As Russia’s war on Ukraine enters its fourth year, European leaders warn that the outcome of ongoing peace talks between Moscow and Washington will have profound implications for all of Europe. But as Henry Ridgwell reports, leaders of the continent’s nations — including Ukraine — fear they are being excluded from deciding their own fate.
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Trump administration orders halt to NYC toll meant to fight traffic, fund mass transit
new york — President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday ordered a halt to New York City’s congestion pricing system, which thins traffic and funds mass transit by imposing high tolls on drivers entering some parts of Manhattan.
Launched Jan. 5, the city’s system uses license plate readers to impose a $9 toll on most vehicles entering Manhattan neighborhoods south of Central Park. In its early days, transit officials say the toll has brought modest but measurable traffic reductions.
In a statement, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced the federal government has rescinded its approval of the program, calling it “slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners.”
Duffy said his agency will work with the state on an “orderly termination of the tolls.”
Trump, whose namesake Trump Tower penthouse and other properties are within the congestion zone, had vowed to kill the plan as soon as he took office. He previously characterized it as a massive, regressive tax, saying “it will be virtually impossible for New York City to come back as long as the congestion tax is in effect.”
Similar tolling programs intended to force people onto public transit by making driving cost-prohibitive have long existed in other global cities, including London, Stockholm, Milan and Singapore, but the system had never before been tried in the U.S.
The Trump administration order kicked off a wave of criticism from congestion pricing supporters in New York City.
“By blocking this successful policy, Trump will be directly responsible for more traffic, more crashes, more polluted air, slower buses and less funding for our transit system,” said state Senator Andrew Gounardes, a city Democrat.
New York planned to use the toll revenue to issue bonds that would fund billions of dollars in improvements and repairs for the city’s creaky and cash-strapped transit system, which carries 4 million riders daily.
The tolling system has been divisive. Transit advocates and environmentalists have heralded it as an innovative step to reduce air pollution from vehicle exhaust, make streets safer for pedestrians and bikers, while speeding up traffic for vehicles that truly need to be on the road, like delivery trucks and police cars.
But the high tolls are hated by many New Yorkers who own cars, particularly those who live in the suburbs or parts of the city not well-served by the subway system.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, had fought the tolls in court and wrote a letter Trump on Inauguration Day imploring him to kill the program.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, also had misgivings. Last June, she abruptly halted the tolling system’s planned launch, citing concerns about its impact on the local economy. The Democrat then revived the toll in November following Trump’s election, but reduced the toll for passenger vehicles from $15 to $9. Since then, she has lauded it as a win for the city and has discussed the issue multiple times with the president.
A spokesperson for Hochul did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
New York lawmakers approved the tolling plan in 2019, but it was stalled for years awaiting a required federal environmental review during Trump’s first term before President Joe Biden’s administration approved it.
As in other cities, the New York congestion fee varies depending on the time and the size of the vehicle. Trucks and other large automobiles pay a higher rate, and the fee goes drops to $2.25 for most cars during the quieter overnight hours.
The toll survived several lawsuits trying to halt it before its launch, including from the state of New Jersey, unionized teachers in New York City, a trucking industry group and local elected leaders in the Hudson River Valley, Long Island and northern New Jersey.
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Solar refrigerators in Kenya reduce food waste
NAIROBI, KENYA — Milk and egg vendor Caroline Mukundi has lost a lot of her stock in her years of selling fresh food at a Nairobi market.
Mukundi said she had no way to keep food fresh, and the cost of refrigerating was out of reach.
“The food would go bad,” she said, and she would have to throw it away. “It was a big challenge for me.”
Mukundi said her situation turned around when she acquired a solar-powered refrigerator.
The refrigerators, named Koolboks and manufactured in Kenya, are fitted with ice compartments that can chill food even without a source of power. The devices can keep food cool for up to four days without electricity, even with limited sunlight.
Customers can buy the refrigerators on a customized payment model, said Natalie Casey, chief business officer at the Koolboks startup company.
“They can be between 1,500 and 3,000 US dollars, because it includes not only the appliances but also the solar panels and battery storage to enable the continuous cooling,” she said. “We’ve decided what might be more accessible to them is to first pay a down payment between 20 and 35% of the total, and the customer can pay in installments of up to 24 months.”
Koolboks has sold about 7,000 solar-powered refrigerators.
Conventional refrigerators for businesses can cost anywhere from $11,000 to $100,000 or more, said Dorothy Otieno, program manager at the Center for Environmental Justice and Development.
“Some businesses, especially small businesses, are not able to afford it,” she said.
“We are looking at, for example, how businesses can be supported to get access to [the Koolboks refrigerators], especially for communities that are not able to afford,” she said.
The refrigerator was among dozens of innovations showcased at the recent Africa Tech Summit in Nairobi. The conference’s founder, Andrew Fassnidge, told VOA that such creations are crucial to solving local problems on the continent.
“What’s interesting with … Koolboks refrigeration is, if we look at the Covid vaccine, one of the biggest issues at the time was refrigeration, and it’s still an issue in most markets,” he said.
Koolboks markets a refrigerator specifically for vaccines.
The refrigerators could have an impact on climate change, too.
A 2024 survey by the U.N. Environmental Program showed Kenya has a high level of food waste, with annual waste ranging from 40 to 100 kilograms per person.
Environmentalists say high levels of organic waste worsen climate change, so preventing food waste can have an impact.
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Analysts say Russian disinformation fuels French troop withdrawal from Sahel
Analysts say Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns have been key factors behind the departure of French troops from Chad and other countries in Africa’s Sahel region. In this report from N’djamena, Chad, Henry Wilkins takes a closer look at Russia’s media strategies in the Sahel as French troops depart.
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Philippines to hold large military drills as China tensions simmer
TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Philippine defense officials say they will hold a large, 10-day military training exercise next month, aiming to strengthen the country’s ability to respond to any crisis caused by an “external threat.”
Although Manila did not name China explicitly when it announced the drills — the biggest in recent years — they come as Beijing has increased the frequency of its maritime patrols and coast guard maneuvers around several disputed reefs that lie within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone, or EEZ.
Several of those patrols have resulted in clashes and the use of aggressive maneuvers and accusations of vessel ramming. China, which claims almost all of the South China Sea as its own despite an international ruling to the contrary, insists that its actions have been in accordance with the law.
The Combined Arms Training Exercise, or Catex, will take place March 3-12, involving approximately 6,000 soldiers and live-fire drills involving some of the Philippines’ most advanced artillery weapons.
Expanded drills
In the announcement on Monday, defense officials said that unlike past exercises, this year’s Catex will be conducted across the archipelago, including the northern island of Luzon, the island of Visayas in Central Philippines, and the southern island of Mindanao.
The expanded drills will “strengthen our command-and-control capabilities, further enhancing our preparedness to respond to any challenge that may threaten our national security,” Philippine Army Chief Lieutenant General Roy Galido told media during a news conference on Monday.
Typhon missile system
While the Philippine military is expected to test the Autonomous Truck-Mounted Howitzer Systems, its largest artillery weapon, during the live-fire drills, Galido said the U.S.-made Typhon missile system, which has prompted concerns from China, won’t be part of the large-scale exercise.
The Philippine military is still “appreciating the system and being able to understand how to utilize it in our defense concept,” he told Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post in an interview on Monday.
The deployment of the Typhon missile system to the northern Philippines has prompted concerns from China. During a press conference Friday, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang urged Manila to “remove the [Typhon] system as soon as possible.”
Analysts say the Philippines should focus on building up anti-ship missile capabilities and procuring more unmanned aerial vehicles rather than buying expensive items like submarines, which the Philippines is reportedly considering purchasing from India.
“The anti-ship missiles can survive in a modern war with China, and it can really force the Chinese military planners to rethink their strategies,” Zachary Abuza, an expert on Southeast Asian affairs at the National War College in Washington, told VOA by phone.
Other experts say the military drills and the ongoing efforts to acquire missile or air defense systems are part of the Philippines’ attempt to strengthen its sea capabilities and deterrence against China.
“Given the Philippines’ limited materiel capabilities, these efforts are part of a long-term endeavor that will need continuity to ensure the Philippines will be able to muster the capabilities to pursue the objective of countering China’s maritime aggression,” Don McLain Gill, a lecturer in international studies at De La Salle University in the Philippines, told VOA in a recorded voice message.
‘Aggressive’ China action
The announcement of the drills comes amid another uptick in tensions between China and the Philippines after a Chinese navy helicopter allegedly flew within 10 feet of a Philippine patrol plane near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Tuesday.
The Philippine coast guard characterized the Chinese aircraft’s actions as “aggressive and escalatory” and said they remained “committed to asserting our sovereignty, sovereign rights and maritime jurisdiction” in the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army — China’s military — accused the Philippine aircraft of “illegally” intruding on the airspace above Scarborough Shoal, which China views as its territory, and said its troops “are resolute in defending national sovereignty and security as well as peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
Weakest link?
Experts say the latest incident reflects Beijing’s attempt to test the Philippines’ defense capabilities and the United States’ commitment to supporting Manila, which has a mutual defense treaty with Washington.
“China sees the Philippines as the weakest link in the U.S. security architecture in the Indo-Pacific region, so they are testing how effective Manila can push back against its assertive behaviors,” Stephen Nagy, a professor of politics and international studies at International Christian University in Japan, told VOA by phone.
He said while it’s important for the Philippines to strengthen defense cooperation with like-minded democracies, including conducting joint patrols and military exercises, Manila should also carefully calibrate its responses to Chinese aggression.
The Philippines’ response should “reciprocate the pressure that the Chinese are putting on them because the Chinese strategic mindset is based on the idea of active defense, which means when they pressure their opponents to escalate the conflict, that gives them the right to escalate their behaviors,” Nagy said.
New legal challenge possible
In addition to strengthening defense capabilities, the Reuters news agency reported last month that the Philippines may soon initiate a second legal challenge against China over the South China Sea by suing Beijing for allegedly damaging the marine environment.
Despite the report, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said in response to a question from VOA during a public event held by the London-based think tank Chatham House on Tuesday that Manila has no plan to launch a legal challenge against China right now.
Joshua Espena, a lecturer of international relations at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, told VOA that since the Philippines is gearing up for the parliamentary election in May, Manila is unlikely to initiate a new legal challenge against China at this point. “The 2016 South China Sea Arbitration ruling gives the Philippines sufficient ground to do what the government needs to do,” he said.
As the U.S. focuses on facilitating a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, Nagy said, China will likely maintain its pressure campaign against the Philippines in the coming months.
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US envoy in Ukraine for talks following US-Russia meeting
U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia said Wednesday the United States understands the needs for security guarantees for Ukraine, as he visited the country for talks with Ukrainian officials.
Gen. Keith Kellogg told reporters in Kyiv that he was in Ukraine “to listen,” hear the concerns of Ukrainian leaders and return to the United States to consult President Trump.
Kellogg said the United States wants the war in Ukraine to end, saying that would be good for the region and the world.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters ahead of an expected meeting with Kellogg that while U.S. officials have said there will be no U.S. troops deployed as part of any potential post-war peacekeeping mission, there are still other ways it can help, such as providing air defense systems.
“You don’t want boots on the ground, you don’t want NATO,” Zelenskyy said. “Okay, can we have Patriots? Enough Patriots?”
The discussions in Kyiv come amid a flurry of diplomatic efforts focused on Russia’s war in Ukraine, including French President Emmanuel Macron hosting European leaders Wednesday for a second round of talks about the conflict and European support for Ukraine.
Kellogg also met earlier this week with European leaders, and on Tuesday U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Saudi Arabia.
Rubio said both Ukraine and Russia would have to make concessions to achieve peace.
“The goal is to bring an end to this conflict in a way that’s fair, enduring, sustainable and acceptable to all parties involved,” Rubio told reporters. No Ukrainian or European officials were at the table for the talks.
Zelenskyy objected to being excluded from the meeting, a position that drew criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Today I heard, ‘Well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years,” Trump said of Ukraine’s leaders. “You should have never started it.”
Russia began the war with its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy added Wednesday that while he has “great respect” for Trump, the American leader is living in a Russian-made “disinformation space.”
Zelenskyy postponed a trip to Saudi Arabia that had been scheduled for this week, suggesting that he wanted to avoid his visit being linked to the U.S.-Russia negotiations.
The United States and Russia agreed to “appoint respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement. Bruce characterized the meeting as “an important step forward” toward peace.
Rubio said Ukraine and European nations would have to be involved in talks on ending the war. He said that if the war is halted, the United States would have “extraordinary opportunities … to partner” with Russia on trade and other global issues.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she and other European foreign ministers spoke to Rubio after the U.S.-Russia meeting, and she expressed support for a Ukraine-led resolution.
“Russia will try to divide us. Let’s not walk into their traps,” Kallas said on X. “By working together with the US, we can achieve a just and lasting peace — on Ukraine’s terms.”
Russia now controls about one-fifth of Ukraine’s internationally recognized 2014 territory, including the Crimean Peninsula that it unilaterally annexed in 2014, a large portion of eastern Ukraine that pro-Russian separatists captured in subsequent fighting, and land Russia has taken over since the 2022 invasion.
As the invasion started, Moscow hoped for a quick takeover of all of Ukraine. But with stiff Ukrainian resistance, the war instead evolved into a grinding ground conflict and daily aerial bombardments by each side.
Zelenskyy has long demanded that his country’s 2014 boundaries be restored, but U.S. officials have said that is unrealistic, as is Kyiv’s long-sought goal of joining NATO.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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China proposes new rules to tighten control over rare earth sector
BEIJING — China on Wednesday began public consultation on new regulations designed to protect its domestic rare earth industry, a sector where Beijing has previously weaponized its dominance via export controls and other restrictions.
The draft regulations were released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology late on Wednesday and touched on issues including quotas for mining, smelting and separating, as well as monitoring and enforcement.
The rules are the latest in a series of attempts to bring the globally critical sector under tighter state control. China already dictates output via a system of quotas and state-controlled companies.
Rare earths are a group of 17 minerals whose production China dominates, accounting for nearly 90% of global refined output.
In 2023, Beijing banned the export of technology to make rare earth magnets, adding it to an existing ban on technology to extract and separate the critical materials.
your ad hereVOA Russian: US diplomacy uses different channels for Russia, Ukraine
As President Donald Trump’s administration launched intense diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, VOA Russian looks at how Washington uses different channels and different modes in building relationships with various partners, alternating messages they were delivering during the Munich Security Conference depending on who was the messenger and who was in the audience.
Click here for the full story in Russian.
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New Zealand must ‘reset’ Cook Islands ties after China pact, foreign minister says
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Wednesday his country must “reset” its relationship with the Cook Islands government after its Pacific neighbor signed agreements with China without consultation.
In a speech to the Pacific Island Political Science Association in Wellington, Peters said Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown’s opaque dealings with Beijing was the latest attempt to test constitutional ties with New Zealand.
“While the connection between the people of the Cook Islands and New Zealand remains resolutely strong, we currently face challenges in the government-to-government relationship,” he said.
“We are going to need to reset the government-to-government relationship.”
The Cook Islands is a self-governing nation and maintains free association with Wellington, sharing a head of state and citizenship rights. It is permitted an independent foreign policy, but the two countries are required to consult on security, defense and foreign policy issues.
Brown’s visit to Beijing this month resulted in a strategic partnership with China spanning education, the economy, infrastructure, fisheries, disaster management and seabed mining.
It set off alarm bells in New Zealand due to concerns with China’s growing presence in the region and the potential threats to the country’s national security.
While the Cook Islands government has released details of the strategic partnership, Peters said New Zealand had not seen a number of memoranda of understanding also signed with China.
“New Zealand and the Cook Islands people remain, as of this evening, in the dark over all but one the agreements signed by China and the Cooks last week,” Peters said.
Brown’s deal with China follows an attempt by the Cooks to create its own passports and citizenship, a proposal New Zealand said would require the islands to become fully independent to do.
Separately, Peters also addressed tensions with Kiribati after its government canceled a planned visit by New Zealand officials at short notice.
Kiribati has also signed a series of bilateral deals with China in recent years.
Peters said Wellington had committed more than $57 million in aid to the Pacific island nation over the past three years and needed to reassess how funds were being used.
your ad hereUS condemns ‘dangerous’ maneuvers by Chinese navy in South China Sea
MANILA, Philippines — The United States condemned the “dangerous” maneuvers of a Chinese navy helicopter that endangered the safety of a Philippine government aircraft patrolling a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, its ambassador to Manila said on Wednesday.
In a post on X, Ambassador MaryKay Carlson also called on China “to refrain from coercive actions and settle its disputes peacefully in accordance with international law.”
The Philippines said late on Tuesday it was “deeply disturbed” by the Chinese navy’s “unprofessional and reckless” flight actions and that it will make a diplomatic protest.
Manila’s coast guard said the Chinese navy helicopter performed dangerous flight maneuvers when it flew close to a government aircraft conducting surveillance over the Scarborough Shoal, endangering the lives of its pilots and passengers.
China disputed the Philippines’ account, saying on Tuesday its aircraft “illegally intruded” into China’s airspace and accused its Southeast Asian neighbor of “spreading false narratives.”
Named after a British ship that was grounded on the atoll nearly three centuries ago, the Scarborough Shoal is one of the most contested maritime features in the South China Sea, where Beijing and Manila have clashed repeatedly.
“The Philippines has undeniable sovereignty and jurisdiction over Bajo de Masinloc,” its maritime council said in a statement, using Manila’s name for the shoal.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, a vital waterway for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, putting it at odds with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
A 2016 arbitration ruling invalidated China’s expansive claims but Beijing does not recognize the decision.
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Senate confirms Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary
Washington — The Senate confirmed wealthy financier Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary Tuesday, putting in place a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump’s hardline trade policies.
At the Commerce Department, Lutnick, who was CEO at the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, will oversee 50,000 employees who do everything from collecting economic statistics to running the census to issuing weather reports. But he’s likely to spend a lot of time — along with Jamieson Greer, Trump’s nominee to be the top U.S. trade negotiator — managing the president’s aggressive plans to impose import taxes on U.S. trading partners, including allies and adversaries alike.
The Senate vote to confirm Lutnick was 51-45.
Trump views the tariffs as a versatile economic tool. They can raise money to finance his tax cuts elsewhere, protect U.S. industries and pressure other countries into making concessions on such issues as their own trade barriers, immigration and drug trafficking. Mainstream economists mostly view tariffs as counterproductive: They are paid by import companies in the United States, which try to pass along the higher costs to consumers and can thereby add to inflationary pressures throughout the economy.
At his confirmation hearing last month, Lutnick dismissed as “nonsense” the idea that tariffs contribute to inflation. He expressed support for deploying across-the-board tariffs “country by country” to strong-arm other countries into lowering barriers to American exports.
Trump last week announced plans for “reciprocal” tariffs — raising U.S. import tax rates to match the higher taxes that other countries impose on goods from the U.S. The move would shatter the rules that have governed world trade for decades. Since the 1960s, tariff rates have mostly emerged from negotiations between dozens of countries. Trump is commandeering the process.
The president has also imposed 10% tariffs on Chinese imports and effectively raised U.S. taxes on foreign steel and aluminum. He has threatened — and delayed until March 4 — 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico.
Lutnick was CEO at Cantor Fitzgerald when its offices were hit in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center. The firm lost two-thirds of its employees — 658 people — that day, including Lutnick’s brother. Howard Lutnick led the firm’s recovery and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
Lutnick has promised to sell off his business holdings. They’re complicated. His financial disclosure statement showed that he had positions in more than 800 businesses and other private organizations.
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Ukrainian drone hits oil pumping station
Russia shot down 21 Ukrainian drones late Tuesday, but a drone attack on an oil pumping station in southern Russia reduced oil supplies for Kazakhstan and the global market, Russian officials said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces said one of their drones struck and knocked out a North Korean self-propelled howitzer on the eastern front.
“In Luhansk region, fighters of the 412th separate regiment of Nemesis drones struck a very rare M-1978 North Korean self-propelled artillery vehicle with a gun caliber of 170 mm,” the Ukrainian military posted on the Telegram messaging app.
The Russian defense ministry said 20 drones in the Bryansk region on the Ukrainian border and another in Crimea were shot down within an hour late Tuesday.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the drone attack on the pumping station reduced oil flows through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium by 30%-40% on Tuesday.
“As a result of the attack, energy equipment, a gas turbine unit, and a substation were damaged,” he said on Russian television. CPC pumps crude from companies that include Chevron and Exxon Mobil, Reuters reported.
Novak said repairs might take several months.
Earlier Tuesday, a Russian drone hit an apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Dolynska, officials said Tuesday, injuring at least three people.
Andriy Raikovych, governor of the Kirovohrad region where the attack took place, said on Telegram that authorities evacuated dozens of people from the building and that those injured included a mother and two children.
The attack was part of a widespread Russian aerial assault overnight, which the Ukrainian military said included 176 drones.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 103 of the drones, with intercepts taking place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Sumy, Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr regions, the military said Tuesday.
Cherkasy Governor Ihor Taburets said on Telegram that debris from a destroyed drone damaged four houses in his region.
Some information for this story was provided by Reuters.
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Chinese influence in South Korea a focus in Yoon impeachment hearings, analysts say
WASHINGTON — South Korea’s Constitutional Court is approaching the final phase of proceedings before it decides in March whether to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his brief martial law bid in December.
Since its first official hearing on Jan. 14, exactly a month after the National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon, the court has held nine hearings; the last is scheduled for Thursday.
China has become a central issue at some of the hearings, with analysts saying that South Korea-U.S. counterintelligence coordination is crucial in deterring Beijing influence operations that threaten both countries.
Yoon’s attorney, Cha Gi-hwan, raised concerns about what he alleged was China’s interference in South Korean politics, elections and media at several proceedings, apparently in defense of Yoon’s statement made in December.
Yoon had said “anti-state forces” were operating in South Korea while explaining his decision to impose martial law at the time and highlighted Chinese nationals using a drone to film a U.S. aircraft carrier docked at the port city of Busan.
He had said the opposition parties blocked a revision to anti-espionage law, preventing the prosecution of foreign nationals spying on South Korea.
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.
Cha said at a hearing on Feb. 11 that China has been interfering in South Korean politics by having its companies and people residing in South Korea fund and support pro-China politicians, manipulate public opinion and spread fake news unfavorable to those who oppose pro-China politicians running for election.
Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Dai Bing on Feb. 10 denied widespread accusations among Yoon’s supporters that Beijing interfered in South Korean politics and elections. He wrote on X that Beijing “has all along upheld the principle of noninterference in other countries’ internal affairs.”
Growing threat
In testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month, Dartmouth University professor Jennifer Lind said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) conducts malign influence operations that aim “to bolster authoritarianism, discredit democratic governance and reshape global norms in China’s interests.”
The Senate hearing was about “The Malign Influence of the People’s Republic of China” in the U.S. and abroad.
Analysts in Washington said if Yoon is removed from the office, China will conduct full-fledged malign operations in the country.
“I would expect Beijing to increase its efforts, as it sees South Korea’s political upheaval as ripe for Chinese malicious intervention,” said Dennis Wilder, a senior fellow at the Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues at Georgetown University.
“China’s goal will be to weaken the democracy and to support those in favor of better ties with Beijing at the expense of the U.S. alliance,” said Wilder, who served as the CIA’s deputy assistant director for East Asia and the Pacific from 2015 to 2016.
“The key to defeating China’s ambition is intense and sustained counterintelligence programs. The United States has a great deal to teach South Korea in this area, and the CIA and the FBI should work with the South Koreans to improve their ability to spot and deter Chinese covert operations,” Wilder added.
“Everything on the Korean Peninsula affects U.S. security,” said David Maxwell, vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy. “President Yoon is right to call attention to what China is doing. Ideally, it would be wonderful to have a coordinated [U.S.] response with South Korea.”
US-South Korea coordination
If the court decides to remove Yoon from office, main opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung is considered a candidate for an election to be held within 60 days.
Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said, “Statements by party chief Lee Jae-myung indicate the party will pursue a more conciliatory policy toward China and North Korea, more antagonistic toward Japan, and place less emphasis on strengthening the alliance with the United States.”
Klingner, formerly the CIA’s deputy division chief, told VOA on Thursday, “The Trump administration will look for South Korea and other Indo-Pacific democracies to pursue stronger policies against the multifaceted China threat, including supporting roles in Taiwan contingencies. The [main] Democratic Party of Korea would resist such entreaties, which will cause strains with Washington.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said at a news conference after meeting with NATO defense ministers in Belgium on Thursday that working with Pacific allies South Korea, Japan and Australia will be “critical” in dealing with the Chinese threat.
Korean Service’s Kim Hyungjin contributed to this report.
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Sudanese RSF paramilitaries kill 100s in White Nile state
CAIRO — Attacks by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Force have killed hundreds of civilians, including infants, in White Nile state, Sudanese officials and rights groups said Tuesday.
Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the paramilitary group targeted civilians in the past few days in villages in the al-Gitaina area after they were “overwhelmed by its devastating defeat” by the Sudanese army. The statement put the death toll at 433, while the Preliminary Committee of Sudan Doctors’ Trade Union put that figure at 300.
Emergency Lawyers, a rights group tracking violence against civilians, said in a statement Tuesday morning that more than 200 people, including women and children, were killed in RSF attacks and hundreds of others were injured over the past three days.
“The attacks included executions, kidnapping, forced disappearance, looting, and shooting those trying to escape,” the group said.
Minister of Culture and Information Khalid Ali Aleisir said on Facebook that recent attacks by the RSF in Al-Kadaris and Al-Khalwat villages in White Nile state are the latest “systematic violence against defenseless civilians.”
The Sudanese military said Saturday it had advanced in White Nile and “liberated more cities and villages,” cutting crucial supply routes to the RSF, a rival group it has battled for control of the country since April 2023.
The war in Sudan has killed more than 24,000 people and driven more than 14 million people — about 30% of the population — from their homes, according to the United Nations. An estimated 3.2 million Sudanese have escaped to neighboring countries.
The U.N. on Tuesday said that throughout 2024, its human rights office documented more than 4,200 civilian killings, adding that the total number is likely much higher.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs appealed on Monday for $6 billion for its 2025 humanitarian response in Sudan, to help about 21 million people in the country and the millions who fled the war abroad.
“This is a humanitarian crisis that is truly unprecedented in its scale and gravity,” said U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher in a statement, “and it demands a response unprecedented in scale and intent.”
Meanwhile, Norwegian Minister of International Development Asmund Aukrust denounced the escalation in violence and attacks against civilians.
“I am deeply concerned about the sharp increase in civilian deaths caused by the intensified conflict in Sudan. I am also shocked by reports of indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure. Any such attacks must stop immediately,” Aukrust said in a statement published on the web portal for the Norwegian government.
The developments on the ground have given the military the upper hand in the war as the paramilitary suffered multiple blows, including losing control of the city of Wad Medani, the capital of Gezira province, and other areas in the province. The Sudanese military also regained control of the country’s largest oil refinery.
The RSF appears to have lost control of the Greater Khartoum area and the cities of Omdurman and Khartoum Bahri.
The war has shown no end in sight despite international mediation attempts, including a U.S. assessment that the RSF and its proxies are committing genocide.
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Darfuri children fleeing violence fall into child labor
Fourteen-year-old Gesma fled Sudan’s Darfur region after armed militias killed her parents and brother, leaving her to care for her younger siblings. Now living in a refugee camp in Chad, she works long hours to keep her family fed, a reality faced by many children displaced by brutal violence in Darfur. Henry Wilkins reports.
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US Postal Service head to step down after 5 years
Louis DeJoy, the head of the U.S. Postal Service, intends to step down, the federal agency said Tuesday, after a nearly five-year tenure marked by the coronavirus pandemic, surges in mail-in election ballots and efforts to stem losses through cost and service cuts.
In a Monday letter, Postmaster General DeJoy asked the Postal Service Board of Governors to begin looking for his successor.
“As you know, I have worked tirelessly to lead the 640,000 men and women of the Postal Service in accomplishing an extraordinary transformation,” he wrote. “We have served the American people through an unprecedented pandemic and through a period of high inflation and sensationalized politics.”
DeJoy took the helm of the Postal Service in the summer of 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first term. He was a Republican donor who owned a logistics business before taking office and was the first postmaster general in nearly two decades who was not a career postal employee.
DeJoy developed a 10-year plan to modernize operations and stem losses. He previously said that postal customers should get used to “uncomfortable” rate hikes as the Postal Service seeks to stabilize its finances and become more self-sufficient.
The plan calls for making the mail delivery system more efficient and less costly by consolidating mail processing centers. Critics, including members of Congress from several states, have said the first consolidations slowed service and that further consolidations could particularly hurt rural mail delivery.
DeJoy has disputed that and told a U.S. House subcommittee during a contentious September hearing that the Postal Service had embarked on long-overdue investments in facilities and making other changes to create “a Postal Service for the future” that delivered mail more quickly.
DeJoy also oversaw the Postal Service during two presidential elections that saw spikes in mail-in ballots.
Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, a federal judge limited one of the Postal Service’s cost-cutting practices after finding it contributed to delays in mail delivery.
DeJoy had restricted overtime payments for postal workers and stopped the agency’s longtime practice of allowing late and extra truck deliveries in the summer of 2020. The moves reduced costs but meant some mail was left to be delivered the following day.
DeJoy said in his letter that he was committed to being “as helpful as possible in facilitating a transition.”
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VOA Russian: Navalny supporters want Russian political prisoners released as part of deal with US
U.S.-based supporters of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny marked one year since his sudden and unexplained death in an arctic prison with vigils and protests in many U.S. cities, including Washington, New York and Los Angeles. VOA Russian correspondents spoke to Navalny supporters who urged the U.S. authorities to demand a release of Russian political prisoners as part of a U.S.-Russia deal on the war in Ukraine.
