The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Thai Border Imports Double Despite Export Lag
- Family of Man Killed in Police Custody Claims Foul Play
- Fresh Skirmishes in Kokang Region, Says Military
- Additional 53 Child Soldiers Released by Burma Army
- SSA-N Soldiers Prepare to Defend Key Base as Withdrawal Deadline Passes
- Book Review: The Female Voice of Myanmar by Nilanjana Sengupta
- Japan’s Tiny Refugee Community Urges Tokyo to Open Doors Wider
- On China’s Fringes, Cyber Spies Raise Their Game
| Thai Border Imports Double Despite Export Lag Posted: 30 Nov 2015 03:33 AM PST  A view of the border-crossing checkpoint in Mae Sot, Thailand, on Friday morning. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) MYAWADDY, Karen State — The total import volume of goods into Burma from Thailand has doubled in the last year at the largest overland border crossing between the two countries, according to new figures from the Ministry of Commerce. From April to late November, the total of value of imports through Mae Sot into Myawaddy reached US$401 million, up from $198 million over the same period in 2014. Imports included processed foods, electronic goods, construction materials, automobile parts and agricultural equipment, while exports from Burma, valued at a mere $21 million, were largely agricultural and marine products. Exports totaled $16.7 million over the same period last year. Myint Kyaw, director of the Commerce Ministry's Myawaddy border station, said that the widespread flooding in Burma over July and August had prevented a commensurate rise in export values after the destruction of paddy fields and other crops. Myawaddy is the largest of five official checkpoints for overland trade between Burma and Thailand. Between 150 and 200 trucks from Thailand pass through the border station each day. The figure is growing steadily with the construction of a second bridge crossing over the Salween River and the gradual development of a special economic zone in Thailand's Tak province. At other Thai-Burma border stations, total border trade reached $70 million in Kawthaung, $109 million in Myeik and $10 million in Hteekhee. More cross-border trade is expected following the signing of the ASEAN Economic Community agreement on Nov. 22, which directs the regional bloc's 10 member nations to gradually reduce tariffs for goods traded between ASEAN countries. As Thai imports increase, Aung Myo, a local trader based in Myawaddy, said that Burmese traders needed to plan for heightened competition with Thai products. "Transportation is getting better now the Asian Highway's route through Myawaddy is open, so we should try to send our products on the route as well, instead of just defending against Thai goods," he said. Total overland imports into Burma rose from US$3.7 billion in 2012-13 to $4.46 billion in 2013-14, compared to exports of $2.7 billion in 2013-14. The vast majority of overland trade occurs between Burma and China. Muse, in northern Shan State, accounted for 83 percent of total border trade in 2013-14, according to the Ministry of Commerce. The post Thai Border Imports Double Despite Export Lag appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Family of Man Killed in Police Custody Claims Foul Play Posted: 30 Nov 2015 02:49 AM PST  Fishing boats line the docks of Kyaukphyu, Arakan State. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The family of a man allegedly killed by police in Arakan State earlier this year claims to have been offered large sums of money not to interfere with what appears to be a compromised case against the three constables facing murder charges. Tin Ohn Kyaw, the son-in-law of the victim's sister, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that relatives of one or more of the accused had recently approached family members of the deceased and "said they can pay more than 10,000,000 kyats [US$7,680]." Fisherman Aung Chan Nu died while in police custody in September on Maday Island, Arakan State. A community activist told The Irrawaddy at the time that three inebriated off-duty officers were accused of beating the man after he refused to help them dock their schooner. The suspects allegedly transported the injured man to the local police station, where his condition deteriorated overnight. Aung Chan Nu died in transit to Kyaukphyu General Hospital the following morning. The three constables have been in detention since their arrest in late September, pending a resolution to their trial. Kyaukphyu police chief Win Kyi told The Irrawaddy that their legal proceedings officially began on Friday. The case was originally filed as a fatal accident, but charges were later changed to murder after medical records were submitted to the court indicating that the deceased may have been violently assaulted. In October, the victim's family also claimed to have been approached by the uncle of one of the accused, who offered them money to "negotiate" the case. The victim's sister, Nu Phu Khine, told The Irrawaddy at the time that "My young brother's life is more valuable than money, I will never accept it." The case has caused widespread concerns among the local community, several of whom expressed to The Irrawaddy that they believed corruption of the police and the court system could result in injustice. The post Family of Man Killed in Police Custody Claims Foul Play appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Fresh Skirmishes in Kokang Region, Says Military Posted: 30 Nov 2015 02:34 AM PST  Soldiers from the Burma Army's 33rd Division on patrol in the center of Laukkai in February. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Government troops and ethnic Kokang rebels clashed briefly in Laukkai over the weekend, less than two weeks after martial law was lifted in the area. The military-run Myawaddy newspaper reported that soldiers from the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) fired upon a military patrol in Laukkai town shortly before midnight on Friday, before retreating towards the Chinese border in the northeast when the patrol returned fire. The report added that the Burma Army combed the area the following morning and found a cache of rockets and mines belonging to the Kokang insurgents, and would continue patrolling the area to protect public safety. Residents of both Laukkai and regional center Lashio, 160 kilometers to the southwest, said they had heard about the clashes, which were minor compared to the MNDAA assault on the town in February. "Everything is normal in Laukkai," said local resident Moe Tun, adding that he was unaware of whether the situation had changed in the hills surrounding the town. The clash occurred ten days after the government rescinded its declaration of a state of emergency in Laukkai on Nov. 17. Martial law was first declared on Feb. 18 followed an assault on the town by MNDAA forces the previous week. Tens of thousands of Laukkai residents fled their homes in the aftermath of the February clashes, with ethnic Kokang residents heading across the Chinese border and migrants from other parts of Burma fleeing to Lashio and further afield. Most of those who fled have since returned to their homes in Laukkai, according to Yang Kyin Kan, the vice chairman of the Lashio-based Kokang Democracy and Unity Party. The MNDAA, one of several ethnic armed group offshoots of the defunct Communist Party of Burma, exercised de facto rule over Laukkai for two decades under the command of Peng Jiasheng. Amid accusations of the armed group's involvement in gunrunning and drug trafficking, Peng Jiasheng's residence was raided in August 2009, in events that culminated a month later with the expulsion of the MNDAA from Laukkai and the takeover of the region by the Burma Army. The MNDAA, a member of the United Nationalities Federal Council, is among those ethnic armed groups the current government has excluded from the peace process. The exclusion of the Kokang insurgents, along with the Arakan Army and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, was cited by other armed groups as a reason for refusing to sign the government's "nationwide" ceasefire agreement in Naypyidaw last month. The post Fresh Skirmishes in Kokang Region, Says Military appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Additional 53 Child Soldiers Released by Burma Army Posted: 30 Nov 2015 12:46 AM PST  A child soldier in the Burma Army. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The Burma Army discharged another 53 child soldiers on Monday, the United Nations children's agency, Unicef, has announced. The children and young people released had been recruited and used for military purposes. In total, the army has discharged 146 people in 2015, a move welcomed by Unicef.. "Today's release is the result of continued efforts of the Government of Myanmar and the Tatmadaw to put an end to the harmful practice of recruiting and using children," UN resident coordinator Renata Lok-Dessallien in a statement. The co-chair the UN's task force on monitoring and reporting violations against children, Lok-Dessallien added that she was "delighted to see these children and young people returning to their homes and families." According to Unicef, the task force, established in 2007, calls on the government "to accelerate essential remaining steps, particularly by adopting legal measures in the re-drafted Child Law that are necessary to prohibit and criminalize use and recruitment … reinforcing the age assessment procedures within the military recruitment process, and including the prevention of violations against children in the military curriculum." Since the Burmese government signed a joint action plan with the United Nations in 2012, the Burma Army has released a total of 699 children. In September, Burma added its signature to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child regarding child soldiers. Bertrand Bainvel, Unicef representative to Burma and also a co-chair of the task force, said that "the signature of the protocol is a crucial step towards a child-free army." He also added that "now it is urgent that Myanmar ratifies the Protocol. Along with the review and the