Figueredo refused to comply with a June 23 police summons, reviewed by CPJ. On that same day she received three private number phone calls warning her that a police investigation had been opened against her and Correa for “dangerousness,” the journalists told CPJ. On June 16, a local police officer parked outside the journalists’ home told them that they weren’t allowed to leave in an incident witnessed by others in the neighborhood.

“The Cuban government must halt its harassment of journalists Yunia Figueredo and Frank Correa, and allow them to continue their work with the community media outlet, Amanecer Habanero,” said CPJ U.S., Canada and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “Reporters should not be threatened into silence with legal orders.” 

Cuba’s private media companies have come under increased scrutiny from a new communication law banning all unapproved, non-state media and prohibiting them from receiving international funding and foreign training.

Amanecer Habanero is a member of the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press (ICLEP), a network of six community media outlets, which has strongly condemned the actions of Cuban authorities against Figueredo, who became director of the outlet earlier this year.

In a statement, ICLEP said Figueredo has been the victim of an escalating campaign of intimidation by Cuban law enforcement, including verbal threats by state security agents; permanent police surveillance without a court order; restriction of her freedom of movement; psychological intimidation against her family; and police summonses without legal basis in connection with her work denouncing government.

Cuba’s private media companies have come under increased threat from a new communication law banning all unapproved, non-state media and prohibiting them from receiving international funding and foreign training.

Cuban authorities did not immediately reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By BenarNews Staff.

The Committee to Protect Journalists called on authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Toor, and to cease harassing him for his journalistic work. Toor was arrested in the capital, Islamabad, at the FIA’s cybercrime wing.

The FIA refused to allow Mazari-Hazir or Toor’s two other lawyers to accompany the journalist for questioning, Mazari-Hazir said, adding that the agency subsequently locked its entrance door and turned off the lights of the building. Then, an FIA official emerged from the building and informed the lawyers of the journalist’s arrest.

An FIA guard provided Toor’s lawyers with a handwritten note from the journalist, reviewed by CPJ, asking for his 78-year-old mother to be taken to a relative’s home.

As of Tuesday morning, Toor’s lawyers had not received a copy of a first information report opening an investigation into the journalist, according to Mazari-Hazir.

On Friday, authorities detained and questioned Toor without access to legal representation at the FIA cybercrime wing headquarters, according to news reports, Mazari-Hazir, and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ before his arrest. Toor was released around eight hours later and received a notice shortly thereafter to appear for questioning on Monday.

Toor filed a petition, reviewed by CPJ, on Monday asking the Islamabad High Court to declare the FIA notices in relation to both summons for questioning as unlawful, order the agency to provide a list of allegations against the journalist, and not to harass or unlawfully detain him.

The Chief Justice’s order in response on Monday, reviewed by CPJ, stated that Toor should join the inquiry proceedings but “shall not be harassed.”

“We are appalled by the arrest of Pakistani journalist Asad Ali Toor in apparent violation of an order by the Islamabad High Court,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “Pakistani authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Toor and ensure that journalists do not face retaliation for their critical reporting on institutions, including the judiciary.”

Mazari-Hazir told CPJ that Toor’s legal team will file a petition on Tuesday morning challenging his arrest at the Islamabad High Court.

Toor and Mazari-Hazir said the journalist found out about the summons for the February 23 interrogation the day before through social media because the notice was sent to a prior address.

Six plainclothes men were present during the February 23 questioning, but Toor was not sure what agency they were from, he told CPJ, adding that the men refused to identify themselves when Toor requested.

The men did not provide a list of allegations or a copy of any complaint against the journalist when asked, Toor told CPJ, adding that the men questioned him about why he criticized the chief justice of the Supreme Court, where he received information for his reporting, and information about his journalistic sources. They also threatened Toor with raiding his home, detaining him, and confiscating his devices, the journalist told CPJ.

In January, the FIA cybercrime wing summoned dozens of journalists, including Toor, in relation to the alleged campaign against Supreme Court judges following an order upholding an electoral commission decision barring the party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan from using its cricket bat symbol to identify candidates for the February 8 election.

Toor has recently reported critically on the chief justice of Pakistan and the country’s military establishment on YouTube and X, formerly known as Twitter.

In May 2021, three unidentified men—one of whom Toor said identified himself as an agent with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency—beat, bound, and gagged the journalist inside his Islamabad apartment. Toor recalled the incident in a BBC documentary released on February 16, 2024.

CPJ called and messaged Pakistan Information Minister Murtaza Solangi for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to address the conference on its opening day to be followed on February 17 by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who will make his first in-person appearance at the conference since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

He addressed the 2023 conference virtually.

An estimated 50 world leaders are expected to attend the annual event that bills itself as the world's leading forum for debating international security policy. The governments of Russia and Iran have not been invited.

It will be an encore for Harris, who spoke at the conference in 2022 and 2023, but the stakes are different this year.

She faces the task of reassuring allies that Washington remains committed to defending their security after Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, questioned defending NATO allies who failed to spend enough on defense from a potential Russia invasion.

Harris plans to pledge that the United States will never retreat from its NATO obligations, and contrast Biden's commitment to global engagement with Trump's isolationist views, a White House official was quoted by Reuters as saying.

"The vice president will recommit to defeat the failed ideologies of isolationism, authoritarianism, and unilateralism...[and] denounce these approaches to foreign policy as short-sighted, dangerous, and destabilizing," the official said.

Harris is expected to meet with Zelenskiy during the conference, according to the White House.

She will be joined by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who just completed a visit to Albania, where he reinforced what he called an "extraordinary partnership" between Washington and Tirana.

The U.S. vice president will also express confidence that the American people will continue to support the Biden administration’s approach to Ukraine.

Ukraine, which is heavily dependent on economic and military aid from its Western allies, has been facing a shortage of ammunition and military equipment on the battlefield and is now facing intense fighting for the eastern city of Avdiyivka.

Kyiv also is desperate for a replenishment of supplies of air-defense systems to protect its civilians and infrastructure, which are hit almost daily by Russian shelling and drone attacks.

Harris is certain to be asked about a $95.34 billion military-aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan that the Senate, led by Democrats, approved on February 13 but that may never be put up for a vote in the Republican-controlled House of Representative because of Trump's opposition to it.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s European allies have begun increasing their support for Ukraine.

Ahead of his arrival in Munich, Zelenskiy was scheduled to travel on February 16 first to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and then to Paris to sign a security pact with French President Emmanuel Macron, his office in Kyiv and the Elysee Palace in Paris said.

Berlin did not release any details about Zelenskiy's meeting with Scholz, but Germany is also negotiating a security agreement with Kyiv.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa

This content originally appeared on News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

Soldiers and police were jointly patrolling the streets of the Papua New Guinea capital Port Moresby today as the country takes stock of yesterday’s unprecedented looting and rampage by hooligans and rioters.