Click here for the full story in Russian.
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Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai’s ‘time is running out,’ son says
As pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai spoke in his defense at a Hong Kong court Tuesday, his son Sebastien Lai was in Geneva calling for the United States and other world leaders to help secure this father’s release.
Speaking on Tuesday at the latest hearing in his national security trial, Lai, 77, denied any intention to incite violence among protesters.
He defended an opinion piece published in 2019 in the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper that he founded in which he suggested that pro-democracy protesters establish a leadership structure to weed out those who wished to engage in violence during protests that year.
“By saying they should choose a leadership group, [it means that] they should put down some principle or bottom line for the valiant acts which, basically, is for them to stop the violence,” Lai said in court.
The British national has been standing trial for more than a year on charges of collusion with foreign forces and sedition under Hong Kong’s national security law. Lai rejects the charges, which foreign governments and press freedom groups have said are politically motivated.
Hong Kong authorities deny that the trial is unfair and have previously told VOA that the government respects press freedom and the rule of law.
Lai has been in solitary confinement since late 2020. Sebastien Lai raised concerns about his father’s health as he advocated for him in Geneva.
“I ask that you join my call to free Jimmy Lai and champion him for all he’s given in the hope of freedom,” the younger Lai said Monday at the annual Human Rights and Democracy summit in Geneva.
When Beijing’s national security law was enacted in Hong Kong in 2020, Sebastien Lai said his father knew he would be a target.
“But he refused to leave,” he said. “Six decades after landing on the shore of this island in pursuit of freedom, he decided to stay and stand with his fellow protesters.”
Jimmy Lai was born in Guangzhou, China, and fled to Hong Kong when he was 12. He worked in a garment sweatshop before eventually founding the successful clothing brand Giordano. He later moved into media, founding Apple Daily in 1995.
Both the United States and Britain have criticized Hong Kong’s case against him. During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump in October said he would “100%” get Lai released, without specifying details.
Sebestien Lai said Trump’s comment gave the family “a lot of hope.”
But he cautioned that time is running out for his father, who has diabetes. The publisher’s international legal team says he isn’t receiving adequate medical care, which authorities deny.
“His body is breaking down,” Sebastien Lai told Reuters ahead of the summit. “Time is running out for my father.”
Lai’s international legal team urged global leaders to stand up for press freedom at the U.N. Human Rights Council next week.
“How the world responds will send a vital message to authoritarians across the world,” Caoilfhionn Gallagher, head of Lai’s international legal team, told Reuters.
Gallagher and her team at the London law firm Doughty Street Chambers have faced significant harassment for their role defending Lai.
On social media and in email, Gallagher has faced threats of death, rape and dismemberment, The Guardian reported. She has also been targeted with hundreds of attempts to hack her bank account.
The Bar Council, the representative body for barristers in England and Wales, expressed concern about the harassment.
Some information in this report came from Reuters.
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Iran charges British couple with spying
A British couple detained in Iran last month has been charged with spying, Iran’s state media reported Tuesday.
Britain’s Foreign Office has identified the couple as Craig and Lindsay Foreman.
“The detained individuals entered the country as tourists and collected information in several provinces of the country,” reported Iran’s judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency. Iran has accused the couple of having connections with “hostile countries.”
“We are deeply concerned by reports that two British nationals have been charged with espionage in Iran,” a British Foreign Office spokesman said Tuesday. “We continue to raise this case directly with the Iranian authorities.”
The Associated Press reported that Hugo Shorter, Britain’s ambassador to Iran, has met with the couple in the southern city of Kerman, where they are jailed, with Iranian government officials in attendance.
The Foreign Office said it is providing the couple with consular assistance and is in close contact with their family.
The couple’s family said in a statement on Saturday, after the couple’s arrest, “This unexpected turn of events has caused significant concern for our entire family, and we are deeply focused on ensuring their safety and well-being during this trying time.” The family said it is “united on our determination to secure their safe return.”
The two were traveling around the world on motorbikes, according to an AP report, which said that they crossed Armenia’s border into Iran on December 30.
Iran has long used Western detainees to gain concessions in negotiations with Western countries, a move Tehran denies.
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France Presse.
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After resolutions on Sudan, DRC at African Union summit, analysts urge swift action
ABUJA, NIGERIA — Regional analysts are calling for the swift implementation of resolutions made at the recently concluded African Union (AU) Summit in Ethiopia. The summit was dominated by discussions on escalating conflicts in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan, as well as concerns over the impact of U.S. aid cuts on the continent.
African leaders and delegates from more than 50 countries gathered in Addis Ababa for the 38th AU Summit on Saturday and Sunday.
Leaders at the summit called for dialogue to end conflicts in the DRC and Sudan and renewed calls to merge two existing peace processes — the Rwanda Process and the Nairobi Peace Process — to streamline negotiations between the DRC government and M23 rebels.
Bankole Adeoye is the AU commissioner for political affairs, peace, and security, expressed concerns about the escalation of the conflict in the DRC.
“We are all very, very concerned about the risk of an open regional war over eastern DRC,” Adeoye said. “We have reiterated the need for caution and called on the M23 rebels and their supporters to disarm and withdraw.”
More than 3,000 people have been killed in clashes between government forces and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group. The rebels have captured large Congolese cities, including Goma and Bukavu.
African leaders also condemned human rights violations caused by the nearly two-year conflict in Sudan.
But security analyst Senator Iroegbu said African leaders need to match words with action this time.
“If what’s happening in DRC is not well managed it will escalate,” Iroegbu said. “[It’s] not just issuing a communique at the end of the meeting; it should be followed up with some strategic measures or plans to ensure that they bring some of these issues to the table and set up mediation teams and let’s look for African solutions to African problems.”
Beyond security, leaders further addressed the impact of climate change and food security on the continent, while demanding reparations for centuries of slavery and colonialism.
John Mahama, president of the Republic of Ghana, said the economic impact of colonialism has been profound.
