influential in the Myanmar town of Kokang, the Ming family, accused of colluding with cross-border scammers, was publicly tried in Wenzhou, China, last week, according to AFP. Kokang is an area in northeastern Myanmar along the southern Chinese border that is home to a Mandarin-speaking ethnic group of Chinese under the same name.

The 23 defendants face charges in Wenzhou, including murder, fraud, and extortion. According to the Chinese court, they are linked to 14 Chinese deaths and illicit financial gains, exceeding $1.4 billion since 2015.

Among those tried was the former head of the Kokang Administration, who was arrested in Nay Pyi Taw and handed over to China by Myanmar’s junta last year. The six-day trial concluded with a verdict pending, underscoring Beijing’s commitment to holding suspected major players accountable.

Challenges amid ongoing crackdown

Despite aggressive measures, scam syndicates continue to operate, shifting their hubs across borders.

Syndicates can easily relocate to Cambodia, Laos or Dubai, Tower said.

Impunity also remains a major issue. While some key figures were brought to justice in 2023-2024, many kingpins still operate freely. Since 2016, scam networks have flourished with little oversight, particularly in Cambodia, where large-scale scam centers remain active.

Another challenge is repatriating trafficking victims and recovering stolen funds. Thai authorities have identified victims quickly, but returning them across multiple countries is complex.

“Without coordinated intelligence sharing, these networks will keep adapting,” Tower cautioned.

Thein Htike Oo from Burmese Service contributed this report.
…

South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday heard the last of the oral arguments in President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment trial.

The court’s decision on whether Yoon will be reinstated or removed from office is expected by mid-March.

Yoon has denied that he did anything wrong when he declared martial law on Dec. 3. In his closing statement Tuesday, he defended the declaration, saying it was a “proclamation that the nation was facing an existential crisis.”  

He told the court that “external forces, including North Korea, along with anti-state elements within our society” were “working together to seriously threaten our national security and sovereignty.”

The liberal opposition-controlled National Assembly impeached Yoon, a conservative, after his short-lived Dec. 3 martial law decree. They accused Yoon of taking the extraordinary measure, which is reserved for national emergencies or times of war, without proper justification.

In his statement, Yoon said he “could no longer neglect a do-or-die crisis facing this country” and that he had “tried to inform the people of these anti-state acts of wickedness by the mammoth opposition party and appealed to the people to stop it with their surveillance and criticism.”

Yoon had said the opposition parties blocked a revision to an anti-espionage law, preventing the prosecution of foreign nationals spying on South Korea.

“This was never a decision made for my personal benefit,” he told the court Tuesday.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) pushed for an amendment to the law to broaden its scope from targeting “enemy states” to include “foreign countries,” citing threats posed by Chinese espionage. The opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) blocked the revision for fear of potential misuse of the law.

Yoon also was arrested last month and indicted on rebellion charges after his declaration. The charges carry possible penalties that include life imprisonment or a death sentence.

After declaring martial law, Yoon ordered troops and police officers into the National Assembly where lawmakers were gathering to veto his decree. He said it was not his intention to prevent the lawmakers, who unanimously voted against the decree, from doing their work. He said he deployed the security forces to maintain law and order.

However, some commanders of the forces sent to the assembly told investigators and assembly hearings that they were ordered to drag the lawmakers from the assembly. 

An opposition lawyer had an emotional reaction to that tactic at the impeachment trial, telling the court, “As a citizen and a father, I feel a sense of rage and betrayal toward Yoon, who tried to turn my son into a martial law soldier.”

If Yoon’s impeachment is upheld by the court, a new election must be held within 60 days.

VOA’s Christy Lee contributed to this article. Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
…

BANGKOK — Thailand is emerging as one of Russia’s main pipelines for machine and computer parts with the potential for military use, with a growing number of local companies accused of helping Moscow evade Western export controls meant to cripple its war on Ukraine. 

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States has imposed sanctions on seven companies in Thailand for exporting these “high priority items” to Russia, the last of them in December. 

Trade data published last year by S&P Global, a financial analytics and services firm based in New York, also show a huge spike in these exports out of Thailand since 2022. 

Thailand eluded mention when the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments started warning in mid-2023 of third countries being used to funnel high-priority items to Russia as a way of skirting the West’s export controls. 

