VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Myanmar's military ruler on Monday urged his foreign critics to get behind his junta's planned return to democracy, instead of siding with a resistance movement he called "terrorists" bent on destroying the country.

Addressing an annual armed forces day parade, Min Aung Hlaing, whose February 2021 coup plunged Myanmar into chaos, said international condemnation of his military rule was based on false narratives by a shadow National Unity Government (NUG).

The junta will hold an election in August that has already been widely dismissed as a sham. It is likely to be dominated by a proxy party of the military that was trounced in the past two elections.

"The military and government need to take action against the terrorist groups that are trying to devastate the country and are killing people," Min Aung Hlaing said.

"I would like to urge the international community to collaborate with all the efforts of the current government in prudence to be on the right path to democracy."

His coup abruptly ended a decade of tentative democracy and unprecedented economic development in Myanmar, which has been under military rule for five of the past six decades.

Many political parties have been decimated or refuse to take part in the election, with some siding with the shadow NUG, which is seeking international support and backs militias behind guerrilla attacks on security forces.

Human rights groups accuse the military of committing atrocities in operations against the resistance fighters, including attacks on the civilian population. The United Nations says at least 1.2 million people have been displaced.

The junta says it is targeting terrorists, not civilians.

Min Aung Hlaing in his address said Myanmar's sovereignty must be respected and stressed that "lawful actions will be decisively taken" against terrorists, with martial law to be imposed in important areas that needed to be brought under control. (Reuters)

More than 180 Rohingya Muslims landed in Indonesia's Aceh province on Monday, officials said, the latest among hundreds who have fled by boat from desperate conditions in Myanmar and in camps in Bangladesh.

The United Nations refugee agency has said 2022 may have been one of the deadliest years at sea in almost a decade for the Rohingya, a persecuted religious and ethnic minority in Myanmar.

A spokesperson for the local police, Kamil, confirmed by phone that 184 Rohingya had arrived in East Aceh district and were "all in healthy condition".

It was not immediately clear how many vessels they were on.

Miftah Cut Ade, a senior member of the local fishing community in Aceh, said 90 women and children were among the migrants, who arrived about 3.30 a.m. (2030 GMT) on Monday.

Many Rohingya have for years attempted in rickety wooden boats to reach neighbouring Thailand and Bangladesh, and Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia, especially between November and April when the seas are calm. An untold number of them have died at sea from disease, hunger and fatigue.

Since November last year, Indonesia has registered 918 Rohingya who reached Aceh, its westernmost region, according to the foreign ministry, having made the journey south in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. That compared to 180 in the whole of 2021.

Nearly 1 million Rohingya live in crowded conditions in Bangladesh, among them those who fled a deadly crackdown in 2017 by Myanmar's military, which denies committing crimes against humanity. (Reuters)

Taiwan's ex-President Ma Ying-jeou became on Monday the first sitting or former Taiwanese leader to visit mainland China since the Communist revolution in 1949, saying he hoped to bring about peace and improve relations.

Ma's office said he was met at Shanghai's Pudong airport by officials including Chen Yuanfeng, deputy head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office. The visit has been criticised by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of Ma's successor Tsai Ing-wen.

Speaking to reporters before leaving from Taiwan's main international airport at Taoyuan, Ma, 73, said he was "very happy" to be going on a trip where he will talk to students and pay respects to the graves of his ancestors in China.

Ma, in office from 2008-2016, is the first former or current Taiwanese president to visit China since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 at the end of a civil war with the Communists.

The trip comes at a time of heightened tensions between Beijing and Taipei as China keeps up military and political pressure to try and get democratic Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty.

"Apart from going to make offerings to my ancestors, I am also taking Taiwan university students to the mainland for exchanges with them, hoping to improve the current cross-strait atmosphere through the enthusiasm and interaction of young people, so peace can come even faster and sooner to us here," Ma said in short remarks.

Taiwan's ruling DPP criticised Ma for going on Monday, saying it was inappropriate given former long-time Taiwan ally Honduras had ended ties with Taipei in favour of Beijing the day before.

Ma is a senior member of Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), which favours close ties with China although it strongly denies being pro-Beijing. The KMT says outreach to China is needed now more than ever given the tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

Ma met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore in late 2015 shortly before Tsai was elected.

China has rebuffed Tsai's repeated calls for talks, believing her to be a separatist. She says only Taiwan's people can decide their future.

Ma is not scheduled to meet any senior Chinese officials while there, but the head of his foundation said last week Ma will be "at his host's disposal" if they do arrange such a get-together.

Both supporters and opponents were at the airport for Ma's departure. Demonstrators from the pro-independence group Taiwan Republic Office were allowed to show banners inside the airport for only a brief period before being pushed out by police. (Reuters)

Jakarta (voinews): Government will impose restrictions on textile products' imports to follow up on Indonesian Textile Association's report that unrecorded imports of textile products reached 31 percent, Cooperatives and Small, Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Minister, Teten Masduki, stated.

"Our Ministry and Trade Ministry aim to protect the domestic market that has, so far, been supported by the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). However, it has been disrupted by the number of unrecorded imports that account for 31 percent of clothing, including illegal used clothing," he noted during a press conference in Jakarta, Monday.

Masduki remarked that the import of clothes, especially illegal second-hand clothing, disrupted the domestic market, as the local products cannot compete, in terms of the pricing, with illegal used clothes categorized as waste and did not require production costs.

"Illegal used clothes enter our country as waste. Our MSMEs cannot compete with it," he stressed.

In addition to unrecorded imports that reached 31 percent, in total, the Indonesian Textile Association noted that legal textile imports, in the form of apparel and footwear, controlled 43 percent of the domestic market, he remarked.

Hence, Minister Masduki and Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan agreed to impose restrictions on the imports of textile products. Currently, several countries have implemented restrictions.

For instance, strict palm oil exports to Europe and the export of bananas to the US market that necessitate verification through 21 certificates, and three of which must be reviewed every six months.

"Bananas with specks in them are not allowed to enter the international market. In my opinion, this aims to limit the domestic market from the invasion of imported products. We are too weak to protect our market, whether the imported products are legal or not," he remarked.

Masduki stated that in accordance with President Joko Widodo's instructions, his side, other ministries, and the police agreed to eradicate the imports of used clothing. Apart from acting against importers, the government will also educate traders to protect domestic products.

"They will face a legal issue if they sell illegal products. We have reminded the retailers and resellers of these imported used clothes that we will not carry out repression. It is different from drugs," he emphasized. (Antaranews)