“The continent lost trillions of dollars in both human and material resources due to colonial exploitation,” he said. “Today the descendants of enslaved Africans continue to face economic disparities, social inequality, systemic discrimination and racial prejudices. Addressing these challenges [requires] more than just acknowledging them, it demands action.”
African leaders also discussed the impact of U.S. aid cuts, urging the continent to focus on self-sufficiency and domestic funding for development projects.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization, spoke to Lagos-based Channels Television on the sidelines of the summit.
“Africa we really need to change our mindsets — access to aid I think we can think of it as a thing of the past,” she said. “We really have to focus on two things — attracting investments and mobilizing our own domestic resources. I think that is the theme that is running through almost all the meetings here at the AU.”
Many observers will be watching to see how quickly African leaders move to implement summit resolutions.
But analysts warn that delays in securing peace in Sudan and Congo could lead to more casualties and prolonged instability.
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Rubio snubs South Africa’s G20 meeting amid diplomatic tensions
Johannesburg — South Africa will host a meeting of foreign ministers from the G20 group of major economies later this week, but the chief diplomat for the world’s largest economy, the U.S., is skipping it.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on X earlier this month that he would not attend the meeting, taking place Thursday and Friday in Johannesburg, because he objected to the meeting’s agenda, which he described as anti-American.
He said South Africa was “using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, & sustainability.’ In other words: DEI and climate change. My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.”
DEI is short for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and in President Donald Trump’s first week in the White House, he signed an executive order to end DEI policies and hiring practices in the federal workforce.
“I think the whole topic of the G20 gathering is one that I don’t think we should be focused on, talking about global inclusion, equity, and these sorts of things,” Rubio later told the press.
He continued by saying the forum should be focused on issues “like terrorism and energy security and the real threats to the national security of multiple countries.”
The G20 is a group of the world’s 19 major individual economies as well as the EU and African Union. This year marks the first time an African country is in the rotating presidency position of the G20.
While Rubio will not attend, the South African government has confirmed the U.S. will still have a presence at the meeting, likely at a lower level.
South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation responded to Rubio in a statement saying: “Our G20 Presidency, is not confined to just climate change but also equitable treatment for nations of the Global South, ensuring an equal global system for all.”
Ronald Lamola, minister of international relations and cooperation, told local TV that the meeting’s agenda had been adopted by all members of the G20 and carries on the themes from previous summits, such as the one in Brazil last year.
Deteriorating relations
Even before the announcement that Rubio would not be taking part in the foreign ministers’ meeting, there had been a swift deterioration in U.S.-South Africa relations under the new administration in Washington.
President Trump accused South Africa’s government of engaging in land grabs and mistreating white minority Afrikaners. He cut U.S. financial assistance to the country.
While the South African government did pass a controversial land reform law earlier this year, no land has been seized. The white minority is still one of the country’s most privileged communities and owns the majority of private farmland.
Response from other G20 members
Several other nations were quick to affirm their attendance at the meeting after Rubio said he will not attend.
Those included EU members Germany, Italy and France, whose ambassadors to South Africa posted a joint video on X saying they were “united in diversity” and shared the South African government’s democratic values.
Russia also confirmed Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend.
“The priorities stated by the South African presidency are designed to encourage economic growth, reduce inequality and imbalances, and ensure equitable access to financing for countries in the Global South.,” said Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
China likewise confirmed its commitment to the meeting, with ambassador to South Africa Wu Peng meeting foreign minister Lamola just after Rubio’s announcement and posting on X: “I also expressed China’s readiness to support South Africa’s G20 Presidency.”
Last week, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun, said in a press briefing,
“China stands ready to work with all parties to make this meeting a productive one, and send a strong message of supporting multilateralism, strengthening solidarity and cooperation, and jointly responding to global challenges,” he said.
Analysts weigh in
Political analysts said Rubio’s absence could provide space for countries hostile to the U.S. to advance their agendas.
“Will we see the increase of countries like Russia and China pushing their lines, their issues, their perspectives in the absence of the US? That’s entirely possible,” Steven Gruzd, from the South African Institute of International Affairs, told VOA.
Brooks Spector, a retired U.S. diplomat, said Rubio’s boycott of the meeting was “a serious misstep.”
“You get to make your points at a meeting, boycotting it simply means your voice is not heard,” he said. “Calling the meeting “anti-American” is a misunderstanding of the nature of bilateral, international and multi-lateral discussions.”
However, he said he expected Trump would likely still attend the major G20 summit in South Africa in November. In December, the U.S. will take on the presidency of the G20.
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Uganda under fire for detention of opposition leader
NAIROBI, KENYA — Human rights activists, lawyers and medical practitioners in East Africa called on the Ugandan government Tuesday to release opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who has spent the past three months in military detention.
Besigye, who was abducted while on a trip to Kenya in November, was recently rushed to a hospital after going on a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment.
Reading a statement on behalf of 12 organizations in Nairobi, the head of one of the groups, Khalid Hussein, said they condemn the militarization of justice and escalating government repression in Uganda.
“We call on Ugandan authorities to immediately release Kizza Besigye, Hajj Obeid Lutale, Eron Kiiza and others unlawfully detained,” Hussein said. “The abduction and rendition of Kizza Besigye and Hajj Obeid Lutale blatantly violated international human rights law and the principles of extradition treaties.”
A politician who ran against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in three elections, Besigye was abducted by unidentified men while on a visit to Kenya in November and taken to Luzira Maximum Security Prison in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.
He appeared before a military court, where former Kenyan justice minister and lawyer Martha Karua defended him. He is charged with treason, illegal possession of a firearm and threatening national security.
Last week, the 68-year-old fell ill and was taken to a hospital after going on a hunger strike to protest his arrest and the charges.
Ugandan lawyer Andrew Karamagi said the treatment of Besigye and other Museveni critics exposes ongoing rights violations in his country.
“The medical union has spoken out and given a scientific medical analysis of Dr. Besigye’s health, which is in serious jeopardy,” he said. “Citizens who have attempted to protest this have as well been detained, and I should add, violently arrested, as some of you might have seen. This is a culmination of years of human rights abuses [and] disregard for the constitution.”