Prime Minister James Marape confirmed that the National Executive Council had met and approved the army to be called out to assist police restore law and order after a day of total chaos in the capital city.

Five people were killed in Waigani while several more were injured and admitted to the Port Moresby and Gerehu hospitals.

• READ MORE: At least 10 dead after looting, fires on Port Moresby’s ‘darkest day’
• Violent riots in PNG leave 16 people dead, as PM declares state of emergency for 14 days
• Café Pacific’s report on the rioting as death toll rises
• Looting breaks out in PNG capital during police and military strike
• Contingent of Highlands Mobile Squad expected in Port Moresby
• Kavieng town under siege

Business leaders called the day the “darkest day” in the history of PNG where millions of kina in property and goods were lost.

As buildings lay smouldering in ruins last night, Police Commissioner David Manning confirmed that an additional 50 police officers from Lae had been flown to Port Moresby.

These police will provide backup for security personnel that have been on duty for extended periods, and will increase force strength if tensions increase, Manning said.

“Cabinet has approved a call-out of PNGDF personnel, and they are working with police to restore calm.”

Parkop calls for ‘normalcy’
NCD Governor Powes Parkop appealed for normalcy to be restored and for looting to stop.

He said: “What has happened is unacceptable, unforgivable, and unjustified under any circumstances.

Violent riots in PNG leave 16 people dead, as PM declares state of emergency for 14 days https://t.co/AzxcX2MUXP

— The Pacific Newsroom (@newsroom_the) January 11, 2024

“We cannot afford to allow this turmoil to persist another night or day. We must uphold our pledge to safeguard the people and the state. Let us restore order and stability in our city with the support of the PNGDF.”

What started as a simple standing down from duties because of pay cuts by disgruntled security personnel in the city turned into mayhem and chaotic scenes as opportunists ransacked shops and assaulted innocent bystanders.

A group of security personnel was seen descending into Parliament House demanding to see Prime Minister Marape. Several more personnel were also seen throwing
stones at the Central Government Office, breaking the gate and eventually burning the guard house at Manasupe Haus where PM Marape was holding a press conference.

In Konedobu, multiple gunshots could be heard outside the Post-Courier newspaper office after looters broke into Desh Besh supermarket.

The Port Moresby General Hospital CEO Dr Paki Molumi yesterday confirmed receiving the first wave of cases that included casualties of two chest, one thorax, one multiple wounds in shock and nine limb and abdomen wounds.

Razed by looters
In Gerehu, at Rainbow, the Stop and Shop was looted, while the main shopping centre near the market was razed. Waigani’s Stop and Shop also razed by looters.

Patients at Gerehu Hospital were also evacuated and taken to Port Moresby General Hospital amid the chaotic scenes.

Across the city reports of widespread looting of shops were coming in from Gerehu, Waigani, Tokarara, Konedobu, Manu Auto-Port, Badili, Hohola, Gordons and other areas.

St John Ambulances were called to many of the locations with multiple emergency calls relating to shootings and monitoring a number of fire incidents in the city.

Police vehicles drove by looters and rioters, some even giving a thumbs up and telling them to continue what they were doing.

The chaos yesterday was sparked by a simple technical glitch on the government’s Alesco Payroll System which paid public servants on a previously rescinded tax regime which resulted in workers including police and defence forces receiving heavily reduced pay packets.

This angered police to stand down from their duties and soldiers and police to march on the Parliament demanding answers to their pay cuts.

Strikers demand answers
At 10am, security personnel descended onto Unagi Oval in Gordons demanding answers as to why some of them were receiving 100 to 350 PNG kina (US$26-$80).

Minister for Internal Security Peter Tsiamalili Jr was shouted down with a thrown plastic container missing the minister as he left the oval.

The personnel drove into Parliament, and also shouted at acting Governor-General Job Pomat that they wanted to speak to PM Marape.

By 3pm, frustrated with the lack of response, the attention was now on Manasupe House. A vehicle and the guard house was destroyed and burned.

At 5pm, Assistant Commissioner of Police-NCD and Central Anthony Wagambie Jr confirmed that the PNGDF had been called on to support the police as they worked to bring peace and order in the city.

Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Soldiers and police were jointly patrolling the streets of the Papua New Guinea capital Port Moresby today as the country takes stock of yesterday’s unprecedented looting and rampage by hooligans and rioters.

Prime Minister James Marape confirmed that the National Executive Council had met and approved the army to be called out to assist police restore law and order after a day of total chaos in the capital city.

Five people were killed in Waigani while several more were injured and admitted to the Port Moresby and Gerehu hospitals.

• READ MORE: At least 10 dead after looting, fires on Port Moresby’s ‘darkest day’
• Violent riots in PNG leave 16 people dead, as PM declares state of emergency for 14 days
• Café Pacific’s report on the rioting as death toll rises
• Looting breaks out in PNG capital during police and military strike
• Contingent of Highlands Mobile Squad expected in Port Moresby
• Kavieng town under siege

Business leaders called the day the “darkest day” in the history of PNG where millions of kina in property and goods were lost.

As buildings lay smouldering in ruins last night, Police Commissioner David Manning confirmed that an additional 50 police officers from Lae had been flown to Port Moresby.

These police will provide backup for security personnel that have been on duty for extended periods, and will increase force strength if tensions increase, Manning said.

“Cabinet has approved a call-out of PNGDF personnel, and they are working with police to restore calm.”

Parkop calls for ‘normalcy’
NCD Governor Powes Parkop appealed for normalcy to be restored and for looting to stop.

He said: “What has happened is unacceptable, unforgivable, and unjustified under any circumstances.

Violent riots in PNG leave 16 people dead, as PM declares state of emergency for 14 days https://t.co/AzxcX2MUXP

— The Pacific Newsroom (@newsroom_the) January 11, 2024

“We cannot afford to allow this turmoil to persist another night or day. We must uphold our pledge to safeguard the people and the state. Let us restore order and stability in our city with the support of the PNGDF.”

What started as a simple standing down from duties because of pay cuts by disgruntled security personnel in the city turned into mayhem and chaotic scenes as opportunists ransacked shops and assaulted innocent bystanders.

A group of security personnel was seen descending into Parliament House demanding to see Prime Minister Marape. Several more personnel were also seen throwing
stones at the Central Government Office, breaking the gate and eventually burning the guard house at Manasupe Haus where PM Marape was holding a press conference.

In Konedobu, multiple gunshots could be heard outside the Post-Courier newspaper office after looters broke into Desh Besh supermarket.