adoption of the revised Child Law, this would be one of the most important legacies the outgoing parliament has the opportunity to leave to new generations in Myanmar." Win Htein, central executive member and a spokesperson for the National League for Democracy (NLD), backed Bainvel's call for urgent action before his party assumes power early next year after winning a landslide victory in the Nov. 8 general election. "I wonder how many child soldiers still remain in the Burma Army," he told The Irrawaddy. "They've released child soldiers, though they actually should not have taken these children to serve in the army in the first place." In addition to the Burma Army, seven of Burma's ethnic armed groups have been accused of recruiting and using children in conflict. The United Nations recently initiated dialogue with several of these groups to discuss the possibility of stopping the practice. Humanitarian organizations remain optimistic. In the UN's statement, Lok-Dessallien said that "we are hopeful that institutional checks that have been put in place and continued efforts will ensure that recruitment of children will exist no more." The post Additional 53 Child Soldiers Released by Burma Army appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| SSA-N Soldiers Prepare to Defend Key Base as Withdrawal Deadline Passes Posted: 29 Nov 2015 11:38 PM PST Click to view slideshow. WAN HAI, Kyethi Township, Shan State — The Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) has rejected an order from the Burma Army to withdraw from positions east of a motorway splicing Mong Nawng, Mong Hsu and Kyethi townships in central Shan State, with the group now bunkering down to defend itself against further attacks. Government troops had given the Shan armed group five days to comply with the order or risk further fighting. The deadline passed on Sunday. "We decided at a meeting not to withdraw our troops," said a captain from the SSA-N who joined the two-day dialogue at the group's Wan Hai headquarters in Kyethi Township. "Withdrawing our troops would not mean they will stop attacking us. They will keep asking us for more withdrawals." The ethnic armed group has not yet released an official statement outlining their decision not to withdraw amid a conflict that first flared on Oct. 6, leaving thousands of civilians displaced. The SSA-N captain said the armed group would make engaging in political talks with the incoming National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government a priority. "Our country will have a new government in the next four months. We will solve our political conflict by having political dialogue," he said. The ten brigades of the SSA-North are in active deployment, preparing to defend the group's Wan Hai headquarters. "We were born here and we will die here. We will not move. We have been based here for 20 years already," said SSA-N Major Sai Han Kham. "We are not asking for our rights. We have our rights already but they [the Burma Army] took them. We need to protect our rights." He added, "It does not mean our armed group did not listen to their order. [But] five days is too short a time. We need to have meetings even of the ground forces. We need time to talk about withdrawing." Costs of Conflict Ongoing fighting has led to the displacement of over 10,000 people, according to a statement issued by the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) last week. The rights group has also documented eight cases of sexual violence committed by Burma Army soldiers in southern and eastern Shan State since April 2015. Most recently, on Nov. 5 in Kyethi Township, the SHRF said a 32-year-old woman was gang-raped by an estimated 10 Burma Army soldiers while her husband was restrained. The toll in soldiers' lives from both sides is unknown. SSA-N commander Sai Seng Hein described one fierce recent battle against government troops in Mong Ark, Mong Hsu Township, during which several Burma Army soldiers were killed. "We fought for one night and one day. The [Burma Army] suffered a lot from our attacks. One dead body was a commander. They have all run to bases on the mountain now," he said. The Irrawaddy visited a mountain post belonging to the SSA-N in Loi Phwe Long, Mong Hsu Township, which the Burma Army, including the air force, attacked for three days but failed to capture. The intensity of the military's attack was immediately visible on the ground, with many trees reduced to charred remains and small craters indicating where bombs had exploded. There were also still some unexploded 50 kilogram bombs nearby. "They shot here and trees were burned down," said a Shan solider. "The fire even spread to my clothes while I was hiding in my bunker. It burned a little but I wasn't hurt." Government troops used air power and 200 ground forces in the offensive, according to a SSA-N officer, Sai Khwe, who participated in the group's defensive actions. "Their ground forces attacked us at 11 am on Nov. 16. They stepped on our bombs, and many of them were wounded. But still many of them climbed to our post and tried to