PHNOM PENH – A new report by the international rights group Human Rights Watch links two of Cambodia’s highest military figures contesting seats in next month’s legislative election to murders, tortures, rapes, kidnappings and land grabbing. The report, titled “Cambodia’s Dirty Dozen,” documents the past of 12 senior military and police leaders who form what […]
Month: December 2020
China to Militarize Coast Guard amid Maritime Rivalry from US, Southeast Asia
TAIPEI — Beijing is placing its coast guard under military command to warn foreign nations, including the United States, against interfering with its control over the disputed South China Sea, experts say. This change, effective July 1, follows the passage of U.S. navy vessels through the sea seven times since U.S. President Donald Trump took […]
Lao Families Fear Getting Cheated by Developers of New SEZ in Champasak Province
Nearly 150 families in six villages in Khong district of southwestern Laos’ Champasak province say they do not want to give up their homes and land to a special economic zone planned for their area and that they fear that project developers will not compensate them fairly. The first phase of the Mahanathy Siphandone special […]
Laos faces structural issues despite robust expansion
LAOS IS STILL grappling with several challenges and pending issues impeding macroeconomic development despite robust expansion of the country’s economy when compared to regional peers. Macroeconomic instability remains a worry even though Laos’s economic growth rate has been relatively high compared to that of other Asean countries. The growth rate is still vulnerable and unsustainable […]
Cambodia’s Jailed Opposition Chief Awarded Rights Prize in Absentia
South Korean rights group the National Council of Churches (NCC) on Friday awarded its Asian Human Rights Peace Prize to the jailed president of Cambodia’s now-dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Kem Sokha, citing his devotion to democracy and human rights in the country. In a ceremony in the South Korean city of Gwangju, […]
Chinese Military Veterans Converge on Zhenjiang as Protests Swell
Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu on Friday struggled to contain growing protests by at least 1,000 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) veterans enraged at the beating of a fellow veteran earlier this week. Hundreds of former armed forces personnel clad in military-style clothing gathered on a major road in Jiangsu’s Zhenjiang city, shouting […]
Cambodia’s Vireak Chey National Park Under Siege From Illegal Vietnamese Loggers: Activist
Cambodia’s Vireak Chey National Park, which straddles Stung Treng and Rattanakiri provinces, is under siege from “hundreds of Vietnamese” illegally crossing the border to harvest timber, an environmental activist said Thursday. Activist Heng Sros told RFA’s Khmer Service that workers from Vietnam routinely enter Vireak Chey to log trees of at least 50 centimeters (1.6 […]
Pak Lay Dam to Displace Residents in More Than 20 Villages in Northwestern Laos
At least 1,000 families from 20-some villages in northwestern Laos’ Xayaburi province will be forced to relocate if infrastructure officials move ahead with plans to build a fourth hydropower dam on the Lower Mekong River, a provincial official said Monday. The Pak Lay hydropower project is located downstream of the Xayaburi dam, which is now […]
Spread of Street Protests Bares Deep-Seated Anger in Vietnam
TAIPEI — The spread of street protests in Vietnam this month shows a latent fear of China, worries about freedom of speech and distrust of the lawmaking process, analysts say. Demonstrations with occasional violence reached 10 cities, including Vietnam’s largest, and attracted about 30,000 people June 9 and 10, London-based rights group Amnesty International said. […]
US Embassy Staff Sacked Over Child Pornography Protest
PHNOM PENH — Dozens of Cambodian staff at the U.S. embassy in Cambodia staged a protest, claiming they were wrongfully fired for allegedly sharing child pornography. In April the U.S. embassy fired 32 staff who claim they were terminated because they were added to a private Facebook group in which one member shared child pornography. […]