“So, it was a surprise to see them … as a new country or a new location which had been involved in this type of goods transaction,” Byron McKinney, a sanctions risk and supply chain expert at S&P Global Market Intelligence, told VOA of his team’s research. 

Supply chains hit by sanctions, McKinney said, are “a little like water in a stream — if you try damming in one place, it will try and move around. So, Thailand kind of appeared in this way, as a country which wasn’t there originally for the transshipment or transit of these goods but has appeared later on.”  

Within days of the 2022 invasion, the U.S. Commerce Department placed export controls on dozens of high-priority items it said Russia needed most “to sustain its brutal attack on Ukraine,” from ball bearings to microchips. These are commonly known as dual-use goods for their potential to be put to both civilian and military use. 

A 2024 report by McKinney and his team shows China exporting or reexporting the vast majority of these goods to Russia since the invasion — over $6 billion worth in 2023 alone. It also shows countries funneling more such goods to Russia than Thailand. 

But of the 14 countries whose exports and reexports to Russia that the report breaks down, Thailand saw the sharpest spike of any, from $8.3 million in 2022 to $98.7 million in 2023, a jump of over 1,000%. 

Thailand’s 2023 shipments also included an especially large proportion of the most sensitive, high-priority goods such as microchips, designated by U.S. Customs as Tier 1. 

More recent data shared with VOA by S&P Global show Thailand’s exports and reexports of high-priority goods to Russia again topping $90 million in 2024. 

McKinney said the trade routes on which the goods are shipped are in constant flux. 

But for the time being, he added, “Thailand just happens to be in an area where there’s the possibility to transit these goods easier or quicker because maybe the regulation is a bit more light touch, for example, than it would be in other locations. So, it kind of gets picked on from that particular perspective and … turns up as a particular transit or transshipment hub.” 

The U.S. has put sanctions on seven Thailand-registered companies in the past 13 months.  

The first was NAL Solutions in January 2024. In announcing the sanctions, the U.S. Treasury Department said NAL was part of a network of companies controlled by Russian national Nikolai Aleksandrovich Levin channeling electronics and other goods from the United States and other countries to Russia. 

Washington sanctioned another five firms in Thailand in October, including Intracorp, which Treasury accused of setting up other companies that send high-priority goods to Russia. 

Treasury also tied Thailand’s Siam Expert Trading — added to the sanctions list in December — to the TGR Group, which it described as “a sprawling international network of businesses and employees that have facilitated significant sanctions circumvention on behalf of Russian elites.” 

Five of the seven firms did not reply to VOA’s repeated requests for comment about the sanctions. The other two could not be reached. 

Spokespersons for the Thai government and Ministry of Commerce, which oversees the country’s exports and company licensing, did not reply to VOA’s requests for comment either. 

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Thailand has been keen to keep up warm diplomatic and economic ties with Russia. 

At an international summit on China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Beijing two years ago, Thailand’s prime minister at the time, Srettha Thavisin, hailed his country’s “close relations” with Russia, shook hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin and invited him to Thailand. 

“When Srettha became prime minister in 2023, he was focused like a laser on economic growth and viewed Russia as a useful economic partner,” Ian Storey, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, told VOA. “Visa-free entry was extended for Russian tourists, and the authorities turned a blind eye to incidents of antisocial behavior and illegal activities.” 

He said Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who replaced Srettha last year, has carried on both his fixation on economic growth and neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine war. 

Just last month at Putin’s invitation, Thailand joined BRICS, a group of developing countries with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa at its core, focused on forging closer economic ties. 

And while bilateral trade between Russia and Thailand has been falling in recent years, Storey says Russians have become major players in Thailand’s property market. They have also helped boost Thailand’s tourism sector, a pillar of the economy. 

In an interview with Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency in 2023, Vitaly Kiselev, president of the Thai-Russian Chamber of Commerce, said Western sanctions on Moscow were also opening up more trade opportunities between Russia and Thailand. He said chamber membership was on the rise. 

Given Thailand’s priorities, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s approach to negotiating an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, Storey doubts that Thai authorities will step in to stop the country’s trade in dual-use goods. 