attack us. We were very close to each other [but] we did not want to kill them," Sai Khwe said. "We are brothers. We should not kill each other. We did not want to kill them because they have their wives and children. Their families would be very sad when they know their lovers were killed." The dead bodies of seven government soldiers were still lying on the ground near the ethnic armed group's post, according to Sai Khwe. "We should share land," he continued, adding that the Burmese military should not dictate where the group operates, "because this is our land." From the SSA-N outpost, cooking smoke could be seen rising from a Burma Army encampment on the other side of the mountain. "We can even hear the soldiers swear," Sai Khwe said. Some SSA-N leaders said the Burma Army may resume offensive operations as soon as Monday, after Sunday's withdrawal deadline passed unmet. Burma Army soldiers reportedly fired shots on Monday morning, but they were described by an officer of the Shan armed group as indicating communication between battalions. The post SSA-N Soldiers Prepare to Defend Key Base as Withdrawal Deadline Passes appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Book Review: The Female Voice of Myanmar by Nilanjana Sengupta Posted: 29 Nov 2015 11:15 PM PST  "The Female Voice of Myanmar: Khin Myo Chit to Aung San Suu Kyi," by Nilanjana Sengupta. Burma is seen by many as being on the road to democracy after the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won a landslide victory in the Nov. 8 general election. Burmese people see a glimmer of hope after having suffered decades of deterioration in various sectors, including education and public health, under a series of military or military-related governments. Many consider Burma as being at a major crossroad—their special interest in how the NLD will transform Burma under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi. The Female Voice of Myanmar: Khin Myo Chit to Aung San Suu Kyi by Nilanjana Sengupta seems to have come at the right time. It attempts to present Burma through the literary works of four women—Khin Myo Chit, Ludu Daw Amar, Ma Thida and Aung San Suu Kyi. What makes Sengupta's book unique is that she has not only studied their English literary works but also those in Burmese—with the help of translators. Of the many books written about Aung San Suu Kyi, they have mainly focused on either her biography or her life related to Burma—never from the perspective of her writings. Most people seem to have come to see her as the daughter of General Aung San, a Nobel Laureate, and an opposition leader fighting for the democratic cause of Burmese people; but rarely as a writer or scholar, though she spent an earlier part of her life writing about Burma and General Aung San. Of personal interest is Sengupta's interpretation of Suu Kyi's thoughts on Burmese nationalism and the place of the individual in Burmese society through her three essays: Literature and Nationalism in Burma, Intellectual Life in Burma and India under Colonialism and My country and People. The author also attempts to understand Suu Kyi's philosophy in those two areas by analyzing her later writings including the well-received, award-winning book, Freedom from Fear, and articles from D-Hlaing Journal. She also includes recent events such as Letpadaung copper mine, activities by NLD Education Network and much publicized issue of the Rohingya. As Burma is not short of prominent female writers—who write both fiction and non-fiction reflecting Burmese society including Journal Gyaw Ma Ma Lay, Juu, Khin Hnin Yu, Kyi Aye and San San Nwe (Thararwaddy)—one might wonder why Sengupta chose these four women. In an interview with Zafar Anjum, a writer based in Singapore, Sengupta said that the choices on these four women were purely "instinctual" and she was drawn by their "extent of preoccupation" with Burma. She quoted Suu Kyi's famous line to her husband, Michael Aris, "I only ask one thing, that should my people need me, you would help me to do my duty by them"—in Sengupta's opinion, an unusual topic to be included when writing to a prospective husband in a personal letter. Sengupta describes Burma in post-colonial times by referring to literary works of Khin Myo Chit and Ludu Daw Amar. Both born in the same year, they had similar experiences in Burma and got involved in the anti-British movement during their student days in Rangoon University and yet, ended up with diverse focused topics in writings—gender issues for Khin Myo Chit, mainly in the form of fiction or non-fiction books, and more political issues for Ludu Daw Amar, mainly in the form of articles in Ludu journal. Ma Thida, the youngest among the four women, grew up during former General Ne Win's socialist regime—a time when people had to queue at "people's co-operatives" to purchase everyday staples. Sengupta describes Ma Thida—who has a Shan-Mon-Chinese background and has grappled with issues of identity throughout her life—after the Sino-Burmese riots forced her family to abandon all ancestry related to the Chinese, and had lost