The BBC team were followed and had their footage deleted during their coverage of alleged human rights abuse in Xinjiang, China. Image: BBC.
BEIJING (AP) — China has banned the BBC World News television channel in a diplomatic fight with Britain after British regulators revoked the license of state-owned Chinese broadcaster CGTN.
The move late Thursday was largely symbolic, because BBC World already was limited to being shown on cable TV systems in hotels and apartment compounds for foreigners and some other businesses.
The National Radio and Television Administration said BBC World News coverage of China violated requirements that news reporting be true and impartial and undermined China’s national interests and ethnic solidarity.
The Chinese government has criticized BBC reports about the COVID-19 pandemic in China and about allegations of forced labor and sexual abuse in the Xinjiang region, home to the Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups.
“The channel fails to meet the requirements to broadcast in China as an overseas channel,” the Radio and Television Administration said in a statement dated midnight Friday.
It gave no indication whether BBC reporters in China would be affected.
The communist Beijing government last year expelled foreign reporters for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times during disputes with the Trump administration.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, in a written statement, called the move “an unacceptable curtailing of media freedom” that would “only damage China’s reputation in the eyes of the world.”
In Hong Kong, government broadcaster RTHK said it would stop carrying BBC World broadcasts on Friday. It cited the main regulator’s order.
Britain’s communications watchdog, Ofcom, revoked the license for CGTN, China’s English-language satellite news channel, on Feb. 4. It cited links to China’s ruling Communist Party among the reasons.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Ofcom had acted on “political grounds based on ideological bias.”
Losing its British broadcasting license was a setback for CGTN, which is part of efforts by the ruling Communist Party to promote its views abroad abroad. CGTN has a European operations hub in West London.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price called it troubling that media operations were restricted inside China while “Beijing’s leaders use free and open media environments overseas to promote misinformation.”
Price called on the Chinese government to allow its population free access to the media and the internet.
“Media freedom is an important right and it’s key to ensuring an informed citizenry, an informed citizenry that can share their ideas freely amongst themselves and with their leaders,” Price said.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends at a meeting of Central Committee of Worker’s Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korean, Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ripped into the performance of his Cabinet and fired a senior economic official he appointed a month ago, saying they’d failed to come up with new ideas to salvage an economy in decay.
The report by state media on Friday comes during the toughest period of Kim’s nine-year rule. The diplomacy he had hoped would lift U.S.-led sanctions over his nuclear program is stalemated, and pandemic border closures and crop-killing natural disasters last year deepened the damage to an economy broken by decades of policy failures.
Some analysts say the current challenges may set up conditions for an economic perfect storm in the North that destabilizes markets and triggers public panic and unrest.
The current challenges had forced Kim to publicly admit that past economic plans hadn’t succeeded. A new five-year plan to develop the economy was issued during the ruling Workers’ Party congress in January, but Kim’s comments during the party’s Central Committee meeting that ended Thursday were rich with frustration with how the plans were being executed so far.
During Thursday’s session, Kim lamented that the Cabinet was failing in its role as the key institution managing the economy, saying it was producing unworkable plans while displaying no “innovative viewpoint and clear tactics.”
He said the Cabinet’s targets for agricultural production this year were set unrealistically high, considering limited supplies in farming materials and other unfavorable conditions. He said the Cabinet’s targets for electricity production was set too low, showing a lack of urgency when shortages could stall work at coal mines and other industries.
“The Cabinet failed to play a leading role in mapping out plans of key economic fields and almost mechanically brought together the numbers drafted by the ministries,” the KCNA paraphrased Kim as saying.
The KCNA also said that O Su Yong was named as the new director of the Central Committee’s Department of Economic Affairs during this week’s meeting, replacing Kim Tu Il who was appointed in January.
Kim Jong Un during the January party congress called for reasserting greater state control over the economy, boosting agricultural production and prioritizing the development of chemicals and metal industries. He also vowed all-out efforts to bolster his nuclear weapons program in comments that were seen as an attempt to pressure the new Biden administration.