The Port Moresby General Hospital CEO Dr Paki Molumi yesterday confirmed receiving the first wave of cases that included casualties of two chest, one thorax, one multiple wounds in shock and nine limb and abdomen wounds.

Razed by looters
In Gerehu, at Rainbow, the Stop and Shop was looted, while the main shopping centre near the market was razed. Waigani’s Stop and Shop also razed by looters.

Patients at Gerehu Hospital were also evacuated and taken to Port Moresby General Hospital amid the chaotic scenes.

Across the city reports of widespread looting of shops were coming in from Gerehu, Waigani, Tokarara, Konedobu, Manu Auto-Port, Badili, Hohola, Gordons and other areas.

St John Ambulances were called to many of the locations with multiple emergency calls relating to shootings and monitoring a number of fire incidents in the city.

Police vehicles drove by looters and rioters, some even giving a thumbs up and telling them to continue what they were doing.

The chaos yesterday was sparked by a simple technical glitch on the government’s Alesco Payroll System which paid public servants on a previously rescinded tax regime which resulted in workers including police and defence forces receiving heavily reduced pay packets.

This angered police to stand down from their duties and soldiers and police to march on the Parliament demanding answers to their pay cuts.

Strikers demand answers
At 10am, security personnel descended onto Unagi Oval in Gordons demanding answers as to why some of them were receiving 100 to 350 PNG kina (US$26-$80).

Minister for Internal Security Peter Tsiamalili Jr was shouted down with a thrown plastic container missing the minister as he left the oval.

The personnel drove into Parliament, and also shouted at acting Governor-General Job Pomat that they wanted to speak to PM Marape.

By 3pm, frustrated with the lack of response, the attention was now on Manasupe House. A vehicle and the guard house was destroyed and burned.

At 5pm, Assistant Commissioner of Police-NCD and Central Anthony Wagambie Jr confirmed that the PNGDF had been called on to support the police as they worked to bring peace and order in the city.

Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Soldiers and police were jointly patrolling the streets of the Papua New Guinea capital Port Moresby today as the country takes stock of yesterday’s unprecedented looting and rampage by hooligans and rioters.

Prime Minister James Marape confirmed that the National Executive Council had met and approved the army to be called out to assist police restore law and order after a day of total chaos in the capital city.

Five people were killed in Waigani while several more were injured and admitted to the Port Moresby and Gerehu hospitals.

• READ MORE: At least 10 dead after looting, fires on Port Moresby’s ‘darkest day’
• Violent riots in PNG leave 16 people dead, as PM declares state of emergency for 14 days
• Café Pacific’s report on the rioting as death toll rises
• Looting breaks out in PNG capital during police and military strike
• Contingent of Highlands Mobile Squad expected in Port Moresby
• Kavieng town under siege

Business leaders called the day the “darkest day” in the history of PNG where millions of kina in property and goods were lost.

As buildings lay smouldering in ruins last night, Police Commissioner David Manning confirmed that an additional 50 police officers from Lae had been flown to Port Moresby.

These police will provide backup for security personnel that have been on duty for extended periods, and will increase force strength if tensions increase, Manning said.

“Cabinet has approved a call-out of PNGDF personnel, and they are working with police to restore calm.”

Parkop calls for ‘normalcy’
NCD Governor Powes Parkop appealed for normalcy to be restored and for looting to stop.

He said: “What has happened is unacceptable, unforgivable, and unjustified under any circumstances.

Violent riots in PNG leave 16 people dead, as PM declares state of emergency for 14 days https://t.co/AzxcX2MUXP

— The Pacific Newsroom (@newsroom_the) January 11, 2024

“We cannot afford to allow this turmoil to persist another night or day. We must uphold our pledge to safeguard the people and the state. Let us restore order and stability in our city with the support of the PNGDF.”

What started as a simple standing down from duties because of pay cuts by disgruntled security personnel in the city turned into mayhem and chaotic scenes as opportunists ransacked shops and assaulted innocent bystanders.

A group of security personnel was seen descending into Parliament House demanding to see Prime Minister Marape. Several more personnel were also seen throwing
stones at the Central Government Office, breaking the gate and eventually burning the guard house at Manasupe Haus where PM Marape was holding a press conference.

In Konedobu, multiple gunshots could be heard outside the Post-Courier newspaper office after looters broke into Desh Besh supermarket.

The Port Moresby General Hospital CEO Dr Paki Molumi yesterday confirmed receiving the first wave of cases that included casualties of two chest, one thorax, one multiple wounds in shock and nine limb and abdomen wounds.

Razed by looters
In Gerehu, at Rainbow, the Stop and Shop was looted, while the main shopping centre near the market was razed. Waigani’s Stop and Shop also razed by looters.

Patients at Gerehu Hospital were also evacuated and taken to Port Moresby General Hospital amid the chaotic scenes.

Across the city reports of widespread looting of shops were coming in from Gerehu, Waigani, Tokarara, Konedobu, Manu Auto-Port, Badili, Hohola, Gordons and other areas.

St John Ambulances were called to many of the locations with multiple emergency calls relating to shootings and monitoring a number of fire incidents in the city.

Police vehicles drove by looters and rioters, some even giving a thumbs up and telling them to continue what they were doing.

The chaos yesterday was sparked by a simple technical glitch on the government’s Alesco Payroll System which paid public servants on a previously rescinded tax regime which resulted in workers including police and defence forces receiving heavily reduced pay packets.

This angered police to stand down from their duties and soldiers and police to march on the Parliament demanding answers to their pay cuts.

Strikers demand answers
At 10am, security personnel descended onto Unagi Oval in Gordons demanding answers as to why some of them were receiving 100 to 350 PNG kina (US$26-$80).

Minister for Internal Security Peter Tsiamalili Jr was shouted down with a thrown plastic container missing the minister as he left the oval.

The personnel drove into Parliament, and also shouted at acting Governor-General Job Pomat that they wanted to speak to PM Marape.

By 3pm, frustrated with the lack of response, the attention was now on Manasupe House. A vehicle and the guard house was destroyed and burned.

At 5pm, Assistant Commissioner of Police-NCD and Central Anthony Wagambie Jr confirmed that the PNGDF had been called on to support the police as they worked to bring peace and order in the city.

Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

Zelenskiy met with his Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda on January 10 to discuss military aid, training, and joint demining efforts during the previously unannounced trip, which will also take him to Estonia and Latvia.

“We have proven that Russia can be stopped, that deterrence is possible,” he said after talks with Nauseda on what is the Ukrainian leader's first foreign trip of 2024.

"Today, Gitanas Nauseda and I focused on frontline developments. Weapons, equipment, personnel training, and Lithuania's leadership in the demining coalition are all sources of strength for us," Zelenskiy later wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Lithuania has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since the start of Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion, which will reach the two-year mark in February.