touch with her Shan and Mon ethnic roots after growing up in Rangoon. Experiences of all four women came to merge in 1988, though they were at very different stages in life; both Khin Myo Chit and Ludu Daw Amar were then prolific writers in their seventies, Ma Thida was an up-and-coming writer, on her road to becoming a medical doctor as well, and Suu Kyi had just come back to Burma to nurse her ailing mother. The section about Ma Thida is perhaps the most personal of all—mainly focusing on analyzing her literary works and her experiences as a student activist and a record keeper along campaign trails with Suu Kyi. Though Sengupta attempts to provide a sound analysis on Burma, Burmese readers—as well as those well-versed in Burma's issues—may find some of her conclusions questionable. Firstly, her characterization of Suu Kyi as being "Westernized" may sound like what the military regime has been saying in their propaganda. In their attempt to undermine her image, they referred to her as the wife of "kalar"—derogatory term for Westerners and Indian—in state-run newspapers, especially while she was under house arrest. In reality, Suu Kyi is very Burmese, not only in her appearance but also in her knowledge of Burmese traditions, customs and literature. Most people of Burma certainly do not see her as "Westernized". Secondly, asserting that Suu Kyi tries to over-compensate for her "Englishness" by adopting a fighting peacock as NLD's party symbol and thus, "inadvertently marginalizing ethnic interest" may seem illogical to Burmese readers. The symbol has represented Burma's struggle for independence since the colonial times—first in the early 20th century and again during the 1988 students' uprising. In fact, it was adopted from the flag of the Burmese Student Union which has been at the forefront of the uprising for independence since colonial times. In fact, Suu Kyi termed the 1988 students' uprising as "Burma's second struggle for independence" in her first speech to the public in 1988. She also wrote in her book, Letters from Burma, that the symbol represents "a national movement that culminated triumphantly with the independence of the country." The majority of ethnic people voted for NLD in the country's general elections in 1990 and 2015—in fact, many just voted for the NLD party without even knowing its constituent's candidates—and the NLD won landslide victories throughout the country. It shows that people of Burma have trust in Suu Kyi as one of them and her party, the NLD. Another questionable element is Sengupta's apparent inability to differentiate between the army (Tatmadaw) founded by Aung San and the current Tatmadaw. The Tatmadaw founded by Aung San fought for the independence of all Burmese people, including the ethnic groups, whereas the current Tatmadaw was shaped by Ne Win, an infamous dictator, who used it as a tool to suppress everyone in Burma regardless of their ethnic background and who warned peaceful demonstrators in a public speech in 1988, "when the army shoots, it shoots to kill." In fact, Bertil Lintner, a veteran journalist who has written several books on Burma, wrote in his article, "Whose Army", published by The Irrawaddy, that the current army is no longer Aung San's army but Ne Win's—comprising members of his old regiment, the 4th Burma Rifles, not from the Burma Independence Army (BIA) that Aung San founded. It follows the ideology of not only involvement in the country's defense, as every army is supposed to, but also in the country's social and political development. Nevertheless, Sengupta's coverage of content is highly commendable, obviously a tremendous effort of scholarly work with extensive references and analysis. Her book touches on events in Burma, the personalities of her protagonists in relation to their experiences, and interesting comparisons of not only their writings but also sometimes of their contemporaries. Especially for those interested about women in Burma from colonial to recent times, Sengupta's book will provide a unique and interesting perspective in a similar manner that Refiguring Women, Colonialism, & Modernity in Burma, by Chie Ikeya, provides about women in the colonial era. The post Book Review: The Female Voice of Myanmar by Nilanjana Sengupta appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Japan’s Tiny Refugee Community Urges Tokyo to Open Doors Wider Posted: 29 Nov 2015 08:54 PM PST  Dang Nguyen Thuc Vien (2dn R), a 32-year-old daughter of refugees from south Vietnam, helps a local Vietnamese resident in Japan as an interpreter at a hospital in Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo, Japan, November 25, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) YOKOHAMA, Japan — Hitoshi Kino, a bespectacled clerical employee at a university near Tokyo, doesn't stand out. Only a slight Vietnamese accent betrays his past, as he speaks in Japanese about being stranded on a rickety boat in waters off his war-torn homeland in 1980, starving with 32 others and left by pirates with nothing but his underpants. Kino, who was then Ky Tu Duong, is one of more