Sectors such as metal and chemicals would be crucial to North Korean hopes to revitalize industrial production that has been decimated by sanctions and halted imports of factory materials amid the pandemic. However, most experts agree that North Korea’s new development plans aren’t meaningfully different from its previous ones that lacked in substance.
South Korean intelligence officials have said there are also signs that the North is taking dramatic steps to strengthen government control over markets, including suppressing the use of U.S. dollars and other foreign currencies.
Such measures, which are apparently aimed at forcing people to exchange their foreign currency savings for the North Korean won, demonstrate the government’s sense of urgency over its depleting foreign currency reserves, analysts say.
The day he steps foot out of state quarantine is the day he will propose to her. But for now, showing her the ring via video call and setting their Facebook status to “engaged” will have to do.
Such is the story of Daungjai Aesara, 28, a teacher in Prachinburi, and her Hungarian fiance Tamas Toth, 30. They are one of the many tales of love separated by the coronavirus pandemic worldwide, of relationships suddenly bereft of union by unprecedented disruption to international travels in recent memory.
“He said if he knew it was going to be like this, we would’ve gotten married before flying back,” Daungjai recalled with a laugh. “He already showed me the ring via video call. He offered to mail it over, but I said it would be strange to send a ring by DHL!”
Thailand shut its borders in March and later eased the ban in October, but travel restrictions that vary from country to country, the amount of required paperwork, the costly mandatory 14-day quarantine, and the risks of flying during the pandemic in general continue to keep many pairs of lovers half a world away.
Swedish national Przemyslaw Walkowski and his Thai partner Patcharida Wangmooklang in an online call.
Always a cosmopolitan society at heart, Thailand has never been a stranger to interracial dating. There are so many of them affected by the pandemic that a community was formed to lobby the government for a more lenient border policy for couples, including those who hadn’t tied the knot.
The group, called Love Is Not Tourism, collected 5,000 signatures for its petition and submitted it to the Prime Minister’s Office in August.
The petition was forwarded to the foreign ministry. Just two months after, in October, the first group of non-residents was allowed into the country.
David Ball, Benjawan Srireuang, and Lily.
Existing Only Online
Despite the partial reopening, however, it’s still a common experience for long distance couples to miss an entire year of married lives, and even their child’s first year.
New dad David Ball only got to spend time with his young daughter Araya “Lily” Ball for three months after her birth when he had to fly back to the United Kingdom in March. He was stranded there by the border shutdowns as COVID-19 began to wreak havoc in Britain. David hasn’t been able to come back to his family in Thailand since then.
“We video call every day. I constantly tell Lily that the man on the phone is her dad,” David’s wife, Thai national Benjawan Srireuang, said.
Rungrudeerat Haluzan, 43, fought back tears on the phone as she talked about the first year of marriage to Slovenian Carlo Haluzan, 50 – almost completely lived via video call.
Rungrudeerat and Carlo Haluzan.
“All of the first year of our marriage is gone,” she said. “Instead of getting to be together, getting to start a family, going out to eat together, there’s none of that. Instead we call each other about how much we miss each other, tears in our eyes.”
Although it is now technically possible to enter Thailand, many travelers cannot shoulder the financial burden or the time needed away from work for their 14-day quarantine upon arrival.
Some countries, like Australia, also ban their citizens from traveling overseas in the pandemic, with few exemptions. The policy means there is no reunion on the horizon for Trissida Chwiwat, 32, and her Australian boyfriend Simon Bagnall, 35, who flew back home last February.
Trissida Chwiwat and Simon Bagnall in a video call.
“I asked him outright, ‘What about us?’ And he said very firmly, that no matter what, he would wait for me, however long it takes,” Trissida said. “I knew then that he’s the one. I’m not afraid anymore.”
But travel isn’t always guaranteed in countries that do allow overseas journeys, either. Finnish national Thomas Mikael Holmberg, 50, and Orapan Pumthong, 34, learned that the hard way. Orapan, a shopkeeper in Suphan Buri, said her visa application has been rejected three times so far.
“The last time, they said they didn’t believe that I’m his girlfriend. The embassy just said it was at their discretion,” Orapan said. “If I wasn’t his girlfriend, why would I ask for a visa three times, and use so much money? I’ve done all that they asked, and all I got back is tears.”
Challenge for LGBTs
The whole situation is even trickier for same-sex couples.
Since Thai laws do not recognize marriage between LGBT couples – as highlighted so often by gender equality advocates – there is no way for them to present marriage certificates when applying for visas to visit their better half abroad.
Charoen “Jerry” Singkaew and his British boyfriend Andrew Hutchinson have been dating since 2015. The pair was trying to meet in a country in Europe where the pandemic’s tolls weren’t as terrible as the U.K. and travel was more convenient. But Charoen’s Schengen visa application was declined due to the lack of a marriage certificate.
Charoen “Jerry” Singkaew and Andrew Hutchinson.
“As we are a same sex couple, marriage isn’t legal in Thailand so that prevented us from doing that,” Hutchinson said in online messages. “If it was an option we would have been married now.”
The two run a YouTube channel. Their new videos about visiting Koh Tao were filmed in September, the last time the two saw each other.
“Although we’ve been together for five, six years, the Thai law won’t let us meet because we don’t have any legal or family ties. So now we’re stuck,” Charoen said.
Transgender woman Sompop Maliyam, 36, and her longtime Canadian-American boyfriend Joseph took the pre-emptive solution to this problem by marrying in August – via a Zoom call with a Utah county clerk.
Sompop said they went through with it not only to solidify their 13-year relationship, but also in a bid to facilitate Joseph’s flight to Thailand. However, since the marriage wasn’t recognized in the kingdom, their effort almost ended up in vain.
Students march in support of sex marriage and more democracy in Nakhon Phanom province on Aug. 6, 2020.
After a flurry of calls to various government agencies, Sompop was able to explain her situation to the Thai embassy in New York. Luckily, one employee there was sympathetic to her plight. Her husband soon flew to her in October on a business visa.
Sompop said her legal status shouldn’t have been up to debate in the first place, and if COVID-19 proves anything about humankind, it is the urgency of why same-sex marriage should be finally endorsed under Thai laws.
“The problem is, I’m male. I’m already married in the US, but Thailand doesn’t recognize that. Thailand says they accept LGBT rights, but not really,” she said. “It felt like handcuffs.”
Sompop added, “Thailand is ready, the citizens are ready, the LGBT community are ready, but the people in charge are not.”
Break It Or Make It?
Alas, with the global epidemic ripping into tatters well-made plans and promises, not every couple can last till death do them part.
The difficulty of long distance relationships, the uncertainty of not knowing when they can meet again, and the stress can prove too much – even the founder of the Love Not Tourism group ended her own relationship during the pandemic.
“Long distance love is hard, but long distance love during COVID is twice as difficult,” Thepsawarin Tapienthong said.
A 30-year-old Thai woman who asked to go by her nickname “Nunny” said she was dumped unceremoniously via text by her British stockbroker boyfriend in November. They had been dating for four years. He had found someone new, and promptly blocked all communication with Nunny.
Workers don face masks on statues of giants at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Dec. 15, 2020, to promote health measures against the coronavirus.
The stockbroker, she said, lost his patience because of Thailand’s stringent anti-coronavirus measures.
“He would demand to know why he needed to quarantine in Thailand, if he already got tested for COVID to fly. ‘If Thailand is still closed like this, Thailand is stupid. Thailand is a tourist country,’ he kept saying to me. But it’s not like I can do anything about it,” she said.
“He chose someone that was close by, someone he could physically go see,” Nunny went on. “His friends and I are surprised that he gave up this easily because of COVID. Everyone had told me he was the one.”
Other couples were able to overcome their distance and reunite. Phonrat Wisetphongphan, 27, was elated when his Japanese girlfriend Yumika, 25, closed the distance and moved to Thailand after half a year apart.
Phonrat Wisetphongphan and Yumika.
“Of course, the first thing I did was to hug her,” Phonrat said. “A phone call isn’t the same. Seeing the other person eating via video call and sitting down together to eat is a completely different feeling.”
Making the reverse move, Wanthana Phongphan, 27, moved to Tokyo to be with her husband Hidemi Noto – after being apart for 11 months of their first year of marriage together.
The long-awaited reunion with her husband, Wanthana said, made her suddenly bashful at their first meeting. “I became so shy. It felt like I had had a long time online boyfriend, but now he had physical form. It was like meeting him for the first time again.”
Wanthana Phongphan and Hidemi Noto.
Survival Tips
Whether they have reunited, are still apart, or have broken up, interviewed couples all had tips to offer for people currently in long distance relationships.
Wanthana and Noto kept up with the news in their partner’s country – Wanthana read COVID updates in Japan, while Noto stayed informed on what was happening in Thailand. That gave them daily things to talk about, as well as practical, helpful reminders for each other.
Przemyslaw Walkowski and his Thai girlfriend Patcharida Wangmooklang.
Taking an interest in each other’s daily activities is also important. Remind each other if there’s a class coming up. Remember the other person’s schedules so a call can be arranged smoothly. And if the COVID situation in your country is better – say, your partner can’t leave the house at all – try not to make each other so jealous.
“We never know when the next time we’re going to see each other is,” said Swedish national Przemyslaw Walkowski, who’s dating a Thai woman in a long distance relationship. “But we are doing the best we can and we keep communicating about our daily stuff and talking about our problems.”
“So keep talking with your partner and you will survive COVID.”
It’s worth noting that women interviewed for this story all agreed one one thing: being ngon – a Thai habit of giving someone the cold shoulder due to being mad or pouty – is self-destructive in a long distance relationship with a foreigner.
In fact, it only causes more arguments, since the partner is far away and cannot read one’s body language.
Daungjai Aesara and Tamas Toth.
“Thai women, sometimes we want to stay silent instead, and be like Detective Conan, sleuthing on social media,” Daungjai said, referring to a popular detective anime. “In this situation, there is literally no other way for him to know if you’re upset. Being ngon doesn’t work.”
And finally, even when apart, keep validating and encouraging each other in your relationship. Daungjai said that she felt immensely secure in Tamas’ decision to change their Facebook status to engaged.
In the status update, he wrote in two languages: “There is no ring, just a promise. Covid keeps us apart, but my promise is stronger than any metal known to mankind!”
Are you in a long distance relationship during the pandemic? Is your romance taking a hit due to the virus? Do you have stories you want to share? Write to us!
“Great things will happen when you have children,” this post by the Bureau of Reproductive Health says. Photo: Bureau of Reproductive Health / Facebook
BANGKOK — Tinder not working out for you? Let the Bureau of Reproductive Health step in and help you find your match.
The bureau launched a campaign this week to boost the birth rate by holding a single’s meetup on May 14 – registration is open starting Friday, to both Thais and foreigners.
The “Marriage for Building Nation” is the latest in the annual series of bold and wacky initiatives conceived by the government to fix the country’s declining fertility. But despite these campaigns, which typically took place around Valentine’s Day, the birth rate continues to fall and it remains unclear how much impact they have on people’s decision to have a baby.
“Whether or not people have children depends on many factors, including self care,” Papawee Thairak, researcher at the Bureau of Reproductive Health said by phone Thursday. “For the people interested in having children, we want them to be prepared.”
The campaign includes a single’s meetup as well as a giveaway of vouchers for prenatal care. The latter is intended for couples who have been together for more than a year and plan to have their first child.
“We want people who are interested in having children to have access to get medical care. We also want singles to meet as well,” Papawee said.
An employee for the “Marriage for Building Nation” said by phone Thursday that so many people were applying that the system went under. Applicants are advised to try again on Friday.
Registration for the singles meetup is open to both Thais and foreigners until March 31, although the form is in Thai. Fill in a passport number in lieu of a Citizen ID.
Sathit Pitutecha, Deputy Minister of Public Health, announced the project at the Public Health Ministry on Wednesday in a press conference titled, “Life Balance Smart Family.”
“The singles meetup will create many new friends, but whether a couple clicks or not, we will have to see,” said Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the Department of Health said. “Some people are single without wanting to be single. Others are single because they’re waiting for their soulmate.”
Sathit said 2020 saw only 600,000 new births, a record low for the country, with a likelihood of births decreasing even further in 2021. The health ministry set a goal for 700,000 live births for the coming year.
“We need to have 1.5 births per woman to replace the population, or else in the future there will be a large aging population that will put its strain on the government,” Sathit said.
Some couples are also facing trouble with conception, an average of 30,000 babies born with birth defects, and maternal mortality.
In 2020, Thailand saw a maternal mortality rate of 23.1 deaths per 100,000 live births, mostly in rural provinces in the north and south. The World Health Organization states that high income countries have a ratio of 11 per 100,000 in high income countries.
Sathit cited higher education, trends of more people staying single, people marrying later, and uncertainty over providing for the children for Thais delaying or forgoing having children.
Pro-democracy protesters bang on pots and pans to make noises during a protest in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
BANGKOK (AP) — The first major demonstration this year by Thailand’s student-led pro-democracy movement on Wednesday turned into a confrontation with police, who quickly arrested 10 activists who were putting up banners and posters.
The rally by more than 1,000 people in central Bangkok was called by the Ratsadorn movement, which campaigned last year for Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and his government to step down, the constitution to be amended and the reform of the monarchy to make it more accountable.
Wednesday’s rally focused on the detention of four top protest leaders who were charged Tuesday with defaming the monarchy, or lese majeste. The movement has been seeking the abolition of the lese majeste law, which carries a punishment of three to 15 years in prison on each count.
“Today, we are gathering here to start our first fight after the system of injustice took away our friends,” said Panupong Jadnok, a protest leader.
Police hold shields in tight formation as pro-democracy protesters demanding the release of pro-democracy activists march in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
The rally began tensely when police arrested 10 activists who were putting up banners and signs in the public space. They were charged with littering.
After several speeches, protest leaders led the crowd to the police station where the activists were being held to demand their release.
Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters demanding the release of pro-democracy activists march in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
At least 100 police faced off against the protesters when a tear gas canister exploded. An angered crowd scattered and then pushed back against the police, but calm was restored after a few minutes.
The origin of the tear gas canister was unclear. Police denied throwing it. The crowd dispersed after the 10 activists were processed by police and released.
Somchai Jutikitdet, right, in blue shirt, during the police raid of his home in Rayong City on Feb. 11, 2021.
RAYONG — Police on Thursday said they arrested the owner of a gambling den responsible for a major coronavirus cluster in the eastern region – nearly two months after the outbreak began.
Somchai Jutikitdet was arrested at his home in Rayong City early this morning and charged with organizing a gambling operation. The province logged 580 cases of infection since the new wave of outbreak surfaced in December, most of which were traced by health officials to the casino near the provincial bus terminal allegedly run by Somchai.
The authorities faced widespread backlashes for their failure to close down the illegal gambling dens, even as legitimate businesses were instructed to shut down amid the outbreak. National police commissioner Suwat Chaengyodsuk insisted that today’s arrest was not meant to be any damage control.
“Police are not making this arrest because we have been pressured,” Gen. Suwat said. “We are doing our work. Although sometimes we cannot please everyone, please know that we are doing our best.”
Police commandos raided Somchai’s home at dawn and found evidence linking to gambling operations inside, according to the police. Arrest warrants were also issued to four other suspects under Somchai’s network, though they are still at large, Gen. Suwat said.
Police inspect an empty basement at Somchai’s home.
“Somchai remains silent at the moment. He neither confesses nor denies the allegations,” the police commissioner said. “We will investigate their bank accounts to seek more suspects.”
The illegal casino – which was even listed on Google Maps – was previously identified by the local police force as a “warehouse” after they searched the venue and found no trace of gambling activities.
The top police boss apparently did not buy their explanation, which was ridiculed widely on social media. Suwat later signed an order transferring several high ranking officials in the province to an inactive post in late December for their failure to shut down gambling dens operating under their jurisdiction.
Thailand reported 201 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, bringing up the country’s total tally to 24,104, according to the government’s pandemic response center.
A shop selling ceremonial face masks for Chinese New Year in Ang Thong province.
BANGKOK — Thai-Chinese around the country celebrate the coming of the Year of the Ox in the lunar calendar on Thursday, though their joy (and spending power) is soured by the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Reflecting the essential need of our time, a shop in Ang Thong province even sells “Hell Money” packages that come with gilded paper resembling face masks – just in case your ancestors may need one. Each paper mask costs 20 baht.
A shop selling ceremonial face masks for Chinese New Year in Ang Thong province.
Chinese New Year is celebrated for three days in Thailand: “Shopping Day,” when people go out to buy food, fruits and traditional desserts; “Offerings Day” – the last day of the lunar year – for holding prayers to spirits and making offerings to the ancestors; and “Going Out Day,” when the New Year begins in earnest and families gather for meals or travel together.
For this year, Shopping Day falls on Wednesday, Offerings Day on Thursday, and Going Out Day on Friday.
But the Ox could not have chosen a worse time to arrive. Reports say spending is notably lower this year during the Shopping Day, with many markets across the country witnessing record low numbers of clients. To curb the spread of the coronavirus, the government pandemic center has also advised people to avoid traveling and visiting their families.
Events and fairs to mark the Chinese New Year in Bangkok – the annual highlight of the usually bustling Chinatown – have been cancelled.
There are some small joys to be had, however. Friday will be a government holiday for the first time. HRH Princess Sirindhorn blessed Thai people through an official greeting card, and Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha himself entertained us with a New Year message… on Tiktok.
A look at how the Year of the Ox is celebrated around Thailand:
In Bangkok’s Chinatown, families set up altars and burn Hell Money in front of their homes.
A businessman donates goods and red envelopes (ang bao) to residents in northern Bangkok.
Worshipers wear face masks as they light incense at Put Cho Shrine in Phuket.
Officials inspect scales at a market in Suphanburi to ensure that shoppers won’t be cheated on the auspicious day.
A man prays and wishes for good fortune at the City Pillar Shrine in Korat.
Visitors make offerings to a local Chinese goddess at Chao Mae Lim Ko Niao Shrine in Pattani.
Tourism Authority of Thailand officials pose for photos in Surat Thani’s downtown to promote tourism to the province. (Wait, so does the government want us to travel or not?)
Photo taken on Oct. 17, 2019, shows Tokyo Olympic organizing committee head Yoshiro Mori speaking to reporters in Tokyo. (Kyodo)
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Tokyo Olympic chief Yoshiro Mori will step down over his remarks about women talking too much that sparked outrage at home and abroad as sexist and cast another shadow over the prospects of the rescheduled games opening this summer amid the coronavirus pandemic, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday.
The 83-year-old former prime minister said at a Japanese Olympic Committee meeting Feb. 3 that having women participate in meetings meant they tended to “drag on.” He later retracted the comments and apologized but said he would not resign.
Buddhist monks lead a protest march against the military coup in Mandalay, Myanmar on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo)
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Large crowds demonstrating against the military takeover in Myanmar again defied a ban on protests Wednesday, even after security forces ratcheted up the use of force against them and raided the headquarters of the political party of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Witnesses estimated that tens of thousands of protesters, if not more, turned out in Yangon and Mandalay, the country’s biggest cities. Rallies also took place in the capital Naypyitaw and elsewhere.
The protesters are demanding that power be restored to Suu Kyi’s deposed civilian government. They are also seeking freedom for her and other governing party members since the military detained them after blocking the new session of Parliament on Feb. 1.
“As part of Generation Z, we are first-time voters. This is our first time to protest as well,” said one student who declined to give her name for fear of harassment. “They negated our votes, and this is totally unfair. We do not want that. We hope they release our leaders and implement a real democracy.”
Demonstrators display placards calling for the release of detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and flash three-fingered salutes, a symbol of resistance, against the military coup during a protest in Mandalay, Myanmar, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo)
The military says it acted because November’s election, which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won in a landslide, were marred by irregularities. The election commission had refuted the allegation.
Some demonstrators in Yangon gathered at foreign embassies to seek international pressure against the coup.
A small group outside the Japanese Embassy held signs and chanted “We want democracy, we get dictators!” They sat in several children’s wading pools, three or fewer per pool, in what appeared to be a tongue-in-cheek way of showing compliance with an emergency law that bans gatherings of more than five people.
Others marched through the city, chanting and waving flags of Suu Kyi’s party.
Another group hauled a fake coffin as part of a mock funeral for Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the military chief who is the country’s new leader.
Demonstrator wave National League for Democracy party flags during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo)
Civil servants in many areas have been risking their jobs to march with the protesters, and even some police have switched sides to oppose the coup. In a dramatic video shot Wednesday in a small village in Kayah State in eastern Myanmar, a group of 42 policemen and women declared their allegiance to the ousted elected government and resisted the entreaties of a senior officer to return to duty. Local residents flocked to their side to ward off any effort to arrest them.
The head of the U.N. International Labor Organization, Guy Ryder, urged Myanmar’s military leaders “to ensure that workers and employers are able to exercise their freedom of association rights in a climate of complete freedom and security, free from violence and threats.”
“I call on the military to immediately remove orders restricting assemblies of more than five persons, a halt to the repression of dissenting voices and the full respect of workers’ fundamental and human rights and freedoms,” Ryder said. “I urge military leaders to ensure no workers, including civil servants, are detained, intimidated or harassed for participating in peaceful protests.”
The burgeoning protests and the junta’s latest raid suggest there is little room for reconciliation. The military, which ruled directly for five decades after a 1962 coup, used deadly force to quash a massive 1988 uprising and a 2007 revolt led by Buddhist monks.
An armed police officer stands guard along a cordoned-off road with police vehicles and water cannons, the site of clashes a day earlier in Mandalay, Myanmar on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo)
In Naypyitaw and Mandalay on Tuesday, police sprayed water cannons and fired warning shots to try to clear away protesters. In Naypyitaw, they shot rubber bullets and apparently live rounds, wounding a woman protester, according to witnesses and footage on social media. The reports could not be independently confirmed.
Human Rights Watch cited a doctor at a Naypyitaw hospital as saying the woman was in critical condition. The doctor said the woman had a projectile lodged in her head, believed to be a bullet that had penetrated the back of the right ear, and had lost significant brain function. The doctor said a man had been also been treated with an upper body wound consistent with that of live ammunition.
State television network MRTV, in one of its few reports on the protests, on Tuesday night broadcast scenes it claimed showed the protesters were responsible for the violence.
“Myanmar police should immediately end the use of excessive and lethal force” the New York-based watchdog urged.
No major incidents were reported in connection with the big turnout at Wednesday’s protest in Mandalay. Social media users said 82 people who had been arrested were freed due to the work of local lawyers.
Demonstrator wave flags of the National League for Democracy party during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo)
Medical students and personnel, lawyers and Buddhist monks were among a huge cross-section of residents who marched in Mandalay, but the most social media buzz was generated by a contingent of shirtless muscled men with well-defined six-packs who were said to be members of a fitness gym.
Yangon’s most photogenic marchers were a group of young women who dressed in formal gowns more suitable for a wedding reception.
The military on Tuesday night raided the national headquarters of Suu Kyi’s party, which before the military seized power had been slated to take power for a second five-year term.
Kyi Toe, a spokesman for the party, wrote on Facebook that the army broke into the headquarters in Yangon and another office and took away documents and computer hardware. The headquarters was shuttered Wednesday.
U.S. President Joe Biden ordered new sanctions Wednesday, saying he was issuing an executive order that will prevent Myanmar’s generals from accessing $1 billion in assets in the United States. Biden added that more measures are to come.
Demonstrators shout slogans calling for the release of detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a protest in Yangon, Myanmar, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo)
“The military must relinquish power it seized and demonstrate respect for the will of the people of Burma,” he said.
A day earlier, the U.S. had “strongly” condemned the violence against demonstrators.
“We repeat our calls for the military to relinquish power, restore democratically elected government, release those detained, and lift all telecommunication restrictions, and to refrain from violence,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
New Zealand suspended all military and high-level political contact with Myanmar, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced in Wellington, adding that any New Zealand aid should not go to or benefit Myanmar’s military government.
The U.N. Human Rights Council, the 47-member-state body based in Geneva, is to hold a special session on Friday to consider “the human rights implications of the crisis in Myanmar.”
Britain and the European Union spearheaded the request for the session, which will amount to a high-profile public debate among diplomats over the situation in Myanmar and could lead to a resolution airing concerns about the situation or recommending international action.
Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL (CP Foods) and partners have made a series of measures under “CPF Food from the Heart against COVID-19” project, including donating 250,800 pieces of surgical masks and 129,000 packs of ready-to-eat meals, to help frontline healthcare workers, volunteers, and vulnerable groups, including migrant workers, tackle the new wave of COVID-19 pandemic.
CP Foods’ Chief Executive Officer Prasit Boonduangprasert said that “CPF Food from the Heart against COVID-19” project was initiated to deliver safe food supplies, ensuring food security in Thailand. This is also in responding to the policy from Mr. Dhanin Chearavanont, senior chairman of CP Group, who wants to help Thailand combatting the COVID crisis, and the group’s “3-benefits” philosophy, which are the country, the people and, lastly, the company.
“CP Group and CP Foods are sending our care to people all over the country with quality and safe foods. We are currently delivering essential supplies, such as ready-to-eat meals and surgical masks to frontline medical staffs, volunteers, and vulnerable group, including migrant workers.” Mr. Prasit said.
He added CP Foods is committed to helping people living in Thailand withstand the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak with multiple supporting measures until the crisis is over.
Since January 2021, 129,000 packs of ready-to-eat meals has been donated by CP Foods and CP Group. This includes 61,200 packs for 15 hospitals in six provinces, including Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram, Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi, Suphanburi and Kanchanaburi, and 22,000 packs to field hospitals in Samut Sakhon province.
The company also supplies foods to migrant groups working in Thailand. CP Foods in collaboration with Labour Protection Network (LPN) donated 30,800 packs of meals and 10,000 eggs to support 1,200 families of Myanmar workers under house quarantine around Mahachai Shrimp Market in Samut Sakhon. Later, the company gave out 3,600 packs of foods, 36,000 eggs, and other essential goods such as water, beverages, rice, and vegetable oil to the migrant workers via Embassy of Myanmar.
Aside food supplies, the company and CP Group donated a total of 250,800 pieces of mask to vulnerable groups via the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, migrant workers via Embassies of Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and frontline medical staffs via Ministry of Health.
“On behalf of the government, I would like to express thanks to CP Group – CP Foods for their constant COVID-19 relief efforts. Initially, CP Foods delivered quality meals to healthcare workers and their families across the country to fight the COVID crisis. Once again, CP Group and CP Foods have lighten the burden of health workers at field hospitals as well as boosting well-being of the patients there,” said Anutin.
“CPF Food from the Heart against COVID-19” project was initiated in March 2020 to ensure food security and food safety for medical staffs and vulnerable groups, including migrant workers, who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