Nauseda said EU and NATO member Lithuania will continue to provide military, political, and economic support to Ukraine, and pointed to the Baltic country's approval last month of a 200-million-euro ($219 million) long-term military aid package for Ukraine.

Russia's invasion has turned Ukraine into one of the most mined countries in the world, generating one of the largest demining challenges since the end of World War II.

"Lithuania is forming a demining coalition to mobilize military support for Ukraine as efficiently and quickly as possible," Nauseda said.

"The Western world must understand that this is not just the struggle of Ukraine, it is the struggle of the whole of Europe and the democratic world for peace and freedom," Nauseda said.

Ukraine has pleaded with its allies to keep supplying it with weapons amid signs of donor fatigue in some countries.

There is continued disagreement between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress on continuing military aid for Kyiv, while a 50-billion-euro ($55 billion) aid package from the European Union remains blocked due to a Hungarian veto.

But a NATO allies meeting in Brussels on January 10 made it clear that they will continue to provide Ukraine with major military, economic, and humanitarian aid. NATO allies have outlined plans to provide "billions of euros of further capabilities" in 2024 to Ukraine, the alliance said in a statement.

Zelensky warned during the news conference with Nauseda that delays in Western aid to Kyiv would only embolden Moscow.

"He (Russian President Vladimir Putin) is not going to stop. He wants to occupy us completely," Zelenskiy said.

"And sometimes, the insecurity of partners regarding financial and military aid to Ukraine only increases Russia's courage and strength."

Since the start of the year, Ukraine has been subjected to several massive waves of Russian missile and drone strikes that have caused civilian deaths and material damage.

Zelenskiy said on January 10 that Ukraine badly needs advanced air defense systems.

"In recent days, Russia hit Ukraine with a total of 500 devices: we destroyed 70 percent of them," Zelenskiy said. "Air defense systems are the number one item that we lack."

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, an all-out air raid alert was declared on the morning of January 10, with authorities instructing citizens to take shelter due to an elevated danger of Russian missile strikes.

"Missile-strike danger throughout the territory of Ukraine! [Russian] MiG-31Ks taking off from Savasleika airfield [in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region].

Don't ignore the air raid alert!' the Ukrainian Air Force said in its warning message on Telegram.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

This content originally appeared on News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced that the country has filed a fresh diplomatic protest against China, its 55th this year.

Philippine authorities said one of their contracted boats on a resupply mission to the Second Thomas Shoal, where Manila maintains a navy ship as its military outpost, was blocked by a Chinese Coast Guard vessel, resulting in a collision.

During the same mission, a Philippine Coast Guard vessel’s port side was also “bumped by Chinese Maritime Militia vessel 00003 (CMMV 00003) while it was lying to approximately 6.4 nautical miles northeast of Ayungin Shoal,” the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) said, referring to the shoal by its local name. 

Nobody on board the vessels on either side was known to have been injured.

The Chinese Coast Guard promptly released on Sunday a statement blaming the Philippine vessels for “unauthorized entry.” 

Chinese state media quoted the statement as saying that two Philippine transport vessels and two Philippine Coast Guard vessels “trespassed” into the waters adjacent to the Second Thomas Shoal, known as Ren’ai Reef in Chinese.

It also said that despite repeated warnings from the Chinese authorities, the Philippine resupply vessel “deliberately crossed the bow of Chinese Coast Guard ship 5203 at 6:14 a.m. in an unprofessional and dangerous manner, resulting in a minor collision.”

About two hours later, the Philippine Coast Guard vessel 4409 “deliberately stirred up trouble” by reversing and colliding with a Chinese fishing vessel, which was floating in the vicinity, it said.

The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines “made solemn representations to the Philippine side on Monday … expressing strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to the trespassing,” reported the Global Times on social media site X, formerly Twitter.

Both sides released video clips to back up their claims.

The Philippine navy in 1999 intentionally grounded the WWII ship BRP Sierra Madre on the shoal to serve as a military and sovereignty outpost, and needs to resupply the troops stationed there regularly. China said the vessel was “illegally grounded.”

In recent months, the Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels have repeatedly shadowed and blocked Philippine ships during resupply missions to the Sierra Madre, including by firing a water cannon at one of the resupply boats in August.

Manila’s ‘transparency campaign’

The United States quickly spoke out in support of the Philippines, its treaty ally.

A statement by the State Department said “the United States stands with our Philippine allies in the face of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Coast Guard and maritime militia’s dangerous and unlawful actions obstructing an October 22 Philippine resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.”

The U.S. “reaffirms that Article IV of the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, and aircraft – including those of its Coast Guard – anywhere in the South China Sea.”

It accused the Chinese vessels of violating international laws and said China’s territorial claims have no basis as the Second Thomas Shoal is “a feature well within the Philippine exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and on the Philippine continental shelf.”

U.S. government agencies, including the State Department and the Department of Defense have made a point “to call out the PLAN’s hypocrisy,” said Thomas Shugart, an adjunct senior fellow with the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security, referring to the People’s Liberation Army Navy by its acronym.

“China claims to have the right to regulate naval activities within its EEZ - which it doesn’t - and then feels free to operate as it pleases in other nations’ EEZs,” Shugart said.

Another analyst, Ray Powell from Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, noted that Manila “has embarked on a tactic of assertive transparency” in reporting incidents in disputed waters.

“It has become normal … the idea that a large country can blockade the outpost of a smaller country without serious consequences,” said Powell. “What is new is that the Philippines is now showing the world what has been happening under our noses for many years, and the world will need to decide what to do about that.”

Almost immediately after the incidents, the Philippine Armed Forces released on social media platforms photos and video clips recorded by their cameramen, as well as drone footage to accompany official statements.

One of the photos clearly shows three Philippine ships being surrounded by eight China Coast Guard vessels.

This tactic will help “strengthen national resilience, build international support and impose reputational costs on China,” Powell said. 

“If other countries follow suit it will force China to recalculate whether the cost it's now paying for its gray zone tactics are worth whatever benefits it hopes to receive for them,” the analyst added.

The South China Sea is claimed by six parties but China’s claims are by far the most expansive. Beijing has refused to accept a 2016 international ruling that its assertions have no legal basis.

Second Thomas Shoal is about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000 kilometers from China’s Hainan island.

Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Staff.

In response, the Chinese government reiterated its demand that the Philippines remove the BRP Sierra Madre, a rusty World War II-era naval ship that Manila deliberately ran aground in the Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) in 1999 to serve as a military outpost in those contested waters.

A convoy of Philippine ships was on a mission Saturday to deliver food, water, fuel and other supplies to troops stationed aboard the BRP Sierra Madre when the incident occurred near the shoal.

While meeting with the Chinese envoy on Monday morning, Manila conveyed “the strong protest of the Philippine government to the blocking and water cannon operation by the Chinese Coast Guard and Chinese maritime militia vessels against Philippine indigenous boats,” Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Ma. Teresa Daza told reporters.

The Philippine convoy was “conducting [a] regular rotation and resupply” mission to Ayungin Shoal, she said.

The Philippine government also expressed disappointment that it was not able to reach China’s foreign ministry through a hotline established between the countries earlier this year to improve communication during incidents related to the South China Sea, she said.

The incident, which lasted more than an hour, was the latest in a growing number of perceived aggressive actions by China in the South China Sea, an important maritime trade route subject to overlapping territorial claims from China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan.

China asserts sovereignty over most of the sea and has for years militarized artificial islands while deploying coast guard boats, navy ships and a state-backed maritime militia around disputed areas.

Daza said Ayungin Shoal was well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, as recognized in a 2016 ruling by an international arbitration court.

China’s dangerous maneuvers breached international maritime law by restricting the Philippine ships’ navigational path, thereby increasing the risk of collision, she said.

The foreign ministry “firmly asked” China to “direct its vessels to stop their illegal actions against Philippine vessels, and to stop interfering in legitimate Philippine government activities while complying with relevant international laws,” according to Daza.

In Beijing, the foreign ministry claimed the shoal, which it calls Ren’ai Jiao, had always belonged to China. 

“In 1999, the Philippines sent a military vessel and deliberately ran it aground at Ren’ai Jiao, attempting to change the status quo of Ren’ai Jiao illegally. China immediately made serious démarches to the Philippines, demanding the removal of the vessel,” a ministry spokesman said Monday.  

“The Philippines promised several times to tow it away, but has yet to act. Not only that, the Philippines sought to overhaul and reinforce the military vessel in order to permanently occupy Ren’ai Jiao.”

As for Saturday’s confrontation at sea, “such actions violated China’s sovereignty and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” the spokesman said. “The China Coast Guard vessels stopped them in accordance with law and warned them off through appropriate law enforcement measures. Their maneuvers were professional, restrained and beyond reproach.” 

‘Dangerous and unlawful’

Meanwhile, the Philippines’ ambassador to China delivered a diplomatic protest in Beijing on Monday morning.

The Philippines since 2020 has sent 445 diplomatic protests to China relating to occupation or harassment in the South China Sea, Daza said. A total of 35 have been sent since Jan. 1.

On Monday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called a command meeting with the coast guard and military to discuss the fresh incident.  

“We continue to assert our sovereignty, we continue to assert our territorial rights in the face of all these challenges,” Marcos told reporters on the sidelines of a Philippine Army event.

Jonathan Malaya, spokesman for a Philippine task force on the South China Sea, characterized the Chinese action on Saturday near Ayungin Shoal as “aggressive, dangerous and unlawful.”  

At one point, he said, one of the six China Coast Guard ships came within 20 yards (18.3 meters) as it blocked the path of a Philippine boat, officials said.

“The Chinese Coast Guard and Chinese militia vessels have no right whatsoever to place a blockade or impede, or otherwise control, the movement of the Philippine Coast Guard in Ayungin Shoal or anywhere else in the West Philippine Sea, especially when they are undertaking a mission to resupply our troops stationed there,” Malaya told a press briefing.

While one Philippine supply boat was blocked, another was able to break through and successfully delivered some of the supplies, Malaya said.

Only weeks earlier, the Philippine Coast Guard had accused its Chinese counterpart of dangerous maneuvers that, the Filipino side alleged, could have caused a collision during a similar resupply mission. 

Two China Coast Guard ships intercepted Philippine patrol boats and “exhibited aggressive tactics” and at one point, the Chinese ship came to just 50 yards of a Philippine ship.

Camille Elemia in Manila contributed to this report by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated news service.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By BenarNews Staff.

Suva lawyer Richard Naidu is a free man after the Suva High Court ruled this week that no conviction be recorded against him.

High Court judge Justice Daniel Goundar ruled on Tuesday that the charge of contempt scandalising the court against Naidu be dismissed.

He said summons to set aside the judgment that had found Naidu guilty in November last year was by consent and was dismissed as he did not have jurisdiction.

• READ MORE: Other Richard Naidu reports

Justice Gounder ordered the parties to bear their own costs.

While delivering his judgment, Justice Gounder said while mitigation and sentencing were pending, a new government had come into power and a new Attorney-General had been appointed.

He said that after the change of government [FijiFirst lost the general election last December], Justice Jude Nanayakkara, who had been previously presiding over the case, had resigned as a Fiji judge and left the jurisdiction without concluding proceedings.

Justice Gounder said the new Attorney-General, Siromi Turaga had taken a different position regarding the proceedings, which he had expressed in an affidavit filed in support of the summons to dismiss the proceedings.

Ruling set aside
Turaga stated that his view was that the proceedings should never have been instituted against Naidu in the first place.

In the affidavit, Turaga said he had conveyed to Naidu that his view was that the ruling of 22 November 2022 ought to be set aside and the proceedings dismissed.

He added that Naidu had confirmed he would not seek to recover any costs he had incurred in defending the proceedings.

Justice Gounder said the Attorney-General played an important function as the guardian of public interest in contempt proceedings which alleged conduct scandalising the court.

Lawyer Richard Naidu’s conviction ruled not to be recorded and the charge of contempt dismissed. Video: Fijivillage.com

He said the position of the Attorney-General had shifted and he was not seeking an order of committal against Naidu.

The judge said Turaga dkid not support the findings that Naidu was guilty of contempt scandalising the court.

He said it had not been suggested that the present Attorney-General was acting unfairly as the representative of public interest in consenting to an order setting aside the judgement.

Facebook posting
Naidu was found guilty in November last year by High Court judge Justice Jude Nanayakkara for contempt scandalising the court.

Naidu posted on his Facebook page a picture of a judgment in a case represented by his associate that had the word “injunction” misspelt [as “injection”], and then made some comments that he was pretty sure the applicant wanted an injunction.

The committal proceeding was brought against Naidu by the then Attorney-General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

Naidu was represented by Jon Apted while Feizal Haniff represented the Attorney-General.

Rashika Kumar is a Fijivillage reporter. Republished with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.

Dang Dinh Manh and Nguyen Van Mieng flew into Washington’s Dulles International Airport last week. A third lawyer, Dao Kim Lan, told Voice of America that he was in “a very safe place” and was arranging his new life.

“When the plane landed, I felt really relieved after 100 days of being hunted down,” Mieng told Radio Free Asia. “With my visa, it took me only around 30 minutes to go through customs. I was so ecstatic that I almost forgot to pick up my luggage.”

The lawyers defended six members of the Peng Lei Buddhist House who were found guilty in July 2022 and sentenced to a combined 23 years and six months for incest and fraud. 

While they were providing legal support to the Peng Lei members, the three lawyers, as well as two others – Ngo Thi Hoang Anh and Trinh Vinh Phuc – also used the YouTube account Nhật ký Luật sư (Lawyer's Diary) to frequently post information about the case. The account no longer has any video content.

The public discussion of the case could be a violation of Vietnam’s Article 331 – a statute in the penal code widely criticized by international communities as being vague. Vietnamese authorities routinely use it to attack those speaking out in defense of human rights.

Public search notice 

Authorities in the southern province of Long An issued a summons to the five lawyers in March that required them to report to the police for questioning. When the lawyers didn’t appear, police 

followed up with several more summonses. 

Provincial Police on June 11 posted a search notice on its website, saying that Mieng, Lan and Manh had neither attended the meetings nor provided excuses for their absence. 

“The police at their wards of residence confirmed they were not at their places of residence and there was no information about their whereabouts, what they were doing, and they could not be contacted,” the police notice said.

The notice also said that investigators had begun searching for the lawyers and requested that anyone who sees them “immediately report to Long An Provincial Police’s Investigation Agency.” 

The whereabouts and status of the other two lawyers in the Peng Lei case – Anh and Phuc – was unknown.

In an interview with RFA after his arrival in the United States, Manh said that he was aware of the police decision to actively search for him. 

“However, I don’t think I have the responsibility to abide by this decision as it is not aligned with the regulations on criminal procedures,” he said.

Leaving Vietnam was within his rights as a citizen under Vietnam’s Constitution, he said.

“It’s my right to leave the country, travel and choose a place to reside and work,” he said. “I don’t know much about the U.S., but so far, I’ve been fascinated and overwhelmed. I have some projects to do here and have just kicked them off.”

‘Will critical voices still exist?’

The news about the lawyers’ arrival in the United States generated mixed feelings from friends and acquaintances in Vietnam.

“I am happy for my friends but worried for those who still remain,” Hanoi lawyer Ngo Anh Tuan, who has worked as a defense attorney in many political cases, wrote on Facebook.

“The total number of lawyers nationwide who dare to defend clients in political cases was less than the number of our fingers,” Tuan wrote. “Now nearly half have left. The quantity has decreased. I am not sure how the quality has been affected but the spirit of the remaining people has obviously gone down.”

“Will this trend stop, or will people continue to leave the country? Will critical voices still exist or gradually disappear over time?”

Over the last 15 years, Manh defended more than 50 clients, many of whom were human rights and democracy activists and independent journalists.

Manh and Mieng stood out among the modest number of lawyers who dared to work in political cases, according to a young attorney from the Hanoi Bar Association who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

It’s now more likely that prosecuting agencies will designate government-aligned lawyers to participate in political cases as defense lawyers, he said.

“Their departure creates a gap in political cases,” he said. “Lawyers now tend to avoid political cases.”

Evidence of a weak judiciary

But another lawyer from Hanoi who did not want to be named said that the three lawyers’ departure wouldn’t significantly affect the situation in Vietnam. 

“Escaping has never been a step forward, nor does it create any impact,” he wrote in a text message to RFA on Wednesday. “It’s simply a way to ensure the safety of those who left.”

However, their departure is more evidence of the weak position of lawyers in Vietnam’s judiciary, he said.

Lawyer Ngo Anh Tuan said that the Vietnamese government should change its treatment of lawyers.

“I asked myself many times: Instead of pushing political dissidents to the corner so that they have to make extremist choices, why doesn’t the government listen to them and have a dialogue with them so that conflicts will be settled and their knowledge can be utilized to make our country more democratic and advanced?”

RFA contacted Long An Provincial Police for comment on the search notice for the three lawyers. A message left with a staff member wasn’t immediately returned. 

Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Vietnamese.

Dang Dinh Manh and Nguyen Van Mieng flew into Washington’s Dulles International Airport last week. A third lawyer, Dao Kim Lan, told Voice of America that he was in “a very safe place” and was arranging his new life.

“When the plane landed, I felt really relieved after 100 days of being hunted down,” Mieng told Radio Free Asia. “With my visa, it took me only around 30 minutes to go through customs. I was so ecstatic that I almost forgot to pick up my luggage.”

The lawyers defended six members of the Peng Lei Buddhist House who were found guilty in July 2022 and sentenced to a combined 23 years and six months for incest and fraud. 

While they were providing legal support to the Peng Lei members, the three lawyers, as well as two others – Ngo Thi Hoang Anh and Trinh Vinh Phuc – also used the YouTube account Nhật ký Luật sư (Lawyer's Diary) to frequently post information about the case. The account no longer has any video content.

The public discussion of the case could be a violation of Vietnam’s Article 331 – a statute in the penal code widely criticized by international communities as being vague. Vietnamese authorities routinely use it to attack those speaking out in defense of human rights.

Public search notice 

Authorities in the southern province of Long An issued a summons to the five lawyers in March that required them to report to the police for questioning. When the lawyers didn’t appear, police 

followed up with several more summonses. 

Provincial Police on June 11 posted a search notice on its website, saying that Mieng, Lan and Manh had neither attended the meetings nor provided excuses for their absence. 

“The police at their wards of residence confirmed they were not at their places of residence and there was no information about their whereabouts, what they were doing, and they could not be contacted,” the police notice said.

The notice also said that investigators had begun searching for the lawyers and requested that anyone who sees them “immediately report to Long An Provincial Police’s Investigation Agency.” 

The whereabouts and status of the other two lawyers in the Peng Lei case – Anh and Phuc – was unknown.

In an interview with RFA after his arrival in the United States, Manh said that he was aware of the police decision to actively search for him. 

“However, I don’t think I have the responsibility to abide by this decision as it is not aligned with the regulations on criminal procedures,” he said.

Leaving Vietnam was within his rights as a citizen under Vietnam’s Constitution, he said.

“It’s my right to leave the country, travel and choose a place to reside and work,” he said. “I don’t know much about the U.S., but so far, I’ve been fascinated and overwhelmed. I have some projects to do here and have just kicked them off.”

‘Will critical voices still exist?’

The news about the lawyers’ arrival in the United States generated mixed feelings from friends and acquaintances in Vietnam.

“I am happy for my friends but worried for those who still remain,” Hanoi lawyer Ngo Anh Tuan, who has worked as a defense attorney in many political cases, wrote on Facebook.

“The total number of lawyers nationwide who dare to defend clients in political cases was less than the number of our fingers,” Tuan wrote. “Now nearly half have left. The quantity has decreased. I am not sure how the quality has been affected but the spirit of the remaining people has obviously gone down.”