On Jan. 31, the Ugandan Supreme Court ruled that the trial of civilians in a military court is unconstitutional and that such cases must be transferred to ordinary courts. But the government rejected the ruling, saying such trials protect the country from criminals.
In a statement posted on X, Museveni called on those demanding the release of Besigye to instead demand a quick trial to establish the facts. Otherwise, he said, such demands promote insecurity, which is dangerous for the country.
Amnesty International East African regional researcher Roland Ebole said a united voice against human rights violations can help end abuses.
“We are having cross-border repression,” Ebole said. “We are having a transnational repression where we are seeing abductions happening beyond borders. And these abductions are happening sanctioned or blessed by presidents, blessed by heads of state. And they are taking advantage of the fact that on the ground, we are not as united against them.”
Rights groups say they will circulate petitions and reach out to other nations and organizations to demand the release of unlawfully detained Ugandans.
The 12 organizations that took part in today’s demonstration have called for people to join a march on Friday to the Ugandan embassy in Nairobi and the parliament building to present a petition for justice and the release of Besigye and those detained alongside him.
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Social Security head steps down over DOGE access of recipient information: AP sources
Washington — The Social Security Administration’s acting commissioner has stepped down from her role at the agency over Department of Government Efficiency requests to access Social Security recipient information, according to two people familiar with the official’s departure who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Acting Commissioner Michelle King’s departure from the agency over the weekend — after more than 30 years of service — was initiated after King refused to provide DOGE staffers at the SSA with access to sensitive information, the people said Monday.
The White House has replaced her as acting commissioner with Leland Dudek, who currently works at the SSA, the people said.
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields released a statement Monday night saying: “President Trump has nominated the highly qualified and talented Frank Bisignano to lead the Social Security Administration, and we expect him to be swiftly confirmed in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career Social Security anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner.”
Fields added, “President Trump is committed to appointing the best and most qualified individuals who are dedicated to working on behalf of the American people, not to appease the bureaucracy that has failed them for far too long.”
King’s exit from the administration is one of several departures of high-ranking officials concerned about DOGE staffers’ potential unlawful access to private taxpayer information.
DOGE has accessed Treasury payment systems and is attempting to access Internal Revenue Service databases.
Since Republican President Donald Trump has retaken the White House, his billionaire adviser Elon Musk has rapidly burrowed deep into federal agencies while avoiding public scrutiny of his work through the DOGE group.
Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy group for the preservation of Social Security benefits, said of DOGE’s efforts that “there is no way to overstate how serious a breach this is. And my understanding is that it has already occurred.”
“The information collected and securely held by the Social Security Administration is highly sensitive,” she said. “SSA has data on everyone who has a Social Security number, which is virtually all Americans, everyone who has Medicare, and every low-income American who has applied for Social Security’s means-tested companion program, Supplemental Security Income.”
“If there is an evil intent to punish perceived enemies, someone could erase your earnings record, making it impossible to collect the Social Security and Medicare benefits you have earned.”
The future of Social Security has become a top political issue and was a major point of contention in the 2024 election. About 72.5 million people, including retirees, disabled people and children, receive Social Security benefits.
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Vietnam parliament approves radical government cost-cutting drive
Hanoi, Vietnam — Vietnam will cut one in five public sector jobs and slash billions of dollars from government budgets, after the country’s rubber-stamp parliament on Tuesday gave the go-ahead to a radical streamlining drive.
The reform are creating unease in a communist country where working for the state long meant a job for life.
Described as “a revolution” by senior officials, the drive will see the number of government ministries and agencies slashed from 30 to 22.
The National Assembly voted to pass the government’s organizational structure, a statement on the parliament’s website said.
The ministries of transport, planning and investment, communications and labor have been scrapped, and state media, the civil service, the police and the military will face cuts.
As part of the government restructuring, the National Assembly on Tuesday approved two new deputy prime ministers, taking the total to seven.
Almost two million people worked in the public sector as of 2022, according to the government, although the International Labor Organization puts the figure much higher.
One in five of these jobs will be eliminated over the next five years.
The government has said that 100,000 people will be made redundant or offered early retirement, but it has yet to offer clarity on how the much larger target will be reached.
Vietnam’s top leader To Lam, who half a year ago became Communist Party general secretary following the death of his predecessor, has said that state agencies should not be “safe havens for weak officials”.
“If we want to have a healthy body, sometimes we must take bitter medicine and endure pain to remove tumors,” Lam said in December.
He has also said that the plan had received “large consensus from the people”.
But several workers told AFP they were laid off with little notice and were concerned that decisions about which employees to keep were not based on ability.
Thanh, a pseudonym to protect his identity, told AFP his 12-year career as a TV producer was “aggressively” terminated last month.
The state-controlled news channel where he worked was shuttered, one of five broadcasters already closed, and Thanh was given two weeks’ notice.
“It is painful to talk about,” said Thanh, a father who has turned to driving a taxi.
Business impact
Building on stellar economic growth of 7.1 percent in 2024, Vietnam —a global manufacturing hub heavily reliant on exports — is aiming for eight percent this year.
But anxiety is mounting over the country’s potential vulnerability to tariffs under the new Trump administration.
A bloated bureaucracy is also seen as a brake on growth, as is a high-profile anti-corruption campaign that has slowed everyday transactions.
Authorities say savings from the cuts in spending could total $4.5 billion over the next five years, despite costs of more than $5 billion for retirement and severance packages.
Streamlining the bureaucracy has been a Communist Party policy for nearly a decade but Lam is pushing the scheme ahead rapidly.
Lam has also enthusiastically pursued an anti-graft campaign that has swept up dozens of business leaders and senior government figures, including two presidents and three deputy prime ministers since 2021.
Critics accuse him of targeting his rivals through the action, but the drive has proved popular with the public and analysts say Lam may be looking to bolster his legitimacy ahead of the next Communist Party congress in early 2026.
The turmoil, however, has threatened the country’s reputation for stability and there are fears the bureaucratic reforms could also cause short-term chaos.
At a press conference last week, Pham Thu Hang, spokesperson for the foreign affairs ministry, said the drive “would not affect the investment and business environment in Vietnam.”
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