“If Bangkok hasn’t taken action to crack down on this trade three years after the war started, there’s little chance that it will do so now, especially as the Trump administration is making nice with Russia,” he said. 

Across Asia, only Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan have imposed trade restrictions or other sanctions on Russia since the 2022 invasion. 
…

ISLAMABAD — When Amir Ali left the narrow alleys of his village in Pakistan’s Punjab province last summer for the plazas of Spain, he thought his dream of a better life was finally coming true. The 21-year-old had failed seven times before to get a visa for countries in Europe and the Middle East.

Six months later, in mid-January, Ali was one of 22 Pakistani men whom Moroccan authorities rescued from a stranded migrant boat in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa.

At least 43 Pakistanis were among 50 men who perished from hunger, dehydration and physical torture at the hands of human smugglers.

Limping with an injured foot in his home in Gujranwala district, Ali said he felt lucky to be alive.

“It’s not as if we survived because of some food or water,” he said. “Not at all. It’s just that God wanted to save us, so we survived.”

Since December 2024, dozens of Pakistanis have died as boats carrying migrants to Europe have run into accidents.

While Pakistan does not rank among the top 10 countries from which migrants attempting irregular entry into Europe come, thousands of its nationals risk their lives every year to reach the continent.

Human smugglers are becoming savvy too, officials say, as kingpins move abroad to evade an ongoing crackdown, and rely on digital currencies to transfer the proceeds of their crime.

A harrowing journey

Ali’s trip began more than 1,200 kilometers south of Gujranwala in Karachi, where he boarded a plane to Senegal on a visa that smugglers had arranged.

“I didn’t even know that a country with that name existed,” Ali told VOA.

From Senegal he obtained a visa to enter Mauritania, where he stayed in a safe house with dozens of other migrants for almost five months.

The dream journey was turning into a nightmare.

“There were so many boys in one room, there was no room to sit,” Ali said. “It was mentally very tough.”

In the wee hours of the morning on Jan. 2, he was stuffed with more than 80 others on a boat headed from Nouakchott, Mauritania, to Spain’s Canary Islands.

After a day of travel, the boat ran out of fuel. To lighten the load, Ali said, the smugglers threw away the passengers’ belongings and took away their meager rations.

“On the fourth day on the boat, a man went crazy because of hunger. He jumped into the ocean. We all got very scared thinking about what was going to happen next,” Ali said.

Smugglers, the survivor said, thrashed anyone who complained or didn’t comply.

“The smugglers told us to throw the dead bodies in the water,” said Ali. “When we refused, thinking how could we throw our brothers, they beat us up a lot.”

The ordeal ended almost two weeks later when Moroccan authorities rescued the survivors after a fishing boat spotted them.

Ali’s family sold livestock and precious agricultural land and took loans to raise nearly $10,000 to get their son to Spain. His mother is worried about the debt but delighted that her son is alive.

Who is leaving?

Almost two hours away in Gujrat district of Punjab, Haji Shaukat Ali is devastated. His son Chaudhry Atif Gorsi and nephew Chaudhry Sufyan Gorsi did not survive.

A roadside sign leading to their village commemorates the two as martyrs.

“We sent them because of our weakness,” said Ali, sitting among a group of mourners, some of whom had come from Europe. “The weakness is money.”

Studies conducted by Gallup Pakistan and the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, or PIDE, in recent years show lack of jobs as the primary reason for wanting to leave a country where economic growth is barely keeping up with population growth.

According to Pakistan’s Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, more than 65,000 people left legally to work abroad just in January 2025. Between 2022 and 2024, an average of roughly 800,000 nationals moved abroad for work annually. Most went to the Middle East but a few to Europe.

Pakistanis also made nearly 5,000 attempts to enter Europe illegally in 2024, data from the EU’s border and coast guard agency Frontex indicates.

Amir Ali’s home district of Gujranwala and the Gorsi cousins’ home district of Gujrat, lead in migration trends, along with nearby Sialkot, Mandi Bahauddin and Faisalabad districts, despite being hubs of agriculture and industrial activity.

“They are not the poorest of the poor,” said demographer Durre Nayab, pointing to the ability of migrants from this region to pull together thousands of dollars to fund their journey.