“Will this trend stop, or will people continue to leave the country? Will critical voices still exist or gradually disappear over time?”

Over the last 15 years, Manh defended more than 50 clients, many of whom were human rights and democracy activists and independent journalists.

Manh and Mieng stood out among the modest number of lawyers who dared to work in political cases, according to a young attorney from the Hanoi Bar Association who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

It’s now more likely that prosecuting agencies will designate government-aligned lawyers to participate in political cases as defense lawyers, he said.

“Their departure creates a gap in political cases,” he said. “Lawyers now tend to avoid political cases.”

Evidence of a weak judiciary

But another lawyer from Hanoi who did not want to be named said that the three lawyers’ departure wouldn’t significantly affect the situation in Vietnam. 

“Escaping has never been a step forward, nor does it create any impact,” he wrote in a text message to RFA on Wednesday. “It’s simply a way to ensure the safety of those who left.”

However, their departure is more evidence of the weak position of lawyers in Vietnam’s judiciary, he said.

Lawyer Ngo Anh Tuan said that the Vietnamese government should change its treatment of lawyers.

“I asked myself many times: Instead of pushing political dissidents to the corner so that they have to make extremist choices, why doesn’t the government listen to them and have a dialogue with them so that conflicts will be settled and their knowledge can be utilized to make our country more democratic and advanced?”

RFA contacted Long An Provincial Police for comment on the search notice for the three lawyers. A message left with a staff member wasn’t immediately returned. 

Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Vietnamese.

On January 24, the Leninsky District Court in the western city of Vladimir summoned the Kazakhstan-based independent news website Arbat.Media to a February 17 hearing for publishing allegedly inaccurate information about the war in Ukraine, according to multiple media reports, a report by Arbat.Media, and the outlet’s chief editor Syrym Itkulov, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.

Itkulov called the summons “surreal” and added that it “goes without saying” that the outlet’s representatives would not travel to Russia to respond to the summons.

“After cracking down on the coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine on its own territory, Russian authorities are now trying to censor reporting abroad as well,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities must immediately drop any legal proceedings against the Kazakh outlet Arbat.Media, and stop trying to put foreign media under the same yoke as Russian outlets. Kazakh authorities, for their part, must send a clear signal that the country’s news outlets are in no way subject to Russian law.”

A court notice published on Arbat.Media’s website states that the Vladimir military prosecutor’s office requested the outlet be banned in Russia and accused Arbat.Media of publishing “false” information about Russian army casualties, Russian forces’ shelling of residential buildings, and the deaths of civilians.

The notice also alleges that an article about Russian forces retreating from the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv in September 2022 was “misleading,” and accused the outlet of “shaping a distorted perception of current events among the Russian Internet audience and creating dissenting sentiments.” Russian state media regulator Roskomnadzor requested Arbat.Media remove that article in November, but the outlet refused to comply.

In a public letter sent to the Kazakh Ministry of Information on Thursday, independent local free speech organization Adil Soz reminded authorities that “censorship is prohibited in Kazakhstan.”

Adil Soz head Karla Jamankulova told CPJ that she hoped the Kazakh government would take “a public firm stand” to “protect our information space from any attempts of other countries to dictate what our media should write about and how.”

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Roskomnadzor said in a statement that all media “must only use information and data received from official Russian sources,” under the threat of being blocked online. Since then, authorities have requested at least 11 Kazakh media outlets to remove war-related content, according to data sent to CPJ by Adil Soz.

The independent media outlet Vlast and the news portal Informburo.kz refused such orders, while other outlets complied, according to reports.

“This is a violation of international jurisdiction,” Itkulov said. “How can a Russian district court summon a foreign media outlet to a trial?”

Roskomnadzor has blocked several Central Asia media outlets, including services affiliated with the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Kyrgyz independent news outlet Kloop, Kazakh information portal NUR.kz, and the Central Asian service of independent Russian news outlet Mediazona over their war coverage.

CPJ emailed the Leninsky District Court, Roskomnadzor, and the Kazakh Ministry of Information for comment, but did not immediately receive any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

On December 7, the agency issued summonses for Collombat, an investigative reporter for French public broadcaster Radio France; Monin, head of investigations at Radio France; and Livolsi, a reporter at the investigative news website Disclose, to appear for questioning on Wednesday, December 14, according to their employers, news reports, and Monin and Livolsi, who communicated with CPJ via email.

The summonses stem from an investigation, opened in 2021, over the leak of military information relating to 2018 reporting by Disclose and Radio France about a criminal investigation into alleged influence peddling and favoritism in the French military, according to those reports.

“France’s General Directorate for Internal Security must immediately withdraw its summonses issued to investigative journalists Benoît Collombat, Jacques Monin, and Geoffrey Livolsi,” said Attila Mong, CPJ’s Europe representative, in Berlin. “Journalists must be able to protect their confidential sources and freely report on national defense and security. This questioning will put them under unnecessary pressure and could have a chilling effect on defense reporting.”

Livolsi told CPJ that he planned to attend the questioning accompanied by his layer. Monin said that he and Collombat would also attend, but declined to give any further comment before the questioning.

The leak investigation is being carried out under a section of the French criminal code that bars disclosing information that could identify a member of a special forces unit; conviction can carry prison terms of up to five years and fines of up to 75,000 euros (US$79,000).

The General Directorate for Internal Security previously summoned Collombat and Livolsi in 2019 in a separate leak investigation relating to their coverage of alleged corruption in the military, as CPJ documented at the time.

“These repeated summonses are intended to deliberately intimidate journalists carrying out investigations,” Livolsi told CPJ.

CPJ emailed the French Ministry of Armed Forces; the Interior Ministry, which oversees the intelligence agency; and the Financial Prosecutor’s Office, which conducted the 2018 investigation into the military, did not immediately receive any replies. Le Monde reported that authorities have not commented on whether the investigation into alleged influence peddling is still ongoing.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also said it was taking diplomatic action against other recent incidents of Chinese ships allegedly accosting Philippine and Philippine-commissioned ships in the contested waterway.

Manila issued the statement days after the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think-tank, published a report on “three rounds of coercion in Philippine waters” by Chinese ships.

In one of the incidents, a China Coast Guard (CCG) tailed the Legend, a research vessel with the Taiwan Ocean Research Institute under the Ministry of Science and Technology, as it mapped undersea fault lines in the waters northwest of Luzon Island in the Philippines from late March to early April, AMTI reported.

The Legend was jointly deployed by the University of the Philippines National Institute of Geological Sciences and the National Central University in Taiwan.

“The Department summoned a senior official of the Chinese Embassy in Manila to protest the harassment by CCG on RV Legend, which had been conducting an authorized marine scientific research (MSR) activity, with Philippine scientists on board,” the Philippine foreign office said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a BenarNews request for comment.

In another incident in April, a CCG ship allegedly followed a pair of Philippine-commissioned ships conducting a seismic survey of an area within the Philippine exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and extended continental shelf (ECS). That incident prompted Manila to halt all oil and gas exploration in both those areas in the South China Sea, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

In April, Manila’s energy department ordered Philippine company PXP Energy to suspend exploration by contractors in SC 75 and SC 72, an area where it had planned to drill an appraisal well. The ships were forced to survey a different area to the east, and they left the Philippines several days later, the DFA said.

“The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs takes appropriate diplomatic action for violations of Philippine sovereignty [and] sovereign rights within our maritime jurisdiction,” the department said in its Tuesday statement.

“Only the Philippine Coast Guard has enforcement jurisdiction over these waters. The presence of foreign vessels following tracks that are neither continuous nor expeditious, that are not consistent with Article 19 of UNCLOS on innocent passage, are against the interests of the Philippines,” it said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“The detailed reports of these activities are being reviewed for the filing of appropriate diplomatic action.”

‘Our territorial right’

These protests come on the heels of yet another DFA protest filed Monday on China’s “unilateral imposition” of a 3½-month fishing moratorium in areas of the South China Sea.

They also come as President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gets set to take over as leader of the country after President Rodrigo Duterte’s term ends on June 30.

Under Duterte, Manila and Beijing had a cozy relationship with the Philippine leader overlooking a 2016 international tribunal ruling affirming Manila’s sovereign rights to an EEZ and ECS in the South China Sea, and declaring Beijing’s sweeping claims to much of the entire sea invalid under international law. Beijing has rejected the ruling.

Manila has, in recent years, filed a series of diplomatic protests with Beijing over the presence of Chinese ships in Philippine-claimed waters.

Last week, Marcos vowed that he would assert the international tribunal’s ruling after taking office. He said there was “no wiggle room” on the issue of sovereignty – his strongest public comments so far about the dispute that involves China, the Philippines’ biggest Asian neighbor.

“We will use it to continue to assert our territorial rights. It’s not a claim, it is already our territorial right and that is what the arbitral ruling can do to help us,” he said.

“Our sovereignty is sacred and we will not compromise it in any way. We are a sovereign nation with a functioning government, so we do not need to be told by anyone how to run our country.”

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By JC Gotinga for BenarNews.

Five years after strongman Hun Sen launched a crackdown against the political opposition and civil society, the country of nearly 17 million people that he has ruled since 1985 will hold local elections on June 5, followed by a parliamentary vote next year.

Opposition politicians, including those from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) that was banned during the 2017 crackdown, have faced harassment when trying to organize for the June elections.

Sat Pha, a CNRP supporter, said she believes a handwritten threat that authorities from Hun Sen’s one-party government posted the note on the door of her home.

The threat said, “You, contemptible, don’t be bold or you will be disappeared.”

Sat Pha said she has been on the run since April 16, fearing that she will meet the same fate as other opposition activists in Cambodia.

“[They] could put me in jail or make me disappeared or make me crippled for my whole life,” Sat Pha told RFA from an undisclosed location. “I see this dictatorial regime is good at beating people, killing people and throwing people in prison.”

She herself was released from prison six months ago after serving a year in detention for inciting social unrest during a peaceful protest in front of Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh.

Prior to her imprisonment and following her release, Sat Pha participated in protests staged by fellow activist Theary Seng, a Cambodian American lawyer who is on trial in Phnom Penh for treason and incitement, and with relatives of political prisoners.

In a video clip apparently recorded in a jungle in neighboring Thailand and posted on Theary Seng’s Facebook page, Sat Pha said she left Cambodia under pressure from the government.

“They posted a life threatening message at my house after I arrived home from the Khmer New Year holiday,” she says in the video. “I beg for national and international help to find justice for me.”

Sat Pha also appealed to NGOs and the United Nations to help her remain safely in Thailand as a political refugee.

Speaking to RFA on Monday, Theary Seng called the threat against Sat Pha “a cowardly move by this dictatorial regime,” aimed at tamping down her protests that have tried to draw attention to the crackdown.

“She has received many threats in the past, but she has refused to give up her [street] protests. But this time I told her that her life is more important than joining protests with me. They have threatened her because she dares to join protests and do advocacy work with me.”

Sok Isan, spokesman of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), told RFA that party authorities did not threaten Sat Pha and accused her and other activists of fabricating stories about political persecution to try to obtain asylum through the United Nations.

“It is a made-up show to invent a political incident, so she can claim political rights,” he said. “It has happened in the past. In Phnom Penh, the authorities are everywhere, so they would see it if someone posted such a message.”

Fraud and forgery charges

Siam Pluk, a former opposition Candlelight Party member and president of the unregistered Cambodia National Heart Party, also fled to safety after the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued an order for him to be apprehended for allegedly forging a document of party supporters, Theary Seng said.

Seng Theary said that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued an arrest warrant for Siam Phluk because he did not remain silent after the Ministry of the Interior refused to register his political party.

Ly Sokha, an investigating judge of the court, on April 4 ordered authorities to bring in Siam Phluk for questioning before April 25 in connection with allegations of fraud and the use of forged documents to form his party in 2021. The offense carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

After the ministry refused to recognize the new political party, Siam Phluk joined the Candlelight Party, which at one time was part of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) that opposed Hun Sen’s government.

Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP and banned 118 of its elected officials from politics two months later for the party’s alleged role in a plot to overthrow the government. The moves were part of a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on the political opposition, NGOs and the independent media that paved the way for his CPP to win all 125 seats in Parliament in the country’s July 2018 general election.

Soeung Sen Karuna, spokesman for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), said political persecution has prompted opposition activists to flee to safety to Thailand, Malaysia and other countries, especially after the dissolution of the CNRP.

“Peaceful protests are the rights and freedoms of the people guaranteed by the constitution, so the authorities must not restrict the rights of citizens,” he told RFA.

Siam Phluk also provided support to striking workers of the NagaWorld Casino in Phnom Penh, who demonstrated near the casino to demand that it reinstate laid-off workers and recognize their union, Seng Theary said.

“Siam Phluk joined me to deliver drinking water to NagaWorld strikers a few times,” she said. “He stood in protest in front of the court each time I had a court hearing, and the authorities took pictures of him.”

RFA could not reach Siam Phluk for comment. In an interview with Radio France International his attorney, Sam Sokong, denied that his client had falsified fingerprints as alleged by the Ministry of the Interior. He also said that the order the Phnom Penh court issued for Siam Phluk’s arrest includes erroneous information.

Siam Phluk may still appear in the court on April 25 as judicial officials have ordered, Sam Sokong said.

Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.