HONG KONG – OCTOBER 05: Joshua Wong, the student activist who became a global symbol during Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests in 2014, was detained in Thailand early Wednesday following a request from China.
Hong Kong’s pro-democracy dissidents have never been fully embraced in many parts of Asia, where China’s shadow can make many politicians forget their principles.
Burma, Malaysia and others have all kowtowed to Beijing whenever it huffed and puffed.
But no country has been so obsequious to China’s every request as Thailand.
But no country has been so obsequious to China’s every request as Thailand.
This week The Wall Street Journal called Thailand “China’s Enforcer” because of the Thai military junta’s increasingly fawning obeisance to China’s wishes.
The catalyst this time was a particularly egregious case in which Hong Kong democracy leader Joshua Wong was barred from entering Thailand to take part in a panel discussion at a university.
Wong posted on Facebook that Thai authorities illegally detained him for “more than a dozen hours,” cutting him off from all contact with the outside world before finally deporting him back to Hong Kong, a former British colony now controlled by China.
The catalyst this time was a particularly egregious case in which Hong Kong democracy leader Joshua Wong was barred from entering Thailand to take part in a panel discussion at a university.
Wong posted on Facebook that Thai authorities illegally detained him for “more than a dozen hours,” cutting him off from all contact with the outside world before finally deporting him back to Hong Kong, a former British colony now controlled by China.
“Really very scary,” the 19-year-old added.
Thai student activists say that the detention and deportation came as a result of a letter from the Chinese government.
Thai student activists say that the detention and deportation came as a result of a letter from the Chinese government.
Bangkok insists that no “instruction or order” was given to arrest Wong.
Human rights groups aren’t buying it, though.
“The detention and deportation of Joshua Wong are yet another indicator that Thailand’s military government will use any available means to stifle political discourse in the country,” said Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s Senior Research Adviser for South East Asia and the Pacific.
At least Wong was returned to Hong Kong.
“The detention and deportation of Joshua Wong are yet another indicator that Thailand’s military government will use any available means to stifle political discourse in the country,” said Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s Senior Research Adviser for South East Asia and the Pacific.
At least Wong was returned to Hong Kong.
Because of its British past, the city’s residents retain some freedoms that are denied on communist Mainland China.
Not so lucky was Gui Minhai, a Chinese writer living in Thailand and working on a book critical of China’s thin-skinned leader Xi Jinping.
Gui was abducted in Thailand last year and later mysteriously turned up in China, where he appeared as a sobbing mess on TV, confessing to a decade-old drunk driving case and declaring himself “willing to be punished.”
Gui is not even a Chinese national any longer but a naturalized Swedish citizen.
Gui was abducted in Thailand last year and later mysteriously turned up in China, where he appeared as a sobbing mess on TV, confessing to a decade-old drunk driving case and declaring himself “willing to be punished.”
Gui is not even a Chinese national any longer but a naturalized Swedish citizen.
But these technicalities are never respected by China, which considers ethnic Chinese naturalized in other countries or even born in them as owing loyalty to the Middle Kingdom.
They were at any rate waved aside by Gui himself in his bizarre TV confession.
“I truly feel that I am still Chinese,” he said, calling on Stockholm to “let me solve my own problems.”
Gui was repatriated to his awful fate with Thai approval, says Reporters Without Borders.
“I truly feel that I am still Chinese,” he said, calling on Stockholm to “let me solve my own problems.”
Gui was repatriated to his awful fate with Thai approval, says Reporters Without Borders.
Nor are Gui and Wong the only example of Thai compliance with Chinese wishes.
Last year, too, Bangkok sent back to China 100 Uighurs who had taken refuge in Thailand but whose extradition Beijing had demanded.
The Uighurs no doubt met unpleasant fates, according to Human Rights Watch and others who decried the expulsion.
“Thailand has cravenly caved to pressure from Beijing and robbed these people of their only protections,” said Sophie Richardson, HRW China director.
Last year, too, Bangkok sent back to China 100 Uighurs who had taken refuge in Thailand but whose extradition Beijing had demanded.
The Uighurs no doubt met unpleasant fates, according to Human Rights Watch and others who decried the expulsion.
“Thailand has cravenly caved to pressure from Beijing and robbed these people of their only protections,” said Sophie Richardson, HRW China director.
“The risks to Uighurs forcibly returned to China are grim and well established, so it’s urgent to protect anyone in Thailand who the Chinese claims is a Uighur against forced expulsion or return.”
The Uighurs, a Turkic Muslim group living in western China, are harshly persecuted.
The Uighurs, a Turkic Muslim group living in western China, are harshly persecuted.
Their region of Xinjiang is under heavy police control, according to a Western businessman who recently visited.
There is a lot at work here.
There is a lot at work here.
China, moreover, has abstained from criticizing Thailand’s military leaders, who took over that Southeast Asian nation in a May 2014 coup.
Thai diplomats in Washington often complain about getting the cold shoulder from President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, even though they are a treaty ally of the United States, a rare instance in which an administration with warm ties with dictators in Havana, Burma and Vietnam has spurned strongmen.
Thai diplomats in Washington often complain about getting the cold shoulder from President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, even though they are a treaty ally of the United States, a rare instance in which an administration with warm ties with dictators in Havana, Burma and Vietnam has spurned strongmen.
China on the other hand flatters the Thai generals with high-profile meetings.
It is unfortunate that those who pay the price for such high-stakes games are men like Wong and Gui.
It is unfortunate that those who pay the price for such high-stakes games are men like Wong and Gui.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire