Manila, Philippines — China’s actions in the South China Sea are “patently illegal,” the Philippines’ defense secretary said Monday following a clash in disputed waters on Sunday over what Manila said was a resupply mission for fishermen.

“We have to expect these kinds of behavior from China because this is a struggle. We have to be ready to anticipate and to get used to these kinds of acts of China which are patently illegal, as we have repeatedly said,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told reporters.

Manila’s South China Sea task force accused Chinese vessels of ramming and using water cannons near Sabina shoal against a Philippine fisheries vessel transporting food, fuel and medicine for Filipino fishermen.

The Chinese coast guard said the Philippine vessel “ignored repeated serious warnings and deliberately approached and rammed” China’s law enforcement boat, resulting in a collision.

Asked if the latest incident would trigger treaty obligations between the United States and the Philippines, Teodoro said: “That is putting the cart before the horse. Let us deter an armed attack. That is the more important thing.”

U.S. officials including President Joe Biden have reaffirmed Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to aid the Philippines against armed attacks on its vessels and soldiers in the South China Sea.

“Everybody is too focused on armed attack,’’ Teodoro said. ‘’Let’s make ourselves strong enough so that does not happen.”

The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Monday is a public holiday in the Philippines.

The clash on Sunday had overshadowed efforts to rebuild trust and better manage disputes in the South China Sea after months of confrontations.

China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, including areas claimed by the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brunei.

An international arbitral tribunal in 2016 ruled that China’s claim had no basis under international law, a decision Beijing has rejected.
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TERNATE ISLAND, Indonesia — Torrential rains caused a flash flood on Indonesia’s eastern Ternate Island, sweeping away residential areas and leaving 13 people dead on Sunday, officials said. 

The deluges cut off the main road and access to the village of Rua in North Maluku province, the hardest hit area, and buried dozens of houses and buildings under the mud. Search and rescue teams worked with locals to recover the bodies and look for those still missing. 

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency says high-intensity rain is still possible in the Ternate City area and its surroundings in the coming days. Local authorities advised residents to remain vigilant and heed instructions in case of further flooding. 

Heavy rains cause frequent landslides and flash floods in Indonesia, where millions live in mountainous areas and near floodplains. 
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BEIJING — China’s coast guard said Sunday it took action against a Philippine vessel that ignored warnings and caused a light collision with its vessel in the disputed South China Sea, where confrontations between the two sides have increased.

Gan Yu, the coast guard spokesperson, said in a statement that the Philippine vessel entered the waters around Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands, known in Chinese as Xianbin Reef in the Nansha Islands. Gan said the Philippine ship ignored the Chinese warning and sailed toward the coast guard ship “unprofessionally” and “dangerously,” causing the two vessels to brush against each other. He said the Philippine vessel also had journalists on board to take pictures to “distort facts.”

“The responsibility is totally on the Philippines’ side. We sternly warn that the Philippine side must immediately stop the infringement and provocation, otherwise it must bear all consequences,” he said. Gan did not elaborate on what control measures the Chinese coast guard took.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in the Philippines said its vessel encountered aggressive and dangerous maneuvers from eight Chinese maritime vessels. It said the actions from the Chinese side were aimed at obstructing its vessel’s humanitarian mission to resupply Filipino fishermen with diesel, food and medical supplies.

China is rapidly expanding its military and has become increasingly assertive in pursuing its territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety. The tensions have led to more frequent confrontations, primarily with the Philippines, though the longtime territorial disputes also involve other claimants including Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

The latest incident came days after Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships collided near Sabina Shoal, a disputed atoll. At least two vessels were reported to be damaged in Monday’s collision but there were no reports of injuries.

Sabina Shoal lies about 140 kilometers (85 miles) west of the Philippine province of Palawan, in the internationally recognized exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.

The atoll is near Second Thomas Shoal, another flashpoint where China has hampered the resupply of Philippine forces. China and the Philippines reached an agreement last month to prevent further confrontations at Second Thomas Shoal.
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ISLAMABAD — Pakistani Minister for Power Awais Leghari says contracts with Chinese power producers that built and run power plants in Pakistan need to be revised.

“I think the terms and conditions that we already have with the Chinese as far as their IPPs [independent power producers] are concerned, they need another look,” Leghari told VOA in an interview this week.

The power projects, set up mostly in the last decade, helped end hourslong blackouts. But contracts require that Pakistan pay for the entire generation capacity of each power plant, regardless of how much electricity is used. A failure to spur industrial growth that could help utilize additional power, and the inability to reduce transmission losses, has left Pakistan with huge bills to pay for unused and wasted power generation capacity in addition to repaying project loans.

Independent power plants set up by Pakistani companies in the country also have contract terms similar to those of Chinese-run plants. Experts say Pakistan’s efforts to conduct an across-the-board audit of domestic and foreign-owned independent power plants show Beijing does not want its companies to be singled out as problematic, nor does it want to be alone in offering concessions to Islamabad.

Leghari is leading a power sector reform task force created after his recent trip to China. Reform plans aimed at cutting power sector losses include auditing all independent power plants.

Experts say Pakistan’s efforts to conduct an across-the-board audit of domestic and foreign-owned independent power plants in the coming days show Beijing does not want its companies to be singled out as problematic, nor does it want to be alone in offering concessions to Islamabad.

Leghari said the Chinese government and companies are already engaging with Pakistan on the reprofiling of power sector debt and to convert coal-fired power plants to local fuel.

“Those are changes in the terms and conditions of how the Chinese IPPs are working with us. Those would give us very substantial benefits to harvest in terms of [electricity] tariff reductions,” the power minister said, referring to Pakistan’s efforts to also bring down skyrocketing electricity prices for consumers.

Islamabad owes more than $15 billion to Chinese power plant operators. It is seeking rescheduling of payments to gain financial breathing room in a bid to obtain much-needed financing from the International Monetary Fund.

Leghari and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb went to Beijing late last month to discuss power sector debt relief.

The trip came days after Islamabad reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF for a three-year, $7 billion loan program. The bank’s board must still approve the deal.

Leghari said China, like the IMF, wants to see broader reforms from Pakistan.

China and the IMF “are wanting to look at the entire economic or power sector reform that we have already authored and embarked upon,” Leghari said. “I think the more the confidence they have in our economic reform agenda, the better would be the response.”

Beijing has not publicly addressed Islamabad’s request for rescheduling energy sector debt. However, Pakistan’s daily Express Tribune reported it has agreed to convert three Chinese-owned power plants in Pakistan from using imported to local coal.

Pakistan hopes to save hundreds of millions of dollars annually by switching to local coal for power generation.

The change may come at a high cost. Experts say Chinese investors struggling to recover payments may demand higher insurance premiums and profit margins if they are to expand mining operations, reducing savings for Pakistan.

“It’s going to be a win-win situation for everyone,” Leghari said, rejecting the concerns.

“Unless that isn’t there, people will not invest, lenders will not give money.”

Pakistan will also need infrastructure to transport local coal long distances, and power plants may need to make technical design changes to use Pakistani coal, which is known to be dirtier and less efficient than imported coal.

“There has been an overwhelming response to have a look and run technical and financial feasibilities on all the aspects of coal conversion and reprofiling,” Leghari insisted, while rejecting environmental concerns about shifting to local coal.

Leghari played down the possibility of scaring Chinese investors as Pakistan seeks a review of past contracts, saying Islamabad holds relationships with investors “dear to our heart.”

“Whatever will happen, with whomever, will be with mutual consent,” he said.
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TAIPEI, Taiwan — Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on a visit to Taiwan Saturday that an isolationist policy isn’t “healthy” and called on the Republican Party to stand with her country’s allies, while still putting in good words for the party’s nominee, Donald Trump.

Haley, who ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, told reporters in the capital, Taipei, that supporting U.S. allies, including Ukraine and Israel, is vital. She underscored the importance of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory, to be brought under control by force if necessary.

“I don’t think the isolationist approach is healthy. I think America can never sit in a bubble and think that we won’t be affected,” she said.

While the U.S. doesn’t formally recognize Taiwan, it is the island’s strongest backer and main arms provider. However, Trump’s attempt to reclaim the presidency has fueled worries. He said Taiwan should pay for U.S. protection in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek published in July and dodged answering the question of whether he would defend the island against a possible Chinese military action.

When Haley shuttered her own bid for the Republican nomination, she did not immediately endorse Trump, having accused him of causing chaos and disregarding the importance of U.S. alliances abroad. But in May she said she would be voting for him, while making it clear that she felt her former boss had work to do to win over voters who supported her.

On Saturday, she spoke in Trump’s favor. She said that having previously served with Trump’s administration, “we did show American strength in the world,” pointing to their pushback against China and their sanctioning of Russia and North Korea, among other efforts.

“I think that all of that strength that we showed is the reason that we didn’t see any wars, we didn’t see any invasions, we didn’t see any harm that happened during that time. I think Donald Trump would bring that back,” she said.

Trump has claimed that if elected, he would end the conflict in Ukraine before Inauguration Day in January. But Russia’s United Nations ambassador said he can’t. Trump’s public comments have varied between criticizing U.S. backing for Ukraine’s defense and supporting it, while his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, has been a leader of Republican efforts to block what have been billions in U.S. military and financial assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022.

Concerns among Ukraine and its supporters that the country could lose vital U.S. support have increased as Trump’s campaign surged.

Haley criticized Trump’s rival, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, saying she would “do exactly” what President Joe Biden had done. She said Harris was part of his administration when the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and when the Hamas-Israel war broke out last year.

“She was in the situation room right next to Joe Biden. She was there making the exact same decisions. Those decisions have made the world less safe,” she said.

Haley added that while the Republicans and Democrats may not currently concur on much, they agree on “the threats of China,” adding that Taiwan is now looking “to make sure that if China starts a fight with them, that they are prepared to make sure that they can fight back.”

She said her party should stand with the country’s allies and make sure that U.S. shows strength around the world. She also said any authoritarian regime and “communists” harming or hurting other free countries should be a personal matter to the U.S.

“We don’t want to see communist China win. We don’t want to see Russia win. We don’t want to see Iran or North Korea win,” she said.

Haley met Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te during this week’s trip. She called for more international backing for the self-ruled island, a coordinated pushback against China’s claims over it, and for Taiwan to become a full member of the United Nations.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that 38 warplanes and 12 vessels from China were detected around the island during a 24-hour period from Friday morning. Thirty-two of the planes crossed the middle of the line of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary that’s considered a buffer between the island and mainland.
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Seoul, South Korea — North Korea vowed Saturday to advance its nuclear capabilities, reacting to a report that the United States had revised its own nuclear strategic plan.

The country will “bolster up its strategic strength in every way to control and eliminate all sorts of security challenges that may result from Washington’s revised plan,” the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The New York Times reported this week that a U.S. plan approved by President Joe Biden in March was to prepare for possible coordinated nuclear confrontations with Russia, China and North Korea.

The highly classified plan for the first time reorients Washington’s deterrent strategy to focus on China’s rapid expansion in its nuclear arsenal, the Times said.

KCNA said North Korea’s foreign ministry “expresses serious concern over and bitterly denounces and rejects the behavior of the U.S.”

It added North Korea vowed to push forward the building of nuclear force sufficient and reliable enough to firmly defend its sovereignty.

Pyongyang and Moscow have been allies since North Korea’s founding after World War II and have drawn even closer since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The United States and Seoul have accused North Korea of providing ammunition and missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine.

Pyongyang, which has declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear weapons power, has described allegations of supplying weapons to Russia as “absurd.”

However, it did thank Russia for using its United Nations veto in March to effectively end monitoring of sanctions violations just as UN experts were starting to probe alleged arms transfers.

China, also a key ally of North Korea, presents itself as a neutral party in Russia’s offensive on Ukraine and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.

But it is a close political and economic ally of Russia, and NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the war.

Moscow has looked to Beijing as an economic lifeline since the Ukraine conflict began, with the two boosting trade to record highs as Russia faces heavy sanctions from the West.
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Washington — China and Russia agreed to expand their economic cooperation using a planned banking system, which analysts say is aimed at supporting their militaries and undermining U.S.-led global order.

The two countries issued a joint communiqué agreeing “to strengthen and develop the payment and settlement infrastructure,” including “opening corresponding accounts and establishing branches and subsidiary banks in two countries” to facilitate “smooth” payment in trade.

The communiqué was issued when Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian news agency Tass reported the following day.

At the meeting, Mishustin said, “Western countries are imposing illegitimate sanctions under far-fetched pretext, or, to put it simply, engaging in unfair competition,” according to a Russian government transcript.

Mishustin also noted the use of their national currencies “has also expanded, with the share of roubles and RMB in mutual payments exceeding 95%,” as the two have strengthened cooperation on investment, economy and trade.

Li and Mishustin signed more than a dozen agreements on Tuesday on economic, investment and transport cooperation. Li was making a state visit to Moscow at the invitation of Mishustin.

David Asher, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said, “This meeting between the Russians and the Chinese is important because it’s getting into a much widening aperture of cooperation” that would have “a bigger military dimension,” threatening U.S. national security.

Asher added that their bilateral cooperation could lead to “Russia’s assistance to China in the Pacific and the South China Sea” in return for Beijing’s support for Moscow’s economy and industry that aid Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, “in defiance of the U.S.”

A spokesperson for the State Department told VOA Korean on Thursday that the U.S. is “concerned about PRC [People’s Republic of China] support for rebuilding Russia’s defense industrial base, particularly the provision of dual-use goods like tools, microelectronics and other equipment.”

The spokesperson continued: “The PRC cannot claim to be a neutral party while at the same time rebuilding Russia’s defense industrial base and contributing to the greatest threat to European security.”

“China is Putin’s only lifeline,” said Edward Fishman, an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs who helped the State Department design international sanctions in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

“Chinese firms have taken advantage of Russia’s weak bargaining position and cut a slew of favorable deals,” Fishman said. “But these deals have more than just commercial significance. They keep Putin’s war machine going.”

The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on more than 400 entities and individuals that support Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, including Chinese firms that it said were helping Moscow evade Western sanctions by shipping machine tools and microelectronics.

In response to a China-Russia plan to set up a financial system to facilitate trade, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told the Financial Times that Washington “will go after the branch they’re setting up” and the countries that let them.

Analysts said China and Russia could increasingly turn to alternative methods of payments to evade sanctions.

Russia in June suspended trading in dollars and euros in the Moscow Exchange, in response to a round of sanctions the U.S. had issued targeting Russia’s largest stock exchange. The move by Russia prohibits banks, companies and investors from trading in either currency through a central exchange.

Shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine, the U.S. cut big Russian banks off from the U.S. dollar, the preferred currency in global business transactions.

“There is clearly a desire in both Moscow and Beijing to build financial and trade connections that operate beyond the reach of U.S.-led sanctions,” said Tom Keatinge, director of the Center for Finance and Security at the London-based Royal United Service Institute.

“This includes the development of non-U.S. dollar payment and settlement mechanisms and a wider ‘insulated’ payment system that allows other countries in their orbit to avoid U.S. sanctions,” he continued.

Other possible methods of payments could involve central bank digital currencies as well as cryptocurrencies and stable coins, Keatinge added.

The Chinese yuan replaced the dollar as Russia’s most traded currency in 2023, when the U.S. imposed sanctions on a few banks in Russia that could still trade across the border in dollars, according to Maia Nikoladze, an associate director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center, in a June report.

Nikoladze told VOA that transactions made in renminbi and in rubles allowed Moscow to mitigate the effects of sanctions until Washington in December 2023 created an authority to apply secondary sanctions on foreign banks that transacted with Russian entities.

“Since then, Russia has struggled to collect oil payments from China,” with some transactions delayed “up to six months,” even as Moscow found a way to process transactions through Russian bank branches in China, Nikoladze said.

According to an article this month from Newsweek, the Russian newspaper Izvestia reported that as many as 98% of Chinese banks are refusing Chinese yuan payments from Russia.

Hudson Institute’s Asher said even more critical than the Russian use of yuan is the use of U.S. dollars in Beijing-Moscow transactions through the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Clearinghouse Automated Transfer Settlement System (CHATS), a payment system used by banks such as HSBC that trade “hundreds of billions of dollars a year.”

“It can settle transactions in a way that is not visible to the U.S. government,” Asher said. “I’m talking about U.S. dollar reserves that are not in the United States, that are not controlled by the U.S. government, that we don’t have good visibility on, and Hong Kong is providing that financial service.”

The Hong Kong government has said it does not implement unilateral sanctions but enforces U.N. sanctions at the urging of China, according to Reuters.

William Pomeranz, an expert on Russian political and economic developments at the Wilson Center, said that despite Beijing’s and Moscow’s talk this week about financial and economic cooperation, “China does not want to get onto the bad side of European and American markets” and will not risk its economic ties with the West “just to help Russia in a problem that, quite frankly, is of Russia’s own making.”
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BANGKOK — Press freedom in Hong Kong is at its lowest level in at least 11 years, according to the latest survey of its members and the public by the Hong Kong Journalists Association.

One of the biggest factors in that decline is the introduction this year of Article 23, which penalizes anything deemed as sedition or external interference, the association, known as the HKJA, found.

The law has “more severe restrictions on media” than previously existed, Selina Cheng, chair of the HKJA, told VOA. It includes substantially tougher penalties for sedition, which Cheng described as “the main legislation that’s been used against speech and media work” since the implementation of a new National Security Law in 2020.

The findings are part of an annual survey by the HKJA in conjunction with the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute. The journalists association sent surveys to 979 members, and the research institute collected opinions from 1,000 phone interviews, selected at random.

Both groups surveyed were asked to rank press freedom in Hong Kong. The 250 journalists who responded to the survey ranked it at  25 out of 100, with 100 being a perfect score. It is the lowest ranking since the annual survey was started 11 years ago. The public score came in at 42.

The survey findings came the same week that Hong Kong denied a work visa to journalist Haze Fan. The reporter for Bloomberg News was detained in Beijing on alleged national security violations in December 2020 and held for about 13 months. Bloomberg has said Fan will be transferred to its London office.

In the HKJA survey, 92% of the journalists who responded to the survey indicated press freedom had “significantly” been impacted by the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, known as Article 23.

Passed in March, it prohibits acts of treason, secession, sedition, subversion and theft of state secrets, and prevents foreign political organizations from conducting activities or establishing ties with local political bodies in Hong Kong.

Penalties for sedition under the new law increased from two to seven years, or 10 years if a foreign force is involved.

Authorities have insisted that journalists are safe to carry out what they call “legitimate” reporting activities. But critics say the vaguely worded legislation creates uncertainty for journalists.

Cheng said the law’s reference to state secrets is wide, too, which could be a concern.

The law is using Beijing’s definition of state secrets, according to Human Rights Watch.

Under Article 23, what is deemed a state secret “encompasses [a] pretty wide spectrum of things, including information about economy, technology, society, so on,” Cheng said.

“It could be that the government considers the findings of a think tank or an academic institution a state secret, then that would become a crime of national security,” she said.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the HKJA findings, saying Hong Kong’s national security laws are not meant to target journalists who do not break the law.

Cheng noted that only about a quarter of HKJA members responded to the survey this year, which could be a sign of how the media environment is declining.

“The response rate is not great and is a reflection of the sort of self-censorship even when it comes to discussing or reflecting reporters’ views on press freedom,” she told VOA.

“At some organizations that might be seen as more pro-Beijing or pro-government reporters, the contact people we have at those organizations will worry if they might face retaliation if they send out [the] HKJA questionnaire. I think people are scared to do it, because they’re afraid of retaliation,” she said. 

Cheng believes she personally was retaliated against for her association with the HKJA. Her contract at The Wall Street Journal, where she covered the auto and electric vehicle industry, was terminated in July, in a move she said is connected to her being elected chair of the HKJA.

In a statement issued at the time, Cheng said she had been told by her supervisor that having Journal employees advocate for media freedoms would create conflicts of interest because the newspaper reports on related topics, including the ongoing trials of Hong Kong journalists and media organizations.

The Journal confirmed to VOA at the time that personnel changes had been made but said it could not comment on “specific individuals.”

Journalists also highlighted overt calls for journalists to use caution in their reporting.

In a note to columnists at the pro-Beijing Ming Pao newspaper, chief editor Lau Chung-yung urged people to be “prudent” and “law abiding” in their writing. His note was posted on social media on August 15 by one of the paper’s columnists.

Eric Wishart, the standards and ethics editor at Agence France-Presse in Hong Kong, says such comments concern journalists.

The Ming Pao note, he said, “is another example of the chilling effect that recent developments have had on journalism in Hong Kong.” 

Johan Nylander, a Swedish journalist in Hong Kong, said it is no surprise that press freedom is at a new low.

“The national security law and Article 23 have created an atmosphere of uncertainty and self-censorship among many reporters and media companies,” he told VOA.

“It’s quite clear where the trend is going. The situation regarding press freedom is very depressing in Hong Kong, and nothing indicates that it will get better anytime soon.”

Media groups such as the HKJA have been criticized by authorities and Chinese state media for allegedly having links to activist organizations.

But Wishart said it was important for the HKJA to continue.

“It’s important that the HKJA and other organizations continue to monitor the state of press freedom in Hong Kong and that media professionals continue to respond to these surveys,” he said.

Hong Kong’s ranking on the World Press Freedom Index has declined rapidly since the national security law was enacted in 2020.

It currently ranks 135 out of 180 on the Reporters Without Borders index, where number 1 represents the best environment. In 2019, the year before the national security law took effect, Hong Kong ranked 73.
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Bangkok  — A court in Buddhist-majority Thailand decided Friday to try seven former military and police officials for their roles in the deaths of 85 Muslim men at a protest that took place 20 years ago.

The seven are charged with murder, attempted murder and unlawful detention. The statute of limitations on the charges expires in late October, exactly two decades after the events of the so-called Tak Bai Massacre.

“I feel relieved that the duty of the lawyers and the duty of the plaintiffs is accomplished,” Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, a human rights activist and lawyer representing one of the plaintiffs in the case, told VOA after the court announced its decision.

“We [were] hugging each other … and I think they are very happy,” she said of the other plaintiffs as well.

Lawyers for the accused could not be reached for comment.

The case concerns the events of October 25, 2004, in Tak Bai district, Narathiwat province, in Thailand’s predominantly Muslim and ethnic Malay deep south.

Soldiers and police shot and killed seven people while responding to a protest demanding the release of suspected Islamic militants. Human rights groups say the officers forced many more protesters into police trucks destined for a military camp some 140 kilometers away, leaving them packed inside and forced to lie on top of one another for hours. Seventy-eight of them died.

A state inquest later determined that they had suffocated. It also concluded that security forces used inappropriate measures to disperse the protesters and that commanding officers failed to adequately supervise the movement of the detainees. But authorities did not pursue charges and police claimed force majeure, a legal term referring to events beyond their control.

No one was ever previously charged over the deaths or injuries.

Hoping to change that, 48 survivors and relatives of the dead filed a lawsuit with the Narathiwat provincial court in April against nine officers, all since retired, involved in the security forces’ response to the protest.

Pornpen said the court on Friday decided against taking two of the nine to trial on the grounds they were not responsible for use of force.

Even so, she said the court’s decision to put the other seven on trial was a welcome surprise in a country where senior police, military and government officials are widely seen to act with impunity.

“We had so many times in history that the call for democracy, call for change, anything like [a] protest always ends up with violence and no one is [held] responsible,” she said. “So, to bring the perpetrator to justice according to Thai law is not easy, and I think we did it.”

In a statement, Amnesty International called Friday’s decision an overdue but “crucial first step towards justice” for those who suffered what it called the “excessive use of force” at the 2004 protest.

“The victims and their loved ones have spent almost two decades waiting for justice and accountability for the heinous crimes committed,” the rights group said. “Thai authorities must immediately enforce the court decision and take necessary measures to ensure the case’s statute of limitations does not expire.”

Amnesty International said at least one of the defendants must be brought to court to hear the charges by October 25 for the case to proceed to trial.

Pornpen confirmed that the defendants must still appear in court before the statute of limitations runs out for the trial to proceed.

She said the court would issue subpoenas ordering the accused to appear on September 12, but was concerned they may try to stall and avoid an appearance until the statute of limitations runs out.

Anchana Heemmina, director of the Duay Jai Group, a non-profit that monitors human rights abuses in Thailand’s deep south, said she also worried the accused may yet avoid a trial.

But she welcomed Friday’s decision nonetheless and said it could begin to restore some faith in the courts among southern Thailand’s Muslims.

“They feel like the Thai government, or the military don’t want to protect Malay Muslims who are civilians in the country and feel like we are the second class,” said Anchana.

“Now, for today, for the Tak Bai case, it’s a little bit first step that makes the people believe or trust the justice system,” she added.

Once the seat of a Muslim sultanate, the southern provinces of modern-day Thailand were deeded by the British to the then-kingdom of Siam in 1909. Rejecting the transfer, several armed ethnic Malay Muslim groups have waged a long-running guerrilla war against the Thai state in hopes of winning independence for the provinces.

More than 7,000 people have died in related violence since fighting intensified in 2004.

While bombings, assassinations and shootouts across the south continue to occur alongside police raids and arrests, the pace of the violence has waned over the years, and the government is in talks with some of the rebel groups over terms of a possible cease-fire.
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State Department — U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, is heading to China next week for talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to sources familiar with the plan.

The discussions are expected to include a potential meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year.

This would be Sullivan’s first trip to China as the White House national security adviser. The planned meetings would be the latest in a series of high-level diplomatic moves aimed at stabilizing U.S.-China relations.

The talks, described as broad and strategic, would come after China suspended discussions with the U.S. on nuclear safety and security. China said in July it had halted nascent arms-control talks with Washington.

“The U.S. would like to deepen discussions on strategic stability, but the Chinese are reluctant. They prefer to discuss an agreement on the no first use of nuclear weapons, but the United States is not prepared to adopt such a doctrine,” former CIA China analyst Dennis Wilder, now a Georgetown University professor, told VOA.

“As a result, there’s been a bit of an impasse, with little progress made in the few working group meetings that have occurred,” he said.
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seoul, south korea — North Korea’s foreign ministry denounced a U.S. planned sale of Apache helicopters to South Korea, state media KCNA said on Friday, vowing to take additional steps to bolster its self-defense.

The Pentagon said on Monday that the U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of Apache helicopters and related logistics and support to South Korea for an estimated $3.5 billion.

An unnamed senior official in charge of foreign news at North Korea’s foreign ministry issued a press statement on Thursday criticizing the sale plan as a move to aggravate tension, alongside ongoing annual military drills by the allies.

“This is a reckless provocative act of deliberately increasing the security instability in the region,” the official said, according to KCNA.  

The official accused Washington of escalating military confrontation, “disturbing the military balance and thus increasing the danger of a new conflict” in the region by supplying lethal weapons to its allies and friends.  

Pyongyang’s “strategic deterrence will be further strengthened to protect the national security and interests and the regional peace,” the statement said, pledging to steadily conduct military activities to boost self-defense.  

 
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