“But it’s not just the financial aspect,” Nayab, who was involved in the PIDE study, told VOA. “The two other aspects that came out were lifestyle, and somehow, they thought they would gain more respect out of [the] country.”

Many Pakistanis wanting to leave felt poorly treated compared to their wealthier countrymen, Nayab explained.

“This difference made them disillusioned about the whole system,” the demographer said.

The PIDE study showed 37% of Pakistanis would leave, if given a chance.

Does life get better?

Kashif Ali, a cousin of the deceased Gorsis, spent hundreds of dollars to arrange a sponsor for a work permit to Italy a decade ago.

“In Pakistan, a middle-class laborer earns around $3 a day. For that same work, they make $20 to $25 overseas,” said Ali, who works in boat making.

His family in Pakistan now has a new home and a car.

Such a turn of fortune is on display across small towns and villages in central Punjab. Experts say it inspires many others to risk their lives to reach Europe.

It was a similar story of success that made Ishraq Nazir move from Mandi Bahauddin to Greece. He entered the European country after a brief stay in Turkey as a tourist in 2009.

It took Nazir a decade to get a Greek residency permit after his asylum request was rejected.

For years he worked odd jobs like herding cows and painting trees to get by. Now he works in a packaging factory earning almost $60 a day and said he finally feels settled.

“I had to face a lot of difficulties, but the fact is that if I had stayed in Pakistan, I would have not gotten anything given the type of jobs they have,” Nazir told VOA on the phone while packing disposable plates. “My friends are still where they started.”

Umar Shaid from district Sialkot arrived illegally in Greece by boat from Libya in October.

“I am struggling. It’s very hard to find work. There are very few opportunities. I don’t have any friends or relatives to seek help from,” Shaid said by phone over the sound of the Athens metro.

Shaid said he has spent around $15,000 to pay smugglers and take care of his day-to-day expenses.

“Honestly, I believed the stories people told me and took this silly decision,” said Shaid. Still, he said he was not planning to go back to Pakistan.

Crackdown on smugglers

This month, Pakistan’s Senate passed three bills to toughen anti-human smuggling laws, increasing fines and jail terms.

Pakistan began cracking down on human smuggling after hundreds of its nationals died off the coast of Pylos, Greece, in June 2023 in one of the worst migrant boat disasters.

A report by Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Rights says after that disaster, authorities arrested 854 suspected human smugglers.

Frustrated by recent incidents, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a high-level task force in January, with himself as the head, to combat human smuggling.

The Federal Investigation Agency, or FIA, has ramped up efforts, arresting dozens of alleged human smugglers and confiscating the assets of others to force them out of hiding.

“For the first time we have seen that they [smugglers] are using Bitcoin and digital currency. They have shifted away from traditional ways of money laundering.” Bilal Tanvir, FIA deputy director for the Gujrat region, told VOA.

However, he said a lack of resources and low rate of conviction of alleged criminals posed a challenge in curbing the crime.

The FIA is also facing increased scrutiny. Sharif’s government removed the agency head at the end of last month. More than 100 officials have been fired, suspended or blacklisted for alleged involvement in and insufficient action against human smuggling.

Survivor Ali told VOA his group of migrant men faced no hurdle boarding the flight for Senegal at the Karachi airport.

“Someone connected with the agents came, held our hand and told us to come after him. Wherever we went, we followed him,” Ali said. “Nobody stopped us.”

Tanvir defended his agency, saying officers focus on those entering the country more than those on their way out.

The impact of tragedies

Surrounded by friends and neighbors, Ali looked disappointed. He told VOA he would not recommend attempting to reach Europe by boat.

Others in the room felt differently.

“Why should I lie?” said Tariq Bajwa, who supports his young sons’ plan to head to Europe illegally in a few years. “Looking at others, we are willing to try as well.”

Several young men in the room agreed.

Why Europe? “Just because,” said Hamza Qayyum, the son of a farmer. “There’s farming in Europe. I don’t feel like doing it here,” the 20-year-old with a sixth-grade education explained.

Asked if they would risk drowning in the sea, Muhammad Zohaib, whose brothers work in the Middle East asked, “Why not?”

“Planes crash too, so what’s the big deal if a boat sinks?” the 20-something said. “One can run into an accident right outside the house.”
…

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Hong Kong’s largest and oldest opposition party, the Democratic Party, has announced that it will start the process of disbanding, a move that analysts say will mark “the end of an era” for the city’s pro-democracy forces.  