than 11,000 refugees that Japan took in over the three decades to 2005 in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, under a little-remembered open-door policy which has never been repeated on such a scale. Now, Kino and other "boat people" who have resettled in Japan believe Tokyo should again open its doors and let in some of today's asylum seekers, including those from Syria, not just for those in distress but for Japan's sake as well "Japan should open up a little to them to align itself with the international community," Kino, who became a Japanese citizen in mid-1980s, said over Chinese dumplings and stir-fry at a restaurant near his home west of Tokyo. "It could be just 100, or 50. But it would be better than doing nothing." Japan took just 11 of 5,000 asylum-seekers last year, or 0.2 percent, the lowest acceptance rate in the club of rich nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In contrast, France took 22 percent and Germany 42 percent. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has offered nearly $2 billion to help other nations manage the flood of refugees from Syria's civil war, but his government has virtually shut the door on those fleeing Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War Two. This month's attacks in Paris, in which 130 people were killed in mass shootings and suicide bombings blamed on Islamic State, could make any public discussion of accepting refugees into Japan even more difficult. The government's reluctance to accept refugees shows that opening up to immigration is still politically unpalatable, despite an alarming shrinkage in the country's population. After the 2011 nuclear disaster caused by earthquake and tsunami, "foreigners scrambled to leave Japan. But few of us former refugees fled," Kino said. "Japan helped us and took care of us. We would not desert such a country." Indochina refugees speak not only of gratitude toward their adopted country but also of difficulties they have faced trying to fit into society, which prides itself on its homogeneous culture. Foreigners make up only 2 percent of the population. On the job, some Japanese "assume we don't understand things easily and we are not smart," said Hoai Takahashi, another refugee from Vietnam who changed his name from Hoang Drong Hoai. "They even say things like 'This job should not be left to these people,' in our very presence." Banri Kawai, formerly Nguyen Van Ry, works at a facility in eastern Japan that houses five former Vietnamese refugees with mental illness. He said they had been bullied by their Japanese seniors at work. "They lost sleep and developed mental conditions," he said after attending Sunday service with Takahashi at a Catholic church north of Tokyo. Chrisna Ito, who arrived in Japan at the age of 15, says she was rebuked at a factory dorm for using the communal bath before others had finished. She assumed they thought she was dirty because her skin was darker than that of a typical Japanese. Ito, a 43-year-old nursery school worker who was Cheth Chan Chrisna before fleeing Cambodia, had to start working at the rubber factory to support her family after six months of language and other adjustment training. It was only after she married and had children—now in high school and college—that she fulfilled her aspiration to go to junior high and high school. Asked how she feels about the government support she received, Ito reflected for a moment. "I am grateful. But at the same time, I cannot help wondering if Japan could have done a little better." The post Japan's Tiny Refugee Community Urges Tokyo to Open Doors Wider appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| On China’s Fringes, Cyber Spies Raise Their Game Posted: 29 Nov 2015 08:45 PM PST  Occupy Central movement founder Benny Tai poses with his phone at the University of Hong Kong on November 19, 2015. Tai stores personal data, such as names, email addresses and mobile numbers, on an external hard drive that he says he only accesses on a computer without an Internet connection. (Photo: Tyrone Siu / Reuters) HONG KONG / SINGAPORE — Almost a year after students ended pro-democracy street protests in Hong Kong, they face an online battle against what Western security experts say are China-sponsored hackers using techniques rarely seen elsewhere. Hackers have expanded their attacks to parking malware on popular file-sharing services including Dropbox and Google Drive to trap victims into downloading infected files and compromising sensitive information. They also use more sophisticated tactics, honing in on specific targets through so-called 'white lists' that only infect certain visitors to compromised websites. Security experts say such techniques are only used by sophisticated hackers from China and Russia, usually for surveillance and information extraction. The level of hacking is a sign, they say, of how important China views Hong Kong, where 79 days of protests late last year brought parts of the territory, a major regional financial hub, to a standstill. The scale of the protests raised concerns in Beijing about political unrest on China's periphery. "We're the most co-ordinated opposition group on Chinese soil, [and] have a reasonable assumption that Beijing is behind the hacking," said Lam Cheuk-ting, chief executive of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, which says it has been a victim of cyber attacks on its website and some members' email accounts. US-based Internet security company FireEye said the attacks via Dropbox were aimed at "precisely those whose networks Beijing would seek to monitor," and could provide China with advance warning of protests and information on pro-democracy leaders. The company said half its customers in Hong Kong and Taiwan were attacked by government and professional hackers in the first half of this year—two and a half times the global average. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Public Security Bureau and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region did not respond to requests for comment. The Defence Ministry said the issue was not part of its remit. China has previously denied accusations of hacking, calling them groundless, and saying it is a victim. The Hong Kong police said its Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau works with other law enforcement agencies to combat cross-border crime, but did not respond to questions on how much information it shares with mainland Chinese authorities, the origin of the Hong Kong cyber attacks, or whether these might be a source of instability or concern. Police data show a drop in reported "unauthorised access," which includes Internet or email account abuse and hacking, over the past two years. Many of the victims Reuters spoke to said they hadn't bothered to report being hacked. Switching Tactics Like other groups taking on the might of Beijing—from Uighurs and exiled Tibetans to some Taiwanese—Hong Kong activists, academics and journalists have become more savvy and adopted tactics that, in turn, force hackers to get savvier still. When Tibetan exile groups stopped clicking on files attached to emails, to avoid falling victim to a common form of 'spear phishing' attack, hackers switched their malware to Google Drive, hoping victims would think these files were safer, said Citizen Lab, a Canada-based research organisation which works with Tibetans and other NGOs. Hackers also recently used Dropbox to lure Chinese language journalists in Hong Kong into downloading infected files. FireEye, which discovered the attack, said it was the first time it had seen this approach. "We don't have any arrogance to think we can beat them," said Mark Simon, senior executive at the parent company of Hong Kong's Apple Daily, a media group on the front line of the attacks. Strange Words Trying to stay ahead of the hackers, activists and others use multiple mobile phones with different SIM chips, encrypted messaging apps, apps that automatically delete tweets, and code words to set up meetings. If someone thinks they may be arrested, they remove themselves from group chats. Some things are kept offline. "If we want to talk, we have some signal," said Derek Lam, a member of student group Scholarism that helped organise the protests. "It's a few words… if I say some words that are really strange it means we have to talk somewhere privately." Law professor and protest organizer Benny Tai stores personal data, such as names, email addresses and mobile numbers, on an external hard drive that he says he only accesses on a computer without an Internet connection. The pro-democracy Apple Daily, which says it is hacked on an almost weekly basis, has tightened its email security software, and has its lawyers use couriers rather than email. FireEye last year connected denial of service (DDoS) attacks against Apple Daily with more professional cyber spying attacks, saying there may be a "common quartermaster." It said China's government would be the entity most interested in these "political objectives." Sophisticated Hacks Steven Adair, co-founder of US-based security firm Volexity, said that code hidden on pro-democracy websites last year, including those of the Democratic Party and the Alliance for True Democracy, suggested a group he said "we strongly suspect to be Chinese… who is very well resourced." He said such tactics were more usually seen employed by Russian hackers, aimed at very specific targets and designed to be as unobtrusive as possible. "It's a real evolution in targeting," he said. In the run-up to Hong Kong district council elections earlier this month, hackers used more basic techniques, breaking into at least 20 Gmail accounts at the Democratic Party, according to party officials and Google logs seen by Reuters. Between April and June, many hacked accounts were forwarding emails to lovechina8964@gmail.com. An examination of the hackers' IP addresses by the party's IT experts found some appeared to originate in China, party officials said. The post On China's Fringes, Cyber Spies Raise Their Game appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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