During a press conference last Thursday, Democratic Party chairperson Lo Kin-hei told journalists that the party, founded in 1994, would set up a three-person task force to “study” the procedures needed for the party to shut down.

“We considered the overall political environment in Hong Kong and all those future plans that we can foresee, and that is the decision that we make,” he said, adding that party members’ votes will determine the final decision for disbandment. Lo did not specify when the vote might take place.  

Hong Kong’s government has yet to comment on the news of the party’s possible disbandment and authorities did not respond to inquiries from VOA. 

In an editorial published Monday, the Chinese Communist Party-controlled media outlet Wen Wei Po said the Democratic Party’s planned disbandment was the result of the party’s connections to detained media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who is facing several national security charges, and its support of “violent protesters” during the 2019 pro-democracy protests. 

The Democratic Party, founded a few years before the end of British colonial rule, played a pivotal role in Hong Kong’s transition to Chinese governance, with some of its early leaders, including prominent figures such as Martin Lee and Albert Ho, helping to shape the “One Country, Two Systems” model, a constitutional arrangement set up to give Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy under Chinese rule.

Following Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997, the Democratic Party became the most influential opposition force in the port city’s legislative council, leading street protests and advocating for the fulfillment of universal suffrage and direct elections that were embedded in the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.

But following months-long anti-government protests that sent shockwaves across the city in 2019, Beijing initiated a series of moves to tighten control over Hong Kong, including the imposition of the controversial National Security Law, or NSL, in July 2020 and the overhaul of the city’s electoral system that essentially blocks pro-democracy candidates from running in elections.

‘Chilling effect’ felt in Hong Kong 

Analysts say the Democratic Party’s decision to begin disbandment reflects Hong Kong authorities’ intensifying crackdown on pro-democracy organizations, with several opposition political parties, such as the Civic Party, deciding to shut down due to increasing political pressure and restrictions on operating.  

“Democratic Party’s decision to start preparing for disbandment marks the end of the good old times when there were functioning opposition parties that could maintain a presence in the legislative council, serve constituents, and consult the government on policies,” said Maggie Shum, a political scientist at Penn State University in the U.S. 

Additionally, she said, the crackdown has affected independent bookstores, independent media, and independent institutions.  

“It’s like the Hong Kong government is going down a long list of democratic institutions and taking every one of them off the list,” Shum told VOA by phone, adding that the trend has created a “society-wide chilling effect” in Hong Kong.  

The Hong Kong Journalist Association, or HKJA, the main journalism group in the city, was forced to scrap its annual fundraising dinner this month after two hotels cancelled bookings. The head of HKJA, Selina Cheng, has said the cancellations were likely the result of “political pressure” the hotels had faced. Local authorities have said nothing about the issue. 

Additionally, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, which tracks public attitudes on a wide range of issues in the city, announced it would suspend all self-funded research and might even “close down” after its CEO Robert Chung was summoned by national security police for investigations. 

Some pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong say authorities have shifted the focus of their crackdowns to groups dedicated to issues such as labor rights in recent months.

“The Hong Kong government has proposed legislative amendments that will ban individuals convicted of national security offenses from being part of labor unions while imposing stricter vetting mechanisms on foreign funding,” said Debby Chan, a former pro-democracy district councilor in Hong Kong.  

Emily Lau, the former chairperson of the Democratic Party, said these trends show Hong Kong’s political system is pivoting away from democracy.  

“More than a dozen groups have dissolved over the last two to three years and in the current environment, it will be hard for pro-democracy figures or organizations to have the space to operate,” she told VOA by phone, adding that Hong Kong authorities’ goal is to “annihilate” pro-democracy figures’ attempts to “organize.”  

Beijing: ‘National security safeguarded’ in Hong Kong  

In response to inquiries from VOA, the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., said Beijing “firmly supports” Hong Kong authorities’ efforts to “safeguard national security” and urged “critics” to “stop smearing the Chinese central government’s policy governing Hong Kong.”  

“Hong Kong’s economy is booming, and the constitutional order is in stable operation, national security is safeguarded and the ‘patriots ruling Hong Kong’ is implemented,” Liu Pengyu, the Chinese Embassy spokesperson, told VOA in an email.

Shum at Penn State said Hong Kong people may “get disoriented or forced to withdraw from caring about politics” because authorities are rapidly tightening control over civil society and “taking away their power to take collective actions.”  

“Hong Kong is implementing the Chinese model of governance and using an authoritarian way to control every aspect of life,” she told VOA.  

Shum said Hong Kong’s people could still find symbolic ways to express support for democracy.  

“The online censorship in Hong Kong is not as dire as compared to China and there are a lot of exiled media outlets reporting on the situation in Hong Kong, which serve as channels for Hong Kong people to connect with the outside world,” she said, adding that that “could potentially serve as anchors for people who care about democratic values.” 
…

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — A fresh search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been launched more than a decade after the plane went missing in one of aviation’s greatest enduring mysteries.

Maritime exploration firm Ocean Infinity has resumed the hunt for the missing plane, Malaysian transport minister Anthony Loke said Tuesday.

Loke told reporters contract details between Malaysia and the firm were still being finalized but welcomed the “the proactiveness of Ocean Infinity to deploy their ships” to begin the search for the plane which went missing in March 2014.

Loke added that details on how long the search would last had not been negotiated yet.

He also did not provide details on when exactly the British firm kicked off its hunt.

The Malaysian government in December had said it had agreed to launch a new search for MH370, which disappeared more than a decade ago.

The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has never been found.

“They (Ocean Infinity) have convinced us that they are ready,” said Loke.

“That’s why the Malaysian government is proceeding with this,” he added.

In December, Loke had said the new search would be on the same “no find, no fee” principle as Ocean Infinity’s previous search, with the government only paying out if it finds the aircraft.

The contract was for 18 months and Malaysia would pay $70 million to the company if the plane was found, Loke previously had said.

Ocean Infinity, based in Britain and the United States, carried out an unsuccessful hunt in 2018.

The company’s first efforts followed a massive Australia-led search for the aircraft that lasted three years before it was suspended in January 2017.

The Australia-led search covered 120,000 square kilometers in the Indian Ocean but found hardly any trace of the plane, with only some pieces of debris picked up.

The plane’s disappearance has long been the subject of theories — ranging from the credible to outlandish — including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue.

A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually.
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The top U.S. Army officer for the Asia-Pacific region began a two-day visit to Cambodia Monday in a trip designed to expand and improve frayed ties between the two nations.

General Ronald P. Clark, the commanding general of the United States Army Pacific met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and senior Cambodian military officials in Phnom Penh.

Ties between the U.S. and Cambodia have been strained with Washington’s criticism of Cambodia’s political repression and human rights violations.

However, the U.S. and other countries are also greatly concerned with Cambodia’s close ties with China. Of special interest is China’s access to the Ream Naval Base near the disputed South China Sea, a waterway China claims almost in full.

In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague rejected China’s sweeping claims. The naval base is strategically located in the Gulf of Thailand, which borders the western section of the South China Sea. The base’s renovation was funded by China.

China has contributed massive amounts of money to Cambodia’s updating of its infrastructure with the help beginning when the prime minister’s father, Hun Sen, was leading the country.

That funding continues and later Monday, Manet met with Yin LI, a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, according to a post on the prime minister’s Telegram account.

The post said the Li praised the progress on “all cooperation in all fields” between Cambodia and China.

During the meeting, Clark also expressed his admiration for Cambodia for sending U.N. peacekeepers to several international locations, according to the prime minister’s office.

The prime minister also thanked the U.S. for its assistance in helping to clear explosives from Cambodia after years of war that left Cambodia in the late 1990s with 4 million to 6 million land mines and other unexploded ordnance, including unexploded U.S. bombs.

Clark also met Monday with General Mao Sophan, Cambodia’s military chief.

The two military generals had “constructive discussions,” the army said in a statement. Topics of their talks included defense, trade, tourism, counterterrorism, peacekeeping and demining, the Cambodian army said.

Their discussion also included the possible revival of the Angkor Sentinel exercise, the joint military exercises previously held by the U.S. and Cambodia that were abandoned nearly 10 years ago, the army said.

Some information provided by The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
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